Sigil of Souls, Stream of Memories

by Piccolo Sky

Daybreak: Prologue - The Coming Storm, Part II

The flight back to Trottingham was, quite obviously, unpleasant. Sunset was kept far from the bridge as well as any hatches or windows. She was allowed to sit at least, but not in a cell. She was forced onto a chair where she could be surrounded both in front and in behind with soldiers ready to carry out Cinch’s order if necessary. When they got tired, they swapped out for other soldiers, but the whole ride back to Trottingham was at gunpoint.

Her pain continued to subside, but it only gave way to weakness, dizziness, lingering thirst, and, progressively stronger, hunger. At length, she was finally brought a cup of broth on top of her special manacles, but she wasn’t sure if that was an act of fair treatment of an injured prisoner or a cruel joke. With her hands clamped into the unusable position, she couldn’t even pick up the cup to sip it. In the chair, she couldn’t lean over to sip it either or ask someone to put it on the floor. She ended up trying to balance it to bring it to her lips, but she was shaking too much and she spilled it all over her manacles and legs before leaving the cup clattering to the floor, and all before getting a single drop. Much to her humiliation, she could only lick her own manacles for whatever had fallen on them.

She picked up when the airship finally slowed down; no doubt from entering Trottingham air space. It took considerably longer after that for them to finally manage a proper docking, but, again, she couldn’t see any of it or ask about it. Once landed they ordered her up and to move again. She had to have exited on the docking tower of the Trottingham Royal Estate at least fifty times. This was the first time she felt fear doing so.

She received a brief glimpse of the city on the way in crossing the skybridge. The view of the skyline was clearer than normal, indicating a factory holiday. There were the sounds of fireworks and ceremonial cannons being fired off along with a large number of cheers, and she saw some streamers and confetti on one of the lower streets with others being hung up. Definitely a celebration, although she didn’t know for what.

She was forced inside soon after and, while guarded by several soldiers, led by the commanding officer and her retinue through the various halls. She noticed they were done up for a gala, and that most of the ceremonial guards had been called to duty and gotten themselves cleaned for the occasion. She also noticed that Flash was still walking alongside her guards. He was cleaned up and doctored…unlike herself…but still dressed in the remains of his clothing and armor. The other soldiers seemed to regard him oddly a few times but let him continue. Sunset herself looked away shortly after realizing he was there and didn’t look back.

They were eventually led to the main audience chamber. The commanding officer went to the front and spoke with the footmen, who proceeded inside to relay the message of their arrival. It took a few minutes, but he returned and the double doors were opened wide. Sunset was immediately shoved forward again and soon stumbled inside.

What she saw made her tense up even more. The audience chamber was normally reserved for formal meetings of all of the various governors and landowners. The main table wasn’t there today, however. The lords and ladies were gathered and dressed for congress, but were standing around the sides of the room instead. As soon as she entered, all eyes went on her. Most of them were looks of scorn or satisfaction. It made Sunset feel even weaker in the knees.

The chamber was done up for a major celebration, even more so than the rest of the kingdom. The windows were drawn back to let ample sunlight filter in, and highlighting multiple other airships landing in the city. They weren’t just any airships, however, but the larger military aircraft. The ones previously focused on the borders of the Dragonlands. Sunset couldn’t help but marvel for a moment at what they were doing there until she looked forward and caught an even more stunning sight.

The old throne that had sat vacant for close to eight years now was being freshly cleaned and polished, obviously to reenter service. And standing on the small platform nearby, back to her, looking over no doubt another speech held by an attendant while two others performed measurements on her shoulders and height, stood Regent Cinch.

She shifted her poise just enough to look behind her in her peripheral vision. A smirk went across her lips.

“Ah. Lady Sunset Shimmer, at last. You look like you’ve had a rough time, haven’t you?”

Sunset was brought to a halt. She knew what that sort of smirk from Cinch meant and it was never anything good for who she was addressing. Again she tried to muster the strength to look defiant. This time, she was just barely able to hold her head level without trembling.

“You…you might say that…” Her voice did its best to sound like its old cool and confident self. It sounded more like an aborted attempt to be suave.

“Well, since you went to all of this trouble, and since you managed to sink three of my airships that I bestowed upon you, I take it that you must have obviously succeeded.” She turned around fully to her. “So, on that note, I take it you are ready to present me with the fruits of your labor? What we agreed upon when you first came to Trottingham? I believe you promised me…and I quote…‘all I could ask for and more’?”

Sunset swallowed a lump growing in her throat, letting out one slight tremble. She had to pause; do her best to maintain composure and pull up her old demeanor.

“There were…some setbacks,” she finally stiffly choked out. “Partially due to my subordinates. However…however…” She paused, trying to keep it together. “Nothing…nothing’s changed. The targets ended up being a bit more trouble than expected, is all. It’s…just a bump in the road. I…I…”

She moistened her lips.

“I…did deliver you a ‘down payment’, as you can see. The night over Equestria is gone. You no longer need to fear the Light Eaters. This is just a sample of the magic I’ll bring you. And I can provide you with more. If…I just have a little bit of time to perfect my newest tool for you.”

“Really. That’s not what I’ve been hearing.”

Sunset let out a third tremble before struggling to keep her face straight.

“What I’ve heard, from everything from your former first officer to the reports that constantly keep coming in to your own surviving crewmembers who managed to make it back alive to Trottingham, is that you’ve been stirring up all kinds of trouble, violating all sorts of treaties, forgoing being discrete about your methods when it comes to your assassinations, and essentially led those ships I granted you into a suicide mission over Equestria. Furthermore, what I heard from some of your former subordinates, as they had no reason to keep it a secret any longer since they didn’t expect you to deliver on your promise, is that you never planned to give me anything at all.”

Now Sunset really did flash a shade pale.

“On the contrary. You planned to string me along so that I’d give you whatever you needed in order to get this power for yourself, which you then promised to share with your own subordinates so long as they kept the matter quiet. And if you sold them out in the end, then I think it’s a good bet to assume that you planned to do the same to me.”

Cinch flexed her fingers. “I must say, I was rather disappointed with the lot of them from keeping so many secrets from me. Surprised as well. I knew full well you were only gathering individuals to yourself who you could expect to be loyal, but this was highly unexpected even for me. Now…”

She advanced another step. Sunset managed to plant her feet, but not before balking a little. Cinch’s voice slowed and lowered.

“Normally this sort of thing would make me rather upset. And, in fact, I was rather upset. I went through three different versions of a memorandum detailing what I wanted done with you; the first one being, naturally, that I wanted your head on a plate if you ever showed your face in Trottingham again. However, as luck would have it, I got some rather good news. And no, I’m not referring to that ‘down payment’ you’re talking about. It’s not nearly as valuable as you think it might be, by the way. It only took one expeditionary company for me to find out that the Nighttouched are still thick in there. No…”

She smiled a bit as she raised her forehead.

“Individuals far more loyal who deliver on their promises put something rather pleasing right in my lap shortly after the night broke. I received word several days ago that Admiral Torben and his brand new commodore have put an end to our five-year war with the Dragonlands, and using technology that, unlike yours, he is more than willing to share with our engineers if it will mean mass-deployment. In fact, the commodore and her detachment were landing just as you got here.” She adjusted her glasses. “Needless to say, the fact that he was able to break the morale of the Dragonlands into surrendering after a single battle means that this weaponry is a bit more valuable to Trottingham than your bag of ‘magic tricks’.”

Sunset blinked a few times at the mention of the victory, clearly as surprised as everyone else in Trottingham to hear the news, but soon the fear for her own neck kept her from saying more.

Cinch smiled a bit more. “With our greatest foe off our back and the night over Equestria gone, I see no reason why Trottingham shouldn’t celebrate its good fortune by reinstating the monarchy. To get things back to the way they used to be and all. And since the old monarchy and landed nobility is no more, obviously this country needs a new dynasty. And I, having served this country as steward and regent for so long and have these victories under my belt to show for it, see no reason why that shouldn’t be me. If only you were here two days later you’d be right in time for the official coronation, Sunset. So, in spite of your treachery, in spite of the disaster you’ve given the country in terms of relations with other nations, and in spite of the great deal of time and money wasted on you, I’m actually very grateful for all the good things happening both to myself and Trottingham now.”

She raised an eyebrow as she looked down on the woman.

“Yet you did betray not only your own soldiers but the country itself. That leaves the question of whatever we are to do with you…”

The woman let out a visible tremble. She swallowed a lump in her throat. Thoughts of being bold and confident were gone. In spite of her attempts at a poker face, she didn’t have any cards left to play and it was becoming obvious to everyone in the room the more time went on.

“Now…now just wait a moment…”

“I’ve been waiting for you to deliver for close to eight years, Sunset. What difference will another minute or two make?”

She began to hold up her restrained hands. “I…I…I have a lot of powers you don’t know about. I never told them everything-”

“Your former soldiers, after some encouragement, let me know that you never cast any spells without your voice and use of your hands.”

The color drained from Sunset’s face. It must have been obvious because Cinch smiled again.

“Didn’t you wonder about the security measures I put you under when you arrived? By all means, do try again Sunset. I must say,”

The smile widened.

“After seven years of having to deal with your insubordinate and smug attitude, I’m quite enjoying seeing this side of you. I don’t think I’ve ever been happier in fact.”

Sunset began to break down. She couldn’t speak, knowing she would stammer worse than before. She glanced to her sides, seeing the soldiers were moving in on them and pressing their gun barrels closer.

“Y-you…you still need me,” she finally managed to choke out, not liking how desperate she was starting to sound. “I’m still the only one who knows how to make the Morning Glories.”

“What need have I for those when there’s no Light Eaters?”

“W-W-What about the Nighttouched? What about the other weapons I built for you? Are you telling me you wouldn’t want those for your soldiers? And…and there’s more where that came from! And you still need me to help you deal with the other magic users out there! I’m the only one who knows about the sigils and how they work! And I’m the only one you got who knows about how the night broke!”

Silence in the chamber. Cinch kept looking down on Sunset; still relishing her practically squirming beneath her.

“You know, you’re right.”

Sunset looked surprised; apparently stunned that her parlay had worked.

“As powerful as this technology is, I’ve never settled for ‘good enough’. What little technology you gave me is quite impressive. And I’d like it as a backup if nothing else, especially since I think you have greater secrets to tell. Of course,” She held out her hand and opened it up. Immediately, one of the attendants left his post and walked over to her. He produced a white deed as he did so.

“There will have to be a few ‘changes’ to our arrangement. I took the liberty of taking care of most of the details.” Receiving the deed from the attendant, she unfolded it and held it in front of her while he retreated. “There’s a large amount of legal terms in here, so I’ll sum it up for you. I didn’t see you doing too much with the title of Lady of Queen’s Lynn, and it certainly wasn’t helping you help Trottingham any sooner. So I’ve corrected it. You may consider your status as a peer revoked from this moment forward.”

Sunset stiffened, lowering her hands again.

“That includes your monthly allowance from the Trottingham government, your estate in Queen’s Lynn proper, and your associated lands. All possessions you have accumulated over your tenure as Lady of Queen’s Lynn are deemed government property and have been reclaimed. You are left only with what you had prior to that time. And…” She practically chuckled. “Considering the fact you came to Trottingham with nothing but the clothes on your back, I’d say that condition has been satisfied. Not to fear, however…”

She folded the paper up and looked down on her again.

“I’ve picked a new estate for you. One right here in the older part of the castle. It has a lovely entrance in the ceiling you must be lowered down and raised up out of, and it doesn’t have any windows I’m afraid, but I assure you that you’ll find it quite spacious as you’ll be the sole resident. And it comes complete with local…shall we say…‘wildlife’. I’m sure you’ll be the best of friends.”

Sunset was shrinking in on herself again by now.

“And as for compensation, yes… I believe you deserve a good deal for the great service you’ll be rendering to your new queen. One that’s a bit more equitable than your former arrangement, though, as you gave so little in return for the payment you received. How does this sound?”

Her eyes narrowed.

“You will give me as many Morning Glories, magical rifles, magical harnesses, and any other technology I request from you as I want and you will both inform our own engineers of how to build them and assist in helping them produce facilities to mass produce the same…and, in return, I won’t withhold your food and water for the day.”

One could hardly believe Sunset was ever once the confident and cocky woman she once had been not long ago to look at her now. She was cowering in terror from a woman that had her at her mercy. She looked around helplessly, but found only soldiers on each side…some of them smiling at the chance to finally put her in her place. She didn’t even try to look behind her, knowing escape was impossible. The silence held again as Cinch relished every moment of finally having her despised ‘ally’ in this quandary.

The doorway clicked and the sound of the heavy hinges began to turn.

Cinch’s smile turned into a frown as not only she but most of the chamber, Sunset included, looked up and to the back of the room. The doors swung wide soon after, to the surprise of the guards nearby, and revealed a single figure walking in without hesitation.

Sunset caught a brief glimpse of her. She seemed to be wearing something at first that looked like the standard airship officer uniform of Trottingham, only black and gray in color. A few more steps, and she realized that wasn’t the case at all. This one had additional reinforcement in several areas, especially the shoulders, hips, and chest. Like a breastplate, almost.

The item that stood out the most was the helmet. It looked almost like the upper half of a skull of some creature with four backward facing horns, spreading out over the face as well as the head.

No sooner had the masked figure walked in, the doors still opening behind her, when she called out in a cold voice.

“Regent Abacus Cinch?”

The woman gave an indignant sneer. “You can’t just barge in here. Who the devil are-”

That was the last thing she ever said as the figure, still walking forward, pulled out a handgun, aimed it at Cinch’s forehead, and put a bullet through it.

The entire room, Sunset included, was frozen in momentary shock as the echo of the lone gunshot resounded. The nobility gaped and went silent. The soldiers guarding Sunset paused in confusion for a precious few seconds. Cinch herself had just enough awareness left in her for her face to turn to stunned surprise before her body collapsed to the floor, still smoking through the hole in her head.

Sunset, however, noticed that the doors were still opening wide, and as the lead woman kept walking in the entrance revealed two dozen figures dressed just like her only hulking in size and muscle, pale blue gleaming coming from the eye sockets of their own masks, and all holding much larger firearms of their own storming inside…each one taking aim at his or her target.

Over the next several seconds, Sunset could only crouch against the ground in panic and terror as deafening gun blasts went out not only through the room but through the entire castle. Everywhere the crew members of the arriving airships had managed to deploy. The look on her face was soon matched by everyone else. Some cried out. Others shielded themselves. Still others fell to the ground in a moment of fearful hysteria.

It was over in no more than ten seconds. The scent of gunpowder hung heavily on the air and the ceiling was filled with smoke from the barrels. Sunset slowly glanced around her from her cringed position. Every last guard in the room now lay in a bloody pile about her. Everyone who had a gun of their own. That included the officers that had escorted her in as well as the door guards. Only the royal guard, clad in nothing but broken armor and half a spear, was spared along with the unarmed.

The chamber, and the castle itself, was silent for a few moments. None of the survivors dared move or voice a word. The new arrivals glanced out soullessly through their skull-like masks, leaving their smoking guns out.

The one who had led them in glanced about a moment before putting her own handgun away. Once that was done, she stepped to one side in lock military pacing.

Another figure came in. This one was clad like the others, but bore no helmet. He was even shorter and more squash than Snips with a rather heavy underbite. His hair was exposed and was cut, styled, and painted white in the same style as the old Yetian warriors used to use. On seeing it, Sunset began to look at the uniforms on the new arrivals again. She realized now the style was only vaguely still Trottingham. It had been fused with the Yetian style, in particular with the emblem on it. It was no longer the standard of Trottingham but a pair of almost neon blue horns.

The figure stepped forward until he was where the woman had been, bearing a small box. He set it down and proceeded to use it as a small podium. As soon as he stood on it, he glanced about the terrified faces in the room with a look of smug satisfaction and a hint of pleasure. Sunset knew the look all too well.

“Announcing the arrival of his eminence, Master Commander of the Trottingham Aerial Navy, High Admiral of the Skies, the great…the magnificent…Admiral Torben Rex.”

With that, he stepped down, grabbed his box, and moved to one side to allow one final figure to enter the chamber.

Sunset had seen the Admiral face-to-face only once before. Even the brief glance was enough for her to recognize the same spark in his eye that she often saw in her own: ambition. She regarded him dismissively and without fear at the time, however—the same as she treated all non-magic users. Now that she had no magic of her own, she paid more attention.

He was still a giant of a man, towering at over seven feet tall and filled out to boot. He was getting on in years, however. His beard and hair were long, almost wild like a mane, and pure white, and whether it was due to a battlefield injury or his age he walked only with the aid of a conspicuous staff-like cane. His jaws and lips seemed to be curled into almost a simian smirk, and his eyes had lost none of the avarice she remembered. And just like last time, he seemed to have a bit of a swagger as he walked in.

“Well-heh-hell…” he muttered aloud as he saw the rather petrified faces of the nobles. “Look at you all! Almost forgot how young and short you all were. How long has it been? Four…even five years? Don’t you worry. You’ll be seeing a lot more of me around the royal palace from now on.”

He kept walking straight forward toward Cinch’s body and the elevated portion of the floor as he advanced. Sunset was right in his path, but he hardly seemed to notice. Instead, as reached her, the end of his staff went out and brushed her to one side like she was nothing more than a sheep. Not having the strength to be upset about the insult, she let herself be pushed as he strolled past.

“Heh, the old goat wasn’t kidding, was she? You really do have this place set up for a coronation and everything! A nice return to the Trottingham monarchy! Monarchy! I like that! Keeps things nice and simple! Someone puts a brass crown on their head, says its gold, and then calls the shots for everyone else! Sounds fantastic! Looking forward to it! Just had one tiny problem with the whole thing…”

Reaching the elevated portion, he looked down over Cinch’s remains. He reached out with his staff and poked at her a few times, like a kid poking a dead squirrel.

“Didn’t really care for the regent’s pick for who gets to wear the brass headdress. You see…”

He stepped up on the elevation and turned about to face the room.

“Me and my boys out on the battlefield got a little sick and tired of doing all the heavy lifting to keep Trottingham afloat from everyone from Abyssinia to the Dragonlands to Yakyakistan to Appleloosa, and that was before we had to deal with the Equestrian wildlife. So, I got myself a great idea.”

He gestured out widely as he kicked a foot behind her, connecting with Cinch and shoving her away.

“Surprise, surprise! You’re looking at the new king of Trottingham! Eh? Eh?”

No one said a word, even if they felt alarm from this. They were still too scared of the armed soldiers in the room.

“Of course, I need a new title…” he mused as he crossed his arms, almost looking thoughtful. “All the great ones get a cool nickname. King Torben Rex is nice and all, but I was never a big fan of all of those names that translate to something… Keep it short. Keep it simple. That’s what I say. I think I’d like the start of this new dynasty to begin with something that inspires a little awe and terror. How about…the ‘Storm King’?”

Silence from the room once again. The squat one looked one way and another, before he finally nodded enthusiastically. “Good, good! Excellent choice, um…your highness! Uh, majesty? Eminence?”

“Eminence…that’s good. Don’t want to overuse ‘majesty’…” he mused as he lowered his staff again. “But, you know what they say, business before pleasure. Some details to take care of first.”

Setting the staff down on the podium with a loud knock, he looked about the room. As his eyes fell on each one of the various lords and ladies, each one stiffened in turn. Especially when the rest of his burly soldiers turned to fully face them with their weapons still out. As for the squat one, he smirked as he went back to the box—this time opening it up and producing a stack of papers. Soon after he began to walk around the room and passed them around.

“I’d like this little transition to go as smoothly as possible. It’d be a bit of a drag for a new king to kick off his reign with infighting and massacres. Bullets are more expensive than you’d think and we’ve already spent quite a bit today. So, in a deal that will be good for exactly, let me think…”

He glanced outside, spying the nearest clock tower.

“Three…no, two minutes, I’m going to let each of you get on the ground floor. All it’s going to cost you right now is a pledge of loyalty, unrestrained use of your land, resources, and manpower as needed, and for you to do a little homework. Those papers that are being passed around right now are some talking points about how you whole-heartedly hated Regent Abacus Cinch’s guts and how you fully support the coup d’etat and how it’s going to make a great new chapter for Trottingham and how you herald this great bloodless…”

He trailed off, looking at his foot. A pool from Cinch’s body had reached it, and he quickly stepped forward to avoid it.

“Well, mostly bloodless revolution, blah-blah-blah, you know the drill. Just put it in your own words and you’ll get a nice spot in the new regime. Refuse, and, well…”

His smile turned into a frown as his voice lowered.

“I guess this revolution won’t be ‘mostly bloodless’ after all.”

“Th-th-that won’t be necessary!” the Lady of Mancanter quickly stated. “I’d…I’d be more than happy to sign on! I said for years that Regent Cinch was leading us into ruin!”

“I c-c-completely agree!” the Lady of Oxenford added.

The others quickly gave their own assents, mostly stumbling over the words and nervously eyeing the weapons of the brutish guards around them. In moments, there wasn’t one who hadn’t agreed.

“Good!” the newly-dubbed “Storm King” answered as his smile returned. “Always nice when everyone’s on board. Makes things move rather smoothly. Alright then.” Leaning on his staff, he looked around. “Old regent gone. Check. New monarchy established. Check. Backing of all the landed nobility. Check. Moved into the royal palace. Check. Just about wraps things up. Only one little detail left…”

The moment he finished saying this his eyes flickered downward. Completely onto Sunset.

She instinctively shrank back a little, but what happened next only stunned her further. Immediately, every last soldier shouldered his weapon. After that, they all stepped back in unison save for one, quickly arranging themselves around to form a ring of bodies around the room…a ring that had her right in the center. Everyone else could only look in surprise. The royal guard, close enough to be pushed back, looked into the area with growing concern.

She was so surprised she nearly jumped when the one soldier reached her. Before she could react, he seized her by her restraints and roughly yanked her back up to her feet. He held it in a tight grip, even stronger than her own strongest former guards, and she feared the worst as he brought his other hand up.

Instead, to her surprise, he produced a key and undid her restraints. In moments, her handcuffs fell to the ground and her exposed, somewhat numb, palms could feel the air again.

She blinked in surprise as the soldier turned to join the others. However, she had scarcely held her hands in front of herself and begun to rub one with the other when she froze again.

One other figure was in the ring and standing across from her. The first one who had walked in.

Now behind his own ring, the Storm King took a step back. “That’s right. You’re Regent Cinch’s golden girl, aren’t you? The one with the magic tricks? Well, heh…funny story. The reason I didn’t do this a good long time ago was because you had way too much potential to pass up. I kept thinking of the best way to bring you on board or take you out of the game, but that was a bit hard when you held irregular hours and looked like you had your sights on the boss’ job too.”

He chuckled a bit.

“Ah…but fortunately I invested in someone who had a much nicer return, and it’s maturation day. Time to collect. I believe you two know each other, so I’ll just leave her to settle things.”

The figure didn’t move at all the whole time. Yet in spite of the hall being well lit, things seemed to grow even darker the longer Sunset looked at her. Even not making a move for her gun, she clearly looked far more intimidating than the pale, sickly, trembling woman.

“Let me introduce Commodore Tempest Shadow.”

With that, the woman reached for her helmet. Slowly and methodically, she undid the dual clasps before reaching up, grasping it, and slowly removing it from her head all together.

Sunset didn’t recognize the name, but even with her tendency to not bother learning people’s titles when they didn’t interest her she had never heard it before. Yet once the head of the woman, her own red hair styled in the same Yetian mohawk, was revealed, it took her only a moment for her own eyes to look past the cold, hard, heartless stare of the woman underneath and go straight to the glistening, almost shimmering, deep scars she possessed—especially the one her right eye socket that narrowly missed the eye itself.

The woman’s eyes shrank into pinpricks. Her jaw hung loose a moment. She nearly mouthed the word.

The woman’s own pale green eyes looked cold and stern; holding her helmet a moment before casually tossing it to one side, where it was caught by her squat assistant.

“I see you remember me. How touching.” Her voice was without the slightest hint of warmth.

After a moment of stammering, Sunset began to form a word. “H…how…?”

“You sound almost disappointed that I’m still alive. How did I not die of thirst or starvation? Or my injuries, for that matter? How did I not get eaten by Nighttouched or Light Eaters? How did I get into this position? Or simply how am I not a Nighttouched myself?”

She began to raise one of her hands.

“I’m afraid none of that matters, Lady Sunset. Only one question should.”

She formed a fist. Her eyes blazed before a sharp crackle of curly, twisting electricity, more like plasma than electromagnetic force, coursed out of her fist and left a scorch mark on the ground.

Sunset gasped and paled.

“How are you going to get out of this alive?”

A moment after she drove her fist forward at Sunset.

The air thundered as a much larger crackle of plasma erupted and pounded into the woman’s chest. The air went rushing out of her lungs as the bolt knocked her clean off of her feet and flung her across the ring the soldiers had made before dumping her against the ground. She toppled over herself a few times before sprawling out, but as soon as she did she arched her body in pain and misery. Her rags of clothing on her chest were burned and smoldering and her whole body was wracked with pain all over again.

Tempest slowly drew her hand back. “Well,” she said casually, beginning to walk toward her, “now you know how I destroyed that Dragonlands armada.”

Sunset forced herself to roll onto her belly somehow, in spite of still being agonized, but looked at Tempest in shock and horror. Now it was at the power she just manifested.

Tempest readied her fist again as she neared. “I did consider letting you have the first shot. Only fair I give you the same courtesy, after all. Then I remembered what you really taught me the last time we met.”

Her fist began to snake plasma.

“Never show mercy.”

The woman quickly forced what little strength she had to get up. She got onto all fours, then pushed herself up and onto her feet. She didn’t realize until a moment later that Tempest could have hit her the whole time. She purposely waited until she was standing again before she let her plasma fly.

This blow struck even harder, forcing a cry of pain from her already gasping lungs before she was snapped across the ring again. She slammed into one of the burly guards this time, who grunted before roughly shoving her off of him and face first onto the ground. She sprawled again, moaning in even more agony from the fresh burn. Still gasping and wincing, she struggled to push herself up.

Tempest left her fist out as she approached her. “Not fighting back? Too prideful to use any of your power against someone you mopped the floor with before?” A cruel half-smirk appeared on her lips. “Or did breaking the night somehow make you lose your power? What a pity. I would have preferred to have done this when you were at full strength.”

Sunset, gasping and wincing, struggled onto all fours again, but not facing Tempest as she summoned more plasma.

“I would have loved to have wiped that smirk off your face.” Her fist began to extend. “But seeing you panicked, cringing, writhing in pain, and stricken with terror? I think I could learn to enjoy that.”

Sunset went into a scramble; desperate to get out of the way. Tempest let her get a few steps on all fours before striking her at the side. She was knocked again across the ring and into a guard. This one roughly buried his boot in her side to kick her back into the center. The Storm King let out a laugh of delight as Sunset went limp. She was burned in three places now and in too much pain to do more than writhe. She could only stare at Tempest helplessly as she neared her again.

“And trust me…” Her fist began to spark again. “I will learn to enjoy it.”

Her fingers extended this time. Plasma arced between all five digits for a moment before she snapped her hand forward again. This time, the plasma shot out and arced around to pierce her from multiple sides. To her, it felt like she was being stabbed in five different ways, but before she could even cry out the force shoved into her, and she was being yanked off of the ground and into the air as she kept piercing her.

Tempest let her scream and twist for a few moments before she subsided the energy just enough for her to quiet down, but she didn’t stop. She yanked the woman into her face. Sunset’s expression eased only to see the woman grinning at her.

“Don’t think I’m going to just let you off with something so easy as a fatal shot, Lady Sunset. I’m going easy on you on purpose. I want you to live for a very…very…long time. Do you think I just saved you from the regent? Oh no.”

She jerked her closer, so that they were practically touching.

“The regent would have saved you from me.”

The pain began to intensify again. Sunset could only begin to cry out again. Helpless to move…helpless to do anything but be at her mercy…

“Ungh!”

Tempest’s smile broke, and both she and several other individuals turned their heads to the sound of the aborted cry from one of the guards. Sunset herself managed to catch it just out of the corner of her vision. One of them gave their final breath before spilling forward flat and lifeless.

The end of the royal guard’s broken spear was embedded in his back, and it was giving a loud whine from its barely-repaired generator rapidly starting to overload.

An instant later, the weapon exploded. The blast alone was would have been as strong as a fragmentary grenade, but the fact that it was imbedded in something meant that the result was a rather loud blast of smoke and matter as well. And in the confined area of the hall, the noise and concussive force was more than enough for Tempest to wince and cut off her plasma. Sunset felt herself collapse to the ground as the rest of those in the area recoiled in alarm.

She barely had a chance to lie there before she heard someone run up to her side and seize her by the arm. Once again she was yanked to her feet as she heard a loud humming about her, and moments later her body was twisted and flung around onto someone’s back. As the burly soldiers around her began to recover, a sharp crackle rang through the air…

Suddenly, the audience chamber and everything in it slowed to a speed so impossibly reduced it was like they were practically motionless. Moments after she suddenly felt herself yanked to the side and taken around the soldiers and straight for the entrance. Her wits finally came to life long enough to realize she was being carried. She looked down and got a surprise.

“F…Flash…?”

“I only had enough for one last burst. Gotta make it count…”

Sure enough, as Sunset continued to stare, his body crossed the threshold only for both of his metal boots to give a loud whine. He had enough time to reach down and scoop up a pair of discarded rifles with bayonets from the former guards of the chamber before both boots gave a loud pop and a fizzle…and the world was moving normally again.

The sounds of surprised grunts went off behind Sunset, but they didn’t last nearly as long as she liked.

“Get her,” Tempest’s cold voice echoed down the hall. “Bring her to me alive.”

To be continued...

Author's Note:

I actually had mixed thoughts toward bringing Tempest Shadow on board. I figured she'd end up being too much like other characters. Anyway...I got big plans for her.