My father moved quickly, vigor in his voice as he spoke to the nearby soldier. “That is right, send this letter to General Arthur.”
The soldier gave a formal salute, before running out of the church. The early morning sunlight reflected off his armor.
“Is the general someone we can trust?” I asked.
“The general is a man worthy of respect. He has commanded over sixty battles after rising from a lowly recruit all the way to general through merit alone,” replied my father, “More importantly, he is a genius at defensive battles. His tactics are studied by every new recruit hoping to command one day.”
“Look at you,” my mother said, “I have not seen you this energetic in years.”
“Of course! We are preparing for war. Years of peace had me rusting away in that little town, but now I finally get to fight again. So much to do. So much to prepare.”
My mother shook her head. “Don’t mind him, Wren. He gets like this sometimes. Now tell me, you know this enemy better than any of us. What do we need to prepare for?”
“Hundreds of thousands of Demonkin for sure,” I responded, “He will not have time to open a door large enough for goliath or titan Demonkin. Luckily, we do not have to worry about that. Most will be similar to what we fought last night. However, his army is not the problem. Envy is a True Demon, one of seven who served under the Archdemon. Even without factoring in his ability, his raw strength alone is enough to collapse a mountain.”
“What is his ability?” my father asked?
“Everyone else’s,” I replied, “Envy’s power is true to his name. He has the power to copy any other ability, magic, or skill near him. Fortunately, his power does have a limit. The powers he copies are not his permanently his. They fade after a few hours. He can also only copy the abilities of someone he sees.” I paused to look at my parents. “This is his biggest weakness. If he cannot see you, he cannot copy your power.”
My father rubbed his chin quietly. “How did you deal with him in the past?”
“In a direct confrontation on the battlefield, I always lost. There are too many people with innate talents, some do not even know they have one. He becomes basically invincible when enough abilities are used simultaneously,” I spoke, “In the past, every victory was using the cover of darkness, smoke, or even blinding light to limit his vision.”
“He will not stand still while we try and blind him.”
“No, he won’t. He has come up with his own countermeasure over the years to compensate for his weakness. He has many lesser Demons that serve him solely because their abilities help him.”
“I see. This will definitely make things difficult. What a scary opponent.” he said, musing the different options in his head.
“If we are going to beat him, I need to be at my full power. As I am now, I am worse than useless,” I said, kicking the ground.
“You have a way to gain your power as the Undead Queen?”
I grimaced at the name. “Please don’t call me that mom. I hate that name, but yes, I have a way. Before my death at the hands of the king, I stored all of my power inside of my Chronicle.”
“Chronicle?”
I nodded. “The Chronicle is a book, nearly indestructible, and a powerful tool in its own right. Me getting that is my biggest goal right now. Unfortunately, the most likely person to have it is… the king.”
“And if he knows you are alive?” she asked.
“He will kill me.”
“I suggest we gather allies to our cause before we try anything risky,” my mother said, “If we have enough support, even the king would not be able to act impudently. The Free Cities to the east would be a great place to start.”
I heard my father groan. “How are those insufferable windbags supposed to help. We would have better luck trying to convince the barbarians to the north. As much as I hate them, at least they know how to fight.”
“Those insufferable windbags handed you more than one defeat,” replied my mother with a roll of her eyes, “Their navy is second to none. More importantly, I can actually meet with their leaders.”
“Assuming they don’t behead you for treason first.”
“They will not allow that. It would be too much of an embarrassment to the family.”
“Treason?” I asked, looking up at my mom.
She fidgeted for a moment. Struggling to find the right word. “Yes, well, you see… I actually grew up in the Free Cities. My family is still there. We had… disagreements, so I ran away. I came to the Novus Kingdom and joined the army the very next day. I have not seen them since.”
Feeling her discomfort. I reached out and hugged my mom. “I promise, when I become a teenager and run away, I will come back to visit.”
This got a laugh out of her. “If you try to run away, I will chase after you. Do not doubt a mother’s determination.”
Nearby, I could hear my father mumble, “A teenage Wren with the memories of the undead queen… terrifying.”
My father moved quickly, vigor in his voice as he spoke to the nearby soldier. “That is right, send this letter to General Arthur.”
The soldier gave a formal salute, before running out of the church. The early morning sunlight reflected off his armor.
“Is the general someone we can trust?” I asked.
“The general is a man worthy of respect. He has commanded over sixty battles after rising from a lowly recruit all the way to general through merit alone,” replied my father, “More importantly, he is a genius at defensive battles. His tactics are studied by every new recruit hoping to command one day.”
“Look at you,” my mother said, “I have not seen you this energetic in years.”
“Of course! We are preparing for war. Years of peace had me rusting away in that little town, but now I finally get to fight again. So much to do. So much to prepare.”
My mother shook her head. “Don’t mind him, Wren. He gets like this sometimes. Now tell me, you know this enemy better than any of us. What do we need to prepare for?”
“Hundreds of thousands of Demonkin for sure,” I responded, “He will not have time to open a door large enough for goliath or titan Demonkin. Luckily, we do not have to worry about that. Most will be similar to what we fought last night. However, his army is not the problem. Envy is a True Demon, one of seven who served under the Archdemon. Even without factoring in his ability, his raw strength alone is enough to collapse a mountain.”
“What is his ability?” my father asked?
“Everyone else’s,” I replied, “Envy’s power is true to his name. He has the power to copy any other ability, magic, or skill near him. Fortunately, his power does have a limit. The powers he copies are not his permanently his. They fade after a few hours. He can also only copy the abilities of someone he sees.” I paused to look at my parents. “This is his biggest weakness. If he cannot see you, he cannot copy your power.”
My father rubbed his chin quietly. “How did you deal with him in the past?”
“In a direct confrontation on the battlefield, I always lost. There are too many people with innate talents, some do not even know they have one. He becomes basically invincible when enough abilities are used simultaneously,” I spoke, “In the past, every victory was using the cover of darkness, smoke, or even blinding light to limit his vision.”
“He will not stand still while we try and blind him.”
“No, he won’t. He has come up with his own countermeasure over the years to compensate for his weakness. He has many lesser Demons that serve him solely because their abilities help him.”
“I see. This will definitely make things difficult. What a scary opponent.” he said, musing the different options in his head.
“If we are going to beat him, I need to be at my full power. As I am now, I am worse than useless,” I said, kicking the ground.
“You have a way to gain your power as the Undead Queen?”
I grimaced at the name. “Please don’t call me that mom. I hate that name, but yes, I have a way. Before my death at the hands of the king, I stored all of my power inside of my Chronicle.”
“Chronicle?”
I nodded. “The Chronicle is a book, nearly indestructible, and a powerful tool in its own right. Me getting that is my biggest goal right now. Unfortunately, the most likely person to have it is… the king.”
“And if he knows you are alive?” she asked.
“He will kill me.”
“I suggest we gather allies to our cause before we try anything risky,” my mother said, “If we have enough support, even the king would not be able to act impudently. The Free Cities to the east would be a great place to start.”
I heard my father groan. “How are those insufferable windbags supposed to help. We would have better luck trying to convince the barbarians to the north. As much as I hate them, at least they know how to fight.”
“Those insufferable windbags handed you more than one defeat,” replied my mother with a roll of her eyes, “Their navy is second to none. More importantly, I can actually meet with their leaders.”
“Assuming they don’t behead you for treason first.”
“They will not allow that. It would be too much of an embarrassment to the family.”
“Treason?” I asked, looking up at my mom.
She fidgeted for a moment. Struggling to find the right word. “Yes, well, you see… I actually grew up in the Free Cities. My family is still there. We had… disagreements, so I ran away. I came to the Novus Kingdom and joined the army the very next day. I have not seen them since.”
Feeling her discomfort. I reached out and hugged my mom. “I promise, when I become a teenager and run away, I will come back to visit.”
This got a laugh out of her. “If you try to run away, I will chase after you. Do not doubt a mother’s determination.”
Nearby, I could hear my father mumble, “A teenage Wren with the memories of the undead queen… terrifying.”
