Alexis looked down from her lofty perch above the crow’s nest of the Black Ship. It took minimal magic to stay up there, above the surface of anything and everything beneath her and it took even less effort to sense the change in the air. What was about to be ordered by the Sultanate commander was obvious to her and it was not like it was something she did not expect or anticipate.

She could see the overwhelming fear in not just his eyes, but those of all of his fellows, and that gave her a warm, fuzzy feeling in her cold, black heart. She had seen this man many times before, with different faces and in different places, but always the same. He would be the one to lash out when the better choice would be to yield; his was the type that viewed death as a better fate than enduring the dishonor of surrender.

So, as the commander barked his orders with a noticeable stammer, Alexis smiled internally and prepared a minor Wind Magic spell.

…

“Men, h-hold it t-together!”

The commander desperately tried to keep his subordinates in line and, based on the fact that none of them had actually cut and run, he seemed to be succeeding in his endeavor. He could feel the icy chill of death crawling all over his body and he rightly assumed that this same sensation was gripping his soldiers as well. He had to make a show of force, something to show his men that the monster in the guise of a woman that hovered menacingly above the Black Ship was not as invulnerable as his instincts had screamed at him.

“Archers, t-t-take aim ah-at the fuh-fuh-flying one!”

The archers nervously raised their short bows with jittery limbs and the commander took a deep breath to calm his nerves, closed his eyes and yelled a single word.

“Loose!”

The sound of over eighty arrows flying through the air, accompanied by the audible noise of the short bows going from taught to relaxed sounded like the song of an angel to the commander, but the song did not seem to have the ending he wanted. There were no noises that would indicate that the arrows struck home, so perhaps they all missed due to the fear that everyone was experiencing?

The commander opened his eyes and what he saw only drove the dagger that was fear itself deeper into his already fragile will. All of the arrows had been stopped midair before they could hit their target. They just sort of were locked in place, floating with their tips pointed towards the female monster and all but a handful seeming to have been aimed correctly. The monster had used magic!

The commander was about to order his men to loose another volley, but then he noticed something that forced him to quickly reassess his life choices. The arrows that had been seemingly locked in place in the air were turning around to face those who had fired them!

“Men, run! Don’t let those arrows find their mar-!”

The commander never got to finish his command, for before he could speak the final word, the arrows were sent back towards those who fired them at roughly double the original speed. Each one embedded itself within the throat of the archer who fired them, all of the shots being a one-hit-kill as the shafts tore straight through the trachea and lodged themselves more than 2/3rds of the way through a gap in two of each of the archers’ vertebrae.

The commander and the rest of the Sultanate soldiers were too shocked to fully register what had just transpired to actually react to it, but slowly the realization wormed its way into their hearts and minds and just like that the dam broke. First it was a single soldier who began to take steps backwards, but he was soon followed by others and then yet more until the whole of the task force was completely routed and sent fleeing deeper into the capital of the Sultanate.

As they ran, the monster from Darksol stared down upon those who fled and those who called the city their current residence with equal animosity. Her predatory gaze swept slowly from side to side, and all who felt it or saw it either fled with their tails between their legs (sometimes quite literally) or tried to batten down the hatches and barricade themselves inside the structures they were in or near.

…

With the first problem dealt with, Alexis floated down to the deck of her nation’s ship to the cheers and laughter of the sailors aboard. Alistaira, in her typical fashion, did not seem overly emotional about the whole situation, instead leaving Alexis to engage in a small meet-and-greet with the sailors. Before Alexis could go over to Alistaira and discuss their next move, Alistaira stopped mid movement and put her palm to her forehead.

“What seems to be the matter, Alis?” Alexis asked out of concern.

Alistaira did not respond and instead merely tapped to staff against the deck of the Black Ship. As if on cue, the magical pseudo-heavy machine guns popped out from their storage spaces and began to search the nearby area for any hostiles to shoot at. This action caused the crew of the ship to stop celebrating and immediately go from happy to sad in mere moments.

“I can’t believe we forgot those were there!” one of the crewmen shouted, which seemed to be the same realization that Alistaira had come to. “Well, they’re up now, so we won’t need to fear another attack nearly as much, but….”

Alexis looked from person to person and almost couldn’t hold back a laugh. Maybe they didn’t really need her here after all.

…

The procession of the Usurper Sultan finally found the hidden area where Arcail IV stood in despair. They were outraged that their former Sultan had done such a thing, but now it was time for the old ways to die and the new regime to claim the world. Arcail IV would possibly be the last of the line of the First Sultan, but whether that would actually be the case was something to be decided after the Sultanate had the world beneath it and the masses followed the One True Faith.