Queen's Wrath - Damnation - Part 2

"Riehene..."

The explosions continued and the screams of the women around him, grew more and more shrill. And maybe, somewhere nearby, someone else was screaming, but what mattered to Pales was under stones and bricks.

"Rie... hene..."

Riehene wasn't nearly one of his favorite women, but she was his most beloved daughter.

He loved her so much he couldn't stop himself from holding her to him forever, but…

Pales rose from his pillows and through the deep cracks in the floor, he walked to the pool of blood that was seeping from the huddle of something that had just been his bedroom ceiling.

The man heard nothing else, everything was so far away that it seemed he was dreaming.

"A dream..."

This could only be a dream. There was no way his beloved daughter could die a miserable death like that.

Not the daughter he'd raised so carefully and lovingly since she was born when he hadn't even been crowned yet.

The daughter he loved more than the queen herself.

"That's a dream! I..."

Pales looked up at the hole in the ceiling and something hot ran out of his eyes, his heart ached and his lips trembled.

"This have to be a dream..."

The hot blood under his feet couldn't be real.

"Your Majesty!" Veron called and was astonished to see the king cry.

That's because Pales never cried, not even when his beloved father died, or at least if he cried, he never let anyone see it.

"Veron…" Pales smiled upon seeing his good friend's face. "You are also in my dream..."

"Your Majesty-"

The man tried to go to his king, but another explosion happened, the ground shook and a column fell in his path.

Veron looked at the women of the harem and saw that those who were not screaming in fear, were screaming in pain with wounds to their shoulders, heads and legs.

"Pales, you have to leave the palace!" Veron said and the noise and trembling ceased.

***

On a prairie in the southern lands of Basilica, horsemen, thousands of them, made their horses run harder as they were chased, trampled and burned by a gigantic and menacing wolf and a pyromaniac on its back.

Mifa and Fotiá seemed to have fun with all that killing.

Mifa bumped into horses, causing them to fall on their riders and letting others run away only to chase them and snap at them in a sound of screams and bones crunching.

Meanwhile, Fotiá cast her spells in a way that made it look like a festival of fireworks that hit the targets and exploded repeatedly, causing a fire in the greenish field.

Their victims were the remnants of the Mizhardian army that had besieged Basilian until a few hours ago.

This could only be the worst day of their lives, because first a dragon attacked them for no apparent reason, decimating their friends, compatriots and loved ones in an overwhelming way.

Now a wolf and a mad arsonist slaughtered them and played with their lives as a cat plays with a mouse before killing it and leaving it dying on the ground.

They already saw their fates sealed and were ready to give up when a powerful voice echoed across the field, drawing everyone's attention there.

"Faena!" Screamed a man- No. Screamed a four-winged angel, followed by hundreds or thousands of other angels.

***

Shortly after Athena made her pronouncement and began her attack on Mizhar's capital, Anemus arrived at the scene and came across a scene she didn't think Athena would do.

Athena rained spells on the palace and surroundings as if she were some kind of mad genocide, making the memory of Hades resurface in Anemus' mind.

A man with short black hair, hideous red eyes and a wickedly mad smile.

This was what Hades looked like when he attacked cities, towns and villages, killing innocent people like it was the most common thing in the world.

However, Athena wasn't smiling, quite the contrary, her expression couldn't be any colder than the one on her face.

It was more like watching a god demonstrate his divinity than a wicked madman doing a massacre for fun. But for some reason, it made Anemus feel just as disgusted as when she witnessed Hades' actions.

"In the end, they really are the same person..." Anemus said to herself and flew closer to Athena. "Athena, what are you doing?"

Athena stopped bombing the palace and looked at Anemus. Anemus had an expression of sadness on her beautiful face and seeing this, Athena's heart filled with pain.

"What's with that expression?" Athena asked and reached out to caress Anemus' face who held and lowered Athena's hand.

"I made a question." Anemus looked into Athena's eyes. "You said you wouldn't turn into a crazy, perverse psychopath like you were like Hades. Why are you doing this?"

Anemus saw in Athena's eyes, a color that didn't belong to her, a thin yet deep, cold and wicked darkness, but she knew that Athena was still Athena.

The fact that Athena tried to caress her face was proof of that. Anemus gripped Athena's hand tightly and pursing her lips, she waited for an answer.

"I am condemning them to death." Athena responded with a cold voice and a look that seemed to cut through Anemus. "This is the fate of those who hurt the ones I love."

Athena pulled away from Anemus and raised her hand again against the city below.

"So why don't you blow it all up at once? You're just torturing them!"

"So what?"

"Huh?"

"So what if I'm torturing them? If they didn't want this, they shouldn't have attacked what belongs to me. That's their damnation."

"But this is..." Anemus was wide-eyed and trembling as hearing such unreasonableness.

"Anemus, is that what you came after me for?" Athena looked at Anemus with an almost sad look.

"No, but…" Anemus wondered if she could still love Athena the way she was. (I loved Hades, but...) She didn't know if she could love another cruel being. (No. Anemus, you have to stop separating them! In the end, cruelty and malice was a natural for them... Her.) Anemus reached Athena again and lowered the woman's arms. "You don't need that to condemn them."

***

The riders looked up and leapt from their horses to their knees on the ground in the midst of the fire.

Being in the presence of so many angels and an archangel was something that people who followed the religion of holy light had always dreamed of, and they didn't mind dying to pay their respects.

The angels there were dressed in white armor that seemed light despite their sturdiness and their weapons were of the most varied.

"Hand over Faena." Said the man at the front of the army. "Hand it over and maybe we'll spare your miserable heretic lives!"

Mifa, Fotiá and Faena looked at the angels. The wolf with bloodstained paws and muzzle snarled, Faena clung to Fotiá tightly, and Fotiá's hair flared with natural hostility toward the angels.

Angels used to kill nymphs that were not born of nature. This is because the nymphs were a sinful existence that blasphemes the name of Lhia, said to be creator of the world and life.

Fotiá didn't know about this history, she just didn't like the beings who looked at her from above as if she were inferior.

"What if we don't give her to you?" Fotiá asked with an expression that didn't match her beauty.

The angel didn't respond, just signaled and the army behind him advanced.

Fotiá and Mifa did not wait for them to close the distance between them and dodging spells cast against them, the two cast fire spells and breath out wind, fire and water elements against the army that insistently continued advancing even with the death of several of their own.

However, the number was too large for them to handle alone and angels began to make accurate attacks that despite the fur and meat resistant of Mifa, caused considerable damage.

""Fotiá, I think we'll have to flee."" Mifa said when the sky was already flooded with winged beings.

The battle had been going on for a considerable time and Fotiá was starting to run out of mana, but the number of soldiers showed no signs of decreasing or hesitating even though the ground was covered with the bodies of dead angels.

Fotiá lay on Mifa's back, grabbing the wolf's fur and agreeing to flee. After Mifa broke through with a blast of power from a fire breath, Mifa ran with all her might towards Mizhar.

***

Inside the palace, Veron helped Pales escape, followed by two servants he held in his arms, Thena and Verien.

They passed through corridors that were partly blocked by debris and dodged corpses and dying wounded along the way.

"You two better protect my kids with your lives!" Veron said.

"Kids..." Pales grumbled.

"Pales pull yourself together! You are the king of Mizhar!"

"Veron, this isn't a dream is it?"

"I would love it if it was." Veron responded and twisted his mouth in disgust.

Veron was only in the capital for a few days, settling matters with the two other Dukes of Mizhar.

He tried to convince them the war would have good results, until Athena's voice boomed through the room and rubble collapsed on the blond and red heads of the men in front of him, crushing them to death.

It was then that he knew that maybe he had pulled a demon's tail and was now trying to get away as fast as possible.

When they finally left the palace, Veron felt the heat of the sun that shone with intensity, not caring about the situation in which he found himself.

Veron took a tighter grip on Pales' hand and pulled him toward the horses that had lost their riders and wandered lost among the bodies and wreckage.

However, in the middle of his path two winged women descended from the sky.

"A man in his late thirties, dark brown hair and two babies..." Anemus said. "I think we've found who you should really condemn, Athena."