The Ascension

"Sir, there are strange reports of people disappearing." The steward presented to the city lord of Solmis city.

"Strange? How is that strange?" The 'lord' frowned. "And where is that girl? Why haven't the guards brought her?"

"That's part of it, sir." The steward kept his eyes straight, though he wanted to roll them. If he didn't keep his face clear, his eyes would be gouged out by the lunatic in charge, Lord Walstenn. "The Krull has gone missing, although there are some reports of his squad being destroyed by that girl." He cringed as the lord stood up.

"What?! She's just a powerless girl!" He threw the book on the desk at the steward.

"Those are the reports, lord. The strange part is that the missing people are being taken by guards. Those missing people are also guards." The steward said.

"Is it a rebellion?" He sat down. "Call out the other Krulls. Get them to investigate. Find out what is happening, and do it fast!" He bellowed angrily, as though it should be a common sense response. The steward bowed.

"Yes, my lord." He left quickly. He hadn't read the entire report to the bastard he served. The reports continued with the appearances of random zombies. Zombies that were missing a limb, or an eye, and dead for a long time, had appeared and dragged anyone they found away.

He looked at a message board in the lobby of the castle.

"Colonize the wilderness. Intrepid citizens required to join colony teams to cross the mountain shield, build outposts, and new villages. Must be an elementalist to enroll." He lit a flame on his fingertip.

"Maybe it's time for a new line of work."

* * *

"Excellent." Sol smiled a little. She tilted her head as a zombie soldier dragged in two people. One was a girl who was dying, while another appeared to be dead for quite some time.

"Oh." Sol walked forward. "You're from the pit." Sol held out her hand, and sucked up the death elements from the woman's decaying corpse. She was a mindless zombie, and had just reanimated. When she fell down due to a loss of energy, Sol swiped her hand across her neck. Her head fell to the side.

"Take her outside and burn the corpse. If you find others that are not part of our group, bring them here." The guard left, while Sol knelt down beside the girl.

"Help me." She whispered weakly. Tears rolled off her cheeks. Sol sighed a bit. She had several bites in her flesh, and the death elements were already in the wounds.

"You're dying. I don't have the ability to heal you." Sol looked at the wound, then at her own body. "But I might be able to make you like me. Living dead. It is your choice though." The girl started to cry.

"So I'm going to die?" She asked.

"Not if you become like me. I'm intelligent, and filled with death elements. I'm not dead, but not alive either. It's difficult to explain too." Sol sighed again. "I could use the company. Zombies are unintelligent. They only follow orders."

"Will it hurt?" She asked in a slowly weakening voice.

"I can't lie. It will, but it fades quickly." The girl thought for several seconds, then nodded. Sol smiled, laid down, and covered her body with her own.

"I don't know any other way." Sol said. "Master did it another way, but I'm new to this." Sol covered her mouth with her own.

The Queen of Death's kiss. It would transform the girl's life elements into death, and form a death core behind her heart.

This was an instinct Aila had left her. The ability to give others the kiss to make intelligent servants, ones that would keep her company.

'Salia. My first daughter.' Sol said as she kissed her and transformed her into someone undead like herself. The girl responded to her kiss weakly at first, but soon became more intense in her response.

'Momma, so hungry. Why am I so hungry?' Sol slowly lifted her lips and saw how the girl now had pale skin, and black eyes.

"Guard, go grab a noble woman, or her daughter. My Salia is hungry."

* * *

"What do I do, momma?" Salia asked as Sol gripped the woman by her arm and held her while she struggled. Sol grinned.

"Whatever you wish. Just step in close, and let your senses guide you." Sol said. Salia was just over twenty years old, but her parents were servants, and she wasn't treated kindly by her parent's masters. Women like the one captured for Salia were ones that treated her like an eyesore, and beat her regularly.

"Don't touch me!" she screeched, but Salia stepped in close, and grew excited.

"She smells nice, momma." Salia said and got even closer. When the noble lady tried to pull away, Salia bared her teeth, which had grown into long sharp fangs. "I'm so hungry!" She closed the gap between them and grabbed the woman by the hair. She forced her head down to the left, and sank her teeth into the noble lady's neck.

"That's it, baby. Feed on her flesh, or her life force. Take what you need to live." The noises were quite decadent as Salia sucked on the woman's neck.  She pushed her onto the floor, laid on top, and writhed in ecstasy as she fed upon her life force.

Sol watched as the woman shuddered, shriveled up, and withered into dust over the short duration of several minutes. Salia lifted her lips, and looked disappointed.

"Momma, I'm still hungry." She said softly, with a little pout on her lips.

"Then we'll get another one for you to eat. After we have enough soldiers, we'll head to the capital and take the throne." She walked over and lifted Salia from the floor of the house.

"We're going to have a long life together, Salia. No one will be able to hurt you, and you will feed on those who are your enemies." Salia snuggled in to Sol's chest.

"My little princess." Sol said softly, and guided the girl's lips to her breast. Salia's fangs sank into her areola, and fed on the abundant death elements that Sol produced far too much of.

"I am your Queen, Salia, but you are my true daughter. A daughter, and a princess of death."

* * *

"I never thought so many people would sign up." The caravan master said as he threw his last belongings onto the carriage. A guard snorted.

"The dead squads are increasing in size, and more soldiers are disappearing. The nobles haven't come to their senses yet, but the commoners are not fools." He said firmly. "However, the strange thing is that the dead only grab soldiers, guards, or nobles. They leave the commoners and slaves alone."

"True." The caravan master said. "Let's get on the move. This city is done for, and I want to get over the mountain while we still have some advanced guards...oh bloody beast crap." He said and paled as a squad approached.

"Not them." A voice said from the dark of the forest that was outside the town. The caravan had gathered outside the city before the city lord could intervene. The caravan master turned as a tall pale woman came out of the forest.

"The ones who wish to cross the mountains and develop are allowed to leave. The ones who created this mess will die for their crimes." Sol pinned the caravan master with a gaze that sent shivers up and down his spine. "Are there any nobles in your group?"

"No." He said firmly, though his knees wanted to give out. "They don't look kindly upon those of lowly status." He said with a growl, and a bit of a snort.

"Remember the pits of death of this country." Sol said, and began to smile. Death elements seeped out of her eyes. "If your new home begins to mimic this one, I may come to dispense judgment upon you like I am here." She turned and walked away. The soldiers dispersed and didn't touch the caravan. A guard shivered.

"You heard what she said, sir? Judgment." The guard said and shivered again.

"Yeah, not justice. Judgment." He shook his head, and discarded any notion he had of returning to this side of the mountain if things didn't work out.

"Let's go. I want to be on the other side of the mountain and build myself a nice home far from Solmis City, this city of death."