to be a god, part 2

Continuing on with one of the song lyric prompts I wrote in November, this month I’m sharing a bit more I’ve written for it. Enjoy!

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“Ma’am?”

“Yes?”

“King Regglind is requesting an audience.”

She looked up from the battle maps she’d been studying in surprise.  “He’s here?”

Her advisor nodded once.

Pushing back from the table she closed her eyes in thought.  Was this a trap?  Was King Regglind foolish enough to actually come in person, to so easily get within her grasp?  Could he possibly have a bargaining chip that would allow him safe passage back to his kingdom?  She didn’t have great answers to any of these questions.

For months she had been attacking his borders hoping to provoke him to come out and face her.  The King hadn’t taken the bait, though.  Disappointed but not deterred from her purpose, she had pulled back her troops to squash a smaller nearby kingdom.  One of the few small kingdoms still free of her control.  She had stormed their borders and easily wiped aside the small force that had been raised to stand against her.  Soon the rest would fall and then only her own growing kingdom and Regglind’s would remain on the continent.  Once she had full control, then she could look across the seas.

“Ma’am?”

But why had Regglind come in person.  To try and talk her out of her plans?  To ask for mercy?  Her lips twitched at the thought.  There would be no mercy if that’s what he was after.  That felt wrong though.  King Regglind was a strong and honorable leader.  His people loved him.  He would not hand them over.  He would not give up his kingdom without some kind of fight.  That was her guess.  She was very confident in it.  So what was his play today?  Why come in person?

He must have some kind of leverage.  What could that be, though?  She had no personal attachments.  She had no secret past that could be exploited.  Her people knew who she was, who she had always been, and what her ultimate purpose was.

“Ma’am?”

Sighing, she opened her eyes and addressed her advisor.  “Show him in.  Let’s hear what he thinks he has up his sleeves.”

my fears

This week’s post is based on the following lyrics from Re-Align by Godsmack:

“My fears come alive in this place where I once died.”

…..

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He sped through the room, refusing to look left or right.  Before he could exit to the solace of the hallway, his path was blocked.  Gritting his teeth he said, “Get out of my way.”

His antagonizer smirked and did not move.  “Why does this room bother you so much?”

“Move.”

“Fine, fine, I’ll move, if you’ll tell me what I want to know.”

Sighing, he nodded once and then stepped into the hallway as soon as the way was clear.

“So?  I’ve watched you walk this big house for months now and in this room, and this room only, you rush through.  Why is that?”

He sighed again, refusing to meet the other’s gaze.  The words would not come immediately and so he said nothing.  His eyes shifted to his feet, ready to be on the move again.

“I’m waiting.”

“I died in that room.”

“So?  That’s it?  You’re dead.  That shouldn’t bother you.”

“I don’t mind the room because it’s where I died.  I don’t like it because it is a reminder of all I left unfinished.”

“Again, so what?  You’re dead.  None of that should bother you.”

“You are truly lucky then.”

“Come off it.  What are you talking about?”

“In that room, that room where I died, I can still feel.”

“That’s impossible.”

“As I said, you are truly lucky.”

“What do you feel?”

“Afraid.”

At this, the other scoffed and grew visibly agitated.  “That can’t be.  You have nothing to fear.  You’re already dead, you fool. What are you playing at?  What’s the real reason?”

He didn’t answer.  There was nothing else he could say to have them understand. 

It wasn’t fear for himself, he was dead.  It was fear for those he’d left behind.  Fear he hadn’t done enough for them.  Fear he hadn’t helped as much as he could.  Fear that they would join him in this, this haunting, this whatever it was. 

In the room where he died, all those fears came alive.

to be a god

This month I’ll be doing a series of posts based on song lyrics. This post is based on the following lyrics from Captive Honour by Megadeth:

“When you kill a man, you’re a murderer.  Kill a million and you’re a conquerer.  Kill them all and you’re a god.”

……

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She stood on the battlements and surveyed the carnage below her.  Her forces, clothed in the bright yellow she had adopted as her color, to be as bright as the star in their day time sky, to be as important as it was, were holding their own against the much larger army amassed against them.  She was a beacon for her troops, standing there, shining down upon them.  They couldn’t lose. 

Raising her arms over her head she spoke the words that would cause her to radiate and she smiled as the magic took hold.  With a series of pulses, each growing in brightness and intensity, she cast her light upon the battlefield.  Her army, facing away from her, felt the warmth on their backs and knew she was with them.  Her enemies were blinded and frightened and began to break their lines and scatter under the onslaught.

She dropped her arms as the spell ended.  Her advisor was at her elbow immediately.  “Should we signal for our troops to return, Ma’am?”

“No,” she responded firmly.  “Signal to hunt them down and kill them all.”

“No prisoners?  They could be useful in bartering.”

She scoffed.  “We will have no need to barter.  This was the entirety of their force and once we have wiped them out, they will bow to us as have all the others.”

“As you wish, Ma’am.” 

The counselor moved away to relay her orders and she leaned forward against the castle wall to soak in her victory.  She didn’t care about the carnage.  That wasn’t her goal.  It was simply a means to an end. 

Her smile broadened as her troops carried out their directive.  Only after the last of their foes had been slaughtered did they turn to face their Queen.  She lifted her arms in salute to them and they cheered in response.  Six more times she saluted them and six more times they cheered back in response.  Then, with a final wave, she turned away from the wall and made her way towards her audience hall.  There she would shower her generals in praise and gifts and trinkets for them to pass along to their warriors, to be added to water spoils they took from the field as they stripped and cleaned the dead for their funeral rights.

They would honor their foes as they honored their own, as a show of respect, yes, but mostly because it was her wish.  It was part of her plan, part of her becoming.  She was a great queen and her kingdom was growing.  She wanted so much more.

Her chief advisor was at her elbow again as she took her throne in the audience hall.  “Ma’am, why do you never show mercy?”

She knew some rulers would bristle at being asked such questions but she didn’t mind.  It was asking questions like that which had shown her what she wanted and how to get there.  “It isn’t about mercy.  It’s about what I’m trying to achieve.”

The advisor nodded once in understanding and then stepped away.  As the first of her generals entered the hall, she continued her own line of thought, “When you kill a man, you’re a murderer.  Kill a million and you’re a conquerer.  Kill them all and you’re a god.”