Cold.
Deep down in the cold, cold ground Great Kester lay dead.
Once, she led armies and left conquered worlds burning in her wake.
No more.
Once, she wore a crown of iron fangs and all would pray her name and beg her favor.
No more.
Once, she bowed to her Father's hand and stood at his side with brothers cast in her great shadow.
No more.
Now far in the grave all Kester did was drift in the sleep eternal.
Yet even in death, she still dreamed of war.
This is why they needed her. Far above her barrow on the tiny blue moon invaders descended. Their vast engines casting light so bright is looked as if the stars were falling.
From the dry dirt, they pulled her and stitched her broken mind back together. In heavy chains forged in the heart of a dying star they brought her before a towering throne and threw her to the marble ground while a court of shadows encircled her.
She bared her gleaming teeth and against the weight of the sun-forged steel stood and tore out the throat of the guard who had thrown her. She spat bitter acrid blood, she knew the taste well. More bodies moved to restrain her but from the throne came a voice as deep as thunder and filled with command.
"This is her?" the voice echoed rolled around the vaulted ceiling. A voice she had heard before, she smiled and turned her head to the silhouette on the high throne and considered the red burning eyes that stared back at her. Darkseid
"Tis her your, Grace," replied a tall narrow figure beside the throne.
"She does not kneel?" asked the red eyed giant.
"I do not kneel," hissed Kester.
"what if you were made to kneel?" said a figure to her left. A hunched monster with a mane of black hair and a sharp drooling maw.
Kester looked down at the dead guard and shrugged, "Many have tried," she relied evenly, "And I do not kneel," She smiled again letting the ogre see her blood smeared teeth, see her mad gold glowing eyes. The challenge clear. The ogre growled and the guards around her inched closer.
"Kalibak." the throne whispered a steady command, the ogre glanced to it and then stepped back into the shadows. There was the sound of groaning metal and then a slow rhythmic thudding as the giant descended to Kester. Around her in a sudden clash of polished armor and rustle of exotic fabrics the court knelt to their lord.
As he took each heavy step he spoke to Kester. "I am not the vengeful kind. I do not waste my time on such trivial matters," His eyes burned like shouldering coals, "Unlike your father I have always looked beyond the defeats to the grander victory at large," she felt the heat now, pressing against her skull she gritted teeth and held the giant's stare, "But you. You angered me."
He stopped, looming over her in full battle regalia and held up one iron-clad paw, "five score of my own blood. Butchered for the pot. Drowned in the mud. Burned at the skate. Tossed to the void. Left to rot in the sun." the pain became too much and Kester collapsed to one knee shaking as the pressure began to crush her, but against the agony she turned her head up and smiled with a mad fire in her eyes.
"They squealed at the end," she whispered as blood trickled from her nose, "Like little pigs, they screamed and squealed." The giant held her stare a moment longer then turned in a swift motion and the pain vanished in that instance.
"I would see you hung from the highest tower, your guts laid bare, your heart cleaved beating from your chest and unleash such terrors upon your wretched flesh that the stars themselves would cry out in fear!" he roared at her in tones more like thunder than voice. The shadows cowered from the anger of the demon.
And then he leaned down to her and spoke in softer tones, "But I need you." she frowned up at him, confused.
In the space above them a hologram burst to life. A red orb slowly turning in the air, land and sea clear on its pale surface and tiny glimmering satellites orbiting the world. Darkseid closed his hands behind his back and gazed up at the planet with a strange mix of hatred and…admiration.
"Earth," said the warmonger, "Indigenous population: The Human Race," he almost spat the name.
"Primitives," said Kester, "What interest do you have in them?"
Darkseid turned to her, "You and the Earthlings have much in common," his eyes flared briefly, "Your ability to resist the inevitable is impressive. Many times, I have sent my armies forth and none succeeded," the giant stared round at his court who cowered further back from his blistering eyes. "You will take the planet for me."
"Why would I do that?" she almost laughed, "I am betrayed by Father, but you are still the Adversary. My first Enemy and my last," she spat a gob of blood at his feet.
Darkseid smiled at her and it unsettled her to her very core, "I am not Vengeful," he explained. "But you, Bright Kester, first daughter of High Father, betrayed at the height of your rise, Vengeance is all you have left. Take the Earth for me and I will give you your heart's desire," he loomed above her and offered down a single open palm, "I Darkseid of Apokolips do swear this."
She considered breaking his hand, tearing his throat out or anything except taking what he offered. But then she remembered the knives in her back, watching her ships burn away in orbit and hearing her dear Brothers voices whispering to her as they pushed her into the grave.
They cheer loudly for you, beloved sister, their cruel smiles, Father says too loudly…
Her jaw set hard and she turned her eyes up, feeling the chains give way. She reached out and took the open hand. Vengeance then, best served cold and slick with blood.
"To earth then," she muttered.