Sandqueen (Rise To Omniscience Book 7) Read online

  SANDQUEEN

  Rise to Omniscience

  Book Seven

  AARON OSTER

  For all the minions. Without your sacrifice, my main characters would never look quite as cool.

  Squawk!

  Prologue

  A giant screen floated in the vast emptiness of space, displaying two characters that no one from the Five Kingdoms would recognize. In fact, no one in several universes would even know what the screen was. They would simply assume it was some sort of magic or construct. To the two figures sprawled before it, it was all too familiar. The one-hundred-foot screen displayed a destroyed cityscape. The center of the scene showed a large and muscular man, as well as a smaller, scantily clad woman.

  The only sounds that could be heard in the vacuum of space – defying all laws of physics – was the rapid sound of clicking, as the two figures mashed buttons, entering combos and trying to knock the other’s on-screen character flat. Unfortunately, despite the valiant efforts of the muscular man and the small girl, neither would be the victor.

  “This blows,” Chaos said, tossing his controller away in disgust.

  “I understand your frustration, but what did you expect?” Order asked, placing his controller on his lap and pulling a chocolate bar from midair.

  “It’s a videogame! It should literally be impossible to tie!”

  “And yet, that is exactly what happened,” Order replied, removing the wrapper and taking a big bite.

  On-screen, both the muscular man and the small girl were lying on their backs. The word ‘Draw’ was plastered across the screen in giant red letters, proclaiming the impossibility of their situation.

  “Maybe we should just move onto a different game,” Chaos muttered, pulling a bar of chocolate, this one far worse than Order’s, from thin air.

  “You know that it won’t make much of a difference, right?”

  “Yeah,” Chaos replied. “Doesn’t mean we can’t try, though.”

  Order shrugged.

  “I picked last time, so I guess it’s your turn. Just…try not to pick anything too trashy.”

  Chaos grinned, the screen flickering and changing to display a pair of women, drawn in a very familiar style. Their proportions were, like the size of their eyes, impossibly large, and the clothes they wore were almost nonexistent. A title screen flashed, displaying the words ‘Beach Volleyball VII’ along with some letters in a different language underneath.

  “Really?” Order asked, giving his counterpart a dead look. “You can choose any game, and this is what you pick?”

  “Hey, it’s my choice, right? You said so yourself.”

  Order let out a long breath, then slowly nodded. He didn’t like the fact that he couldn’t fight back like he used to. The roiling world beneath him was in too much turmoil, signaling that Chaos was growing in power. If things continued as they were, he would soon be swallowed up, and his counterpart would reign supreme. Though that was an eventuality he did not want to happen, there was little he could do to stop it. Well, short of wiping Somerset from existence.

  However, by this point, the world was so deeply ingrained in this universe that it would be catastrophic to simply make it go away. There was also the fact that Chaos now had enough strength to fight him over it, not to mention the fact that if he did somehow manage it, their tenuous peace would be broken.

  “Then I don’t want to hear any complaining,” Chaos said, snapping him from his musings. “If I were you, I’d pick the purple-haired girl with the white…”

  “I can make my own choices,” Order snapped, purposely selecting the only girl with a one-piece swimsuit.

  “You’re really boring. You know that, right?” Chaos asked as the game started.

  “Better than being an unapologetic perv,” Order replied.

  “Better a perv than a prude, I always say.”

  “That is the first time you’ve ever said that.”

  “Is it really?” Chaos asked, maneuvering his character towards the ball. He’d chosen a blonde girl with a bikini that was all but invisible. “I guess I should start saying it more often.”

  “Please…don’t,” Order said, fighting back the urge to let out a long sigh.

  The ball hit the ground on his side, causing bright letters to flash across the screen. On the next serve, Order maneuvered his character to spike the ball, earning him a single point. Seeing as volleyball needed to be won by two, this game was probably going to go on for a while before the two of them eventually gave up, and Order was not looking forward to several weeks of this crap.

  Still, so long as they continued to tie, the world below was in balance, and that was the very best outcome he could hope for. As the game continued, Order could feel something stirring in the world below. Something that should not be, yet was happening, nonetheless. From up here, there was nothing he could do. Nothing but hope that his promise to a certain mortal could sway the balance in his favor.

  ***

  Deep in the heart of the West Kingdom, in the center of a sprawling desert and far from any civilization, lay the city of Mitten. Or, as it was more commonly known, the Ruined City. It had once been a thriving city, filled with so many bright minds and ideas of grand that it had gotten the attention of the wrong people. As a result of their experimentation, the city was destroyed, and the land itself was cursed.

  Twisted beasts now wandered the ruins of the city, attacking anyone who came near. Luckily for those in the West Kingdom, the Ruined City was surrounded by towering walls that contained the cursed beasts, stopping them from breaking free and attacking those unfortunate enough to be near. The gates, once open and welcoming, were now chained shut by order of the monarch ruling over the West at the time of the city’s destruction.

  Now, the only ones who came near were the guard patrols. They were tasked by the current king to keep watch over the borders and stop any who were foolish enough to try and enter. They were also there, however, to serve as an early-warning system and a stop-gap defensive measure, should the walls fail and the twisted beasts escape. The West Kingdom was sure they knew all the secrets of the Ruined City, but, of the many things they didn’t know, one was about to become a very serious threat. One the likes of which had not been seen since the Pinnacle King of Winter woke in the North.

  Deep beneath the sands of the Ruined City, a creature bound to a stone slab stirred for the first time in over ten-thousand years. Bright violet eyes opened, glowing in the complete darkness of the sandstone cavern as the creature woke from its slumber.

  A deep breath flowed into her lungs, the stale air of the underground not bothering the creature at all. The bright core of red and blue, her source of power, flared to life as she inhaled, spreading its warmth throughout her body. A low purr escaped her lips as she half-turned, stretching her arms above her head. The light rattle of chains sounded in the darkness as taut muscles extended to their fullest, rippling beneath the light tan fur.

  She yawned, the bright violet eyes contracting to slits as a pair of gleaming canines were revealed, standing out against the black of her upper and lower lips. She turned, stretching the other way – or at least, as much as the chains would allow – and flexed her slim but powerful arms, allowing her claws to extend from the small slits right above each finger.

  The claws looked less like the claws of a lioness, which this creature very obviously was, and more like those of a bird of prey. They gleamed an almost metallic black, despite there being not so much as a hint of light, and extended well over eight inches. Though she was clearly a lioness, no ordinary lion would ever mistake this majestic creature for one of their kind.

  Firstly, her body
was shaped all wrong. Instead of being built like a typical feline, she was built more like a primate. She had arms and legs, and her head sat atop her shoulders, rather than between them. Though it would be hard to get an exact measure of her height, since she was lying down, she knew that when she rose, she would stand some seven and a half feet tall, towering over the pitiful humans who thought themselves superior to all.

  The lioness, done with stretching her shoulders, tried to sit up. However, the chains crossing her chest got in the way of that. She growled, low in her throat and heaved against them. Lines of muscle stood out all over her body, her abdominals and back muscles the most prominent. However, after several seconds of straining, she was forced to stop and lay back down.

  Closing her eyes, she concentrated on her core, slowly beginning to move the red and blue light in a rotation, pulling her mana and chi into the only thing that might aid her in escaping her bonds. As she worked to conjure the energy of the world, she finally had time to slow down and think, something which she hadn’t done much of since waking.

  Why was she even up? Of all her siblings, she was supposed to be third in line, and from what she could scent, only Octagon had risen thus far. And, for some reason, the scent was extremely faint, as though he were very far away. The lioness’s nose wrinkled, bunching up along with her muzzle as she inhaled sharply, trying to understand why he was so far from her. If Octagon was awake, he should be much closer than he was, yet once again, his scent came back from far away.

  She sniffed again, this time taking shallower breaths and scenting the surrounding area. Nothing smelled any different than she remembered down here. There was rot and decay, as well as bones of those who had once called this place home, now ground to dust in the sands of time. The familiar scent of a race, now long gone, reached her faintly as well, reminding her of a time when not only humans and beasts walked the face of Somerset.

  She jolted, her body tensing as a new scent wafted over to her then, one that had taken some time to reach her. Of all the Pinnacle Kings, her sense of smell was the keenest, but like light, some scents took time to travel. Her eyes opened wide, and she once again began to thrash against her chains. Never before had she sensed something so very terrifying! She’d thought that she and her siblings were the most powerful creatures on the face of this planet, but things must have drastically changed in the time she’d been asleep.

  More scents reached her then, and she could feel her panic rising. Her claws extended fully, and she let out a roar that shook the entirety of the underground city. Dust and rocks began to fall as she reached for what little reiki she’d managed to weave. Her body flared with violet light, and several of her chains snapped under the force of her powerful body. Then, the reiki was spent, and she fell back to the stone slab.

  Her chest heaved as she lay there, her mind racing over the implications. Yes, they were far away, but there were four distinct scents. There were four beasts whose power would dwarf hers and her siblings combined. She was tempted, just for a moment, to begin straining against the chains once again. It seemed they’d been weakened over time, and if she worked diligently, she might be able to break free in a few weeks.

  As with the nature of all cats, she almost immediately dismissed the idea of working so hard for so long, and instead reverted to the trait that made all Pinnacle Kings beasts to be feared. Closing her eyes, she reached outward with her mind. The scripts that had blocked the doors to her cavern were eroded to the point where she didn’t have to pause, her consciousness floating up through miles of sand until she reached the surface.

  She’d already smelled them, the groups of humans wandering the perimeter of the once-great city. They would be perfect for her plans, and, if she gathered enough power, she might be able to avoid a fight altogether. If they saw her as an equal, rather than a weaker creature who could be ousted, they would stick to their territories and wouldn’t come sniffing around hers. All she needed to do was what Pinnacle Kings did best.

  Conquer and rule!

  ***

  Taj tramped through the sand, feeling the ground giving way beneath his feet, making his already difficult and pointless job all the harder. For more than ten years, he’d been tasked with patrolling the borders of the Ruined city, and though he wanted to do nothing less, he had little choice in the matter. His family had displeased the former Queen of the West, Hu Vah, and as a result, he’d been tasked with grunt work for the rest of his life.

  He’d tried to repeal his sentence with the new rulers, and while Hu Shane had been a total ass, their new king, Hu Kiln, was supposed to be a lot fairer. However, when he’d once again tried to appeal to the ruler of his kingdom, he’d been denied, though this time, they’d said his duty should be seen as an honor. He, of course, saw it as anything but, not that he could do anything about it.

  Taj’s foot sank into the sand once again, and had it not been for his years of experience, he would have lost his balance and gone tumbling down the sand dune upon which he was perched. He was angry, bitter, and, worst of all, resigned. Resigned to spend the rest of his miserable life wandering the dunes around a destroyed city, while the guards he had to oversee were swapped out every three months.

  “I can feel your anger, human.”

  Taj jumped, this time slipping and falling from his perch, as a growling feminine voice sounded in his mind. He hit the ground several times, slamming into the loose sand and collecting several bruises and cuts before finally sliding to a halt. He was up on his feet in an instant, his head whipping from side to side as he tried to find the source of the voice.

  “Where are you? Show yourself!” the man yelled.

  He now very much regretted coming out here alone, but he’d just been so frustrated.

  “You cannot see me from where you now stand,” the voice replied, containing just the smallest hint of a purr. “But enter the city, and you will find me waiting…Taj.”

  “Who are you?” Taj asked, now looking toward the city. “And how do you know my name?”

  “I know a lot about you, Taj,” the voice whispered. “I know your anger, your hatred, your…lust for power. I can give you what you seek, Taj. A way to escape the misery of your life and start anew. To claim vengeance on those who have stepped on you all your life. All you have to do is come and find me.”

  Taj didn’t know why, but he found himself wanting to listen to the alluring voice. She promised him strength and power. More than that, she was promising that he’d get revenge.

  “Who are you?” he asked again, his voice coming out much softer this time.

  “The one who rules the sands, of course. But you can call me by my proper name, so that all may soon know of my majesty. I am Pentagon the Desiccator, Pinnacle King of Drought!”

  Taj hesitated at that name. The words ‘Pinnacle King’ vaguely troubled him for several long moments, but the allure of her voice soon drowned out any doubts.

  “Come to me, Taj. You have been ignored for far too long. Come to me, and I will give you all you desire.”

  Though Taj couldn’t see it, a violet glow was now surrounding his pupils, but, as he stumbled toward the walls of the Ruined City, the stupefied man wouldn’t have noticed, even if he had been staring directly into a mirror.

  ***

  “It looks like it’s finally closed up for good this time, though I’d still take it easy for the next few days at the very least.”

  “Thanks,” Gwendolyn said as Herald stood back, allowing the others to crowd in around her.

  When she’d come stumbling in nearly a day ago with a gaping hole through her that simply refused to close, they’d been worried. Especially after she collapsed on the ground and began bleeding out all over the floor. They were lucky Herald had been there, as none of them had even known what to do. Even now, they weren’t entirely sure, as he’d been blocking their sight while he worked on her.

  “Care to explain what happened?” Herald asked, crossing his arms.

&nb
sp; “Well. As it turns out, I ran into a certain someone’s doppelganger,” Gwendolyn said, slowly sitting up.

  While the others looked confused, the look of immediate understanding on Herald’s face told her that she knew what he was talking about.

  “I don’t understand how my doppelganger could have caused so much trouble. And since you know what she’s talking about,” Morgan said, “how about you explain.”

  “I’m sorry,” Herald replied, his tone somber. “But this is one of the areas I’m afraid I cannot help or divulge any information.”

  “It’s fine,” Gwendolyn said before Morgan could reply. “I’ve got plenty to tell.”

  She turned to the others, her eyes moving between Morgan, Sarah and Katherine, all of whom were looking both anxious and curious.

  “Herald was right about him, and you should have listened. You should all have come along with me when I went to face him, because he is the one who did this to me.”

  Dead silence greeted her words. The others were shocked, to say the least, even Herald it seemed, though he did a much better job of hiding it than the others.

  “How exactly did he manage to hurt you?” Morgan finally asked. “I thought we were supposed to be immortal.”

  Gwendolyn let out a sigh, then launched into her story. She told them all about how she’d gone to face him down and had been continually trapped by one powerful attack after the next.

  “I honestly don’t know why he continuously unleashed attacks that didn’t hurt me, but the longer I fought, the surer I was of my inevitable victory. He was slowing down, growing weaker, and I hadn’t even asserted my full strength. But, when I went in for what I was sure would be the killing blow, he pulled out some sort of new technique.

  “He had some kind of silver-colored spear. He attacked so quickly, I couldn’t even follow it, and when it struck, it caused the most painful wound I’ve ever felt in my entire life. It felt like it had cut not only my body, but my soul along with it. I was so shocked that he’d managed to hurt me, that I’ll admit I panicked and ran. As you saw, the wound refused to close, and I was scared of dying.”