Gallos' mouth hung agape. The blood from Gagiel spewed like a fountain from his neck, coating both himself and Casteil. In the last day, the oni had not only lost their weapon, but nearly their queen and now the heads of their army.

"M-my queen... How will—" Gallos had begun to stutter.

"Come, walk with me to my tent," Casteil said. "Tell me Gallos, you're a smart man, why have the oni failed every time they've marched from The Abyss to take what's ours?" Casteil slung the blood from the blade of her spear.

Gallos collected the bottom of his jaw. "Because we attac—"

"Because we attacked Le'Dria and tried to take it first. Our leaders were too arrogant to see that Le'Dria's strength is also its weakness."

"What are you suggesting, my queen?"

"There's only one route in and out of the Eye of Life where Le'Dria resides. I'm suggesting we leave a force to hold the pass while our army takes the rest of the realm."

"But all those—"

"Those who've abandoned our way are incapable of defending the rest of the world from our wrath if we seal them here. Think about it. We can come back when we've claimed our empire and burn this city to ruin with hordes of slaves."

Gallos paused for a moment as he considered Casteil's plan.

"Well? Do you see my vision?" Casteil questioned. Her eyes narrowed on his face, watching his fingers scratch at his chin.

"It's brilliant. Far too long have we let pride be our downfall. So then, the change you meant moments earlier meant we mustn't view the mistakes of our past as a weakness, but a failure to learn from?"

"Precisely, Gallos. Your ability to understand the strengths in that which is not clear to others will be invaluable now that you're in command of my army."

"Yes of cour— Wait, that what?" Gallos' eyes grew wide. "My queen, surely you don't—"

"I do, Gallos. I can think of no other to best translate my orders so that the oni don't perceive our leaving Le'Dria unconquered as a sign of weakness."

"Well then, I am honored to be granted with such high rank among your court, my queen. How do you propose we hold Le'Dria while our army decimates the remaining world?"

Casteil looked back on the smoldering city. Smoke rose in columns as proof of her visit from the night prior. The blaze had been quelled by the city's inhabitants—for now.

Casteil let her mind drift back to the events of last night. She estimated the resistance she'd encountered and how many of those had been traitors of the old ways. Her mother's entire force had been comprised of those traitors. Although she wanted to deny it, if the explosion hadn't intervened, her mother would've probably claimed her life that night.

"How many soldiers do you believe hide behind those walls, Gallos? And how many of them do you think were once our kin?"

Gallos stroked his chin some more: "I'd have to guess close to one third or maybe half were once considered to be our own, and at least that many are filthy half-bloods. Enough to rival a sizable portion of our army in open combat."

"Enough that we would want to leave a sizable force behind while we claim Lockshi'Ria, yes?"

"Indeed, but we're only ten thousand strong. We'll need every last soldier with our slaves defeated to take the city."

Casteil's lips curled across her face. "Not if we go to Zizarra first."

"Why in the abyss would we go there?" Gallos furrowed his brow.

The realization of Casteil's intentions dawned on him as she began to speak, "The outcasts are there. Those that would follow us had our laws allowed them to fuck their slaves. Those that were not claimed by The Red Forest or the sand ocean will have made it there. I will go with a small security detachment while you bar Le'Dria from moving against us. We will offer redemption to those who bring slaves fresh or conditioned."

"A brilliant idea as ever, my queen!"

Casteil pushed away the flaps of her elegantly threaded tent. Gallos followed her inside as she tossed her spear onto the fur lined bed and sat in a chair furthest from the entryway.

"Where is my weapon, Gallos?" she asked as she looked around the otherwise empty tent. "Shouldn't he be waiting for my return by now?"

Gallos chewed the inside of his lip. His eyes darted around the tent before they fell on the table with the map of Le'Dria sprawled on its top—the very same map Casteil had used to plan her endeavor the day prior.

"After..." Gallos swallowed the lump that had suddenly formed in his throat. The last thing Casteil had said to him before she left was that he would be fed to her wolves who laid on their own bed of furs in the tent if anything happened to Dante. He cleared his throat: "After the events of the night, I thought you'd like to rest in peace. Besides, he'd spent most of his jewels, so I sent him to feed and replenish them."

Casteil stretched. Gallos was right; the length of the night weighed heavy on her body. She rolled her head on her shoulders, allowing her neck to relieve itself in audible crunches. "I always knew you were a smart man, Gallos. Gather fifteen soldiers and wolves for the journey to Zizarra. I shall make for the Desert of Ira when I awake."

Casteil stood and began to undo her coat. Gallos' eyes lingered as more of her supple breasts were revealed. Casteil gave him a coy look before turning away from him and dropping her coat to the floor.

"Don't you have preparations to make, Gallos?" she said as she looked over her shoulder.

Gallos shook his head: "Yes, my queen."

Casteil waited until she heard the tent flap behind her. She slammed the sole of her foot into the side of her wooden bedframe. "Fucking piece of shit mother! Why can't she see that the only way to save our people is to take what was promised!"

The wolves that laid across the tent from her perked up at her commotion. They paid little attention after realizing her life was not in danger but the furniture around her was again. Casteil ground her teeth as she turned and flipped the table, sending the map fluttering to the ground and the figurines used to plan strategy into every corner of the tent.

She balled her fists and searched for the next object to imprint her mother's face onto when her stomach turned in her gut. Within a single breath, her rage turned to nausea and she ran to the pot near the foot of her bed. Acid burned her throat, and a putrid taste coated her tongue as she spewed the remains of last night's meal into the pot.

Casteil coughed and tried to take a breath, cursing herself for forgetting to breathe during her fit. She was instead choked by another mouthful of acid and half-digested meat chunks. She felt her stomach empty after that, yet she continued to heave into the pot. Each time her stomach felt as if someone drove their heel into it. She choked as much air into her lungs in between until her sickness finally relented.

Casteil rolled back onto her butt and placed a quivering arm behind her to hold herself up. She wanted to stay close to the pot in case her stomach had only calmed for a moment. She heaved in lungfuls of air and wiped the sweat that formed on her head with the back of her palm.

The nausea subsided, and she opened her eyes. The back of her hand was stained black from the soot and smoke that clung to her skin from last night.

"Maybe I should bathe first..."

Fire lapped at Casteil's backside, but the pain was dulled by the amount of blood that covered the blackened marble floor. She watched the crimson drip off the blade of her mother's spear. Despite the blaze that threatened to devour her from behind, all she could hear was the dripping of her father's blood as it rained upon the floor.

Drip... Drip...

"Caste..." her mother whispered lyrically, "Come here daughter."

Casteil brought her eyes along the spear that she'd thought would one day be passed to her. Yggdrasil was its name. Unlike the crescent shape onian spears were known for, this one had a straight blade much like a dagger. There was a glittering gold hilt that bent towards the haft. The haft itself was a dark steel that had been twisted over itself to appear like roots. The bottom held a yellow jewel in its tangles.

It was a stupid thing to notice as her mother stepped towards her. Drip... Another drop of her father's blood hit the floor. Casteil's eyes met her mother's. She bore a sick smile toward her daughter. Drip... Casteil held her breath and took a step backwards. Her heart raced inside her chest. She pleaded her legs to turn and run, but a single step was all her body would give.

"It's for your own good, daughter..." Her mother poised the spear to impale Casteil.

Casteil took another step backwards but felt her foot slide off a ledge instead of falling flat on the ground. Her body followed. She felt the flames wrap around her and watched as her skin melted away. A sharp pain pierced her back on the side she'd knocked the brazier over with. Yggdrasil protruded from her chest. Drip...

Her mother watched from the ledge Casteil had fallen from—watched as her daughter's blood dripped onto her.

Casteil felt the life fading from her fast. Drip... Her eyes closed. Drip... The taste of Iron filled her mouth and lungs as she felt herself go limp. Drip... Drip...

Casteil shot up from her bed. The fur covers slumped from her chest to her waist and she grabbed her side. A searing phantom pain radiated within. She looked at her smooth rosy skin where there had once been an oozing burn from her youth. Had one of the guards not healed her, she'd have had a scar where her hand now held.

"My queen," a soldier said as he ducked under the tent flap.

Casteil whipped her head toward the entrance and furrowed her brow. A pale light flooded into the tent from underneath him. The soldier caught her glare with widened eyes as she covered her chest with her arms.

"My apologies, my queen," he said as he retreated behind the flap.

"What do you want?"

"Our preparations to make for Zizarra are complete. We're ready to leave on your order."

"I'll be just a moment."

"No worries, my queen. Also, Ga— I mean General Gallos wanted me to inform you he's sent a scouting unit to assess the might of Lockshi'Ria while we're away."

Casteil's lips curled upwards. Just the innovative ideals I hoped he would use.

"Good," Casteil said as she grabbed a shirt and her coat. "I'll look forward to," she paused to pull the shirt over her head, "hearing what information they gather when we return." She grabbed her spear while pushing an arm through one of her coat's arms.

Casteil ducked under the tent flap, switching the spear in her hands and pushing her other arm into the coat. "To the City of Sand then."