Reign Clouds Gather

Glad you could join us for the next escalating episode of Elliot’s Adventures. If you’re new here, you can catch up by returning to the beginning, and reading really fast…

“Elliot! Elliot where are you?” Cassandra’s voice enticed him from his shell, the slow extension of his eyes preceding the wary exposure of his throat. The troops had passed, but the shock of their ferocious faces still tingled.

“I’m here!” he called, returning the way he’d come to find his love and Queen Lilian searching through the grass for him.

“Your Magnificence, where are the Suns of Glory?” he asked, “I was hoping to see them.”

“You know of them?”

“King Arnie told me about the last war, and how the brilliantly armored Suns of Glory turned the tide to help Bog win. And how he fell in love with the one who saved his life.”

“Persephone,” said the Queen. “The heroine of Fen’s favorite love story.” She sighed. “She and I — and one other — were the last Suns of Glory.”

“The last?” Elliot asked.

Queen Lilian bowed her head but said nothing.

“Fen still has female fighters?” Cassandra’s eyes lit up.

“Yes. Many of our finest warriors are women. In fact, Persephone was a snail like you. Would you like to enlist in one of the land corps?”

Cassandra snuggled against Elliot. “Not long ago, I would have jumped at the chance. But now,” she gazed at Elliot, “my heart wouldn’t be in it.”

The queen sighed, “Great hearts make the greatest fighters and the greatest lovers. That’s why Persephone left Fen; her heart remained in Bog.”

Overhead, shrill whining pierced the twilight and grew louder as it approached. The Captain of the Queen’s Guard peered into the sky and yelled, “Wasps! Wasps are coming! Attack!” as a pulsing cloud of shimmering wings dove directly at them. A swarm of the Queen’s Guard launched itself into the enemy cloud, stabbing and dying, slowing the enemy’s advance, as a squad of drones surrounded the Queen to whisk her back to the Hive.

Queen Lilian the Undisputed Monarch of Fen let loose a shrieking pitch so high, Elliot almost couldn’t hear it.

Frantic flutters and fearsome squeaks filled the air. The bats were coming.

To be continued…

Previously on Elliot’s Adventures ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Next time . . .