Chapter 3: Lorelei

The humans would call it the Fourteenth Redever War, but for the Redevers themselves, they would know it as the War of Mud. For that seemed to be the entirety of what was being fought over. A muddy soup of a stretch of land that just so happened to border the once proud Redever nations, and human city-states.

Trench warfare was inevitable as the human conquests were grounded down to a halt during the narrow summer month of solstice, just when they desperately needed to make some real headway. As the tornadic weather came, the winds of magic escalated in the upper atmosphere, the consequence of which resulted in mass casualties. The stormy season that year was especially cruel, with supercell after supercell wiping away every army that tried to inch forward.

The trenches barely offered any protection, and after the first year of bloodshed, they were barely improved. To answer the growing obstacle, weapon smiths developed more advanced sentinel walkers, along with tacsuits for elite battalions of fighters. And yet, despite these advances, the front line barely moved. The casualties never stopped mounting, and as spring came, so too did even worse supercells.

By the end of the second year, it was clear that this human invasion was a failure. The only question was, when were they were going to accept it.

Lorelei had no idea, but she didn't feel like it would be any time soon.

Fresh troops were being sent all the time, almost always around this time in the late afternoon. Lorelei kept her head down, ignoring the sounds of shrapnel skirting overhead, and trying to hold herself together from the near constant bombardment.

Earth shattering shockwaves rolled through her bones every waking second, the human artillery desperate to dislodge them from their fixed positions. The succubi had denser muscles, making them more resilient than their human cousins, and thus could withstand the surge of death surrounding them. The only thing she had to worry about was a direct hit.

That or the overseers.

"Get back to work!" She could already hear one of them lashing another menial over the sounds of carnage.

Lorelei grimaced, her fingernails were chipped and dirty, as she tried to lift the iron pipe over the lip of the trench. Her uniform was tattered, and yet she continued with her manual labor. At least she didn't have to fight. That was her only mercy.

Pink skins weren't trusted with firearms. Which meant they were sitting ducks when the humans made a run at storming their trench line. It also meant they were used as living shields whenever her side tried to launch an offensive. There were over a thousand pink skins in her menial task force a month ago, now there were only eight, including herself.

Reinforcing the trench wall was hard enough, surviving the lash was another matter entirely. Lorelei knew if she couldn't continue working, she would be used for target practice, and each slash of the whip made her endeavors even harder. And so she continued to work. Ignoring the pain in her knuckles, or the stinging from all the cuts, Lorelei worked alongside the other menials until pushed nearly to the breaking point.

Day and night were almost indistinguishable, with the constant storms, and magical weapons igniting the atmosphere. Lorelei wasn't sure when she finally lost the strength to stand, only what it felt like to fall into the mud. The crackle of a whip slashed against her back, as a field of static electricity encapsulated her.

Lorelei could feel her teeth shaking as the chaotic backwash of distant ordnance was overshadowed by the heavy cadence of a behemoth's bipedal treads. The mechanized walker stood three stories tall, on two thick steel legs. The torso was layered in hulking armor, its arms built to bear rotary cannons, which were capable of unleashing a storm of heavy caliber shells. Along its back were rocket dispensers, and grenade launchers, all of which were firing.

It was once painted dark blue, but most of its livery had been chipped, or rusted away, revealing a grim metallic grey. Dark green lenses could be seen gazing through narrow slits of the armor, making it appear like a haunting specter barreling down the battlefield. The unit tried to march over the trench, only for its steel feet to sink into the mire. The sound of its gears straining made her heart sink, and the metallic klaxon blaring from its horns was somehow more terrifying than the tornadoes descending from the skies.

Lorelei could see scores of other mechanized units trudging forward alongside it, as up above, the thin cord of a funnel cloud grew larger. It wouldn't be long before a new born vortex would touch down, and already the wind was beginning to suck toward the accumulating clouds.

More whip lashes, each forcing Lorelei to sink into the mud a little further. She could smell blood among the refuse surrounding her as more artillery shells landed behind the trench.

The ground shook all around her, the world seemingly coming to an end. And just she cried out in pain, an earth shaker round slammed directly into the trench.

Waking up, drenched in sweat, Lorelei shrieked in panic as she emerged from the nightmare. Her heart was pounding in her chest, and her tail was aimed directly forward. Realizing where she was, in the campus library, Lorelei groaned in frustration. Sweat ran down her shoulder blades, as she leaned back, and tried to rub her arms. Her shoulders were still shaking.

Her body was sore, especially her stomach, after spending the previous day at the gym. She didn't understand why she let Marci convince her to workout with her yesterday. Lorelei hated getting all sweaty, hated doing sit-ups. She hoped to never have to workout like that again. Knowing Marci, it was a vain hope.

Lorelei yawned, stretching out in her chair. She hated the school uniform, how it clung to her curvaceous body. It made her extremely self conscious, having to watch everything she ate, certain that even the smallest slip in weight gain would show.

Her stomach felt rather soft around the waistline of her skirt, and her giving breasts heaved against the layered fabric of her top shirt. The tie down her cleavage was also a weird fashion trend that seemed to be all the rage for the people of Voxsturm. The silk material was delicate, smooth to her skin, and gently wrapped around her neckline with a fine knot.

Had she known the tie would be included with the school uniform, Lorelei might've questioned applying in the first place.

No, she sighed. Who am I kidding, the tie's worth it.

Lorelei rubbed her eyes, remembering where she was. She could still feel the cold sweat strolling down her soft cleavage, forming a shallow puddle where her breasts were pressed together.

Tucked in a corner of the library, she had hidden herself behind a pile of books, and old computer terminals. Most the desks had small barriers, so she preferred to study alone, and where no one could see her.

Her arrow pointed tail reached out to grab and lift a small cup of water to her lips. She wished it were coffee, or perhaps a strong cup of tea. However, having to live in a war zone taught her the value of clean water, and so she savored every sip of it.

Setting it down, Lorelei looked back at her notebooks, and found that she had been drooling all over the paper.

Her eyes narrowed.

Damn

Moving to wipe it clean, padding it with her sleeve, Lorelei noticed exactly what time it was. The large oval clock on the forward wall chimed, signaling the coming of a new hour.

Wait, what time is it? SHIT!

She jammed her pile of notes, books, and personal affects in her bag, then ran as quickly as she could through the main lobby. Ignoring the stares, she paused only to offer a courtesy wave to the barista attendant who was always nice to her.

Once out the door, Lorelei was hit with the full force of Mother Nature. Sour rain soaked her blouse, and a warm wind blue her jet black hair. With her back over her shoulder, she jogged across campus, hoping to get back to the dormitory. She was desperate, she had to get back in time.

As she made it to the dormitory, Lorelei wasn't paying much attention to the people around her. In fact, she wasn't even paying much attention when she ran head first into…

Him?

She stared up at Theo Serrano, knowing full well who he was. How could she not know?She had been secretly following him through town, often desperately trying to summon the courage to speak to him. But she couldn't. Just thinking about approaching him after all these years sent her head spinning.

How could he want to ever speak to me again? A small part of her mind kept asking herself, over and over again. Why would anyone like him even dare associate with Redevers? Especially after the last war?

As soon as she got away from that hellish war, Lorelei smuggled herself back to Voxsturm and assimilated with the rest of her Succubi kind in their separated districts. Within days she searched for the same boy that had rescued her off the streets, and discovered he was an up and coming prodigy in the mystical and technological arts. Stalking wouldn't be an inappropriate word to describe how she followed him around town, studying his habits and hobbies.

She even applied to the university specifically to be closer to him. Just sharing the same building, even separated by several floors, made her feel better. Lorelei wanted to speak to him, but every day she tried, she found herself too move.

And now, that she was so close to him, it felt like the world was falling. She wanted to scream, her face was burning, and heart was pounding so loudly that she could practically hear it.

"Sorry!" Lorelei deadpanned. She ran past him, fearing her knees would give out at any moment.

Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!

Lorelei flew through the lobby, her tail nearly getting caught in the doorway, as she rushed to the stairway. Inside, the smell of eucalyptus leave welcomed her, along with the smell of cleaning detergent. She made her way to the women's floor of the dormitory, and found Marci already inside their shared room, when she burst through the door.

"Hey! You ok?" Marci jerked around, surprised by her roommates sudden implosion.

Lorelei slammed the door behind her, and pinned herself to the door. She slowly sank to her knees, then sat onto the cold panel floors. Her cheeks were violent red, her fingers fiddling in the air.

Marci shot her a puzzling look, rubbing her chin in curiosity. "I'll take that as a no?"

Lorelei just rocked back and forth, her arms wrapped around her knees. The building, meanwhile, rumbled from a series of cascading thunder waves. And just like before, Lorelei couldn't help but feel like she was once again in some distant trench, her feet buried in a soup of mud.