It was early morning in Lucitania. The sun was just rising in the horizon and shedding a pale yellow and orange light upon the surrounding land. As its beams touched the city itself, a small crowd was gathering around the stables outside the Royal palace. The crowd mostly consisted of soldiers and unimportant palace dignitaries. The soldiers were readying two dozen razor wings for a journey westward. Leeta carefully secured the saddle on her own mount. Beside her, Carla and Carmen were checking their own. "Are you sure you feel up to the journey, Carmen?" asked Leeta over her shoulder. "If you're still feeling weak, you shouldn't come."
Carmen gave her saddle one last tug and turned to face the Princess. "I'm fine, Leeta. I only had the flu not the plague. Besides, you might need a priestess on this trip." She smiled and started to climb onto the giant, winged reptile's back.
Carla finished with her saddle and began to scan the crowd. "Are you sure we need this many troops to come along?"
Leeta easily vaulted onto the back of her razor wing. It shook nervously, and she stroked its green scaled back to calm the giant beast. "I don't think Garanna will let us leave with any less."
The three woman all turned their heads as a shriek came up from within the crowd. Five different soldiers were vainly trying to get Minister Garanna onto the back of a razor wing. Every time he seemed to be secure, the beast would lurch suddenly and send the man flying. Finally, after several attempts, the soldiers were able to keep the beast and Garanna calm enough to strap the Minister in. With the Minister ready, Leeta raised her hand and called for the attention of all those gathered. "To those who have gathered here today to wish us a good journey, I thank you. In my absence, I am leaving the kingdom under the supervision of my Aunt Ruby and the Council of Ministers."
There was a slight groan from the assembled noble families, but Leeta ignored them. "Brave soldiers accompanying us; we shall be traveling a distance of just under three thousand miles. We will be gone for some time. And due to the sensitive nature of this mission, I cannot lie and say that there will be no casualties. Our journey will be taking us into a region that has been forsaken by the Western Kingdoms for some time. I do not know what lurks and awaits us within those boundaries. I can only say that if we are successful, we can bring an end to the horrid plague which infests our city!" At that, a huge cheer erupted from the gathered troops.
Carla leaned over and whispered to the Princess. "Very nicely put. I think they might actually come with us of there own free will now."
Leeta gave the Premier a devious smile. "I'm a Princess. I have to know how to reach my people in order to gird them into action." Not wanting to waste anymore time, Leeta snapped the reins of her mount and slowly began to rise into the air.
Following her lead, the other razor wings rose in the early morning sky and headed off into the general direction of Angellis.
For the next two days, the flight west went very smoothly. Leeta estimated that the group had covered a little over a thousand miles. The Princess pulled the reins to her mount slightly, and the beast swerved down to the left. There was a light roar, and Carla's razor wing pulled up beside her. "So how many more days do you think it'll take?"
Leeta kept her gaze ahead. "If we push really hard, three days. But I think we can definitely make it in four."
Carla made a face. "I hope so. These saddles are really uncomfortable." Leeta released a small chuckle and prodded her mount forward.
As noon of the third day arrived, the group found itself flying over the vast central plains of the Western continent. At the head of the party, Leeta was trying to gauge exactly where they were. To her left and north was the icy kingdom of Tygaul. That monarchy had been established over the still frozen northern half of the continent. To her left and south was Rourim, the merchant kingdom. Rourim was controlled by whichever merchant could afford to purchase the royal palace. It was by far the richest of the Western kingdoms because it controlled the better part of the southern ports, and thus had first access to the southern regions and those governments. And ahead of the party was the kingdom of Pikrak. This last monarchy controlled most of the mountainous West.
"By now we must just be entering the area between Lucitania and Pikrak," muttered the Princess to herself. "I guess I'd better erect the shield now." Earlier that day, she and Carla had decided to take turns surrounding the party in a magical shield which would hide the groups activities. Leeta guessed that the plague had probably spread to the other kingdoms by now, but she couldn't risk the party getting stopped and being forced to land in any foreign city. One of her men could be a host to the plague and just not be aware of it yet. No, she couldn't risk spreading it in case they couldn't find the Goddess' Kiss.
Leeta closed her eyes and let her senses feel the world around her. Slowly, she began to gather the mana in the air and mold it into an invisible dome around the group. Suddenly, there was a push against her shield. The Princess reinforced the dome, but it felt like something was pushing from within. "Garanna," she hissed to herself. Before she could act against the Minister, the shield was shattered and the attack commenced.
High shrill cries filled the air as several dozen wyverns swarmed over the pack of razor wings and their riders. Before anyone else could react, Carla, surrounded in a faint starry glow, released a barrage of spells against the attackers. Three pillars of flame exploded from her outstretched hands and consumed at least ten wyverns. Those Lucitanian soldiers who had lances mounted on their razor wings had pulled into a tight formation around the Princess. The remaining soldiers had their melee weapons drawn in an attempt to cut down the shrieking wyverns.
Leeta completed a spell just as three of the monsters sliped past the soldiers line and charged her. The Princess pulled the reins hard with her left hand and thrust out her right. "Electra Wave!" The electric wave succeeded in turning the three wyverns to ash. There were several human cries of pain, and Leeta's head turned to find the source. Some of the soldiers without lances were being over powered by the wyverns. All at once, five men were stung by the wyverns' poisonous barbs. Each one cried out in pain and fell from his saddle. Leeta turned her head to avoid watching those poor souls fall.
Another high pitched human scream caught the Princess' attention. Leeta released a small fireball into the face of a wyvern and steered her mount away from the dying beast. The scream sounded again, and Leeta saw Garanna being attacked by four of the monsters. "Might as well save the bastard," she muttered. "Can't let him know we're on to him."
Leeta extended the middle and index fingers of her right hand and let the words to a spell tumble from her lips. "Ice Lance!" A six foot lance of ice shot from her fingers and pierced the skull of a wyvern near the Minister. The creature fell back and collided with another near it. Leeta's razor wing glided close to Garanna's, and the Princess drew her long sword. The Minister had fainted in his saddle, and now his body bobbed back and forth in the saddle straps. The first of the remaining two beasts snapped at Leeta. Remembering Cole's training, she pulled her mount back just out of the monster's range. The wyvern's lunge was over extended, and Leeta brought her sword down in a quick arc. The blade's keen edge cut through its target's horned head.
The remaining wyvern released a high pitched shriek and seven more rallied behind it. Leeta moved her mount in front of Garanna's, but the Princess knew she wouldn't have enough time to cast another spell. Suddenly, the air around the eight monsters began to take shape into thick white streams. The streams began to wrap themselves around the wyverns and choke the dragon-like creatures. Then the air exploded with electricity, and the wyverns were no more. The burned bodies fell, and Leeta saw Carla hovering nearby. The Premier lowered her left hand and flew over to her friend. "Thought you could use a hand," she said with a smirk.
"Thank you, Carla," answered Leeta. "Quick, help me with this creep," she said as she gestured to Garanna.
As the two women each grabbed a rein to Garanna's mount, Leeta realized the sounds of battle had ceased. The Princess looked around and saw the remaining wyverns retreating to the south. One of the Lucitanian soldiers flew over to Leeta and saluted. "Your Highness, we have driven off the monsters, but I'm sorry to say, we've also suffered some casualties."
Leeta took a quick head count of her troops. Of the original two dozen soldiers that had accompanied her only seventeen remained. With a heavy heart, Leeta gave the order for the party to land. "We'll make camp and stay out the rest of the day on the plains below. Come nightfall, we shall resume our quest," commanded the Princess.
"I've got a bad feeling about this" muttered Carla as they all descended.
Day six of the journey to Angellis ended. Leeta's razor wing landed on the dried ground that made up the edge of the Nevan Desert. She sighed and looked back at her companions landing behind her. On this sixth day only she, Carla, Carmen, Garanna, and five soldiers were left. Over the past two days, the group had been attacked repeatedly by "marauding" monsters. But Leeta knew better. The Princess narrowed her eyes as Garanna dismounted and ran for the nearest rock to relieve himself. She guessed that the little weasel was probably the cause of all these attacks.
Leeta grunted and dismounted herself. As she secured the razor wing, Carmen came over and stood over the Princess. "Yes?" asked Leeta with obvious stress.
"I want to check your arm," replied the priestess flatly.
"It's fine," answered Leeta tersely.
"You may think so, but I need to make sure the litany healed the wound completely," said Carmen. "We don't need infection setting in. Now just let me take a look."
The Princess relented and allowed her to look. A few seconds later, Carmen thanked and promptly left. Leeta finished securing the giant reptile. The task completed, she called the highest ranking soldier of those left. "Yes, my lady?" he asked.
"Commander, finish setting up camp and organize a watch list for the night. Include all of us except the Minister. It's likely he wouldn't approve, and I'm sure you would agree we don't need to hear another speech about proper command structure."
The commander smiled. "Yes, Princess." He saluted and ran off to attend to his duties.
Some pebbles skipped across the ground, and Leeta turned to see Carla. "How you holdin' up?" she asked the weary Princess.
"I've been better." Leeta gazed at the desert around them. The sun was setting, and the sky was filled with a myriad of purples, reds, and oranges. Seconds passed, the sun set deeper, and the red in the sky became more dominant. Red light poured over the landscape giving it a bloody completion.
"Gee, there's a good omen," said Carla grimly.
Leeta made a face at her. "Don't speak like that. We need to keep up our hopes. After all, we should reach the former sight of Angellis by midday tomorrow." A wave of exhaustion hit her hard. A large yawn escaped her lips. "Have you picked up anything nearby?" she asked the Premier as the yawn ended.
Carla shook her head. "Not yet, but that's not to say there isn't something out there. You remember how easily those spider crabs sneaked up on us the other night." She kicked another bunch of pebbles. "Something must have negated my barriers around the camp."
"And we both know what or who it was," said Leeta in a quiet whisper.
There was a sigh of relief, and both ladies turned their heads and watched Garanna stroll over to one of the erected tents. "What should we do with him?" said Carla.
Leeta shrugged. "I'm not sure yet. But I do know that before we act, we need to catch him in the act of betrayal. If we don't and he doesn't come clean, we lose our only advantage: surprise." The sun set completely. "Come on, let's get something to eat." While they headed for the fire in the center of camp, Carmen rushed up to them and ordered Carla to lift her blue and gray robe, so that the priestess could check her right leg.
The night passed without interruption and grew into day. The party broke camp and set out early. Several hours later, they arrived at the former location of Angellis, the city of lost angels.