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1
Ande’ie
Last night I went to bed in a world of drudgery and boredom. I stared out the casted glass window of the castle over the countryside of Pluria, my country’s greatest ally.
My life stretched out before me—a never-changing, endless cycle of meetings, diplomacy, and parties with overdressed people who didn’t really care about anything.
I thought there could be nothing worse than waking up this morning to the same routine. The insanity of doing the same thing every day, but expecting a change.
As it turns out, I was wrong.
2
Ande’ie
Screams and a great rumbling shake the castle walls, interrupting my slumber. It’s probably just a ground shake.
I feel as if my head just hit the pillow. Dazed and disheveled, last night’s headache still pounding in my brain, I force myself to cross the room to the armoire. Light from the two moons beams in through the window, illuminating my clothing options in shades of pink and gold.
I want to wear something simple, but I know better. Late at night, unknown situation outside. I heave a sigh and reach for the black undershirt. Black skirt, metal-reinforced leather corset, arm protectors, boots, belt, short swords.
It sounds complicated, but this armor is like a second skin. I’ve worn the same style since birth. It’s fitted, perfect. I’m able to get in and out of it in under a minute.
I run for the turret stairs, hoping the others will take the main steps. Unfortunately, we all had the same idea. We shuffle downward far too slowly, packed like sardines into the tiny spiral stairwell built for no more than two people walking abreast. One of my sheathes clinks against another and I look up to see the ambassador from Luthinia.
I’m not surprised it’s another government official. Most civilians don’t wear armor these days, especially if they can’t afford metal reinforcements. Leather does nothing against guns and bullets that are rapidly gaining popularity. Even though most civilians don’t have them, swords are still going out of fashion. But we don’t care about fashion, do we, girls? I caress the hilts of my two short swords. They’ve saved my life many times.
The screaming has stopped briefly, but the feeling of restrained hysteria is in the air. We don’t know yet whether to panic or not. And it’s late and we’re all climbing down ten flights of stairs.
I can see the exit two flights below when suddenly the sirens stop. Screams split the air, then cut off suddenly. People turn and start pushing us back up the steps. I feel my own sense of fear rise.
You’re a trained warrior, Ande. Assess. Gather equipment. Take action.
But to do that, I’m going to need a better view. I join the people beside me and try to push the people above me back up.
Regret floods me as I’m squashed between the two opposing forces—those coming down and those going up. I should have listened to my father and brought a contingent of guards with me on this trip. But I’d stupidly thought I was safe, telling myself, you’ve been to Pluria at least a hundred times before.
I finally succeed in getting to the third floor and throw open the door to exit the stairwell. I sprint toward the middle of the floor. I remember a balcony that overlooks the entrance, the front wall of the first few floors of the front of the castle made of glass. It will give me a good view of the entrance and the courtyard just outside.
The country is at peace, I think, trying not to panic. No enemies, uprisings, not even a strong political conflict in the ten years since the Great War.
Reaching it, I look down. My heart sinks into my stomach. The scene before my eyes is beyond belief. People dead in the courtyard, more running past, screaming, as huge…metal machines?...run behind them. The machines look almost like metal people, but their legs are weirdly shaped. They run awkwardly, hitting the people with some kind of blue light. Once struck by the beam, the people fall down, twitching and screaming.
This can’t be real. It can’t be.
My heartbeat starts to pound in my ears. I blink several times, but the image remains.
So it’s not just a hallucination. Better get a grip and start thinking before I end up dead, too.
What are these shiny metal creatures? Where did they come from?
I see a small craft land in the courtyard amidst the chaos.
Landing? Did they come from… the sky? Or even worse… space?
The thought makes me shudder. If these metal people are from space they are a lot more advanced than us. Did they only land here—or in my kingdom, too? If they did, how can we fight them?
I wonder if I should go back up to my room and hope they don’t search the entire castle. But then a swarm of the metal things shoots out the front glass doors and windows, and the windows fall to the ground in an enormous crash of tinkling, shimmering glass.
Oh, shit. Run? Or hide?
The metal things stream in through the open glass and I have only seconds to make a decision. My heart pounds in my head, my ears buzz, and my entire body shakes like a leaf in the wind. I’ve battled men, women, even wild animals, but nothing like the enemy I see before me.
Run. But back up to the room, or out the back doors into the gardens behind? Maybe I can go around the side and use the element of surprise.
The metal things marching up the stairs make my decision for me. I run on shaking legs to the opposite end of the castle than I came from and turn right, to the servants’ stairs at the back of the building. Thankfully, the stairs are empty. I guess most of the servants have already left.
I descend as fast as I can, almost tripping between flights in my haste.
In battle, seconds can mean the difference between life and death.
I never expected battle here, but thank the gods I made Father train me for it.
Just inside the door that leads to the gardens behind the castle, I stop, pausing to calm my frantic breaths. I can’t run out heaving if stealth is necessary.
Where can I go?
For the first time, I realize I don’t know much about Pluria’s capital city beyond the castle, the stables, the armory and a few close restaurants and shops. And that’s when it hits me! The armory. We need weapons.
Feeling calmer with a destination and plan of action in mind, I open the door slowly. It creaks and I wince. Nice. Why don’t you just announce it to them?
The coast is clear, so I exit and sprint down to the end. I turn to the right, running toward the front of the castle and the courtyard. I peek around the corner of the castle and see that the courtyard is still a frenzy of activity, with the metal things shooting at all who emerge. A few warriors are battling them – and losing.
I run behind the hedges around the courtyard, heading to the armory just past the gates. But just as I round the corner to the entrance, I see one of the metal things standing in front. I guess it must have heard me coming because it looks right at me.
Fuck it.
Father always says the best defense is a good offense, so I spring at the metal thing in a high kick, aiming at the weapon, fingers poised to grip its shoulders. I kick the weapon as hard as I can, and to my amazement, it flies out of the thing’s grip and clatters to the dirt. Not so strong then.
I wrap my legs around it and try to rip off its head.
Its arms come up and grip my wrists.
I see a button on the right side of its neck and press it. The head begins to come off, and I rip it as hard as I can. It doesn’t detach how I expect and I quickly realize it’s some type of head covering. I throw it as far as possible before turning back to the being inside.
Not a metal thing, but an upright, walking…
mountain cat. It’s fierce, with sharp fangs and a growling yowl that sends shivers down my spine. Its fetid breath washes over me.
I don’t have time to reach for my swords, so using two fingers, I jab it as hard as I can in the eyes. It screeches, a horrible sound, then begins to turn and spin. Now or never.
I jump off and start running down the dusty road, hoping I’ve bought myself a little time.
No such luck.
It gives another angry, yowling snarl and hisses at me. It’s after me in a flash, the suit barely slowing it. I sprint away without thinking, and quickly realize I have only a few more steps before I hit the main road.
If I’m going to die ten thousand miles from home, I’m at least going to take some of these metal cat-monsters with me.
I unsheathe my swords and prepare for the worst.
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About the Author
Immortal Angel has lived a hundred lifetimes all in one. She's a mother, a sister, a daughter, a wife, and a best friend. She's traveled the real world, enjoying what our three-dimensional reality has to offer. She's hiked the stairs inside the Eiffel Tower. She's watched a Shakespearean play in a grassy clearing outside of Cambridge, and she's ridden a ferry to Ireland. In Australia, she cuddled koalas, in China, she cuddled pandas, and in the Middle East, she cuddled camels. And every time she opened a book, she entered a world beyond this one, one where the only limits are the imagination.
So many lifetimes of adventures have inspired her to reach beyond this planet to the stars above and to worlds rooted in fantasy. Her romances in space are meant to take her readers on their own adventures, imagining new and exciting place. With hot men. And maybe a few sexy aliens too.
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