The Weeping Sands by Julius Buchanan

Author:Julius Buchanan [Buchanan, Julius]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-11-05T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 6: Solutions and Temptations

Queen Shifrah paced back and forth in the command complex of the United Sceptres base in Goshen. Her attendants and guards watched her pace all night. The General-in-Command stayed with her. He could not dissuade her. Just as a husband paces the floor waiting for his wife to deliver a child, she would pace the floor until she knew whether to rejoice or mourn for the Army.

News arrived by scoutbird in the last watch of the night before dawn. Although addressed to the Queen, Zymon sent it to the Sceptres base in expectation that the Queen would wait there with the Generals for news.

Zymon, General-in-Command of Her Majesty’s Armies

To Her Majesty Queen Shifrah of Cush and the Generals of the United Sceptres

Greetings, my Queen. Your Army lives. The Meteors have destroyed the weapons of salt formed against us. No servant of Your Majesty, nor any Meteor has lost any life or limb tonight. The Meteors have chosen to stay with us. Given the unpredictable nature of the enemy’s attacks, we are at a loss for our next move. We request the Generals come to our aid with armaments and strategy. We welcome any knowledge on the weaknesses of this enemy. With sufficient reinforcements from the Sceptres, we wish to overrun the enemy before they can launch another attack.

May the Pneuma give you wisdom and knowledge.

The Queen sat down, leaning her forehead on her hands, with her elbows on her knees. “We are saved for one more night,” she said.

The General-in-Command responded to the letter. “Your Majesty, we’re working on General Zymon’s requests. As you know, it takes time to assemble our Expeditionary Forces here. We’re bringing zebulim here to fight with Commander Rotorua. We’re doing all we can.”

Queen Shifrah looked up from her seat, “He also asked for strategy. Do you have any?”

He replied, “We sent a researcher to the Citadel to learn about the dark abilities of Sophicus, since his elemental manipulation mirrors Nyonyut. They will develop more strategies for how to deal with this monster. For now, we await their information.”

“We wait while the sands weep,” sighed the Queen. “Do you hear that noise from the desert? The sand itself cries out in pain. All of nature groans in this bondage Nyonyut places on it.”

“We are doing everything we can, Your Majesty,” the General replied.

Queen Shifrah sighed. “Let us sleep now. We don’t know when we can sleep again.” The Generals agreed. They returned to their quarters, but the Queen refused to leave the command complex, even to take quarters on the floor below. “I will sleep here on the floor. A palace is for peacetime.” The Sceptres found cushions and couches for the Queen and her attendants. Her guards took shifts sleeping and standing vigilant.

Only a few miles upstream from the beginning of the River delta a shadowy figure flew in from across the sands undetected under cover of darkness. The cliff walls on either side of the River stood tall and stark above the stream below.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.