Chapter 191 - Running away in fear (2)

If someone were to be watching from the distance, they would see the silhouette of a lonely palace. Majestic and beautiful, if you ignored the fact that it was on the back of a grotesque behemoth. It was picturesque, and the mist that hung upon it with the slowly descending sun, only added to its charm. One might even find it romantic and such words like 'pure' or 'memorable' might come to mind. At least that was how Aleks saw it. Coming from a modern like world, these were adjectives that one from his world might use to describe the scene. 

It was truly magnificent and perhaps something that might only be present within the fantasy styled world he found himself in. His gaze, which gleamed with the light of experience and time worn, peered from behind the eyes of a beautiful young girl. Well, one seeing her in her blood stained armor might not think of her in such a way, but to Aleks she was young and pure. Completely untouched by the world's depravity.

What was he thinking? That cursed life that had suffered an inestimable amount of pain and torture. He who had never lived a life of joy or ever knew the simple pleasure of life that most would take for granted. In his former life, what man or woman wouldn't have wished to live his life of accomplishment? But for the man who had lived such a life, he had only lived a life unfulfilled. 

He needed and he yearned, to validate his existence. He wished to prove that there was a reason for his birth, for his life, and for his death. He was a man who didn't believe he deserved the love that his parents gave him as they lay dying on a blood drenched floor. He was a man that turned away from companionship as he held his dying brother in his arms, the man he had killed with his own hands. And, he was a man who wished for the embrace of a lover that he hated as much as he loved her. 

As he watched quietly from a far distance through eyes not his own, no emotion crossed his pupils. There was no semblance of humanity, no hesitation and no expectation. All was as it should be, all was within his grasp. No matter if his enemy were human or a god, he made no comparison.

"Do not blame me. I am a product of someone else's design.. "

Those were the words he spoke to himself to assuage the guilt that was deep within his soul. That guilt which fed and grew within his twisted shell. 

BOOM!

A scene flashed before his eyes, a memory he wished never to remember, but for some reason it called to him. Perhaps it was the words that Moksha spoke which brought out Aleks's rage, or perhaps it was the glimpse of his past brought upon by the fantastical scene he saw through Lenia's eyes. No, it was surely the explosion which roared with the sound of crumbling walls and brittle bodies.

He wasn't sure, but before his eyes once more was a child. The child stepped lightly in the dark, the lights flickering low. He cried out, calling to his mother and father, but there was no answer. There was a ringing in his ears, an aftereffect of the explosion that blew away a portion of the place he had once called home. There was gunfire, the crackling of flames and dust and smoke caused his eyes to tear.

His feet were wet, sticky, and cold. Wiping the tears, dirt, and smoke from his eyes, he finally looked down. He could see the footsteps clearly, they were footsteps that had been made in blood. His body couldn't respond to the strange sensation and the sight of the blood. No, his eyes were fixed on the bodies of his parents whose blood he had lightly stepped upon. The beginning of his torment and the death of his heart.

BOOM!

The sound of an explosion once more drowned the Steppes in its embrace. It was not a complicated sound, nor was it welcoming. However, that sound ushered in pure and unbridled destruction. The sound reverberated throughout the Steppes and with that sound, the picturesque scene that had been entrenched within the minds of those who were present to see it, began to collapse. It was the crumbling of an era, the silence that came before the end. It was both unimaginable and yet real for all to see. The walls fell, the towers came tumbling down, and the presence that the palace once exuded dwindled until there was complete silence.

Aleks could see it all from Lenia's eyes. He didn't expect anything less, but nonetheless, seeing it was still surreal. With all his power and all his influence, such a simple thing still filled him with an unusual feeling. It was not much different from the feeling he had when he watched his world burn, or when he had seen the corpses of the parents who had shown him all their love.

"Destruction… I know this, I have felt this." He muttered to himself, seemingly bizarre to any who might see.

"But why do I feel nothing?" He could only ask himself without ever knowing the answer.

Why was he different? Why could he feel nothing? This was something which had always irked him and it was something that had never changed despite the passing of incalculable time. Had he felt this way too, that night when he had been steeped in blood?

The Spider Broodmother shook with the collision and to the shock of all those witnessing this scene, the enormous behemoth began to fall. Its body was beyond massive and as it collided with the earth, the earth shook and quaked. The devastation it caused to the land and to those who had been crushed beneath its monstrous form was beyond imagining. The Spider Broodmother screeched in both fear and pain, the sound sending shockwaves that would easily destroy a mortal's eardrums. 

When the dust finally settled, the palace was entirely destroyed after crashing to the ground. Dead bodies were littered all across the area and many of the Dark Elves had been crushed either in the destruction of the palace or underneath the body of the giant spider. The remaining Dark Elves and their army had already begun to run away in fear. Although many died, there were still many alive and they fled in fear. 

Anathema stood up straight after having collided with the Spider Broodmother several times, causing it to come crashing down along with the palace. She was dusting herself off as she gazed at the destruction without any compassion. She smirked as she felt a presence suddenly come flying out of the palace shrieking in rage. It was the Spider Queen whose sparse clothing had become dirty and even more bare from being ripped in the chaos. She was practically n.a.k.e.d as she rampaged towards Anathema and struck with a ferocity that could easily destroy city walls. 

However, to Anathema, it wasn't much more than the tantrums of a child. Taking a moment to admire the scene of her destruction, she pulled back her arm and released an apocalyptic punch that was empowered by all of the strength she could reveal and it collided with the attack of the Spider Queen sending massive sonic quakes through the air. An image of a plagued wasteland filled with bloated corpses appeared behind Anathema's body for a moment before dissipating. The Spider Queen was blown back flying towards the direction she had come from and collided with the Spider Broodmother, causing the creature to screech once more. It had only just attempted to raise its body from the ground only to tumble once more from the collision. 

It was at that moment that the roars of dragons could be heard and two large a.d.u.l.t dragons followed by two younger ones soared through the sky, breathing flames down upon the soldiers and slaves of the Dark Elven army that were running away. The sounds of thousands of stampeding beasts soon followed as an army of Giant Lizards with their riders came charging across the rugged Steppes and collided with the enemy army. 

"Now they show themselves?" Anathema scoffed.

Of course, she had already known they were coming since she could sense them from many miles away. She could also sense the tiredness of the mounts, but their charge was fierce nonetheless. It seemed that they had ridden for a long time without rest only to arrive when the battle was already decided.

The two smaller dragons flew towards Lenia without delay seeing that the battle was already over and as they landed near her, they transformed into the two dragon siblings.

"You have a lot of nerve showing your faces now, when you are not needed. Especially after failing the mission that was given to you by my master."

Lenia didn't hold back her words as she chastised the two siblings and seeing her fearsome gaze while she was covered in blood caused the two siblings to halt their steps for a moment in fear. They may have been dragons, but this woman wasn't inferior to the strongest of them present. 

After collecting herself for a moment and gathering her courage, Ellie stepped forward bravely.

"Our mission was to subdue the Western Steppes, it was not to face off against an invasion of Dark Elves. The numbers we had when we departed for our mission were insufficient to face off against such a large army of Dark Elves. We had never anticipated being attacked by them at such an opportune time. You can't say we failed our mission and we only arrived here now because I was waiting for reinforcements to arrive. If we had known you were here, we would have rushed here sooner."

Lenia gave a derisive laugh, "And just what could you have done against the Spider Queen? If your father were here then that would be a different story, but you all are worthless."

Ellie scrunched up her face in anger, but she calmed herself. She realized that Lenia wanted her to lose her composure.

"I see, our master is watching, isn't he?"

"How do you know that?" asked Lenia suspiciously.

"My father told me a bit about what Demigod's are capable of. Although I don't know exactly how he is able to see across such long distances, it is something which many Demigod's are capable of. My father has his dragon eyes which are capable of seeing across vast distances and he can even catch glimpses of the beyond. Since you were baiting me, I could easily see through your petty attempt to anger me."

"Insolent wretch!"

Lenia raised her gauntleted hand to slap Ellie across the face, but she suddenly stopped. She had been trying to bait Ellie, but had been almost baited instead.

"Hmph! Fine. You are all here now. Have your forces chase the Dark Elves back to their forest and prepare your army. We will be launching an expedition to subdue the Dark Elves and I expect your entire army to participate. That means every dragon capable of fighting and all the Dragonmen you can gather not needed for defending the Western Steppes."

Ellie smiled provocatively, irking Lenia.

"This isn't a problem, but how will we deal with the Spider Queen and her pet? You are certainly not their match."

"Did you not see how we dealt with those two? Or were you too late for even that?"

Ellie laughed while covering her mouth gently with her elegant hand, "You forget that we are on the Steppes and Aleks's domain reaches even here even if not fully. In the Evergloom, the Spider Queen will be much more powerful."

Lenia narrowed her eyes and gave a stern warning, "You should be careful when speaking our master's name!"

Ellie smiled, "He was the one who said it was fine to speak his name. Who are you to go against his word."

Lenia raised her hand once more to strike, but stopped herself again. She decided to ignore this beast in a woman's body's taunts.

"That won't be a problem!" roared a voice as something large came crashing down near where the two females were in conversation. 

"All we have to do is undermine her authority while we build up strength and then when the time is ripe, we crush her. She, and that thing she calls a pet, will only be my equal even in their domain. Once we weaken her authority by decreasing the faith of her people a bit, she won't be a threat!"

Anathema lightly stepped out of a small crater she had made while landing near the two. She was grinning wickedly as she spoke and dusted herself off a bit.

"Well, that wasn't much of a work out, but it was quite enjoyable watching that overgrown spider tumble to the ground!"

Her predatory eyes then fell on Ellie who had immediately become cautious when Anathema landed.

"And you two lizards, it is about time you made an appearance. I expect you to put in quite a bit of work if you want to get back into Aleks's good graces. Hehe, of course if I were him, I would crush you where you stand. Aleks seems to have a use for you all and hasn't fully come over to my perspective just yet unfortunately. All in due time."

Ellie and her brother shivered in fear after seeing the gleam that was in Anathema's eye and her ferocious grin. To them, it was as if a monstrous being that wished to devour them whole was glaring at them without an ounce of compassion or hesitation. 

Ellie's teeth quivered as she replied, "We won't fail again."

"Good! Now let's chase these fleeing rats!"