Hi there, welcome to Warrior Queen. This is the first of my spin-off fics, as well as the first attempt at writing romance that I've posted publically. I would recommend having at least read chapter one of my other story, just to understand the AU. As always, please leave me a review or pm me to let me know what you think!
The wind whipped along the rocky plateau, whistling past the armies of the living that valiantly clashed with the hordes of undead that marched towards them. Rain pounded into the rocky plateau, pouring from the oppressive clouds that hung over the field of battle. The Queen watched implacably from the back of her rapidash, hand resting nervously on the haft of her spear. She glanced up at the twin dragonite that stood behind her, confident in their ability to defend her from any threat.
"My Queen, I must insist that we retreat to safety, " her attendant bowed deeply, pleading with the warrior Queen. "Kanto has abandoned the field, we will be surrounded."
She looked up to the edge of the cliff where her beloved stood. Despite the distance and the storm, she could make out his ridiculous cape flapping in the wind behind him. "No, " she said calmly. "Reform the line. We make our stand here." She lifted her spear, courage blazing in her brown eyes. "The King commands it!" she shouted over the din of battle.
Her attendant raised a horn, blowing three short blasts into the air. The order repeated itself, the other attendants relaying the order with their own horns. Slowly but surely, the front lines of the Johtan army moved closer to the Queen.
"My cousin is lucky to have you, Queen Mira, " Clair said, her dragonair quivering in anticipation at her side. She looked up at the warrior Queen with grim determination in her eyes. "May the gods protect us, " she said, her voice never wavering despite the odds.
"The gods favour the bold, " she said in response, her hand still resting on her spear. "Prepare your men for battle, we must drive these abominations back." She tapped the lone ball on her belt, releasing the bloodthirsty beast within. Her ursaring stretched up to its full height, roaring a deep-throated challenge to the hordes of the dead. The Queen drew in a deep breath and held out her arm to her attendant.
Her attendant strapped her shield to her arm as Clair stormed away, fussing with the straps while he blustered. "Queen Mira, I must protest this course of action. Lance will-"
She cut him off with a withering glare. "My husband is not in command of this army. I am." She pulled her arm away from the attendant, testing the straps nervously. "We will hold the line. We will prevail," she said defiantly, eyes locked onto the approaching army of the dead.
A charizard swooped low over the Johtan army, blood and viscera dripping from its claws. It landed beside the Queen, its rider leaping off the fire drake's back. "Queen Mira!" he shouted as he approached. "We must get you to safety. This battle is lost!"
The Queen turned to face the newcomer, her face an emotionless mask. "I cannot do that, Elder. A retreat would expose us to attack from the rear. Rally your men if you can, but we must hold them back." She grimaced as she realized how dire the situation had become. "We must hold until the King arrives."
Samuel Oak shook his head. "Please, Mira. It is not safe here." He strode over to her side, looking back at the front line nervously. "Someone has betrayed us. A traitor has slain Kanto's leadership, I fear that you may be a target as well."
"Let them come," she said. "The dragon will not fall." She looked up at the dragonite behind her, who growled in response.
"Mira-"
Her attendant stepped in front of him, his hand clasped tightly on the hilt of his blade. "You will address the Queen properly, or not at all."
Oak stiffened and stepped away from the Queen of Johto. "You have made your choice?" he asked, glancing back at the encroaching army of undead.
She nodded. "I have, " she replied. "Lance will not fail us."
Oak bowed his head and backed away from the Queen. "Then I take my leave. Be safe, Mira." His charizard lowered her neck, allowing the Elder to clamber atop her back.
She nodded in respect. "You as well, Elder." She turned away as the charizard spread her wings and flapped away. A powerful roar erupted from one of the dragonite behind her as the firedrake soared into the sky.
A pained scream drew her attention back to the battle at hand. One of her men stumbled away from the line, clutching at his shield arm. A mangled pikachu was clamped onto the man's bicep, undead teeth tearing into living flesh as the man flailed about. The gap in the shield wall widened as the undead hordes forced themselves into the opening. Her men sealed the hole with practiced ease, dispatching the abominations that snuck through their defenses in moments.
"Lady Clair!" she called, searching for the woman's icy blue hair. The line was beginning to buckle, and the true battle would soon begin. For the first time, Mira felt truly scared that they would not prevail. A rumble from the dragons behind her dispelled the thought as easily as it had appeared.
The woman appeared at her side, her hand nervously gripping the hilt of her blade. "My Queen, " she replied curtly, eyes scanning the ragged line of men that stood between the two women and the dead. Their remaining forces were far too outnumbered for her comfort.
"We become legends today, " she said softly, looking at the weapon in her lap. "Our names will live on in songs and stories." She raised her spear, admiring it as Clair shot her a puzzled look. "Because we will hold the line!" she shouted, voice clear over the moans of the dead. "Our descendants will rejoice in our names because of the sacrifice that we lay down here today." She pointed her spear forwards as the line of men finally bucked under the hordes of the dead. "Charge!" she exclaimed, heels digging into her rapidash's haunches.
Clair roared in response, her dragonair already surging into the charging horde of undead. She leapt off its back as it drove headlong into the horde, impaling a raticate that was missing an eye through its empty socket. The undead beast crashed to the floor as Clair whirled about, dispatching a trio of shambling humans that lumbered towards her with merciless ease.
The Queen thundered past her, goring the abomination that had been about to tear Clair to pieces through the eye. The undead human collapsed as Mira's spear tore through its rotting skull with ease. Her rapidash reared back, crushing through the undead abominations that rushed towards her with its hooves. "Fire blast!" she ordered, slipping from the horse's back and impaling yet another abomination through the knee. It dropped to the ground, unable to support its own weight on its newly shattered kneecap. Mira slammed the edge of her shield into its jaw, nearly decapitating the creature in the process.
An explosion of flames tore from her rapidash's mouth, burning a fiery path into the hordes of undead. The fireball slammed into the ground and exploded, throwing dozens of walking corpses into the air. Her rapidash spat a torrent of flames at the few corpses that still stumbled towards them.
The Queen's ursaring bounded over the flaming horse, barreling into a pack of corpses that had avoided the flames. The ursaring decimated the undead in moments, crushing them easily under her massive paws. She turned and roared, a ball of energy gathering in her massive jaws. A beam of brilliant light burst forth, cutting a down a swath of the horde as if they were wheat before a scythe.
"My Queen," called Clair. She pointed her blade towards the rocky cliffside that sat above the plateau. "Trouble with the King, " she shouted.
Mira turned away from the battle, trusting her pokemon to protect her for the moment. A charizard fled into the sky, Lance's dragonite in dogged pursuit behind it. They disappeared into the clouds, flashes of light illuminating the battling dragons through the storm.
A roar of pain drew her attention back to the battle at hand. The horde of undead abominations had crept closer to her while she'd been distracted. Her ursaring swung one of its massive paws, sending a trio of the corpses tumbling over each other. Another ball of flame erupted forth from her rapidash, throwing more corpses through the air with its explosion.
A maniacal laugh split the air, seeming to come from the shadows under her ursaring. Without warning, the massive bear dropped as if it were a puppet whose strings had been cut. It whined as it struggled to rise, a sound that Mira hadn't heard since it had been a teddiursa cub. She put her hand on her starter's side, attempting to calm her bloodthirsty beast.
"It's gonna be alri-"
Her ursaring turned, snapping her jaws at Mira's hand with a vicious snarl. Her eyes blazed with purple light, betraying her true attacker's identity. She jumped back, jabbing at her possessed pokemon's snout with her spear and forcing its jaws away from her face. Her rapidash turned, hooves slamming into the suddenly violent ursaring's side.
The gengar burst from the ursaring's maw with a spray of blood, leaving the beast's jaws gaping open at an impossible angle. She collapsed to the ground, blood leaking from her open mouth. The gengar's claws raked along the rapidash's haunches as it passed, leaving bloody gashes down the side of the Queen's mount.
A man in purple robes appeared beside the Queen, psychic energy radiating off his form. The gengar screeched at him, a ball of shadowy energy forming in its claws. A barrier sprung to life in front of him, deflecting the shadow ball into the dirt where it exploded info shadows.
The gengar cackled madly and formed another shadow ball in its claws. A pair of disembodied smiles appeared at its side, mischievously grinning at the psychic that had dared to protect their prey.
"Queen Mira, " said the psychic. "You must go. This is not a battle for mortals."
"I will do no such thing!" she spat, glaring at . "This is my war, as much as it is my husband's." She planted the butt end of her spear in the dirt and glanced down at her ursaring's corpse. Solemn determination filled her mind as she mourned her first pokemon. "This war ends to-"
Will's hand brushed against her arm and she felt the familiar suffocation of teleportation. She opened her eyes as he stepped away from her, painfully aware of her new location. He disappeared with a faint pop, leaving her alone in Blackthorn's throne room. One of the dratini that were lounging among the rafters hissed at her, dropping to the floor in front of her.
She shot it a furious look, forcing the dragon into submission with the force of her glare. It slunk away, slithering back up one of the many columns to take its place in the rafters.
She stormed up the steps to Lance's throne, still clutching her spear tightly in her fists. She stopped before the throne, glaring at the empty chair as if she could berate it in Lance's stead. She shook her head, a frustrated smile forming. She sat down in Lance's throne, exhaustion setting in as the adrenaline rushing through her veins started to fade. "I'm getting my own damned throne, " she said absentmindedly.
The door to the hall swung open, a half dozen servants bursting through the door. "My Queen, pardon our ignorance. We were not aware you had returned." The gaggle of servants stopped, taking in her ragged, blood splattered appearance with obvious shock.
"Wine, " Mira said, her voice hoarse. "Get me some wine."