On Astral Tides: From Humble Freelancer To Astral Emperor

Outside the tall, arched window, the sky was a dark grey, so grey in fact the sky itself seemed to contain green hues. Thick flecks of white were drifting down, in an endless curtain, blanketing the landscape of the gardens with white. Trees, bushes and frozen fountains were all swallowed up by the blizzard, as if the world was painted by a giant’s brush, what was there before wiped away.

Would that it could be, and that… we could start again. Adoria let out a quiet, bitter sigh as her amber eyes, with hints of pink within, turned their gaze away from the snowy gardens. The room itself was warm, servants having lit the fireplace in her chambers, and a blazing fire was roaring, the only sounds in the room the crackling and sparking of the burning wood, and the soft breathing of her cousin, Kiela, and the faint swishes of paper as she turned the pages of the book she was reading idly.

We no longer fear the cold, our bodies are too strong, but… it is unpleasant still. And the warmth… it reminds us of better, happier days…

Cousin Kiela was as enigmatic as ever, her blue eyes showing almost no expression as she idly perused the book she was holding, the leatherbound tome once again some sort of ancient history or esoteric encyclopaedia, not the tales of romance or heroic deeds that Adoria enjoyed in her quieter moments. Of course, I have read all such books that remain. No… no new ones are being written. Nobody has the time or… or the hope… for such pursuits.

Hesitating for a moment whether to interrupt her black-haired cousin, Adoria finally decided to speak. “Uh, Kiela, it’s thirsty work sitting there reading… do you want some juice?” There was no maid in the room, Adoria’s usual companion having more important tasks to fulfil today, as the castle was… short-handed. Therefore, it was Adoria who took up the jug, kept within a bowl surrounded by ice. Ordinary ice would have melted in the heat of the chamber, of course, but her older sister never forgot to leave her some of her own potent ice, which was slow to melt and seemed almost to pull in heat, keeping the area around it chilled and frigid.

Sister Claira never forgets me, even… even when she has been thrown into endless battles, each more desperate than the last. She’s changed… grown harder, since father never came back. I too… Even Adoria had seen the battlefield, the tides of Demons, their endless rage and evil cloying, making her tremble… Though I only stood at the back, helping to mop up stragglers, just to train and enhance my gift. Light… light can purify the corrupt and the wicked, but compared to the frozen, white world sister Claira can conjure, I am still pathetic…

Pouring herself a goblet of the fruity liquid, Adoria felt tears well up in her eyes. Even this was a luxury now. Yes, winter was often a time of scarcity, but the farmlands, orchards and fields were going untended, or had fallen under Demonic control all around the surrounding nations, so… supplies were running down, ever more swiftly.

“Oh, a drink? Yes.” As usual, her words were few, but that was almost comforting, somehow. Kiela had bloomed over the last months, growing a few inches taller, and looked less a frail girl and more a young woman now. I just wish I had become more like my sisters. I am taller, yes, but… my chest hasn’t grown at all!

Thinking such inane thoughts, she poured Kiela the rich, fragrant liquid . “So… you really are fine?” Adoria asked, handing the goblet over.

“You… worry too much.” Kiela shook her head, the lace in her hair tying up her raven locks jiggling. “I was not scared. I… I am a Princess too, even if I am a Duchess.” She titled her head, as if puzzled. “It does not make sense, but… Cousin Elenya explained it to me. Different Princess.”

“As if that matters…” Adoria managed a quiet, bitter chuckle, amazed that her cousin would speak so many words at once. Though she has opened up more to Elenya. And… I’m glad elder sister has someone to talk to. Considering… “You know what I meant.”

Kiela nodded, lips curving into a slight smile as she sipped the refreshing, still cool juice. “I was not scared.” she repeated. “It was… only a scouting party. Besides… my claws are strong…” At that moment it was as if the light of the fire and the lamps around dimmed, shadows creeping into the edge of the room, and then… a series of rapid thuds occurred, and as the shadows were banished, Kiela was smiling proudly, her usually taciturn face expressing a slight pride, her blue eyes sparkling. “…I cut them all apart like that!”

“Oh Kiela…” Adoria couldn’t help but shake her head, exasperated. The stone fireplace was now scored by a number of sharp gashes, the stone split open and polished to a mirror, glasslike sheen. It’s oddly beautiful, but… we are in for a scolding…

“You shouldn’t break my room! It’s true though… your Darkness was powerful. I’m… glad you were safe. To think that even heading back to your estate you’d be attacked. There shouldn’t have been any way for the Demons to get past the border forts… I know mother was enraged and was demanding explanations.” That’s an understatement! After… after father never came back, when the Noble Elves were attacked en route to our kingdom… mother has changed. And… we’ve had more incidents. But… with sister Claira standing strong… we’ve gained a measure of peace.

“I’m jealous though. My Light… I can’t make it work like your Darkness, Kiela.” Finishing her juice, cheeks puffed out in a sullen pout, she flounced down on the sofa, next to Kiela’s chair. Kicking her stockinged feet, enjoying the warmth from the blazing fire, she grumbled. “You… you might even be able to rival sister Claira, she says. Me… I’m… I’m useless!”

“Cousin Elenya says the same.” Kiela suggested, surprising Adoria. As she began to deny it, Kiela closed her book with a thud, laying it down gently. What’s the title… it’s in the ancient tongue again. And the sort of lessons we as Princesses would have had in the past… there’s no time for them now. Only… only for marriage and battle. Sister…

“Wind can fight. Just like Light. But perhaps you have another purpose.” Kiela traced the cover of the book idly with one finger. “For words are wind, and light… light illuminates the way in the darkness. Me… I can only hide, and devour…” She seemed sad, though with Kiela it was usually hard to tell.

“You never used to speak this much.” Adoria sighed. “Battle… battle changes us all, so my sisters say.”

“And they are right.” Kiela agreed, finishing her juice. With a gesture, darkness surged again, and the fire dimmed down, leaving only a few logs smouldering. “Too hot.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t wear that lace and velvet dress then?” Adoria retorted. She herself was in a thin, almost shift-like, silk dress, in a pale ivory, so thin as to be almost see-through. It wasn’t proper to be seen in such for an unmarried woman, of course, but… most of the servants were women, and few still remained. “No matter the weather or the temperature, you always dress the same. It’s cute, but… a little gloomy.”

“I feel calmer this way.” Kiela explained. “Calm… cousin Adoria, please do not worry. Everything will be all right.”

“You’re trying to console me now? I may be the youngest sister, but… you’re younger than me, Kiela!” Adoria protested. “Yes, you fought a genuine battle, not like the mopping up I did, but… I’m still your older cousin! I should be telling you everything is all right!”

“That would be… amusing.” Kiela blinked, and Adoria felt frustrated and offended for a moment, before Kiela narrowed her eyes. “Things… have improved, yes?”

“You mean the war effort? Sister Claira and Princess Demera have been performing miracles. Some say that sister is the very Goddess of Ice reborn. I… hope not. The Goddesses haven’t given us much, have they? Else this never would have happened.” Adoria shook her head, pink braids flailing. “I know that the war seems to have moved on from us… that other countries are facing the brunt now… but still… nothing has changed.”

“True.” Kiela agreed. “No matter how strong cousin Claira is, or Princess Demera and her brothers, or even…” she hesitated to speak, and Adoria felt the same way. Mother grows furious if her cousin is ever mentioned. But their kingdom is holding, supposedly…

“…it does not matter. The Demons are endless. We are not. But that does not mean… there is no hope.”

“I wish I could see it.” Adoria sighed. “Father… and sister Elenya’s marriage. I hate that toad…” she spat with venom, and Kiela let out a soft chuckle.

“Be nice, cousin. Soon he will be your brother.”

“Ugh, the thought upsets me!” she cried, kicking her legs furiously on the sofa. “I hate him! He’s got those disgusting, creepy eyes, and it’s like he’s licking me all over! Sister Claira hates him too, but she won’t say. Her own marriage… maybe that’s why she fights so desperately, almost never returning from the front lines in allied countries?” Not that there’s many of those left. Every year, another one or two smaller nations are consumed… we haven’t heard from the Noble Elves since… since father…

“He is not that bad.” Kiela surprised her by defending Barbro. “Besides, what does it matter?”

“Matter? I don’t want my sister to marry a womaniser like him. Even now, rumours go around he’s still having relations with multiple women, despite being engaged to sister Elenya! I hate him! He’s gross!”

“Sure.” Kiela shrugged, seemingly unconcerned. “In the end… we were on this path before we were even born. Can you think of another?”

Adoria gnawed at her lip, “I know we have to nurture the power of the Elements. I know we have privilege and power because of our gifts, but… it’s too cruel. What of love?”

“Love? What of it?” Kiela picked up her book. “Here. See?” She opened it up to an image of the world. It was a globe, surrounded by shimmering beings composed seemingly of Elements. Fire, Ice, Water, Wind, Light, Darkness, and others even Adoria wasn’t able to understand. Outside the world a great void was depicted, and from the edges, in the corners of the pages where they were hard to see, small gleaming eyes and wicked mouths were drawn. “We are the shield… what shield gets a choice on who carries it, or what blows it withstands?”

“But that’s…” Adoria blinked, peering at Kiela intently. For a moment it was almost like she was an entirely different person, and not just in the way she had said more words this afternoon than she would normally say in a month. Then Kiela tilted her head childishly, blue eyes wide with knowing curiosity, and then that feeling was gone, leaving behind… a sense of foreboding. “…that’s… not fair!”

“Then what would you do?” Kiela asked, suddenly sharper, more insistent. “Abandon everything? Run away? Leave your subjects and your duty to the Elements?”

“I don’t… I don’t know!” She pulled at her pigtails, frustrated. “I just… isn’t there a world in which we can be happy?”

“Not here.” Kiela shook her head, and the book flipped to another page, the image of a desolate place, the skies filled with brilliant flaming lights, and beyond it… a landscape with but a single moon, and unfamiliar stars, the constellations unknown, fictitious. “Not here. But… all is not lost. Cousin Elenya… she is stronger than you imagine.”

I know. Adoria’s eyes were shimmering wetly, tears of frustration brimming up until she blinked them away. I know. Both my sisters are strong. Too strong. Mother too. Why is it only I’m the pathetic one? Even Kiela… even poor, silent cousin Kiela, is trying to cheer me up. Fine. I’ll… do my best too. And… I’ll try to be there for sister Elenya, though… I’ll never like that bastard Barbro. I’ll keep an eye on him too… what if he’s been messing with Kiela? I wouldn’t put it past him, the pervert!

***

“Once more I am dismayed that our marriage is again postponed, my beloved Elenya…” The slimy bastard Barbro, sister Elenya’s fiancé, grinned in a way he surely thought was charming, but Adoria could see right through. He was handsome enough, tall, with brown hair and eyes, and despite his playboy reputation, which was well justified, Adoria knew, he had stepped up on the battlefield recently, his skill with Wind not to be underestimated. For the task of carrying on the lineage of Wind, strengthening the next Princess born, it was a perfect match, it was just… he is such scum!

He had placed a hand on sister Elenya’s bare shoulder, and one finger was twirling her deep green hair almost tenderly. In her gown which matched her hair and eyes, she was like a jade statue, regal and imposing.

I know you are beautiful, eldest sister, but… that doesn’t mean he can covet you!

Before she could speak, Elenya did first. “Barbro, you know why the delay. Right now I cannot afford to fall pregnant. Not with matters as they are…” She paused, glancing at Adoria, who had met them by chance as she headed to see their mother. “…my skills are meagre, yet I shall stand on the battlefield. I can at least deflect arrows and rocks with my tempest, and break formations.”

“But…” Barbro leaned in for a kiss and she turned her face, so that his lips met her cheek. “…how cold you are. I am to be married to you, darling Elenya, and what man could resist a beauty such as you for these many months? Have a heart.”

“You know why. Have patience. There are plenty of… look, Adoria, this is not a conversation for young ears. Although…” Her jade eyes narrowed. “…I know mother believes she has found a potential match for you too.”

For me? I knew it would happen soon, but… Feeling a sense of dread, she tried to plaster on a smile, before Elenya, surprisingly, patted her head tenderly, while Barbro looked on, a smug, superior smile on his annoying face.

“Do not despair, little sister.” She batted Barbro’s hand away with her free hand, and he chuckled. “Nobody wishes for you to suffer, least of all me. A lot can change in a short time. Just… think about what you want.”

“What I want? We… don’t get what we want. You should know that, sister Elenya.” Adoria was feeling sick, yes, but her worries for her sister were more real than her own. After all, sister Elenya is being pawed by… by that creep!

“Not if we… simply accept the way things are.” Elenya agreed. “Look, stop that, dear Barbro.” Elenya batted away his hand again. “Not in front of my sister.” ᴡ ᴏᴠʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛʀs ᴀʀ ᴘᴜʙʟsʜᴅ ᴏ novelꞁire.net

“But…” His voice dropped, eyes narrowing cunningly. “I promise, I’ll pull out. You know you want to…”

Pull out?

Seeing Adoria’s confusion, Elenya flushed a deep red, unusual for her, as she was always so calm. Her eyes were now not merely jade coloured, but as hard as that rare, precious stone. “I. Have. Told. You. I cannot afford to be pregnant now, and who can trust a man to keep to his word? Wait. For. The. Wedding. Or am I not worth waiting for? Go play with your … other… entertainments. Besides, I have much to do.”

“Your lack of trust upsets me.” Barbro turned to Adoria and gave her a grin, which made her shiver, feeling repulsed. “Your older sister is quite… firm. But I respect her drive to do whatever is necessary to fulfil her desires. I just wish she was… a little more friendly.”

At Elenya’s cool gaze, he chuckled. “I shall be off then. Until later, my beloved, and my dear cute sister-in-law.” He spun on his heel and stomped off, boots clicking on the tile floor. Watching him go, Adoria bit her lip in frustration hard enough to make it bleed, only for her sister to grab her cheeks, turn her head and start wiping off the blood, clicking her tongue.

“Do not mar your skin so.” Elenya tutted, a cool breeze tickling Adoria’s lip. “A woman should remain beautiful.”

Letting her sister tend to her, despite it only being a minor nick, Adoria complained. “Why? If it’s just for… for him! I hate him, sister! He’s vile. How… how can you bear him? All he wants is your body, sister!”

“No, you are young yet, you would hardly understand.”

“But…”

“Yes, he is… a lusty man. But he wants more than merely my chastity. He is strangely driven and ambitious. Regardless…” Her eyes glittered coldly. “…not that we have much right to consider these matters, but remember well… when a man makes you promises regarding your body or love… do not trust blindly. Men are simple creatures, and will promise and yet lie to get what they wish. I cannot afford… the passing on of my powers now. Wind is not strong, but…” She paused. “…you disdain his womanising, yes? As do I. Yet it is useful. Men crave novelty. But they can still be satisfied with a feast they have already eaten. It is best to keep him occupied. I have no time for it.”

“But… aren’t you… upset? I know he’s unpleasant, but… even so, he has no loyalty!”

“I demand loyalty in… other… matters. There. All done.” She finished wiping Adoria’s bleeding lip until it sealed. “Adoria…” Eleyna’s change of tone surprised her. “We should talk.”

“All right. I… was just going to see mother, but she’s probably busy.”

Adoria was led to another smaller side room, one of the archives, where books and rolls of parchment and other documents were accumulated. It was cramped, claustrophobic and dark, but with a proud smile, Adoria conjured a little floating orb of light, illuminating the area.

“You have been practising. As have we all. I wish it was not necessary, but…” Elenya fell silent for a moment, before finally speaking. “Claira is a woman possessed. A true Goddess of Ice. It… grieves me. I wish… I wish I was stronger. That my Wind could be a storm that would blow aside all obstacles…”

“Me too!” Adoria cried, grasping her older sister’s hands. “I hate that I’m so ineffective. Why, even Kiela is powerful on the battlefield, though… she should never have been there. I don’t get it…” She was puzzled. “…the battlefield has been pushed back, so… why were Demons so deep in our kingdom?”

“Take a look.” Elenya pulled down a scroll and unrolled it. It was covered in neat, tiny letters and figures, and seemed to be a record of Demon numbers.

“These are… statistics for the last fifty years?” she asked, amber eyes wide. “Of… Demon numbers?”

“It is not an exact science, but fortunately every allied kingdom dispatches observers to the battlefield to make tallies. There are many crippled soldiers beyond healing, or widows who hate the enemy that killed their husbands, prepared to risk their lives to record the enemy movements and strategies. And of course, the alliance shares such data.”

“In that case… why… we are killing so many, but they never decline!” Adoria was frustrated. “Whereas even with… the re-risen…”

“Here.” Elenya handed over another scroll, this one detailing battlefield casualties for their kingdom and also population trends. “See?”

“It… is dropping. Faster and faster.” Her tone was mournful. “Sister, what… can we do?”

“As it stands, nothing.” Her tone was cold, and Adoria blinked, surprised. Seeing that, Elenya’s stern expression softened. “I do not mean to scare you, but… the pattern is clear. And… the Queen Consort…”

“Father…” Adoria corrected, and Elenya shrugged.

“As you wish. Then, father… is no longer with us. The Noble Elves are silent, and worse, none have seen Vudorixas, the Dread Massacre, upon the battlefield in years. Our only conclusion is that the Demons have established their strongholds in fallen kingdoms, and are either receiving a flow of constant reinforcements, or… their production of the re-risen and even the soulless, exceeds our own. We kill five for every one of ours who falls when their shock troops are deployed, though… we do not have even one of us for every ten of them, not if we wish to continue fighting year after year.” Her words were harsh and not the usual gentle ones that Claira used to give her, promising that they would triumph. “As the population dwindles, lands lie fallow, weapons and armour cannot be repaired, and already the birth rate is declining.”

“Are you saying… we’ll lose? That we will all die? By the Elements, I don’t want you and sister Claira to die. Cousin Kiela neither! Nor mother!”

“Not mentioning my… dear… fiancé?” Her tone was dry.

“Don’t mock me, sister Elenya!” Adoria cried out, upset. “This isn’t the time for humour!”

“I should not tease you.” Elenya’s words were fond, but Adoria… There’s something wrong. Elenya seems… off… somehow. Though it’s probably having to put up with that lecherous creep. How she can let him touch her skin I have no idea. If only he would perish before the wedding…

“Thinking I would be better off without him?” At her words, Adoria flushed in shame, but she managed a firm nod.

“You deserve better, sister! We all deserve better!”

“Deserve? I dare say we do. Many deserve better than to be trampled underfoot by the Demons. Towns razed, entire countries ablaze. But we have a responsibility, do we not?”

“Yes, but…” She began to bite her lip in anguish again, only for Elenya to tut harshly, and she loosened her jaw, before letting out a long, slow breath. “It isn’t fair. Even now, sister is out on the battlefield, risking her life, and her reward is…”

“Carrying on the Elements. Birthing a shining star that will be greater than herself.” Elenya agreed. “Mother says giving birth to us was a great joy. I do not doubt it. You… are our treasure, Adoria.”

“But you are mine too.” Adoria insisted, touched and tearful. “I hate this! I hate… I hate the Elements!” She was shocked she had spoken it, and expected Elenya to be angry, but she thought she glimpsed a strange expression, one out of place for a moment. No, my… imagination, surely.

“We are from the Elements, and return to it. After doing our duty. Though… with Lightning, Earth and Flame already… extinguished… perhaps this is the final generation. Or maybe our children will carry on our legacy, but…” Her finger tapped the documents. “…there is no victory even the wise can see.”

“None?” Adoria’s chest ached. “None at all?”

“Not by the methods we have been using.” Elenya agreed. “Mother… wished to shield you from this. Claira too, but… you deserve the truth. This is a calm before the storm, and the next storm… will blow stronger than my Winds.”

“Then… what is to be done?” Adoria asked. “I wish… I wish we could just run, find… find somewhere… to be safe, to find peace. But… the whole world is like this, isn’t it? By the Elements…” Adoria still swore by them, despite her earlier anger, the habit of a lifetime ingrained into her. “…I wish… I wish someone else would take up the burden.”

Elenya smiled brilliantly then, further shocking Adoria by stroking her head. As she leaned into this rare display of affection from her eldest sister, she realised her sister was speaking, so softly she couldn’t hear the words clearly.

“…be well. All… soon… forced us to… one’s… the price…”

A gentle, warm breeze enveloped her, and softly, her eyelids started to droop, as sleep crept up on her. I haven’t… rested well recently. I’ve been… so worried. Mother… sisters… Kiela… what… what do we do? Oh, how I wish… when… I wake… this will all… have been… a bad… dream…