The night brought with it a mildness not seen in several months. It was the third night in a row that such cool temperatures had reached this part of the country. It was an indication that long nights were on the horizon.
Nights like these could be rather still and solemn. Enough warmth remained to discourage one from being overly active, but the chill was enough to dull movements too. When the master of the house is away at the same time, it can rob those left behind of come of their energy all the more.
It was a dark night. Though clear, there was no moon. It was a ways to the city, so there weren't a lot of artificial lights around. Still, one could see the stars all the better this way.
All around, it was a pleasant night. Several years ago even this place was a scene of war. For it to now be so blessed as to be graced by a silent night such as this, was something once thought all but impossible. It made for a wonderful thing that nights like this were a routine now, rather than an exception; one readily accepted as normal, rather than feared as fleeting.
As a silent black shadow passed far overheard, those below took no real notice. Someone in the city had seen by chance the flicker of starlight. Something had passed overhead just long enough to block out the light for a moment or two. It wasn't anything so much as concerning. Hardly a notice was taken.
For those whose duty it was to guard that vaunted home, there had been no real cause for alarm in quite some time. The most excitement they'd had in years was a squirrel chewing through some exposed cables dug up by some other forest animal foraging for food. They got an earful from their commander about being so lax. But, as she'd later admitted, with as quiet as things had become, perhaps there was an over-relaxation in response to releasing so much pent up stress over the preceding years. For her the answer was to enforce extra training to keep them on their toes. "One bad day is all it takes," she warned them harshly. She'd seen many bad days herself, so she knew what she was talking about. But alas, she was not home this night either.
The master of that house had come into that title only five years earlier. Before then she could most like be described as a homebody in seclusion elsewhere. She hardly ever left her home, rarely ever seen in public. There were good reasons, but nonetheless that was the world she lived then. Now, she was often away from home until relatively late in the evening. She was the number one socialite around now; the hottest ticket money could buy. It was a role she had to grow into for her day job. She usually had fun but lamented the chore at times too. This night was a fundraiser she was attending. She liked these best most often because it felt like there was purpose and meaning behind it. Parties just for parties' sake were bittersweet for her, though some were the most fun she had nowadays and brought back fond memories. She would be returning home under a cloak of darkness, the rocking of the carriage a precursor to easing her into slumber before getting back to work in the morning. She wasn't much a drinker, so that was always a relief. If it weren't part of her job she wouldn't drink at all, as the temptation to overdo it when things were stressful was one she didn't want to test. But most of all it allayed the often mentioned at these parties repercussion of dreading work the next day for the hangover one had after the night of parties.
"What an odd title that would make for," she chuckled to herself as she enjoyed the pleasant night air. Indeed, the Knight of Parties would make for an odd title. It sounded more like an insult granted a knight that liked hanging out at parties to the point of neglecting their duties.
The regular staff had mostly gone home hours earlier. Despite her appearances, or perhaps in spite of them, the master of this house was not inclined to keep a very large staff serving her. It was expected that one of her station would have more people waiting on her hand and foot than she knew what to do with, but she had grown up most of her life not wanting such a thing in the first place.
It had been a long time since that house had seen so genial a master. Past masters of the house were more aggressive, wanton, dare say uncivil. She only asked they do the things she was incapable of doing, not burden with that which she rather not do.
Security was another matter. Were she allowed to manage her own security, the concern was for what would result of it. A past lady of the house was allowed to dictate her own security, and she ended up losing her life. Those close to her fought the current master, forced her to abdicate that responsibility to others, so that she would not have to make such decisions, or by chance repeat the same past mistakes.
But it was a struggle to maintain the edge that such guards required. The five years of service had been notoriously quiet. It was as if the spirit that presided over the world preceding her had come to the conclusion that it wasn't worth it to fight her. That wasn't to say the world itself was perfectly at peace, or even that she was unencumbered by threats and the like. Only, those threats were more plebian than most, and her chief overseers more skilled than their predecessors. But, the general doesn't fight the battle on their own. They rely on their well-trained foot soldiers, common infantry, to carry out the missions that are mundane as well as the ones that are extraordinary.
They hadn't been goofing off, or even neglecting their rounds. But, when a couple of servants came out for some fresh air, it was easy enough for a few guards to come over and carouse with them too. Like the folks who had done the same in the city, they happened to catch sight of a shadow across the pin-dot light of the dark night sky. As was their duty, it concerned them, but only briefly. There was no sound of any mechanical movements, no gears spinning, now engines. It was too quick to be a balloon. There was no sign of contrails, flames of a jet engine's burners. Odd enough to be noticeable, yet unidentifiable and presenting no threat, it was soon put out of mind.
"She should be returning in another half-hour I think," one guard said to one of the servants.
"You think she'll come back with stories about a man who catches her fancy?" one servant tittered.
"Haha, I doubt it," another servant laughed heartily. "If there was a man out there that could woo her, I'm sure we'd know about 'em already."
"We should get things ready for her return home. She's very fond of her tea before bed, and I'm sure she'll be ready to get a nice bath too."
"Yeah," a guard said with a jovial wave. "It's about time for another round anyway. We don't want the Second Flash to come down on us again."
"Is she returning tonight too?" a servant asked as the guards were walking away.
"No. Not till tomorrow I think. She's been taking it easy for once."
As the guards returned to walking the grounds, a small noise caught their attention. It wasn't anything concerning, just… odd. It sounded as though there was a flag flapping in the wind. It was odd, as the flag had been brought in several hours ago, as it was every day at dusk.
Another sound followed. It was a whoosh, like something tossed through the air. That whoosh turned into a roar, like a bonfire being lit. They looked up to see a stream of flames emerge from the darkness in the sky above. It struck the tallest part of the roof and lit it on fire. The flames quickly spread. The guards' faces slowly stretched into a gaunt look of horror.
They gathered themselves and began to scramble back to the building. They had to get everyone inside out of there before the fire spread too far and trapped them. As they were approaching, a massive downdraft pushed the flames outwards, nearly putting them out. The gust was so powerful, it knocked the guards down.
There was then a sound. It was indescribable. It was a roar, that much was certain. But, it wasn't like any beast they'd heard before. It was like the sound of several beasts at once. The building then shook and creaked. Flames erupted once more, crashing through the building and exploding out of the windows. The guards were skewered by a hail of broken glass, splinters of wood the size of a person's arms. Flames raced outwards like a flood of water, engulfing the already mortally wounded guards.
The last thing they saw was a black figure. A beast. Its arms held three long, sharp, claws. It grasped a spire in that claw, a translucent sheath extending from the arm to its body. Its long neck like a kitchen faucet spewed fire in place of water, its angular head ensuring everything was bathed in that flame which billowed taller than the home itself.
The guards saw a person pass by them. Perhaps it was that image that finally carried them away to the next life; the sight of an angel of death.
The city was ten miles from the burning complex, and the light from that burning could still likely be seen ten times further. It was a majestic castle, built in the old style. It had a commanding view of the entire area. It being alit was akin to scaling a mountain and lighting the entire peak ablaze. As late at night as it was, the absence of a moon this night, the light of the fire was the sole commander of the skyline. Those still awake, out on the streets, looked at the visage with trepidation and concern. Five years was not a long time. Only five years ago the old capital was incinerated in an instant. Was this the precursor to another similar incident?
It was already too late to do anything about it if it were. Terror gripped the people who knew enough o be afraid. Yet that they could feel fear was a benediction, a saving word that told them it wasn't as bad yet as they feared. Five years ago, there was no fire to gaze at in the precursor. That they could even contemplate what was going on meant that it wasn't the worst-case scenario. And so their worst fears subdued somewhat, their anxiety remained high, pondering what was going on.
It wasn't long until the scent of the fire began to permeate the city as well. Those still awake in their homes, still shopping in the stores at nine at night, still caught up at work, could pick up the aromas of a building fire; the unique blend of smells of pungent earth, rust, and freshly ironed linen, along with a number of others. It was soon joined by more noxious odors too.
The only place you were like to not see the fire burning was the lone road approaching the home. The fire had not yet spread to the surrounding brush and trees, else they would have seen more than just a bit of illumination over the treelined drive. The irony was that this design was of the intent to make it difficult for intruders to make it up the road without falling to an ambush or secured encampments. It was one of the ideas that went into the construction of the home after the last one was destroyed.
As the carriage carrying the master of the house came to the end of the drive, her home into view, she was horrified at the sight of the whole of it blotted out behind a curtain of fire. The reds and yellows blotted together, set against the pearl whites of the walls now turning ashen and black dust. The vibrant blues like sapphire of the roofs flecked away in the fire, creating an almost bewitching sparkle as the light bounced off the windblown debris.
"Hurry, turn around!" one of the attendants demanded to the driver.
"No, we must go there at once!" she commanded. "We have to see what's happened."
"But it's not safe for you, your majesty."
"If there was an enemy, they would have had to come up this road. We would have seen something like that by now. Hurry, take me to my castle."
When she took her place several years ago, there was only the faintest of inklings that she had the ability to offer such a commanding voice. It lacked somewhat in volume, but made up for it in sternness and authority. One could not readily deny her orders, though one could question if perhaps they should have. Little good would come of having the empress be at the scene of her own castle's burning, regardless the reason for that burning.
But such had been her way these last five years, albeit in less immediately dangerous circumstances. "I've been left out of the way most of my life," she had once said. "Whenever possible, it is my right and duty to be there to act myself, not just allow others to act for me while I remain ignorant and safe."
It was, they knew, a symptom of her past, from when she was younger and had been rendered not even an observer of the world, but only an existence in it. Lame and blind, she could only be cared for by others for almost every aspect of her life. Even her name was taken from her then.
And so her driver and attendant could do little else but obey her word, though the attendant did frantically make calls to alert the nearest Orders of the empress' status. It took only a few more minutes before the carriage reached the end of the road and could only come to a stop before the final path towards the castle.
The path to the castle was an expansive, open, area. There was a series of glistening white stone steps, of the same material as the walls of the castle, that expanded nearly twenty feet across, set in four groupings of about a dozen steps with a large square landing in between each grouping. A ramp straddled either side of the steps in the same basic pattern as the steps, some tolerance on the size of the landing to allow for a smoother incline.
As the young lady exited the carriage by her attendant's aide, her concern was with getting closer to the raging inferno, to see for herself if her great house was really burning once more, or if it were just a terrible illusion.
She froze before getting that far. She'd made it far enough to see the top of the castle. Perched on it, as if the building were its personal nest, was a gargantuan beast. It had likely been eons since creatures so massive walked the earth. But no history book had ever told of a beast like this one. No, it looked more like something out of a fantasy tale. It was more suited for time in memorial in the old country, not her modern-day empire. It was a black beast, with three long, clawed, fingers on each hand, and a membrane between the hands and body to create what were certainly wings. Its skull was elongated, curving down like a beak at the front, extending backwards with a set of horn-like protrusions.
Then it let out a terrible cry, a booming sound that could scare even a pride of lions. It stretched out its neck, opened wide is great maw, and poured out a river of fire into the already inundated castle.
Yet she did not move. She could not move. Her eyes were transfixed to the person that stood a step or two above the landing. It was a woman whose face she knew in her heart she knew, though she shouldn't.
The woman stood two or three inches shy of six feet, but her presence felt much larger than that. Her hair was a dull shade of pink, as if it'd been already coated in the ash that fell like a very, very early snow. Her skin too looked as if it had lost some color, a deathly pale as though she were terrified out of her mind by what she'd seen. But her expression was not that of a victim of this burning, and it was not as a servant of that house that the girl recognized the woman. She had a somewhat quizzical look, as if curious to find herself being looked upon.
A gust of wind kicked up, sweeping the woman's dark plum colored dress, flicking her long hair across her face. But her crystal-like eyes of soft blue-violet never left the master of the house. And her hands never left the hilt of the large black broadsword she was holding, pointed into the stone.
"Perhaps I should say welcome home," the woman said. The sound of her voice sent a chill down the spine of the girl. She swallowed hard, and almost immediately reclaimed her regal comportment.
"Are you the one responsible for this?" she commanded.
"Is that really what you wanted to ask?" the woman replied with a small laugh on her lips. "We haven't seen each other in so long. I would have thought you had other things to ask me first."
"I don't know who you ae. Now, answer my question!"
"All these years, and you still act the same way; making demands and expecting the world will grant them for you. I never did like that about you. That's probably why we always fought all the time back then. And of course you'd run off to your mother or brother. Even you had to grow up one day, I suppose. You must have known the castle was burning, that there might be enemies waiting here for you, and yet you came here anyway."
"You still haven't answered my question." The girl urged.
"Who was it that ruined me, by the way? Certainly, if there was someone whom I would choose to ruin everything of me, he would have been my first choice."
"Shut up! You're… you're…" the girl fumed, incensed into a blind rage.
"There's that temper of yours." The woman said, looking at the girl with scorn. "You get angry, throw a tantrum, and have those around you give you what you want. I would always act like the good girl, the proper princess, and appease you, like everyone else. But, those were blissful days, weren't they? I suppose that is simply what childhood is."
"I don't know you," the girl seethed. "I can't… I could never…"
"I see. Perhaps you haven't grown as much as I thought. It doesn't matter. Today was merely a visit, little sister. I just wanted to say hello. Next time… next time will probably be different."
"What do you mean by that?"
"I've been watching patiently the last five years. I've been waiting to see what would come of the efforts of our dear brother. To be direct, I'm terribly disappointed. I've grown tired of waiting. It seems if I wait too much longer, things will deteriorate to a point beyond repair. You've presided over a rotting world. Now it falls to my dragons and I to fix things."
"What are you saying? Killing those people in the castle, how could that save anyone?"
"A demonstration of my power and will was necessary. This world that is absent faith and mercy must perish so it can be reborn into the sort of world our brother and I once dreamed of together."
"Stop saying that!" the girl erupted. "What you're saying is madness! And you don't know anything about me and my brother!"
"I don't need you to believe me, or understand me," the woman stated with a stern glare. The beast on the castle's roof lifted itself into the air, the beat of its wings fanning the furnace and washing steaming hot air over them. It landed at the top of the steps just behind the woman, a low growl in its throat.
"I moved beyond all that a long time ago," the woman continued. A light grew in her eyes. It was a light that the girl knew all too well, and fiercely chilled her as though she were in a frigid arctic pool rather than dozens of yards from an inferno. In each eye was that dreadful symbol of sparkling crimson, the sigil of a bird. "All you need to do is stay out of the way. It's merely coincidence you weren't home when I set fire to the castle. It won't be a coincidence if you happen to get in my way."
The dragon lowered its head to the ground. The woman spun around, plucking up her sword as if it were a mere prop. She climbed atop the dragon's head, the beast raising its head once more. It let out a final deafening roar, beat its mighty wings, and rose up into the black sky.
The girl's eyes teared up as she watched it fly off. Anger, sadness, and smoke, mixed to send tributaries of salt water down her cheeks. But such small rivulets would not quench the flames that ruined her home, nor save the lives of those who might still be clinging to life. And they would certainly be no bulwark against what that woman claimed to have planned. So in spite the tears she shed, the girl set about her duty, ordering communications with the capital defense order, the emergency response teams, and a number of other arms of her authority.
There was a time when it would have been odd to see this girl carry on with such things, not least of all because she had once been stripped of her right to the throne, and for several years she was thought dead. But once ascending to the throne several years ago, doubt had waned.
"They will question my ability," she thought as she waited helplessly for aide to arrive. "In many ways this burning castle could well be my future too. Is that all our family's fate amounts to now, one burning after another? Is this the way we're meant to atone? I… wish my brother was here to help me. I know he would know what to do. I miss him…"