29: Smoke

Madame Vadima, the island is in danger!

They've attacked –

We need your help!

The disheveled crowd of pirates had swarmed her sanctum all at once, pushing past each other and raising their voices over one another in order to be heard, to make their points as loudly and as clearly as they possibly could.

Even though she was arguably the most powerful witchdoctor of the Resistance, Vadima was not psychic – she could not simply look within the minds of the crowd before her and piece together the fragments of speech into a coherent phrase that made some sort of sense.

"Who's attacked – who's placed the island in danger?!"

Surely not the Armada – she had thought – they would not dare.

And yet, despite her denial, this was, in fact, what had occurred – and from the first pirate that had spoken, she discovered that the advancing forces were led by a female clockwork, and that they were burning the structures of the island down by the second – killing any and all who stood in their way.

Prima Militus in the lead.

The Commodore was practically a legend – she had been mentioned in every naval tactic and combat textbook that was used by the Resistance for as long as she could remember – as she was older than most of the trainers themselves.

Sixty eight years it was, since the rise of the Armada, since her creation.

The witchdoctor trainer had not bothered to listen to any other descriptions or testimonies of the occurring events – she raced outside, staff in hand, only to see that the entire island had been engulfed in a brilliant mass of flickering orange flames, heavy layers of smoke rising into the air and obscuring the sky, causing the brightness of the distant worlds and stars to turn dull.

Take aim –

Fire!

Although the voice was female, there was no mistaking the monotone of the clockwork soldiers of the Armada – this one soldier in particular, for she knew far more battle tactics and strategies than any one mortal Commander could ever hope to witness in his lifetime.

Vadmia wasted no time in leaping into the fray – the mass of pirates that charged at the phalanx of clockwork soldiers, hurling spheres of energy and axes and blades in a desperate shout to defend their island!

This was their island – their home, their haven – and they would defend it to the death without question.

She brought one of the many multicolored scarves around her neck up to cover her mouth and nose – the enormous layer of smoke pouring from the desolated buildings filled her lungs, making it difficult for her to breathe without hacking or coughing.

Once she had reached an appropriate distance between herself and the mass of clockworks, the witchdoctor trainer planted her feet to the ground, generating a gathering of pure green flame before turning it into a blowtorch of sorts and using her own breath to redirect it at three of the nearest soldiers, incinerating them almost instantly.

The islanders would not lose this one, she was sure – for the Armada could kill as many as they got their hands on, they could destroy every building on the land – and yet, Skull Island would always rise from the ashes, from the smoke, and they would live to fight another day.


I've never actually described Prima from any other point of view other than that of the clockworks - and she's looked at as somewhat of a motherly figure amongst them. However, she's still plenty scary to her enemies, so I thought that it would be interesting to expand on that.

I hope you enjoyed, and be sure to leave a review!

- Severina