• COURT OF WHISPERS, THE CAPITOL
The fey Queen, GISELLE VAN IMPERIA sat in solemn quietude in her magnificent throne room. She was locked in thoughts as she played with a fireball at her fingertips. The sheer nature in which she had mastered control over the Fae [Ethereal Light] amazed the handmaidens flowing out at both sides of her opulent ivory seat.
They watched her spin the fireball in her open palm and tried to keep their fear from reaching their eyes.
Giselle was a blondie with some nice fucking tits, but she also would scorch a man to ash in a second.
Her victory against the Nephilims and conquest of their crusade had reached far beyond the citadel and crest of the Capitol to further realms of the Cold Sea. She'd had to say no to several proposals of marriage over the course of the feasting. However, Giselle knew she alone could not have combated the horde of Rumbrun and shared the glory and spoils of war with the Atlantean queen.
Giselle abruptly closed her palm and the flames winked out, the fireball extinguished.
"Romulus?" She addressed the gallant knight who served as her trusted lieutenant. "By Freyja, this hall is too demure for my liking. If that is the last of my suitors for the hour, I would very much like some private time. Has it stopped snowing?"
Ser Romulus bent close to her ear.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Good."
Giselle rose from her throne. Her golden robes scattered the entering light on the dais at her feet. Ser Romulus continued speaking, "but if it is a sight to quench boredom which Her Majesty seeks, there is a wilding fest in the forest trails behind the castle. They celebrate the appearance of something the Eternal Flames.
I don't know what it means but it may provide necessary entertainment to Her Majesty."
Giselle stopped in her sashay out the throne room and looked back to Romulus.
"Did you just say Eternal Flames?"
The appareled knight nodded and Giselle grabbed handfuls of her flowing gold skirt. She ran the rest of the way out the bright hall. This was something ...finally, Giselle pondered, her legs quick under wondrous archways.
She made her way through a middle court framed by the royal gardens, sidestepped a couple of running epiphyte vines, and didn't stop till she reached the first marker on the woody trail.
"Good gods," she whispered under her breath.
The happy folk attempted to pull her into their hypnotic dance but Giselle avoided their reaching hands, diving under their grasps and crawling into their circle from the shining bonfire. But this was no ordinary fire.
As the fey Queen stared into the scarlet hues on her knees, into the thousand and one lapping fiery tongues, as she felt the heat of being so close and smelled the burn and ash, she knew she stared into the [Eternal Flames]: a gift from the Old gods to the first native Elf of Eldoria. The fires had been burning for a millennia.
The Eternal Flames didn't burn—at least not openly—unless more than one [Divinity] was present on the mortal plane.
"Gods are amongst us," Giselle stared into the flames, whispering. The gypsies dancing around stomping to a crazy rhythm.
She only knew of one [Divine] entity: the Apollyon and her beloved paramour, Lord Israfel BlüdThïrste, present in the realms of her rule. Until now. . .
Her people misunderstood the appearance of the [Eternal Flames] and praised the gods for sending some sort of sign. It was a sign alright, but Giselle knew it didn't serve the purpose in their hearts. Her father had told her the real significance of the ethereal fire, one in the long line of secrets and compromise she guarded in her heart.
Secrets that belonged in the head of whomever wore the crown, and none other.
"...and if the primordial pyre appear on the morrow, the presence of more than one infernal dweller thou must know," so the sacred texts said.
Giselle framed the burning flames with her hand, caressing its orange glow.
"Bless me, Ancient Ones. I have seen your sign. Grant me wisdom."
She breathed these words in a murmur that the pounding footsteps of dancing wildlings around her drowned out. Giselle pulled away and crawled back under their conjoined arms. She let the [Eternal Flames] keep burning and her people, she let keep on dancing. This was a warning. Ser Romulus didn't know it. The entire fucking world didn't.
Only she did. And that thought alone to her was scarier than the omen it brought with it.
The last time more than one of the Divine: [Rank S] of god-tier abilities, entered into the mortal realm, it wasn't long until the moon had turned red, the sun blotted out by blackness, stars falling right out of the sky, and blood rained from the heavens.
Giselle Van Imperia knew that as Queen she had a new job; to find out what the hell the Fallen wanted with her kingdom?
Far, far away from the dancing wildlings and the castle, Rafel was occupied in the caves of Apophis with Hèla, goddess of war and Lilith, Queen of the Night. More than one [Divine]. He had no idea what horrors had begun by their entrance into the mortal world. If both powerful females knew however, only time would tell.