Leonid Sulla's Story

Bandrial awoke as the sunlight flitted in her stain glass windows. Her pale, smooth form emerged from under the crimson silk blankets that covered her throne like bed. Her ruby hair cascaded down her naked body like a river of blood. She gathered the blankets around her, ignoring the unconscious male form in her bed, and rose to meet the morning.

She watched as her guards as they switched shifts, or bossed the slaves around the courtyard. If it weren't for the nagging on her heart, she would have embraced this morning the same way she had done the eighteen years she had been in power, with grace and unrelenting malice. The prophecy plagued her heart, and it threatened to consume her with hatred. Today was not like other days. Today was the day the eight were to be born, the day that the destined heroes would crawl from their mother's womb and rip her from her throne that she had rightfully earned.

She wouldn't crumble under the pressure of her own demise. This world was her own to mold how she wished, she would would do as she wished and her inhabitants would have to admire her from afar as she blazed by, transforming Aurora into her own playground. Those who opposed her would burn in the tails of flames she left in her wake.

The crimson sorceress turned toward her stone doors, voices drifting in through the walls.

“They say her bed is filled with the blood of all the men she has killed in there.” one female voice spoke softly.

“Do you want her to hear you?” stuttered another.

“It's just eerie, I never want to go in there.” They were servants, probably cleaning the hall outside her quarters. She couldn't hide the sadistic grin that clung to her lush scarlet lips as she opened her door.

“You there,” she commanded, pointing at the woman who had just been so scared to enter her room. Bandrial's smile widened as the color drained from the woman's face.

“Come here, I need someone to help me dress.” The woman shivered so badly it looked like she would faint as she walked into the Blood Queen's domain. She worked wordlessly, helping the naked woman into a slinky black dress, and then finally working on the laces of her corset.

“That's too loose,” Bandrial sang with a sickly tone. The woman's fingers were shaking so hard that it appeared that she might die of fright. She tightened the corset, showing off the seductress' fantastic curves, then finally tieing it off.
Bandrial turned, magic fire dancing from her fingertips.

“Ouch,” she said mockingly.“That hurt.” and she watched as the woman combusted into flames. Her screams piercing even through the thick stone walls. Bandrial felt as the chuckle erupted from her lips, she watched in pleasure as the woman died, her smoldering corpse lying on the floor.

The man in her bed shot up in terror but could not remove himself from the room. He was tied to the bed posts of her bone carved headboard.

“Toran,” she called in a husky sing-song like manner. She used her way to communicate with all of her elite forces. They all had something that she could project her voice into. For some it was a piece of jewelry, some it was mind contact. It didn't matter. They knew when she was talking to them and could hear her proclamation.

“I need you in my quarters my love,” she slithered, stressing the word love. “There has been an incident.”

It took him almost no time at all to enter her room. She gave him a sultry look as he entered, walking over to him and touching his face.

“Another of my servants burst into flames,” she said with mock concern. “Also this man won't leave my bed.” her voice grew dark and seductive, she whispered in his ear. “You can take care of that for me, can't you?” She watched him with glee shining in her dark eyes.

“Meet me in the throne room,”she projected to the rest of her servants, "There is much to discuss."

“You really need to stop shaking. It is making it extremely hard to appropriately measure your skull,” Leonid mumbled. His victim was strapped to a wooden chair and was trembling. It was a man of average age. Leonid was the only other man in the basement. Behind him several tools were laid out on a table but right now he was only using a couple of measurement instruments and a piece of parchment he wrote his results on.
“You said you were innocent? If you’re speaking the truth there is no need to be afraid. My measurements are always accurate. I’m not a bad man, I weed out the bad people. Compare me to a customs officer. He checks whether the goods are any good. I do the same, just with people. I make sure there are no bad people running around. I protect the good people such as you,” Leonid got a large wooden ruler from the table and placed it against the back of the man’s head. After a short while he let out an irritated sigh. The man really wasn't cooperating.

“You’re still shaking," he scolded, "We can’t have that. I’d hate to draw an incorrect conclusion and convict an innocent or let a criminal go. One second,” he put his instruments back and adjusted the straps until the man couldn’t move a centimeter. Already his hands were turning blue due to the tightness of the straps. Leonid resumed his measurements in absolute silence. Only the occasional scribble on the parchment and the whimpering of the man broke it. Finally Leonid stopped and put the instruments away. He loosened the straps slightly, took a chair for himself and sat down in front of the man.

“I’ve got good news for you. My measurements show you haven’t done anything wrong. Unfortunately, I also have bad news for you. Your skull shows you have a natural inclination towards traitorous acts. That means you are a bad person mister Stevron. But do not fear. I can help you save yourself. I can do it in two different ways; either you point me towards other traitorous people, or I use those on you to get the information I want. I'd prefer the former, but do not think I will not resort to the latter if necessary,” he gestured at the torture instruments in the back. The man gave Leonid a scared look and started to mumble:
“But… I don’t know anyone who could be a traitor.
“Don’t lie to me mister Stevron. With a nature such as yourself, you definitely know some suspicious people. All I need are some names to prove you can overcome your traitorous inclination,” he gave Stevron a sweet smile and leaned closer, “do that and we’ll be friends. You don't want to be my enemy."

The man looked at Leonid Sulla in absolute horror. He seemed to think this through for some time before finally clearing his throat, his voice wavering:
“Yes, I think I may have some suspicions. I don’t know for sure, of course," he was quick to add. Leonid gave him a smooth smile.
“Of course. You’re no traitor after all. Not yet, because you’ve been fighting the urge. Because you try to be loyal to the nation of Aurora, no?”
“Indeed,” he was shaking over his entire body, “but the blacksmith, Andrew Pihl. I heard him make traitorous comments.”
“I see,” Leonid mumbled as he wrote the name down, “and he’s from the same city as you?”
“Yes, yes. Arminlit street.”
“We will investigate his case, rest assured. Any more names?” Leonid pressed, moistening his lips slightly. His father had been a blacksmith. He had hated his father. The man seemed to be fighting his conscience. Leonid ostentatiously glared at the torture instruments.

“Michael Woonse," his prisoner blurted, "He lives downtown. He sells spices. And Antonio Medrazz, the shoemaker. That’s all, I swear,” the man was now on the verge of crying. Leonid wanted to pressure him some more but then received Bandrial’s summon. It was not a wise thing to leave the sorceress waiting. He smiled slightly and got up, his hand reaching for the handle of his walking stick.
“I thank you for your cooperation mister Stevron. Now, I have other business to attend to, but one of my assistants will see to it you are set free and returned home,” he limped away from the chair and up the stairs. There he found one of his assistants waiting for him. The man's name was Boris and he had been picked for his looks; he was almost two meters tall and pure muscle. Just having him in the room made interrogations easier.

“Ah, Boris, just the man I need. Here’s a list of suspicious people. We also have a prisoner down there who was kind enough to share the names with us, so give him a quick death alright? We are not monsters after all, unlike those traitors.”
“Yes captain Sulla,” the man rumbled, “we also have a couple of new prisoners you might want to take a look at. They were found in most suspicious circumstances.”
“Ah, yes. I saw a similar report this morning. I need to go see the queen now. Before you deal with mister Stevron, throw them in some cells.Could you please see to it one of them is placed in one of the special interrogation cells? We'll let fear do its work before I interfere."
“Of course captain Sulla,” the man saluted and marched away, an evil smile on his face. Sulla waited until the man had disappeared before walking away himself. He disliked having his back turned towards others.

Nevertheless, Boris was one of the few people he more or less trusted. Not because he showed any specific loyalty, but more because he was too stupid to consider plotting against his captain. Besides, he loved his work, even more than Sulla himself. Sulla did what he did because it was necessary; most of his men derived pleasure from it. It was slightly unfortunate, but it was hard to find people willing to do whatever was necessary without enjoying their work. He sighed as he continued his walk to Bandrial’s chambers. Once at the door he knocked on it briefly.
“My queen, it is I, Leonid Sulla. I have arrived as you commanded. May I come in?" 

121-97-40-4129856

Today, I've stumbled unto something extraordinary. Subject 4129856, who had only been operated on two weeks before to remove what I'd perceive as 80% of the liver, was back on the table for a checkup.

Subject was uncooperative and brute force was necessary. Despite being tied down, there was too much movement to begin surgery, and the subject begged for an anasthetic.

With her bare back pressed back against the cold metal table, limbs restrained, she had looked so pathetic, so weak. "It hurts! It's gonna hurt! Let me go! She kept screaming, loud enough for Alice's ears to hurt, and squirming that if she were to operate, there would be no guarantee's that her insides wouldn't just fall over the edge and get infected. There was no reason to risk infection and lose the study. The witch moved towards the subjects head and started shushing her softly while stroking her long black hair, the girls frantic state being calmed as Alice held her head in her arms almost in a motherly fashion.
"It'll be all right...it'll be all right." She whispered softly to the poor girl's ear as her tears stained the witch's bloody apron, reduced to low whimpers.
"I'll give you something really strong, so then there won't be any pain."

Subject was administered a combination of water and a couple of drops of bloodroot extract. The combination is bitter tasting but has no beneficial nor negative purposes. Subject was in for minor surgery and anesthetic isn't required.

The girl was calmed among drinking the potion although gagging a bit at first. Alice glanced at the nurse who stood at attention at the door, part of the tight knit team of three remaining loyal servant girls trained by Alice to assist her, and motioned her over. "Hold her head back." She ordered in a whisper and when Isabella, the nurse, did so, Alice finally started. The stiches were first removed and with a scalpel, easily cut through what of the stomach had healed over from last time in a "I" fashion. With her leather gloves, she pulled up the two pieces of skin from their bloody underside and exposed her organs among the stale air.

Subject's liver was regenerated back to a full size after two weeks. Though a discovery, there was something odder."

"Something's wrong." The nurse chimed in and Alice gently closed the stomach flaps of skin before approaching her.
"What is it?" Alice asked but she can see what's wrong as Isabella held her eyelids back.

Subject's pupils have shrunk significantly and was unresponsive to sond but responsive to light. Heartbeat was lower then normal.

"Did you give the subject anything?"
"No, Miss Blackwood. I just held her head back as you have requested."
Alice slowly walked back to her place.
"Did the subject react to the pain?" After countless amounts of research, screams and cries for help were so common, it was hardly worth anything to pay attention to.
"No, ma'am."
Now something was definitely wrong. Alice twirled the scalpel in her hands and started to dig it deep into the subject's inner thigh, carefully enough not to hit any major arteries, but it was an area riddled with nerves.
"Any response?"
"No, ma'am."
"Tell me when there is."
The scalpel was removed from the wound, followed by a little blood, and with little haste, dig her finger in, moving it back and forth expecting a torrent of shrieking hell to let loose and yet none. A moment of baffling frusteration as Alice took off her leather glove and fire danced across her fingertips and cauterized the inside of the wound.
"Nothing?"
The nurse shook her head.

Subject displayed the symptoms of someone under a major anesthetic. Multiple punctures, cuts, lacerations and the cauterization around non-vital areas failed to provide a response.
After removing 80% of the liver once more to study the limits of it's regenerative abilities, the subject was sewn up, and sent off to rest, the process will be repeated again in intervals of two weeks and 15 more subjects will be taken in in order to track the cycle of regeneration among varying sizes and cutoffs of livers.
The state of subject 4129856 during the surgery is still unknown. The only rational explanation for the state is that water and bloodroot extract is actually a powerful anesthetic. However, the mixture has long been proven to be an bitter and ineffective.

20 subjects will be needed for more testing.

For lack of a better name, I shall call this illogical state of body, the "Blackwood Effect", for the meantime.

-Alice Blackwood.

Just as the witch had finished writing, Bandriel's voice had suddenly called her to the throne. She stood up from her study and half-eaten breakfast, and took a long drag from her pipe before letting the smoke free from her lungs. As Alice walked out from her room, she waved over another nurse, Mary, to come speak with her as they walked.
"Did you cremate the bodies last night?"
"Yes, Lady Blackwood."
"Test the new strength potion?"
"The yellow mixture with a twinge of purple?"
"Yes."
"The subject showed an increase of strength and endurance during the tests. Once I put it down and peeled back all the skin as per your request, muscle mass was five times the regular size but partially obstructed vital organs.
"I see. Find a clean slate-"(untested subject) "-and study the effects of long-term use."
"Yes, Lady Blackwood." and just as Mary was about to leave Alice grabbed her shirt to prevent her from leaving and stopped in place. "Inform Sava to wait for me in the suspended animation room, Queen Bandriel calls for me.
"Yes, Lady Blackwood." Alice let go of her and smiled.
"Good girl. Stick to the infirmary wing."

As the nurse had left Alice was close to the throne room and saw Leonid patiently waiting at the door. Alice had enough on for the morning, her witch's robes and tunic, walking barefoot and never wore her hat inside the confines of the castle.
"Morning Leonid." She greeted the tall torturer, who may be the only ally who isn't insane, casually before knocking twice upon the door, her leather gauntlets still wet with blood, only realizing with the dark marks it left on the door. Alice cursed herself mentally for forgetting to clean them but didn't want to wipe them off her clothes otherwise, despite knowing how to clean blood easily with the right materials, now certainly wasn't the time.
My Queen, it is Alice Blackwood, as I've arrived to your command. Shall I enter?"

Bandrial watched Toran's acts with child like glee. Her heart warmed at the sight of her previous partner's struggles and gurgles under Toran's strong hands. When her pet threw him from her window she thought she might be overcome with the excitement it caused her.

”Thank you Toran,” The witch said with fake innocence. “Thank you for saving your queen from such a vile man.”

It was about that time she heard the rap on her chamber door. She sought out with her mind to realize it was the two she had called for earlier. She rolled her dark eyes and sat on her bed.

“May I enter.” They asked her. She crossed her legs, the perfectly pale limbs becoming very visible through the slit in her dress.

”Let them in Toran dear,” she said venomously. ”I am pretty sure I asked you to meet me in the throne room, but since you are here in such a hurry we might as well talk now.” She played with her ruby hair as she thought.

[color=red]“Many of you know what tomorrow is. The day the comet will streak across the sky and choose the eight that are to defeat me.” She allowed herself a small smile. “That vile, retched little prophet made a mistake by telling me of “The day of redemption,' we are going to do everything in our power to stop it. This is the most important thing we have ever done. If we fail here I promise I will not be going down alone. We have time to fix this “prophecy” to make sure that if it is real, it will never come to pass. The eight of light that are supposed to dethrone me are to be born tomorrow, and we are going to work together to make sure that they do not live into the next morning.” She turned to Leonid.

“You and your secret police are to go flush out anyone birthing in secret. You are to give any information you find to the Armies. We cannot let a single baby slip through our fingers.” The Ruby Queen then turned her gaze in the direction of the small witch.

“Alice dear, I need you to go get a variety of your serums, most importantly that mind link one you came up with,” she flitted her hands about as if she couldn't be bothered to remember the name of it. “So that Leonid and my soldiers can remain in contact, as well as any of the other serums that might aid them in battle. Also anything that you have that can help rid us of the nasty newborns I want you to put that into action as well. I know you probably have something that could do this quietly, but I need to make a statement, no one will ever rise against Bandrial.”

Finally she turned to look at her little solider. She smiled a seductive smile at him.

“Toran, I will have you going with one of my finest generals and his army to pick through the capital in the Northridge Fields. Leave not an infant alive, and take down anyone who opposes you.” She stood from her bed and went for the door.

“Make sure you meet with both of the others to get any information or supplies you need before you take off. We act tonight my loyal ones. The comet strikes at midnight.”

---

---

”Thank you, Toran, thank you for saving your queen from such a vile man.” Toran kept his head bowed, and while he knew that the man had never put Her in danger; his heart still quivered at Her words. What insignificant man such as the one who had taken a stop in the underworld do to Her? Nothing, but still She complimented him. The worm that was kneeling before Her because Her compassion and love knew no bounds.

A soft knock on the door snapped Toran's attention to the door that lead to Her bedroom, and he heard the mans voice on the other end. For a moment, he was ready to reach for his blade and end another miserable life that was daring to impede on Her honor, but he placed the voice. Sulla. The man who shared his enjoyment of torture. A man who was not a rival for Bandrial's love.

At least, not yet. ”Let them in Toran dear, I am pretty sure I asked you to meet me in the throne room, but since you are here in such a hurry we might as well talk now.”

Toran could not stop the smile that slide across his face masked by his helm at that. They were flawed and incapable of following the simplest of commands which is why he was the only one fit to be Her servant. Deep down it is what he wanted, to be the only one She needed for anything. There was nothing he wouldn't do for Her yet She still sought companionship in others... but logic stated that this was because he was a lowly mongrel barely worth licking Her boots.

Toran stood, his armor clinking from the metal plates pinging off on another, and opened the door holding it open for the two other servants to enter. Lord Sulla and Alice the little witch that Toran assumed Bandrial kept around because the witch amused Her. With them in the room, Toran shut the door softly as to not harm the Goddess's sensitive ears.

“That vile, retched little prophet made a mistake by telling me of “The day of redemption,' we are going to do everything in our power to stop it. This is the most important thing we have ever done. If we fail here I promise I will not be going down alone. We have time to fix this “prophecy” to make sure that if it is real, it will never come to pass. The eight of light that are supposed to dethrone me are to be born tomorrow, and we are going to work together to make sure that they do not live into the next morning.”

Toran tilted his head, prophecy? What prophecy? He had never heard of such a thing. Eight of light that were to dethrone her? Ludicrous. There was nothing that could stand in the way of the Goddess that sat upon the bed before him. How could any stand before Her? With her pale legs that peaked out from underneath Her dark dress that flowed with every curve, the slight slit in the dress that taunted him with the promise of what lay beneath.

Toran's attention snapped back to Her when She spoke to him. “Toran, I will have you going with one of my finest generals and his army to pick through the capital in the Northridge Fields. Leave not an infant alive, and take down anyone who opposes you.”

Nodding his head, he brought his armored fist to cover his breastplate and over his heart and bowed his head. "It shall be done." He said simply. Still, his mind could not help but lament over her tone. How? How could She look at him like that? Speak to him like that... in that soft voice that beckoned him to get closer and explore what the dark dress taunted him with, and yet he knew that the second he left She would take another of those filthy 'pretty' boys to Her chambers. His hands nearly trembled with rage over the images that flooded through his mind. He would enjoy this quest She had given him. He would cut down them all, drown in their blood because it would distract him. Distract him from what what his Goddess would be doing in the privacy of her room.

“Make sure you meet with both of the others to get any information or supplies you need before you take off. We act tonight my loyal ones. The comet strikes at midnight.”

Toran nodded his head once again, but he had no intention of doing that. He needed to kill something. Strangle them with their own intestines. With Her final command spoken, Toran bowed and turned on his heel to storm out of the room and down the stone hall, a loud clank accompanied his every move as his boot struck the stone over and over again. He could not wait; the blood of traitors, heretics, and even infants would flow in rivers, but Toran knew it would not be enough. It would not be enough to raise him from the level of a mongrel. It would not be enough to make Her look only at him... as heretical as such thoughts were he could not keep them from his mind. She was a Goddess, but he desired for Her to be only his Goddess. For now and forever.

Leonid entered calmly and bowed as deeply as his bad leg permitted him. He leaned on his walking stick and just listened to his queen, his eyes sometimes flickering to Toran. He knew the man’s dedication was without question, but he was dedicated to a point that he might be a danger to others. He wasn’t sure what to think of Alice. She was an odd one that was for sure. He’d spent quite some time trying to dig up her past, but that had proven more difficult than originally anticipated. This made him wary. It was his task to know everything about everybody. Yes, she was seemingly on their side and she was trusted by Bandrial, but still. It was Leonid’s job to distrust everyone.

Leonid’s usual amused smile had disappeared from his face. This was a serious business. He had almost forgotten about the prophecy, or more exactly tried to forget about it. He had hoped the problem would just disappear if he ignored it. While prophecies were known to be quite unclear most of the time, this one had been clear enough. Clear enough to instill a healthy amount of fear but also clear enough to hand them the way to defeat it. He would do everything to make sure Bandrial remained in power, if that meant slaughtering all those babies, so be it. Besides, given enough time most of them would have probably developed traitorous sentiments over time, even if they hadn’t been destined to overthrow Bandrial.

If not for their cooperation with the army tomorrow, while bloodier, wouldn’t have been too different from other days. Leonid disliked working with them for such operations. They lacked a certain amount of finesse. Still, he saw the necessity and was willing to deal with the inconvenience it brought along. Tomorrow would be a most dangerous day but he had the opportunity to put an end to the danger. He made a mental note to try to collect as many skulls as possible from the corpses for later studies. He wondered if he would be able to determine whether they had been one of the ‘chosen ones’ merely through measurement of the skull. It would be most interesting, no doubt to see whether their 'potential' had already manifested itself on a visual level directly after birth. That combined with numerous other skulls from presumably innocent babies could further his study of craniometrics even more. The idea of a breakthrough was most thrilling. When Bandrial had finished, he cleared his throat and saluted with his free hand. He had a clearly defined task now. She always made clear what was expected and that was one of the many qualities he so admired in her.

“Thy will be done my queen. Rest assured, we will find all those who try to hide a birth and apply the purest solution,” he murmured formally, moistening his lips slightly. He loved the hunt, but the anticipation was even better. Already his mind was coming up with varying ways and tricks to discover the secret births. He was glad to have gotten that task. Those who were trying to hide the babies were the vilest traitors. Giving birth to a baby on that ill-fated day alone was shameful, but trying to get away with it? It was simply horrendous. There would be no mercy tomorrow, no restraint. He couldn’t fail. If even one child slipped through he would lose his post, his prestige and his power when Bandrial found out. Or even worse, the child himself might kill Leonid if he truly was one of the 'eight of light'.
 

As soon as Leonid had left the meeting with Bandrial he went back to his headquarters and summoned his men. After an hour or so they had all gathered in the largest room in the building, though it was still cramped. It was unusual for so many members of his secret police to be in one place and he hadn’t envisioned the need for it when he had ordered the building of his headquarters. For one it made it too easy for the rebellious elements to hurt them. Right now you could throw a brick while blindfolded and still hit someone. Maybe he should have met with them in the palace, though it would have been a serious breach of decorum. Still, maybe it would have been warranted. After all today was a strange day, different from any other before. Today they would be playing a part in a bigger play. Leonid gave his men a scrutinizing look.

“May I have your attention please?” he spoke softly as he tapped his stick on the floor. The room immediately became quiet. Leonid had always kept a tight rein on his men and no one wanted to provoke him. He began to see traitors everywhere when provoked.

“Thank you. Today quite some babies are going to be born. While that is something that happens every day and worth celebrating, today is different. We are to make sure the babies don’t live past today. People are not going to like that, but most will yield their children, or so I hope. On top of that I myself am going to award a bounty, anyone who reports a hidden birth will receive a nice little sum of money. That combined with patriotism should uncover most births but a couple will slip through. Unless you all do your job. There will be plenty of traitorous elements and they will try to hide a birth. It is up to us find them and make sure no baby escapes the purge. That’s going to be our only focus today. I want you all to lie, deceive, torture, bribe and eavesdrop. In short anything that can help us track down these children. Fail and the consequences shall be most grave for me. And what is grave for me, is ten times as grave for the rest of you. Do I make myself clear?” he hissed, his eyes cold now. Everyone saluted, some a bit slower than others. He could see a few hesitating glances but everyone knew better than to protest.

“Wonderful,” he mumbled, the small smile on his face again, “now, let’s start rooting out those traitors. And before I forget, bring me as many of their skulls as possible. I’d like to study them afterwards. Of course you will be compensated for every baby skull,” he could see the doubts some men had disappear quickly at the thought of more gold.

“Excuse me sir,” one of his lieutenants raised a hand gingerly.

“Yes?” Leonid’s eyes focused on the man but to his credit he only wavered slightly.

“How do we distinguish the newly born from babies that have been born in the last couple of weeks?”

“You could use common sense or you could do what I intend to do, take no chances. If there is even the slightest possibility that the baby was born on the wrong day, you kill him.”

“Yes sir,” the man nodded, seemingly sickened by the idea of such unnecessary bloodshed. Leonid dismissed the thought. If those deaths were the price he’d had to pay to keep his post, so be it. He’d kill all the children in the world if necessary.

---

---

Leonid surveyed the burning pyres that lit the night with pleasure. It gave him something to look at as he gave orders to his lieutenants. Alice’s mindlink potion had been a wonderful thing. Leonid had never liked moving that much even before his leg had gotten crushed. Now he could just sit here and look at the burning corpses while giving orders to his men throughout the land. He had heard rumours of quite serious resistance in some places, but his men seemed to be capable of handling it. And he was moderately comfortable. Granted, the smell of burning flesh wasn’t too pleasant, but he had a perfumed handkerchief for it. It was important he was seen here. He needed to remind people he was still around, hunting traitors.
A lieutenant stopped in front of him and handed him a small report. He flicked through the pages and grinned. There had been plenty of hidden births, but most had been clumsy. Cleary they had underestimated Bandrial. And him.

A shriek pierced his thoughts. Two soldiers dragged a woman from a building and a third was holding a baby. He rose from the chair and walked towards them. Time for some action. The woman was clearly hysteric and kept screeching. Leonid sighed and drew one of his hidden daggers. As the woman tried to attack one of the guards he stopped behind her and slipped his dagger between her shoulders. She let out a surprised wail and then dropped to the ground. The guards immediately let go, as if stung. Leonid calmly cleaned his dagger on the woman’s clothes and then turned towards the baby.
“Kill him,” he ordered calmly. You could see the guards hesitate, “well?”
“Sir, it looks like the child’s already a couple of months old. I don’t think we need to kill him. I have a baby at home as well; he was born a couple of months ago and looks about the same age as this one,” one of the guards stuttered.
“I see,” he walked up to the baby and placed his dagger against the kid’s throat, “I understand your concerns soldier but I am not taking any chances,” and he slit the throat, “now be a good man and throw it on the pyre, alright?”
“Yes sir,” the soldier saluted and hurried off, quickly followed by his companions.

Suddenly Leonid felt sick. Cutting the kid’s throat had been more distressing than he had envisioned. Time to take his leave. He had been visible enough for today. The people had hopefully learned their lessons. Now he could focus on more pleasant exploits. He slowly paced towards the headquarters and entered his study. Before him a large amount of skulls were arrayed and no doubt more would be brought in soon.
Leonid studied the heap of skulls before him with a smug look and picked one particularly promising one up. He turned it around a couple of times and then started to measure it. After a short time he tossed it aside with a disgusted sigh. Quickly a second pile began to accumulate as Leonid kept tossing skulls aside, his measurements becoming more desperate as time went by. All these skulls were so ordinary! Surely he should have stumbled across one special case by now? Then a terrible thought dawned on him. He got up from his chair, opened the door and poked his head through.

“You!” he snapped at a guard, “bring me a transcript from the prophecy! Now!”

The guard saluted, turned and then paused:
“Which prophecy sir?” Leonid sighed and a dagger slip from his sleeve. With a quick gesture he hurled it at the man’s neck. He limbed towards the gurgling man, withdrew the knife and turned to the second guard.

“Would you care to take a guess? Which prophecy would I want given recent events?” he asked acidly.
“The prophecy concerning the seven of the light?” the guard stuttered, his hands shaking heavily.

“That one. Go get it and then send someone to clean this up,” he gestured at the still dying guard, “there’s no room for fools in my employment.”

“Actually sir the empress employs us,” the man started but quickly became silent when he saw Leonid glare. He just saluted and ran off. With an irritated frown Leonid went back into his room and picked up another small skull. It seemed to be mocking it with its dead grin. He didn’t know why yet, but he feared they might have missed something. 

The night had come slowly and had brought dread into Bandrial's corrupted heart. She had a silk robe draped carefully over her pale, smooth body as she stood on her balcony and awaited the destined comet to break through the sky.

It was likely to not even show, part of her was certain that the old moron of a prophet had only said those things to mess with her head. A few well placed rhymes and a mystical voice were enough to trick others into thinking he was a real prophet, but not her.

As if to mock her the rock broke through the atmosphere and set the sky on fire. There were children being born that were supposed to take her throne from her. She chided herself for letting the doubt set in. There was no chance that they would ever make it here, that they would even existed. Any fool with a star map could predict a comet. He used it to trick her. To scare her.

“I figured I would find you here.” A voice called from behind her. Bandrial pushed her fears away and smirked. Her toy had come back, he always came back to her. She turned to look at him. His armor was else where leaving his leather clad body in front of her. His attire clung to his perfect body, a lesser woman would have buckled before him. His dazzling smile withering their hearts into nothingness.

“I suppose it would be dumb of you to be anywhere else, of course you would be here. It only makes sense to watch what is supposed to be your doom.” The Queen's look then turned very sour.

“Not that it would ever happen your lovely-ness,” the knight cooed. “A couple of infants are no problem to someone as delicious as you.” She smiled again and sat on her bed, her almost naked form before him.

“I was wondering when I would see you again Giddeon.” her voice was like silk, soft and slick, drawing him closer.“I take it you finished the task that I have given you?”

“Yes, I was finally able to track down the girl's father. He is in the dungeon with the others.” He was coming closer now, on his knees before her. “You must be anxious tonight,” he said with certainty.

“Let us not talk of something so trifle,” she cooed.

“Would you like me to help you take your mind off things?” he asked softly. She smiled, everything about her was sensual, her pale form peeking from behind the silk, her crimson lips, he needed no further invitation. He kissed her and fell into her sheets.

The queen rose from her bed the next morning, Giddeon still sleeping soundly beside her. She stretched and left the bed unashamed. Her new hand maid heard her awaken and entered the room silently, as not to wake the sleeping man. She helped the Sorceress dress and left without incident. She was in a terribly good mood but there was much to be done.

Giddeon finally rose from the bed and rubbed his eyes. He frowned playfully noticing that Bandrial was already dressed.

“A shame to cover such a magnificent body,” he teased her.

“Well I always feel the need to bathe after being with a scoundrel like yourself,” she chided. “Get dressed, we have things to attend to this morning.” He didn't hesitate. Despite the fact that he could get away with more with her than any one else, he knew better than to avoid a direct order. He was putting on his boots with there was a knock at the door.

“Enter,” the queen commanded. A young woman made herself seen.

“Master Leonid requests your presence your highness. He says it was urgent.” Bandrial flitted her hand to allow for the servant to leave, maybe he had some information for her about today's slaughter.

“Tell him I will receive him in the throne room,” with that she looked to her knight and stuck out her arm for him to lead her to her throne. It was where she belonged after all and nothing was going to keep her from it.

It was with shaking hands that Leonid put the scroll down. He had reread the passage countless times before but this was the first time he had noticed there were two ways one could interpret the sentence. Before he had just assumed his queen had been correct, as usual. It seemed that had been a grave error. It seemed the second interpretation was the right one. Yesterday was the day the heroes had been marked, but not necessarily the day of their birth. Their butchering the previous day had been absolutely pointless. Not only was that a shame for the children, it had also been a terrible waste of manpower and increased the ever growing unrest.

The worst consequence of this error would be Bandrial’s reaction though. Leonid realized all too well that his queen would be most displeased should she hear this truth. He considered keeping it a secret, but quickly dismissed the notion. It would only make her angrier when she would find out and Leonid didn’t doubt she’d find out eventually. These heroes would probably be making a lot of noise really soon and Bandrial should be able to put one and one together.

Besides, it was in his best interests as well to put an end to these heroes as soon as possible. He rose from his chair, cast a disgusted look at the heap of baby skulls in the corner and slowly started to limp towards the throne room. With his free hand he took hold of the poison vial in his jacket. Should Bandrial be most wroth he could always down the poison for a quick and painless death. Apparently his queen had incinerated a serving girl yesterday and Leonid disliked the notion of being burned alive greatly. Still he hoped Bandrial wouldn’t just burn the messenger. Surely it hadn’t been his fault or at least not his fault alone, he could still be useful if she wanted to rectify their error.

He paused in front of the throne room and took a deep breath before entering. When he entered he slowly knelt and tried to avert his eyes.
“My queen, I…I must bring you grave news,” he swallowed, “after studying the skulls for some time I didn’t find any specialones, nothing that could hint at any of them belonging to a chosen one. Moreover, the skulls didn't even seem to hint at the fact that certain babies had been elevated above the others. It was then that I decided to reread the prophecy and I’ve come to the unfortunate conclusion that we have misinterpreted it until now. While yesterday was the day the heroes were marked, it didn’t specifically say yesterday was the day they’d be born,” he concluded, doing his best to remain calm. Despite his attempts his face gleamed with sweat, “so I fear we have spent yesterday killing the wrong suspects. It is likely that the seven heroes are all still alive and trying to fulfil this prophecy…” he left the rest unsaid, no longer fully trusting his voice. His one hand closed even tighter around the vial as he continued to avoid making eye contact. Oh god, he did not want to die...

As Leonid entered she knew that something was terribly wrong. He may be a frail little man, but he had never looked at her with so much delicious fear in his eyes before. She was fueled by it, invigorated by it. Had a baby escaped? Had one of the towns successfully rebelled? Her mind reeled with different sections of bad news that could have Leonid so scared he seemed to be stuttering.

“My queen, I…I must bring you grave news, after studying the skulls for some time I didn’t find any special ones, nothing that could hint at any of them belonging to a chosen one. Moreover, the skulls didn't even seem to hint at the fact that certain babies had been elevated above the others. It was then that I decided to reread the prophecy and I’ve come to the unfortunate conclusion that we have misinterpreted it until now. While yesterday was the day the heroes were marked, it didn’t specifically say yesterday was the day they’d be born,”

Bandrial could feel the fire in her gut threatening to burst. What was he saying? How could she have over looked this? Had her own hubris gotten so far in the way that she could not see this tiny detail, this one little thing. This was going to cause her much work and frustration.

[color=red]”Continue..”[/b] her voice was booming and fierce. Electricity sparking from her fingertips in her aggravation.

“so I fear we have spent yesterday killing the wrong suspects. It is likely that the seven heroes are all still alive and trying to fulfill this prophecy…”

She let out a howl of rage, electricity sparking off of her and bouncing off of everything else and quickly becoming an danger to anything in the throne room.

“You may want to leave.” Giddeon warned the head of the secret police. “I don't think she wants to hurt you but it might be inevitable at this point.”

“Leave me Leonid!” She growled. “Get to finding out who these wretches are and quit wasting my time! If you have no use to me the I need you not!” She focused her energy to contact Toran.

"Get back to the castle Toran, make haste. I need you." She knew that he would be there as soon as he was able. Then she turned to Giddeon.

“Send someone to get Alice, it may be time to use one of the Aces up my sleeve. Let's nip this irritation in the bud, shall we?” she then sunk into her throne, still sparking with anger.