As the Mark settles into the skin above my left breast, an image forms in my mind. Almost a spell, a method of controlling the energy in my body to form black and gold hooded robes with the emblem of the Death God on the chest and sleeves. Cool, magical ceremonial garb.
Karl grins an evil grin at me and his robes, much like mine, but more ornate, with 3 rings of symbols at the cuffs instead of my 2 and embroidery at the collar.
"She likes me better" he whispers in my ear, making me laugh which causes blood to drip from my hair onto my face. I see every face around us, both our side and the dragon riders blanch at my laughter.
What? Never heard a woman laugh before?
Putting that line of thought aside, I notice that we seem to be nominated as leaders of this negotiation. Feeling formal, I summon my robes and pull my hood up over my face. For the extra mysterious Priestess vibe of course.
Definitely not to hide the fact my hair is tangled and full of drake blood.
"Let's make this short, I really want to get home and shower" Karl begins. "Earth forces, kindly stand down, I can feel the barriers the dragons put around our attack forces weakening and I don't want an incident that will break the newly signed rules of the city."
"Dragon forces, stand down. It's time everyone was formally introduced." I follow his lead.
An ornately armored older woman with dragon scales up her neck and an Elven looking head steps forward as the representative.
"My name is Kanai, General in charge of the 5319th air recon wing, which makes the entirety of the forces here on your planet."
5319th? There's thousands more forces like this in their army?
"As the mighty dragons have already explained, my drakes were tasked with holding a foothold on your planet while the dragons, transformed by magic, took the position of your politicians and instigated changes to take over your planet on our Gods behalf"
"How many were there in total? Today has been a very bloody day of cleansing corruption in our government." Karl sounds intrigued.
"4 dragons in total, 2 of which seemingly have perished in your attack on the capital. Then another 900 dragonkin mages took the positions of senior government officials and bureaucrats around the country."
"Good to know, I suspect many of them have fallen today."
"God of Death be praised. I have the current city map, what we hold, we will rebuild. I suspect you will do the same?" General Kanai asks
"Yes we intend to." A voice sounds from behind me "Major General Richards, United States Army" he introduces himself.
"Looking over the contract, it seems martial law is prohibited. So all forces will build stations outside the city proper. Do you have a planned location for your drakes did you say they're called? To be housed?"
"Yes, we hold the area all the way to the sea, so if there are no objections from the most High" at this point General Kanai looks at me and Karl "We will build a military encampment west of the city on the peninsula."
I nod my agreement. "There are some locals and lycanthropes currently living there that should be appraised of the change in situations. No need to kill those who are not enemies or criminals."
The collected foreign forces bowed deeply at my instruction.
"One last important point. What should I call you, as a group, a race and individually?"
"Both the troops and our mounts are known as Drakes, by title. Those without a command can be called Drake, or Drake and then their name. As a species, we've got Elves, Dragonkin and Dragonewts here. Only the newts have vestigal wings. As was said before, we're all from the 5319th recon air wing of the Glorious Dragon Army of Llialos."
"That's all solved, let's leave the rest to the politicians. Contact us if there is a problem you can't solve. We'll be back in our hometown"
"Yes your Highness. We have Priestesses here with us that can contact you from anywhere on the planet."
Oh, that is convenient. Becoming a High Priestess might really come in handy.
Leaving the two groups of commanders to talk out the finer details, we turn to walk back towards the base, seeing the columns of armored vehicles returning from the flanks. A quick hop up onto the back of a humvee saves us a long walk and I take the time to mull over everything that's happened today. It's a lot to take in, and I think I might still be in shock at some level.
The driver is easily convinced to drop us directly at the end of the road that leads to the witches hideout, visibly shivering in our presence. I wonder what that's about?
On arrival, the witches pretend they're not home. They're simply not answering and the door is locked.
"Open the door or I'll open it myself" I order, and then I notice the echo of my voice.
It's not what I hear when I hear myself speak, it's that hollow booming voice the Black Dragon spoke in. It must have to do with the robes? Or maybe it's a result of the magical symbol representing my new position?
A timid looking young witch finally opens the door, and I take my hood down, signaling for Karl to do the same "I think the cloaks are enchanted to hide our identities" I whisper to him.
Now she recognizes us, but doesn't look any less perturbed. I suppose it's a start.
"We need to go back to the Mage Corps Safe House travel circle" Karl instructs her, and she flat out runs towards the travel room, beckoning us to follow.
This is actually a lot of fun, we should scare people more often.
Green light surrounds us and we're suddenly home, standing in the transport room of the base, surrounded by kneeling technicians.
"Thank you, thank you! No need to grovel, I know how grand I must seem to the common Mage" Karl announces our arrival.
Narishma stands back up with a scowl. "What was that? Before you arrived there was the most evil feeling flash of divine energy, I thought it was going to burn all my skin off! See, I've still got scorch marks."
She really does, I guess the Dragon Gods are really Gods. Vampires don't react well to divine energy.
"It's a long story, let me shower and I'll give you the rundown and fill out the mission reports you need." Karl reassures her. "High Priestess Katrina, feel free to return to your rooms and shower, I know you've been dying to wash the blood off."
High Priestess Katrina? Karl's really playing up the new titles. Might be his way at getting back at the Corps for denying him the title of Archmage due to his indiscretions.
Everyone in the room is looking at me oddly, and I remember that under these robes, my face and hair are coated in black and red mostly dried blood. This shower is going to take forever. Is there even a body wash that will cover the scent of Death?
Lala is asleep in her cage when I get to my room. A quick glance at the clock shows it's almost midnight here, so I sneak into the bathroom, quietly closing the door behind me.
A single thought removes my robe, leaving me back in the clothes I started the day in, blood still fresh as when I activated the robe. I could feel they weren't under there before, I wonder where they go when the robe is on?
Oh well, that's a thought for later. I'm getting undressed under the shower so the floor doesn't get blood soaked. Not sure if the cleaning spell will take care of that much mess.
As I shower I can still feel dark energy seeping into my body from the blood on my clothes. Far more than the blood actually contains. Is this a blessing of the God of Death? A unique cultivation method just for her Priestesses? Can't hurt to try to circulate it anyhow, it's entering my body either way.
The energy feels cold running through my veins, but flows even more smoothly than natural energy does. I can feel another breakthrough ready to happen, so I increase my speed and suck as much energy into myself as possible. This breakthrough feels differently. It's got a cold tinge to it that's somehow comfortably warm at the same time. No longer is the energy in my body fully Lycan feeling, but this is a feeling of intense power.
No sooner has my body recovered from the breakthrough than the energy increases and another breakthrough begins. Then another. Over and over until I'm barely clinging to consciousness as the flow of energy turns to a trickle.
"Excellent work, you managed to effectively use over 90 percent of the energy from your appointment to High Priestess" a soft voice sounds in my head.
"Who are you? Are you the Death Goddess?" I try asking, but receive no answer, the sensation of another consciousness in mine fading away.
This is the day for weird, and I'm about over it. I'm going to grab my Lala and go to bed.