Excerpt: Wilted Roses

The eyes of the giant snake gazed at the scene around it, taking in everything. It’s head moved slowly back and forth, as if it were searching for something, or someone. Nianne panicked as soon as the creature turned it’s eyes to her. The snake reared up; it had found it’s target. It lashed out with it’s neck, jaws poised wide open and fangs dripping with blood from the knights it had probably killed only moments before, outside.

Nianne screamed and scrambled to get away from the altar. The snake missed her by only a hairsbreadth, luckily, and instead crashed straight first into the stone sculpture of the four deities, the Holy Ones. The snake seemed unfazed and reared back again, not caring as the statue cracked and then crumbled from the impact. Heart pounding, Nianne raced to find a hiding spot, to find somewhere where she would be safe, even if it was only for a little bit.

She dove underneath a set of wooden benches where people had been sitting prior the attack. She could feel her blood pulsing as she waited. Deep inside her, though she didn’t wish for it to happen, she knew that she was going to die here. There was no way any of her guards could defeat a demon without the army’s help, and the army was off fighting another demon army, so there was no chance of her being rescued by them either. Tears began to stream from her eyes this time, she couldn’t hold them back, despite the lip biting she was attempting.

All off a sudden the wooden bench that she was hiding under was lifted and thrown aside. The snake hissed in approval, realizing that the young queen had nowhere to go. She trembled in her maroon gown, her eyes frantically searching for some sort of exit, but finding none. The reality of the situation struck her: there was no way that she could possibly survive this. The demon had found her and she had nowhere to run, and no one to turn to.

The demon snake hissed again, taking a final look at it’s prey for diving forward, once again, jaws open. Nianne’s eyes clenched shut automatically, as her body braced for tremendous amounts of pain. She could feel the snake’s tongue tickle her arm, but before the jaws could envelope her, another large crashing of a wall sounded. Nianne’s eyes opened and her head snapped towards the direction of the interruption. The snake did the same, in an angry way.

From the dusty remains of what used to be a wall, a female figure strode out. She was of a slender and athletic build, dressed in a male’s tunic, colored gray with a variety of colored embroidered patterns around the ends of the clothing and down the front. The woman had high boots that reached mid thigh, and wore matching colored gloves on her hands. She wore a large belt around her waist, cinched tightly so that the tunic top was forced closer to her skin, showing off a bit more of her form. Hanging from one side of her belt was a small sheath that fit the dagger that was held there perfectly. On the same side hung a curled up whip, with sharp spikes at the tip of it.

Her fiery red hair was tied into a loose knot at the back of her head, strands falling around her face. She had a pale complexion and pink lips that were set in a grim line. Her eyes were a similar color to Nianne’s, a stormy gray, but the woman’s were darker than the newly crowned queen’s. Her dark orbs locked onto Nianne’s position; she nodded briefly, and then turned her attention towards the snake demon which had decided that the interruption was going to be an appetizer for it.

Much to Nianne’s surprise, the woman didn’t seem the least bit worried or frightened as the snake lunged towards her. She merely kept her gaze on the creature as the air around her shimmered a golden color. A stream of flames twined up her right arm, and a ball of flames appeared in the same palm. She smirked before throwing her arm back and then swinging it forward quickly, releasing the burning hot globe. The snake didn’t see it coming and was burned severely by the ball of flames. The sheer force of the attack sent it flying against the opposite church wall. Bricks fell on top of the large figure, but they were quickly shaken off as the snake rose once more and faced it’s opponent.

“… What a pity, I was hoping that you would be more of a challenge.” The woman spoke to the demon, disdain clearly evident in her voice. She shrugged lightly and let flames twirl up her other arm as well. “But I understand that would be asking for too much. My sincerest apologies, demon weakling, but it is time for me to deliver your punishment for attacking my liege’s place of worship.” The woman paused for a moment, letting the words hang in the air and slowly sink in. “And I’ve decided your punishment is death by flames. Farewell, beast.”

Nianne watched in partial amazement and partial horror as the woman brought both of her arms forward and released a stream of flames that eagerly leapt from her hold and hungrily pounced on the demon., gleefully incinerating the snake. After deciding that enough was enough, the woman let her hands drop to her sides again and she looked at the burnt corpse with disgust.

“And I had really hoped for a challenge." She grumbled, tucking the loose strands of her hair behind her ear before turning to Nianne. “Don't just sit there. You're out of danger. Go let those little people you rule over know that you're safe. In these times, relief is something most of your little people could do with."