 
THE YISSISS WAR

by

Shawn O'Toole

SMASHWORDS EDITION

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PUBLISHED BY:

Shawn O'Toole on Smashwords

Cover Art Illustrated by:

Shawn O'Toole

The Yississ War

Copyright © Shawn O'Toole 2014

Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the publisher of this story, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Your support and respect for the property of this author is much appreciated.

This story is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are products of the author's imagination and used fictitiously.

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The Yississ War

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Chapter 1

"Sowing the Seeds of Living Death"

The Many of One were a society of women cloned from one woman and endowed with her formative memories. As the Concubines of the Great Seen Unseen they were an order of nuns devoted to the will of the Unheard Whisper. As Virgin Soldiers they were the relentless Virgin Armies whose might made them a Galactic Power.

The Many of One were mortal and only human. Though skillful, efficient and equipped with advanced technology, their soldiers were prone to heavy losses when pitted against the strange and terrible races of the galaxy. The clone women were cheap and easy to mass-produce, however, giving them the overwhelming power of sheer, readily replenished numbers.

The uniform of a Virgin Soldier was simple: an elastic garment that covered the torso, neck and head but left the shoulders, buttocks and limbs completely bare. The lower half of the wearer's face was exposed but black, singular goggles fixed to the elastic hood covered her eyes. The Virgin Soldier wore nothing else, not even shoes, boots or a utility belt.

A Concubine Sentinel wore the _red_ version of the standard uniform. When armed and standing guard she held both vertical grips of her small, compact plasma weapon. The deadly artifice was advanced but simple and minimalist: rugged and reliable but with iron sights and no shoulder strap.

Girls in Red guarded the Temple of the Great Seen Unseen. Their posture was erect, they remained silent and they did not fidget. They watched through their black goggles as their sister Lieutenant General Elzbeth approached and or passed them. The Sentinels had heard the grumbling whispers of the Priestesses concerning Elzbeth but such concerns were of no concern to the Sentinels of the Great Seen Unseen. The Priestesses commanded the Virgin Army. It was the duty of the Sentinels to obey without curiosity or question.

The uniform of a Concubine Priestess was purple. Lieutenant generals wore a short, black, hooded cloak over the purple. Elzbeth Purple the Bold, however, had become Elzbeth the Favored of the Beloved Child. She was now the military attaché for Mistress Umbra, Daughter of the Great Seen Unseen. "Blue-green would look prettier on you," Mistress Umbra insisted. "Wear it instead." Elzbeth obeyed the command. Her skimpy uniform underneath her black cloak was now blue-green. Unfortunately, even this one small alteration stirred contention between Elzbeth and her sisters.

Drusilla Purple the Wise was the commanding general of the Concubine Expeditionary Forces. Her hooded cloak was _white_ rather than black. She was currently in the command-and-control room with her lieutenant generals. "Elzbeth," one of the clone sisters whispered. The generals became tense as their sister Elzbeth entered the chamber. General Drusilla stepped forward, asking, "Have you come to issue orders from our mistress?"

"Yes." Elzbeth told her sisters, "It is the will of our mistress that her armies come to this world. They shall ravish it. They shall devour its inhabitants."

Zandra insisted, "We are the army of our mistress."

"No. My sisters, we shall provide for her soldiers that they may do the fighting and killing."

Drusilla fretted, "We are not to ravish this world. It must remain pristine for our master's consumption."

"We shall not ravish this world. The soldiers of our mistress shall do so."

The lieutenant generals looked at Drusilla, ready to honor whatever she decided. The commanding general pondered for a long, hard moment... before declaring, "The Beloved Child is our mistress for she speaks with the authority of our master. We shall obey her commands."

Mistress Umbra was the only begotten child of the Great Seen Unseen. Though the material of her flesh was entirely human, half her nature was the inhuman spirit of Shadow. Umbra was a beautiful woman with fair skin, lustrous black hair and radiant, silvery gray eyes. As a creature of flesh and blood her mass was that of a human being. She was oft a giantess, however, when her corporeal frame was stirred by her spiritual nature.

Mistress Umbra was nude and levitating, her toes pointing towards the floor and her arms outstretched. Though her eyes were closed, she watched as little Elzbeth descended the winding steps that lined the wall of the deep, dry well of marble that was this sacred chamber. Umbra settled back onto the floor to greet her. "I told them," Elzbeth reported. "I watched as Drusilla herself issued the order to plot the coordinates you gave to me."

"Good," Umbra's resonant voice rumbled as if a mighty whisper. She snuggled the little woman, telling her warmly in a human voice, "My father shall soon be avenged."

The loyal little Concubine wondered aloud, "Shall he return to us?"

"First things first." Umbra could hear the thoughts and feel the feelings of all about her. She watched and listened as the Concubine generals sat on the floor together to eat supper. "Eat with your sisters," Mistress Umbra advised Elzbeth. "They must be assured that you are still one of them."

"Why?"

"Because they are weaker without you." Mistress Umbra sat on the floor, folded her legs and pressed her hands together. Elzbeth wondered, "What are you doing?"

"Waiting for Adam to sleep."

"Why?"

"I'm going to find him and I'm going to kill him.

Mistress Umbra went missing. Elzbeth implored her sisters to seek out the Beloved Child of the Great Seen Unseen but General Drusilla smirked and answered, "It is her command that we wait. We shall wait."

A naked, towering "woman" of rotting flesh and six breasts was the physical form of the demon General Yississ. The body was once the vessel of a human soul but had long since succumbed and corrupted into something hideous and inhuman. Yississ commanded Mistress Umbra's army of polymorphic monsters. The demon general was also given command of twenty thousand human lives. Mistress Umbra instructed the demon, "I have given you twenty thousand of my father's weaklings. Make them stronger than their feeble humanity. Turn them into living dead monsters."

Yississ cackled, "Give me _all_ of the women and I shall make them _all_ stronger than their humanity!"

"No. You shall have only the twenty thousand I have given you."

The tall, rotting woman with six breasts grinned and bowed, assuring in a raspy voice, "I shall serve you as you command me, my mistress." The loyalty of a demon is uncertain at best. Mistress Umbra was missing, perhaps dead. Yississ was now at liberty to do as she pleased. The demon would act quickly, lest Umbra return.

Adam was a mortal man native to the planet Earth. Finding himself on the alien world of Telluria he was persuaded by its Oracle to accept the mantle of sovereignty. As the King of Telluria and the general of its army, Adam fought the invading Virgin Army of the Great Shadow, Devourer of Worlds. He defeated the invaders by vanquishing their immortal, inhuman master. He vanquished the Daughter of the Great Shadow when she assailed him in his own dream. For now, there was a de facto armistice between the kingdom of Telluria and the invading Concubines of the Great Seen Unseen.

Adam was lounging under a tree and eating an apple. He watched as a large, burly, hairy sasquatch hoisted a little half-goblin up onto branches. The human wondered, "What the hell are you idiots doing?"

A resonant, feminine voice addressed, "Adam, we have much to do."

The man looked up at the tall, naked, greenish white, womanly form of a plant fairy. Her slanted eyes were a piercing emerald-green and her long, green hair was as if fine grass. A red, blooming flower was tucked behind her left ear (and fed from the artery in her neck).

The man responded, "I'm eating... and Conjure and Hairy are busy playing monkey."

"Adam, an invading army remains on Telluria."

"Yeah, I know."

"My king, what shall we do to repel it?" The man shrugged. "Adam, King of Telluria, your subjects await the liberation of their world."

The man belched. The plant fairy scowled. Adam grinned, "A man's got to do what a man's got to do."

Flora, the plant fairy, insisted, "A _king_ must do what a _king_ must do."

Adam snapped, "There are _millions_ of armed clone women on this planet! There are _four_ of us! So long as the girls behave themselves we'll leave them alone."

"The women merely await a command to do mischief."

Adam reminded, "I'd rather make peace with them."

"You cannot make peace with warlike slaves awaiting the command of warmongering masters."

The man mentioned, "Your know-it-all Oracle agrees with me."

Flora's eyes bulged and her mouth gaped. She bowed her head, conceding in genuine submission and humility, "Then it must be done."

Adam scoffed, "Yeah, because the talking tree says so." Flora scowled at this disparagement of the venerable Oracle of Telluria. Then again, such was the casual insolence of the mortal man King Adam.

Twenty thousand Virgin Soldiers stood in ranks at attention. Twenty of these clone women wore the _purple_ version of the standard, skimpy, singular garment that was the uniform of the Virgin Army. One hundred eighty wore the _brown_ of the Concubine Jockey. Six hundred wore the _green_ of the Concubine Scout. Two thousand four hundred wore the _blue_ of the Concubine Keeper. Fourteen thousand four hundred wore the _red_ of the Concubine Sentinel. "So many," the demon Yississ gleamed. She dismissed the assembly, calling for the twenty Concubine Priestesses to meet her... alone in the forest.

The Priestess Natalia Purple the Discerning wondered, "Why are we meeting our new commanding general out in the forest?"

Brenda Purple the Insightful, the senior Priestess of the twenty, responded, "Perhaps she doesn't want Expeditionary Command privy to her business."

A chilling breeze rustled the foliage and washed over the twenty women, sounding as a voice that whispered, "Stop!" The breeze swirled around Brenda, telling her, "Come this way." The chosen Concubine followed the guiding breeze until lost to sight in the shadowy depths of the forest.

A towering, festering monstrosity of a naked "woman" with six breasts awaited Brenda the Insightful. The demon grinned, commanding, "Come closer, creature of soft flesh and warm blood." The human swallowed and hesitated before obeying the command. The voice of the monster rasped, "I am ugly to you?" The Virgin Soldier snapped to attention and remained silent. The monster smiled, flaunting its yellow fangs. Brenda cringed as a rotting hand reached for her. She trembled as it caressed her cheek. The demon Yississ rasped, "I chose you, Brenda Purple the Insightful. I feel your strength, see your wisdom and hear your keen thoughts."

Brenda's eyes were closed behind the black goggles fixed to her uniform. She whimpered as the rotting hands took hold of the goggles and pulled back the elastic hood. She shivered as the hands then caressed her smooth, bald head. The inhuman voice cackled. It rasped, "You remember long, dark, lustrous hair you never had. Look at me!" Brenda reflexively opened her eyes. The irises of a Concubine clone were ghostly white. The demon Yississ mocked, "Your eyes were never the lovely brown you remember. Brenda Purple the Insightful, you are but a mockery of the life from whence you came." The clone remained stoic in demeanor but Yississ could feel her cold, sickening shame: the demon smirked.

The monstrous, rotting, grotesque form of General Yississ stepped behind the little woman and gently massaged her shoulders. The demonic voice rasped, "You are a Concubine Priestess, the wisest of the Many of One. You command. Your sisters obey. I command. You obey."

"Yes... yes, milady."

The monster's left hand produced a shiny black seed or pill as if from nowhere. "Open your mouth." Brenda obeyed. She cringed and winced as the festering hand poked into her mouth. "Swallow it." Brenda hesitated... but obeyed. The demon kissed the woman on the cheek. "Return to the others and send Natalia the Discerning to me."

"Yes, milady."

After the twenty Priestesses were called to Yississ one-by-one, the six hundred Scouts were called to the Priestesses. What remained of the twenty thousand was then called into the forest depths... only to be snatched en masse by the tentacles of what were once the Scouts!

Yississ had been given twenty teleportation-communications relay stations, sixty entomopter aircraft and sixty bipedal main battle tanks. These technological things were changed into grotesque, partially organic magical artifices by what were now living dead Concubine Keepers.

A thing of tentacles with a human head, arms and torso wearing the purple body shirt of a Concubine Priestess crawled swiftly and nimbly. The goggles and elastic hood were pulled back, exposing the bald head and now solid black eyes of what used to be Brenda Purple the Insightful. The writhing cluster of appendages dipped, the arms outstretched and the head bowed before Yississ. The demon asked its monster, "Brendaxa the Insidious, how goes my plans?"

The once human thing rasped, "Milady, alive or living dead, your women serve you well."

"Women? Brendaxa the Insidious, perhaps the memories of Brenda the Insightful confuse you. My child, you are beyond the weakness of mortal women. Alas, you are born again but as something fearless and terrible."

Thousands of crystalline obelisks were planted all across planet Telluria. One hundred Virgin Soldiers guarded each of them at all times... until guards suddenly and mysteriously... vanished. Lieutenant General Elzbeth supposed, "Perhaps the natives of the planet are rising against us. This may be a major offensive."

"No," Yazmin, the xenologist of the generals, dismissed. "We would have found bones or bodies. Besides, carnivorous plant fairies are less than a percent of a percent of the native population."

Zandra mused, "We lost sixty thousand women in a matter of hours at six hundred different locations."

General Drusilla stated, "We know this isn't the Army of Four and it is doubtful Adam called the planet to rise against us."

"Do we?" Elzbeth challenged.

Drusilla insisted, "This is _not_ the Army of Four. I doubt it is a popular uprising, either. Another power may be invading Telluria."

"Who? What army snatches tens of thousands of us without leaving a trace?"

"I don't know." Drusilla told her sisters, "We are under attack and we don't know by whom."

Lieutenant General Olga noted, "None of the crystalline obelisks were damaged. Whoever is attacking us may consider them useful for their own ends."

"Maybe. Triple the guard for every obelisk."

Elzbeth fumed, "That will thin security at other locations!"

"Our master's obelisks are not to be compromised."

The next day, none of the women guarding obelisks disappeared. Contact was lost with several bases, however. The locations were looted and their personnel missing! "Three _hundred_ thousand more of us disappeared without a trace!" Elzbeth blurted. "My sister," she addressed Drusilla, "we must act quickly and decisively!"

"And do what?" Elzbeth frowned as she struggled to offer an answer.

Adam was called to the Tree of the Oracle. He brought his three soldiers of the Army of Four with him. The mortal man stared up into the leafy branches of the Oracle, asking her, "More bad news?"

Wind rustled the leaves and answered, in a soft, feminine voice, "A storm is rising. Unless its eye is broken, the wind of it shall be the living death of all that lives."

"Spare me the mumbo jumbo and just tell me what you mean."

"My king, an army of living death is being mustered. Its soldiers are the breathing corpses of mortal women. Warriors of unnatural life shall join these undead women and together they shall devour the races of the worlds."

"Seriously: what are you talking about?"

"Adam, King of Telluria, the Concubines of the Great Seen Unseen are betrayed! Their bodies are made into monsters. Their technology is made into magic. Warriors without shape are soon to join them. Together they shall scour our world and devour its inhabitants. Your subjects shall feed an army that shall devour the races of the worlds."

"Okay. What should I do about it?"

"Adam, King of Telluria, hasten to make peace with the women of the Great Seen Unseen. Their Virgin Army must join us if the world and the races of the worlds are to survive."

The senior Concubine Priestesses General Drusilla and Lieutenant General Olga were alone together bathing. Olga mentioned, "We've opened the portals commanded by Mistress Umbra and are currently being reinforced by her army of polymorphs. I took the liberty of informing General Yississ of our dire situation and asked for her help. She assured me that the polymorphs and her twenty thousand Virgin Soldiers shall be committed to dealing with our problem." Drusilla smirked. Olga noticed and asked, "What?"

"Why would Yississ care about our problem?"

"Whatever is assailing us may attack her forces as well."

Drusilla was sitting in warm, soothing water but she felt cold and sick. She considered ordering that the portals be closed and the polymorphs be immediately attacked... but as a Concubine of the Great Seen Unseen she was incapable of disobeying authority. As a Virgin Soldier she was absolutely obliged to follow the final command of the Beloved Child of the Great Seen Unseen. The powerless woman of great authority... sulked.

Crowds of what were once Concubine Sentinels had been gathered to a secret place in the forests of planet Telluria. The "women" stood at attention, holding both vertical grips of their small, compact, plasma minicarbines. The elastic hoods of their skimpy red uniforms had already been cleanly cut away; the hoods and black goggles already disposed of. The eyes of what were once Concubines of the Great Seen Unseen were now solid black and their skin dark, sickly yellow.

Yississ and Brendaxa were in the forest, viewing the crowds of yellow "women" in red body shirts. The demon told her monster, "Unlike you and the other chosen, the bodies of these remain human. Though as smart and nimble as they were in life, they are mere zombies. Unlike our precious Keepers, these Sentinels are mere foot soldiers: they are expendable. When our murders become battles throw these useless weaklings into the fray. May their bodies absorb the fury that would otherwise harm our true warriors."

"Our true warriors, milady?"

"Come," Yississ led Brendaxa away from the crowds of undead Concubine Sentinels. "Our true warriors are coming. You, my beloved Brendaxa, you and my other Priestesses shall command them."

A horde of shapeless things crawled and slithered through the forest to gather in the presence of General Yississ. "My children!" the demon greeted them. "I have made you sisters! They shall lead you to gluttonous victory!" The things rose and writhed in agitated enthusiasm. Yississ cackled maniacally! Brendaxa grinned.

The attacks were sudden and overwhelming! Bases and stations were overrun. Countless Virgin Soldiers were slaughtered or went missing. The Virgin Army responded swiftly and forcefully, storming and blasting the unexpected enemy into a scattering retreat. The Concubines pursued their fleeing foe, only to stumble into murderous ambushes! The mortal women fell back to their bases. More Virgin Soldiers went missing. Contact was lost with more bases. The Yississ War had begun.

The Army of Four snuck their way through the forest, zigzagging along their way as they avoided the stomping of bipedal battle tanks and the booming, thunderous roar of nearby combat. They ducked when assailed by wayward streaks of glowing, whitish blue plasma bolts. Adam remarked, "They started the war without us."

Flora added, "May they slaughter each other to the last."

The loud, humming _buzz_ of entomopter aircraft above shook the forest below. Adam glimpsed what looked like a swarm of giant dragonflies speeding overhead. "Bombers," he deduced.

Conjure the half-goblin worried, "Are they going to bomb us?"

The loud humming disappeared into the unseen distance. "No," Adam was relieved. He supposed, "We're too close to their ground forces to worry about that."

The Army of Four trudged onward. Eventually, all but the wind and birds was quiet. Adam asked Flora, "How far are we away from the Temple?"

"Perhaps a day's walk."

"What?! We were a day's walk away when we stepped through your portal!"

"Yes, Adam, and we have meandered much."

The Temple of the Great Seen Unseen was also the headquarters of Concubine Expeditionary Command. The structure was an immense, pyramidal edifice of marble and glass. Concubine Sentinels tightly guarded the perimeter. "We don't need to get in," Adam reminded his three soldiers. "We just need someone to deliver our message."

Concubine Sentinels patrolled the forest that surrounded the Temple. A squad of these Girls in Red was doing just that... when one of the women was snatched by vines and plucked away from the others! The rest of the squad continued onward, unnoticing.

The captured Virgin Soldier struggled feebly and her cries were muffled by the thick leaf over her mouth. A man appeared: Adam of Telluria! The Concubine Sentinel struggled vainly all the more. The man smiled and assured, "We're going to let you go if you stop for a moment and listen." The woman still struggled... but soon relented. "I am Adam, King of Telluria. We have a common enemy. Tell General Drusilla that the Army of Four wants to team up with the Virgin Army. Tell her I want to meet with her to make the arrangements. Do you understand?" The captured Sentinel nodded. "Good. Tell her I will meet with her at the base of the Temple steps at noon tomorrow." Adam told whatever was holding the woman, "Let her go."

The vines released the woman and coalesced into a naked, tall "woman" with white, greenish skin and long, bright green, grassy "hair." Every Concubine on Telluria knew who this entity was: the carnivorous plant fairy! When it winked at the Sentinel, the Concubine fled! Flora smirked, delighted.

Chapter 2

"Margo Red"

A Concubine _Explorer_ -class research station was a self-shifting facility of polymers and glass within a superstructure of titanium alloy. Its general appearance was that of three upright cylinders covered in windows with a tall spire suspended between them. A thousand of these research stations were scattered across planet Telluria. One of them was alone in the jungle of Region 69. The perimeter of the station was cleared of forest and surrounded by a fence and towers. Concubine Scouts patrolled the jungle while hundreds of Concubine Sentinels guarded the grounds within the perimeter.

Concubine Priestess Tessa Purple the Dedicated was looking out one of the windows that surrounded the small, round chamber that was the command-and-control room for her research station and its battalion. She stared out at the expanse of lush green canopy below. One of her Girls in Blue reported, "No unusual readings on any scans. All Scouts report their sectors clear."

"Good."

Amelia Red the Vigilant, the battalion's senior Sentinel and head of security implored, "Ma'am, I still think we should recall the survey team and secure the station."

"Why?" the Priestess challenged. "There has been no hostile activity outside of Region One. We're too far away and strategically insignificant for anyone to bother with us. I doubt the hostiles even know we're here."

"Ma'am, there are too many unknown variables to come to such conclusions."

"You are the Sentinel of a research battalion," Tessa reminded. "Your duty is to protect, not stifle, our research. Do your duty."

"Yes, ma'am."

Bethinny Blue the Sensible, senior Keeper and Tessa's executive officer, piped, "Ma'am, I agree with Amelia. Too many horrible things are happening for us not to secure our personnel."

Tessa glared at her officers through the black goggles of her uniform. She glimpsed her sisters blinking behind their own black goggles. Tessa reminded them, "Our research, not our safety, is our priority. Am I understood?"

"Yes, ma'am," the two subordinates responded in unison.

Tessa smiled, assuring, "I doubt anything shall assail our little outpost in the middle of nowhere." She told Amelia Red, "Remain vigilant."

"Yes, ma'am."

Thermal imaging and bio-scanning were at optimum in the dark of night. The goggles worn by Virgin Soldiers provided colorless yet effective night vision. Contrary to what was typical, it was best to infiltrate a Concubine facility in the light of day.

Morning: Concubine Scouts patrolled the jungle. None of them noticed the things that crawled, climbed and slithered stalking them. A Scout was addressed, "Leesa Green, report."

The Girl in Green touched the side of her goggles-communicator, responding in the same voice, "Situation normal."

"Acknowledged."

Leesa Green resumed her patrol... when snatched by tentacles and pulled up into a tree! The other Scouts reported "situation normal" only to be snatched themselves!

Concubine Sentinels stood at their posts, watched from guard towers or from behind the barriers of stormgun emplacements. None of them noticed the amorphous things creeping onto the grounds... until snatched over the mouth by shapeless "hands." The women feebly struggled. They winced when bitten in the neck... and swooned until going limp.

The strange intruders were now rosy and bloated from gorging on human blood. Their shapeless bodies digested the warm, salty, invigorating fluid, making them stronger and restless. The things then crawled and slithered as they converged on the research station itself.

Concubine Sentinels guarded the corridors and chambers within the station... until snatched by tentacles and bitten in the neck! The women struggled helplessly. They felt cold, sick... and dizzy as their own pulse pumped blood into the mouths of their assailants. A group of Keepers returning to their quarters happened upon such a scene!

Margo Red the Adroit was a Concubine Sentinel: a Girl in Red. She guarded the door at the base of the tower elevator... when she heard _screaming,_ thumping, grunts and groans! A Girl in Blue appeared from around a corner but was snatched back by what looked like a tentacle! Margo wanted to rush to the Keeper's aid but she hesitated, remembering to guard the door behind her. The Sentinel touched the side of her goggles-communicator, hailing, "Alert! Alert! Margo Red reporting, over!"

A voice like her own responded, "Report, Margo Red."

"An unknown intruder is within the base of the tower! I glimpsed a tentacle as it snatched a Keeper."

"Hold your position, Margo Red."

"Acknowledged!" Margo desperately wanted to save her sisters... but she would do her duty.

In the command-and-control room: Tessa Purple the Dedicated was leaning over the shoulder of a sitting Girl in Blue. The Keeper hailed, "Amelia Red, report. Amelia Red, respond, over."

Tessa concluded, "Our head of security is either dead or captured. Rescind her clearance and cut off her communicator."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Connect me with Margo Red."

"Yes, ma'am."

Margo remained poised to shoot whatever came around that corner... but it never came. The voice of a sister hailed, "Margo Red, this is Tessa Purple. Are you still alive?"

The Sentinel responded, "Yes, ma'am."

"Margo Red, our station is being overrun. Our esteemed botanist Sally Blue the Erudite is trapped in her laboratory. Meet up with your sisters on Level 2, Section 3. You are to assist them in bringing Sally Blue to the command-and-control room. Do you understand?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Proceed, Margo Red."

"Yes, ma'am."

The Keeper with Priestess Tessa reminded, "Ma'am, Margo Red is the only one guarding the elevator door to this chamber."

"Seal the door."

"Ma'am, we already have thirteen Sentinels on their way to secure Sally Blue."

"Yes, I know. As a mystical physicist, I assure you: thirteen is an unlucky number. Our chances are better if we send one more to join them."

Margo Red was ascending a winding stairwell... when startled by the _zipping_ report of plasma weapons! She abandoned caution to hurry her pace. Coming into a corridor, she found thirteen Girls in Red standing over a sprawled mass of tentacles. "It's dead," one of the thirteen told Margo. Gory, smoldering wounds covered the center of the shapeless thing's mass. Zelma Red the Precise, the one who spoke to Margo, noted, "Though amorphous in form, we now know polymorphs do have internal organs and a nervous system." Margo nodded.

Zelma waved for everyone to follow her. As the fourteen Sentinels made their way onward, Zelma blurted, "The enemy is vulnerable if it loses the element of surprise. Stay vigilant."

Coming to a door, Zelma touched the side of her goggles-communicator and hailed, "Sally Blue, respond please."

A voice like her own responded, "Did you kill it?"

"This is Zelma Red. My orders are to escort you to command-and-control. Open the door."

"Did you kill it?"

"There is no 'it' outside this door. We did terminate a hostile lurking in a nearby corridor, however."

The metal door slid open. A Girl in Blue was alone in the laboratory. The Girls in Red stepped inside and the door slid closed behind them. The Sentinels watched as the Keeper filled a black satchel. Sally told her sisters, "The specimens. Tessa wants me to bring the specimens. I would've anyway. They were painstakingly difficult to find."

"Please hurry."

"Yes, of course." Sally Blue slung the satchel over her shoulder. "Let's go."

The door slid open. Zelma Red commanded, "Margo, take point." Margo nodded and obeyed the command.

Only two hundred ninety-four of the 13th Research Battalion's one thousand women remained accounted for. The missing hundreds were presumed dead.

Tessa Purple and Bethinny Blue were staring at a holographic floor plan of the station. Indicators highlighted known positions of surviving personnel. Bethinny noted, "Our Sentinels are holding their own in engineering. We should be able to shift to Region One within the hour."

Tessa asked, "Why would we do that?"

"Our sisters in Region One could storm the station and rid it of this infestation."

Tessa reminded, "Region One is a raging battleground. Our sisters there are too beleaguered to bother with such a thing."

"Not necessarily. Aren't they winning the battle?"

Tessa glared at Bethinny, making her flinch. The Priestess informed the Keeper, "I already considered your plan and suggested it to Expeditionary Command. They don't want us bringing more polymorphs into their fray."

"We're abandoned?"

A Girl in Blue reported, "Our sisters barricaded in the commissary are being overrun! They are requesting immediate assistance!"

Tessa continued to glare at Bethinny when responding, "We have no one to send to their aid."

"Ma'am?"

"We are at a loss to help them."

"Acknowledged."

Margo led the way down the winding stairwell. Screaming and shooting suddenly erupted behind her! Sally Blue was pulled and pushed towards Margo. Zelma commanded, "Get her to command-and-control!" A tentacle suddenly whipped around Zelma and plucked her out of sight! Margo pulled Sally Blue into the lead and implored, "Hurry!"

Sally ran down the steps. Margo readied to shoot... but the monster did not follow. All became deathly silent... until a cold, disturbingly familiar yet inhuman voice rasped from above, "My siblings drink you dry and leave your bodies useless husks. I do not so waste you. Your sisters I have snatched are joining my army. Come up. Come to me... and you shall be conscripted." Margo backed down the steps, minicarbine held at the ready. The malevolent voice... giggled. Margo turned and ran!

Sally Blue was at the elevator door, clutching her satchel though it hung from her shoulder by its strap. Margo backed towards her, hailing via goggles-communicator, "Margo Red reporting, over."

"Report, Margo Red."

"Sally Blue is with me at the elevator door. We are awaiting admittance."

"One moment." A long, tense moment followed. The response finally came, "We are experiencing technical difficulties, Margo Red. Please stand by." The unsettling voice giggled from the depths of the stairwell.

Margo mentioned, "Retrieval was attacked and I am the sole surviving Sentinel. The hostile is still near and may attack. Please reinforce our position immediately."

"Margo Red, please stand by."

Up in the command-and-control room: A sitting Keeper reported to Bethinny Blue, "An enervation enchantment is barring us from opening the door."

"Are you sure it's a spell?"

"Yes, ma'am: there's a mystical signature emanating from the control mechanism."

Bethinny told Priestess Tessa, "Our intruders can cast spells."

Tessa Purple the Dedicated was a mystical physicist. She viewed what was displayed on the sitting Keeper's monitor. The Priestess deduced, "Not all of our intruders are feral. We have a powerful witch to deal with."

Tessa Purple commanded, "Margo Red, you are to protect Sally Blue and her specimens at all costs. You have no other priority. Do you clearly understand?"

The Sentinel touched the side of her goggles-communicator to respond, "Yes, ma'am."

"Take her to the gymnasium and await reinforcements. Obey the instructions of Isabel Red when she arrives."

"Acknowledged." Margo Red gestured for Sally Blue to follow.

The Keeper wondered, "Where are we going?"

"Follow me and remain silent." Margo rolled her eyes behind the black goggles fixed to her uniform: A Girl in Red followed orders without question but the Girls in Blue were always curious.

The Sentinel led the Keeper up the winding steps of Section 3. Margo peeked into the corridors of Level 3 before waving for the Keeper to follow her onward. Sally wondered, "Why are we heading for the gymnasium?" Margo turned around to gesture for the Keeper to remain silent. The Girl in Blue silently mouthed, "Sorry."

The gymnasium was empty of people. Towels and equipment were strewn about as if the rooms were evacuated suddenly. Margo stopped. She touched her communicator, reporting, "This is Margo Red."

"Report, Margo Red."

"My charge has been delivered to the designated location and without incident."

"Acknowledged. Hold your position."

"Acknowledged." The Sentinel assumed an erect posture and secured her hold on both grips of her weapon... and just stood there.

"What are we doing?" Sally wondered.

"Holding our position."

"May I sit down?" Margo shrugged. Sally made herself comfortable on the bench of an exercise machine. The Girl in Blue stared up at the silent, motionless Girl in Red. The Keeper eventually asked, "May we talk?"

The Sentinel cautioned, "Silence would be more expedient."

"The silence is driving me crazy!" Sally calmed herself before explaining, "I'm scared. I need to talk so I won't go crazy."

"Talk if you need to but don't raise your voice."

"Okay." Sally patted the satchel in her lap. She asked the Sentinel, "Do you know what this is?" The Girl in Red shook her head. "You don't even care, do you?" the Sentinel again shook her head. The Keeper snickered, "You may die protecting it so maybe you should know what it is."

"That isn't necessary."

Sally huffed. She fumed, "Do you Sentinels really not care about anything? Our missions are more important than just shooting things, you know!" Margo gestured for Sally to speak softer. The Keeper cringed in repentance before resuming, "Our template was an athlete but she was also a scientist. We remember her interest in alien life-forms. We remember her studying to be an exobiologist. I know you'd find these specimens fascinating."

"I don't need to know what you have."

"My sister, I want you to know. You deserve to know."

The Sentinel glared at the Keeper. Even with two pairs of black goggles between them, Sally was cowed by the intensity. The Sentinel insisted, "You shall not divulge your information." The cringing Keeper nodded and complied.

A squad of Sentinels were on their way to the gymnasium... when caught in a sudden storm of plasma bolts! The women dropped en masse, peppered with smoldering wounds. A voice giggled, "Well done, my dear Zelma! I was wise to choose you."

Thirteen undead bodies stood over the sprawled bodies of their victims. Unlike the breathless corpses, the breathing zombies had their goggles and elastic hoods pulled back. The living dead things had soulless, solid black eyes and their complexions were dark, sickly yellow. The voice commanded them, "To the gymnasium, now. Kill the Sentinel. Bring the Keeper and her satchel to me."

The living dead body of Zelma Red the Precise rasped, "Yes, milady."

Margo's skin crawled from on inner chill. She whispered to Sally Blue, "Into the storage closet and close the door."

"What's wrong?"

"Now!" The Keeper hurriedly complied.

Margo took cover behind an exercise machine. She readied her minicarbine. Sentinels came into the gymnasium, but their goggles and hoods were pulled back, they had solid black eyes and their skin was deathly sallow. "Margo!" one of them rasped. A glowing whitish blue plasma bolt _zipped_ at Margo's peeking face! A volley more _smacked_ and burned into the machine, rattling it.

Margo returned fire, her bolts punching into the attackers as they rushed her. Whatever these "women" were, they winced, groaned and bled as humans do.

Zelma gestured for her troops to flank Margo. The target blasted several of them as they tried! Margo darted to new cover, downing two more zombies as she did so.

Only Zelma and three others remained. The squad leader gestured for the others to take cover. Zelma's undead mind hailed, "Milady, Margo Red is besting us. Only four of us remain."

The zombie shivered as she _felt_ the cold of her mistress snarling, "My siblings are true warriors. Await them. You shall provide your bodies for their attack."

"Yes, milady."

Priestess Tessa was staring out a window at the jungle below when Bethinny addressed her, "Security in engineering reports that some of the polymorphs besieging them are withdrawing."

"Why?"

"We don't know. Maybe the enemy is pulling out."

Tessa snickered, "My sister, your optimism impairs your reasoning. Sound a general alert that the enemy is on the prowl."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Has Isabel Red and her squad secured Sally Blue?"

"One moment." Bethinny hailed, "Isabel Red, report. Isabel Red, respond please." Tessa gulped.

A dozen shapeless things crawled and slithered to the gymnasium. The voice of the mistress commanded, "Attack!" Zelma and the other three zombie Sentinels led the charge, blazing away. Margo blasted them. The swarm of shapeless things converged on the lone defender! Tentacles whipped at the Sentinel, knocked over machines or hurled equipment at her. Margo ducked, darted, rolled and weaved, taking desperate potshots all the while. Eventually... the clamor became stillness. Margo rose and looked about. Zombies and tentacles were strewn about, all of them with smoking wounds. The Sentinel touched the side of her goggles-communicator, reporting, "This is Margo Red, over."

"Report, Margo Red."

"Reinforcements have not arrived. I was attacked by what may have once been Sentinels. I was also assailed by a squad of polymorphs. I am holding my position and await instructions."

A long pause was followed by Priestess Tessa wondering, "Margo Red, how are you still alive?"

"By terminating my assailants, ma'am."

"Understood. Margo Red, hold your position."

"Yes, ma'am."

In the command-and-control room: Bethinny informed Tessa, "All besieged positions report that the enemy is withdrawing."

The Priestess snapped, "They are _not_ withdrawing! They're converging on the gymnasium."

"Why? That wouldn't make any sense."

Tessa explained, "Taking our facility is a secondary objective. They want the specimens."

"Why? What are they?"

The Priestess ignored her subordinate. Tessa announced for all personnel to hear, "Margo Red and Sally Blue, as you were! All other personnel, security or otherwise, abandon your duties! Seek and destroy all intruders immediately! Your lives are forfeit! Kill the intruders post haste!"

Virgin Soldiers were fanatically loyal and obedient. The command of a Priestess was the voice of the Unheard Whisper itself. Sentinels, Keepers, Scouts and Jockeys all stormed into the corridors and assailed the enemy on sight. Plasma bolts and improvised weapons met flailing tentacles in a grueling savagery of sheer attrition.

Tessa was startled upon hearing an eerily familiar yet inhuman voice whisper into her mind, "You send them to their deaths yet do not tell them why? We know your secret: You captured the seedlings of plant fairies. Yes, one of them is indeed carnivorous. We shall make terrible use of her." The voice's cackling giggle made Tessa's skin crawl.

A thing wearing the skimpy green uniform of a Concubine Scout crawled into the gymnasium. The goggles and elastic hood were pulled back, revealing the bald head and black, soulless eyes. Unlike the sickly yellow of the zombies, this entity had a healthy, human complexion. Its head, arms and torso were human but it walked on a cluster of amorphous tentacles. It grinned at the sight of Margo.

The Sentinel blasted the monster... but the wounds mended as quickly as they were made. "Margo Red," the sneering thing rasped. It came closer, absorbing more plasma bolts and healing all the while. "Mindless weakling, you shall perish and never know why." The monster stopped.

Margo cycled fresh charges into the breech of her minicarbine... but held her fire. Her mind raced as she pondered what to do next.

The monster rasped, "You shall never know what you died for. You shall die knowing who slew you. I was once Jane Green the Resourceful. Like you, I was mortal and only human. I am born anew and am immortal and inhuman. I am Janex the Crafty, sister of monsters and a captain in the army that shall devour the galaxy."

Tentacles lashed out! Margo dove aside and _zipped_ bolts into the monster! The hideous thing cackled maniacally... until a bolt punched and burned into its face. Janex wailed and thrashed blindly! The Sentinel kept shooting, aiming for the head. Brains burst out in a steaming spray of red and gray! The monster slumped onto its cluster of tentacles... and went limp. Margo cycled fresh charges. She then took careful aim... and blasted the monster's head into gory chunks.

Margo Red the Adroit kicked the lifeless, grotesque form of what was once her sister Jane Green the Resourceful. The thing did not twitch nor did its wounds heal. The "immortal" and inhuman monster Janex the Crafty was indeed dead.

Chapter 3

"Alliance"

Ordinance dropped from dragonfly-type bombers pummeled kinetic shield barriers. Locust-type attack entomopters blazed away with chin-mounted stormguns and showered the enemy with streams of caseless rockets. Bipedal main battle tanks stomped through the forest followed by throngs of Concubine Sentinels.

Lieutenant General Yazmin gleamed, "The enemy is in full retreat!"

General Drusilla gazed upon the holographic map of Region One, realizing, "Their retreat is too orderly to be a route."

Lieutenant General Olga whined, "They're leaving with large amounts of our equipment."

Drusilla snickered, considering, "Looting us may have been the whole point of their operation. Are we tracking their portals?"

Olga answered, "Of course. It's too soon to tell but they seem to be regrouping at one location."

"Confirm."

"Yes, ma'am."

Yazmin caressed her commanding general's shoulders, insisting, "Go to bed, my sister. We shall tend to things as you rest."

Drusilla reminded, "Adam of Telluria wants to be our ally."

"So it would seem. Shall you meet with him tomorrow?"

"I don't know."

Yazmin kissed Drusilla's cheek, insisting, "Go to bed. I shall send a Keeper to your quarters to give you something to sleep. You may decide tomorrow what you shall do tomorrow."

Drusilla nodded and left the chamber.

The Army of Four was camped in the woods just outside the Temple of the Great Seen Unseen. Adam teased Flora, "Are you excited about making friends with the Concubines?"

The carnivorous plant fairy smiled, "Yes."

"You are?"

Flora nodded, explaining, "The wisdom of the Oracle shall surely avail us."

"Yeah: who am I to argue with a tree?"

Conjure the half-goblin and Hairy the sasquatch were the best of friends. Conjure, the one who did all the talking, asked Hairy, "Is it not strange that wars can make friends? We are friends because we are together in this Army of Four. The Concubines shall be our friends to fight demons and monsters." The big, hairy sasquatch smiled. Conjure interpreted, "Yes, it is always good to make friends. Shall we later befriend Yississ?" Hairy frowned. Conjure understood, "You are right: we cannot befriend a demon."

Portals opened as the Army of Yississ gathered in the Bleak Mountains of the Gentle Desert. Though it was night in this land, the flashing, rumbling sky of the Everlasting Storm lit the mountains with a flickering light.

A self-shifting edifice of titanium alloy sat upon the highest peak. Yississ and Brendaxa were together on a balcony overlooking their gathering horde. "Well done!" the demon commended her monster. "We have all that we need and the perfect place to put it."

Brendaxa reported, "Our losses were heavy, milady. We must replenish our ranks before launching another major offensive."

"Yes, my loyal general. Do what we must. The Concubines themselves shall provide plenty of conscripts."

"Yes, milady. We have already selected many isolated outposts from which to replenish our ranks. Also, our incubators are already operational and we are growing more polymorphs."

"Brendaxa, my child," the towering, rotting "woman" with six breasts snuggled the monstrosity that was once human, "you are so delightfully efficient!"

Drusilla slept surprisingly well and awoke feeling unexpectedly hopeful. She bathed then joined her sisters for breakfast.

General officers in the Virgin Army wore hooded cloaks. Their skimpy body shirt underneath did not have the usual goggles and elastic hood. The cloaks hung on a rack fixed to the wall as the generals sat on the floor together at a table laden with food and drink. The bald women with white irises all looked exactly alike. Their prattling voices all sounded alike. They could _feel_ the individual identity of a sister, however; especially when spoken to.

A general officer in the Virgin Army was among the wisest of Concubine Priestesses, thus, her name and uniform were designated as _purple_. Elzbeth Purple the Bold, however, wore the blue-green chosen for her by Mistress Umbra. Elzbeth was casually ignored by her sisters as they ate, sipped and chatted. The lonely Concubine pariah sighed and stared at her food. She ate it, in increments, but did not notice it enough to taste it.

Yazmin asked Drusilla, "Shall you meet with Adam?"

"Yes."

"To make an alliance with him?"

"Perhaps."

Olga joined, "Though a dangerous foe, the Army of Four may prove an invaluable ally."

"Indeed," Yazmin concurred.

"No one knows a world better than its inhabitants. We shall have the eyes and ears of Telluria readily available to us." Yazmin nodded.

Drusilla asked her lieutenants, "Are we hoping I make an alliance with Adam of Telluria?"

"No!" Elzbeth blurted. She sneered, "Adam betrayed our master and may have murdered our mistress! Allow me to meet him in your stead and I shall kill him myself."

Everyone stared at Elzbeth, shocked and indignant. Drusilla reminded her, "We are the Many of One. All that we do we do as one. All of us shall kill Adam or all of us shall befriend him."

"Befriend him?"

"We shall do whatever we must. My sister, are you forgetting your duty?"

"No."

Drusilla stated, "It is my duty to decide for us all. I shall do my duty. His will be done."

Everyone repeated in unison, "His will be done."

Adam and his three soldiers watched the Temple steps from the edge of the woods. Conjure worried, "What if Drusilla does not come?"

Adam answered, "Then we've a long walk back."

Flora spotted, "She comes."

The Army of Four watched as a Concubine wearing a purple body shirt and short, white, hooded cloak descended the marble steps. The woman was alone. Adam asked Flora, "Is it her?"

"Yes. My king, I sense no treachery."

Adam handed Conjure his weapons. The king asked of his soldiers, "Wish me luck."

Adam waved as he joined Drusilla at the base of the Temple steps. She nodded her hooded head in greeting. The man asked the woman, "Remember me?"

"Adam, you are unforgettable." The man gleamed. The woman spoke, "King of Telluria, you must give account for the disappearance of the Great Seen Unseen and his Beloved Child."

"Uh, excuse me?"

"The Virgin Army is answerable to higher authorities. We must do what is right if we are to do what is best."

"Seriously? You came to this planet to drain it into a lifeless husk. We kicked your ass. Get over it."

Drusilla challenged, "Are you refusing to give an account?"

"Hey, I didn't start any trouble. I'm just defending myself and doing everything I can to protect innocent people."

The Concubine insisted, "This world was chosen for a higher purpose."

"No. Genocide is not a 'higher purpose'. Your master came here to kill everyone and I stopped him. I buried his ass. His little Princess of Darkness tried to kill me in my sleep. I stomped her ass. I have no problem with you girls. I want to be your friend."

Drusilla swooned, overwhelmed by every emotion at once. She was a selfless, loyal and obedient Concubine of the Great Seen Unseen. She was the devout servant of the Unheard Whisper. She believed Adam. She believed everything this man ever told her. She trusted him.

Drusilla dared a peek from under her cowl. She gazed into the gentle yet fiery eyes of the man before her. The woman's pupils dilated. She smiled.

Adam wondered if the hooded clone was smiling or smirking. He was shocked when she declared, "Adam of Telluria, our forces shall join yours against our common enemy. Come into the Temple of the Great Seen Unseen... for you are welcome."

Yississ was given twenty Concubine Priestesses and six hundred Concubine Scouts, turning them all into polymorphic monsters. Her army snatched many captives, turning most of them into zombies but the Priestesses and Scouts into more polymorphs. Yississ now had nearly a thousand Priestesses and tens of thousands of Scouts. The twelve wisest of her Priestesses joined her as her personal coven.

A dozen "womanly" monsters with amorphous tentacles for legs surrounded the tall, festering form of a naked "woman" with six breasts. Yississ and her coven channeled their energies into a single effort to divine. They watched as the Army of Four and the Virgin Army joined forces. Yississ cackled. She scoffed, "My children, you fear the Army of Four? You are not the weaklings you once were. I am with you! I have battled this Army of Four personally. You fear the carnivorous plant fairy? She _screamed_ in terror of me! She writhed helplessly in my grasp! Umbra was a fool who played foolish games. We are not here to play. We shall kill or render undead but we shall never dally."

Brendaxa, the chosen and favorite of Yississ, proclaimed, "Milady, take me with you should you again meet this Army of Four in battle."

"Be wise, my Brendaxa! Be expedient. We have armies and worlds to devour!"

Drusilla brought Adam into the bustling command-and-control room within the Temple. "Wow!" the man was awed by all the sleek displays and fancy jargon. He enjoyed the sight of so many smart and sexy women strutting about in "swimsuit" uniforms.

Concubine Priestesses distinguished by black, hooded cloaks bowed as Drusilla and Adam approached them. Drusilla told her sisters, "The Kingdom of Telluria is now our ally." The one cloaked Concubine wearing a blue-green body shirt scowled. "The Army of Four is free to roam our occupied territories and is granted access to all facilities and means of transportation. They may enter and depart this Temple at their leisure."

Adam whispered to Drusilla, "May I say something to your officers?"

"As you wish."

"Thanks." Adam told the lieutenant generals, "I have always admired you girls for being so brave, relentless and efficient. It is an honor to be working with you now." The hooded women stared at him, silent and expressionless. The man coughed and fidgeted, eventually saying, "As you were."

Drusilla gestured at the holographic globe of Telluria, informing Adam, "The enemy has gathered its strength in Region 99: the Gentle Desert." The globe flattened and reshaped into a holographic map of a mountainous desert. "Unfortunately, the Everlasting Storm obscures scanning and impedes airstrikes. We've deployed Scouts and they are watching, but their view is limited."

One of the lieutenant generals added, "The enemy captured many of our facilities and much of our equipment. They are evidently establishing a basecamp."

"Oh, yeah," Adam agreed. He stared at the map and its indicators, realizing, "They have the high ground on rugged terrain. The Everlasting Storm means airstrikes would have to fly in low and vulnerable. They chose their location well."

The lieutenant general mentioned, "The situation is worse than even that."

"Really?"

The Concubine nodded, explaining, "The enemy is converting the captured technology into magical artifices. The Everlasting Storm impedes technology but enhances magic. The enemy is assembling mystical arrays meant to channel the storm for the powering of spells."

"That sounds bad." The hooded women nodded. "What are we going to do about it?"

Drusilla answered, "We have already deployed bombers to destroy the site before it is firmly established." The women huddled around the holographic map. Drusilla told Adam, "The attack is about to commence."

A swarm of dragonfly-type bombers skimmed over the gray, rocky hills of the Gentle Desert and under the flashing, rumbling sky of the Everlasting Storm. As the Bleak Mountains appeared over the horizon, a Concubine Jockey in the cockpit of a bomber reported, "We are detected but the enemy is not raising its kinetic shield barriers." A moment passed before the Girl in Brown added, "A mystical surge is initiating."

An assault fortress sat atop the highest peak of the Bleak Mountains. The armed and armored edifice of titanium alloy overlooked the encamped army of zombies and polymorphs. The tower atop the fortress _flashed_ and sparked, manifesting a glowing, continuous bolt between it and the storm above.

The dragonfly-type bombers kept closing... until bolts lanced out from the skyward bolt and zapped into the swarm! Aircraft erupted into flames and plummeted! The swarm kept coming, its numbers struck and sent ablaze until none of it remained. Not even one bomber reached the enemy basecamp.

Yississ cackled maniacally! The demon cheered, "Well done, Brendaxa! Your genius proves glorious!"

Brendaxa humbly corrected, "Milady, I was but one of many who devised your new weapon. The secrets you share give us insights into possibilities." The living Many of One were selfless, innovative and efficient. I pleased Yississ greatly to see such qualities in her daughters born of them.

Adam and the Concubine generals were horrified. The man asked the women, "What just happened?"

Drusilla answered, "We just lost a third of our heavy bombers."

A lieutenant general (Olga) surmised, "The enemy harnessed and channeled the electromagnetism of the Everlasting Storm."

Adam wondered, "What?"

The Concubine explained, "It seems they've converted a relay system into a mystical conduit."

"What?"

Drusilla spoke to her lieutenants, "A ground assault without air support would most likely fail." The Virgin Soldiers in black cloaks nodded.

Drusilla and her lieutenants looked at Adam, as if awaiting his insight. Drusilla reminded him, "You have oft bested us. What do you suggest we do?"

The man warned, "This isn't going to be easy."

"Obviously. Adam of Telluria, what do you suggest?"

"Well, don't bother with another airstrike until you find a way to take out that lightning weapon." The women continued to stare. The man continued, "The enemy has the forces and the terrain to shrug off a ground assault, so don't bother." The clones were still staring. "A small team may be the only thing that can get to that tower. If we disable the tower then we need to attack with everything immediately."

A lieutenant general mentioned, "Your Army of Four is the perfect team for such a mission."

"Maybe." Adam felt cold and sick. His mind's eye could see Yississ grinning. The man realized, "The enemy knows what we're planning. Actually, I think they're counting on it. They _want_ the Army of Four to come right to them exactly where they want us. Yississ is a damn spider!" Adam thought and thought, concluding, "I need to talk to the Oracle."

Drusilla asked, "May I accompany you?"

"Are you scared of talking trees?"

Drusilla's analytical mind tried to make sense of the man's flippant question. "No," she finally answered.

"Then let's go."

Conjure, Hairy and Flora watched from the edge of the forest as Adam led Drusilla down the steps of the Temple. The plant fairy could hear her king telling the woman, "We're a rowdy bunch but we're friendly."

Drusilla mentioned, "Your carnivorous plant fairy sodomizes my sisters to devour them to bare bones."

"Hey, a carnivore's got to eat." Flora grinned.

As Adam and Drusilla neared the woods, the man called, "Come on out and stop being so damn scary!"

Conjure and Hairy looked at each other, confused. Flora told them, "Step out with me."

Drusilla felt so small and weak as the tall, menacing, carnivorous plant fairy and towering, monstrous, burly sasquatch stepped out before her. The little half-goblin smiled and waved. "My troops," Adam introduced. "They're the best soldiers anywhere."

The cloaked and hooded Concubine bowed. She introduced herself, "I am Drusilla Purple the Wise of the Fortieth Harvest and the commanding Priestess of the Telluria Expedition."

"Just call her Drusilla," Adam winked.

Flora told her king, "I have drawn the portal. The Oracle waits."

"She knows I'm coming?"

"Adam, she is the Oracle."

"Oh, yeah."

Flora led everyone into the depths of the forest. "Hello," Conjure greeted Drusilla.

"Hello."

"I am glad we are friends now." The Concubine smiled. The half-goblin prattled, "My friend Hairy is also glad. We did not like you because you were invaders but Adam says you are not evil. He tells us you are as human as he is."

"We are human," Drusilla confirmed.

"I know! Now you are friends, right?" The Virgin Soldier was at a loss as to how to answer. Adam slapped Conjure on the head, rebuking, "Stop pestering the lovely general! We're on official business, buddy boy."

"Official business?"

"Yeah. We have a meeting with the talking tree."

"I know!"

Adam smiled at Drusilla, telling her, "He's smart."

Virgin Soldiers of the Great Seen Unseen were serious, professional and exact. Yes, the Army of Four was supernatural, but how could such a band of bantering misfits best the Virgin Army? Drusilla would use her time with these people to study them. Perhaps if hostilities resumed with them, such intelligence could prove beneficial.

Flora led everyone to a spot where a circle filled with glyphs was drawn into the ground. The plant fairy gestured for everyone to step onto the pattern. Adam took Drusilla's hand. He smiled, asking her, "Are you ready to take that big step in the right direction?"

"What?"

The man gently tugged on the woman's hand. They stepped together onto the pattern... finding themselves stepping into a forest elsewhere in the world.

It was later in the day on this side of Telluria. The trees were larger and more fruitful here than in Region One. "Where are we?" Drusilla wondered.

"About a third of the way around the world," Adam answered.

A gentle breeze washed over the group, whispering in a warm, soothing, maternal voice, "Soldiers of Telluria, await your king and our new friend. Man and woman, please come to me. Rest in my shade as I gaze into the answers you seek." Adam led Drusilla onward. Flora, Conjure and Hairy stayed behind.

The Virgin Soldier questioned, "Are you taking me to a secret location?"

"No." Adam brought Drusilla to a large tree shaped vaguely in the form of a voluptuous woman. The man gestured at the imposing plant, introducing, "The Oracle of Telluria." He looked up into the lush branches, introducing, "Drusilla of the Concubines wanted to meet you. I hope you don't mind."

The branches rustled and a breeze swirled from above as the tree spoke, "My king, I am pleased she has come." The "tree" told Drusilla, "Woman of the Great Seen Unseen, I shall never profane your master. I shall never require you to dishonor him. I shall honor your ways for they do not offend me. My counsel shall never betray you."

Drusilla believed and trusted the voice. She worried, "Am I being charmed?"

The Oracle knew, "You distrust that you trust me. You are suspicious of your feelings towards Adam." The cloaked and hooded Concubine bowed as if apologizing. The Oracle assured, "The only enchantment upon you is within you: the whispered curse and blessing of the Shadow that fashioned you from a human mind and blood. Your will is not your own but your thoughts and feelings are yours alone. You sought Adam of your own yearning. You heed my voice of your own accord."

Drusilla uttered the mantra, "I am not my own."

"You are not your own, woman formed from the very ground and water of your world. Loyal servant of the Unheard Whisper, peace be with you."

Adam blurted, "We have a serious problem."

"My king, I am aware of the festering darkness. Allow me to wander into its shadows that I may spy upon its doings."

"What?"

"My king, I must see and hear elsewhere. Rest awhile, in the company of Drusilla Purple the Wise. Await the return of my attention."

The man wondered, "How long do you want us to wait?" but the Oracle did not respond. "Hello?" No response. Adam huffed. He told Drusilla, "You might as well make yourself comfortable because it's going to be awhile."

"How long?"

Adam shrugged, explaining, "Plant fairies don't have life-spans so they're never in a hurry." He produced a flask and rations from his gear. He handed them to Drusilla, telling her, "Bon appetite." He then sat down and pulled out food for himself. Drusilla just stood there, holding the flask and rations. Adam told her, "Seriously: it's going to be awhile. Have a seat and enjoy your meal."

"Yes, of course." Unlike Adam, who stretched and lounged against a tree, Drusilla sank where she stood, folding her legs.

The man assured, "My rations were prepared by plant fairies, so I assure you: it all tastes better than it looks."

The hooded woman nibbled on a stick of mixed grains and dried fruit. She smiled, delighted. Adam liked her smile. He was not going to mind the long wait after all.

Chapter 4

"Imperiled Sanctuaries"

Adam and Drusilla were alone together. The woman asked the man, "As king of this world, what do you do when you are not waging war?"

"I tour the planet and greet my subjects. They feed me, sing for me and dance for me. They ask me weird questions and I answer as best I can."

"Weird questions?"

The man explained, "The Oracle tells everyone that I 'see more' than I 'behold' and am 'wiser' than my knowledge. She claims my humanity and 'pure heart' are sacred."

"She claims you are pure of heart?"

Adam shrugged, "I just do the best I can and hope for the best."

Drusilla smiled. The man smiled back. "Adam, you are not Tellurian. Where are you originally from?"

"A country called 'America' on a planet called 'Earth'."

"Earth?"

"Yeah. You've heard of it?"

"We hear many claims of worlds being the 'Earth' of legend. No such claim has ever been verified."

"Well, I came from a planet we call 'Earth' whether it's the real Earth or not."

The woman pressed, "What is your planet of origin like?"

The man answered, "Everybody's human. Most of our world is poor, primitive and dangerous. The better parts are prosperous, advanced and relatively safe. America is our entire world as one nation."

Drusilla mentioned, "My world has been one nation for centuries. Its many colony worlds are also part of that nation."

"Good for you."

"My sisterhood is the new nation. The colonies are what remain of the old."

"Your homeworld is the planet Golgoth," Adam knew. He asked the Concubine, "What's it like?"

"Everyone is a sister. Everything is everyone's. All that we do we do together."

"You're not bored and lonely being all alike?"

The clone scowled at the man, claiming, "We understand each other because we have everything in common. We remember the bygone age of population diversity. We remember everyone being alone in a crowd... even among their friends. Our lives as the Many of One are better than those of the lonely and contentious many."

"Sorry: I didn't mean to offend you."

Drusilla continued, "Outsiders rarely consider us to be real people. They dismiss us as if clones are devoid of thoughts and feelings. Yes, we are cloned from one woman and endowed with her memories. What of it? Are identical twins, triplets or quadruplets less human than other humans? Are children not taught from the memories of those before them? The bigotry of outsiders reminds us to find our strength in our Many of One."

The man realized, "You're very proud of your selfless nation of sisters."

"We are devoted," the Concubine corrected.

"Yeah, I noticed."

"Virgin Soldiers," Adam liked the name. The idea itself was so wholesome yet militant and alluring. "Clones," he considered: the man fancied identical twins, triplets and quadruplets... so why not? Those young, firm, identical bodies were so sexy in their "space swimsuit" uniforms. "Wow!" Adam was surprised: How could he be suddenly so attracted to women who tried so hard to kill him? Was he a masochist? Adam imagined Drusilla spanking him... but cringed at the idea.

"Drusilla," the man stared at the Virgin Soldier. This one was the best of all of them... he supposed. Then again, he could only distinguish her from the others by her white cloak.

The clone woman stared at the man from under her cowl. She enquired, "What?"

"You."

"What about me?"

"You girls all have the same genes and memories."

The Concubine corrected, "We are genetically identical and our _formative_ memories are the same. Our additional memories of training and education are specific to our particular duties."

Adam wondered, "Why were you chosen to be the commanding general?"

"It was the will of the Unheard Whisper."

"Why? Did it matter which one of you he chose?"

The woman pouted. She explained, "The tenders of the Harvest ask and are answered."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"The Priestesses who tend the Harvest see our colors and brightness and hear our names. They assign us our duties accordingly."

"You're grown like crops by your own sisters."

The Concubine mentioned, "Before the Harvests we were made from the dust and water of sacrifices."

Adam sickened at the thought of "sacrifices" because he knew they were the mass murder of innocent people. The Concubines of the Great Shadow were such a paradox: beautiful and admirable yet ghoulish and grim. The girls were not malicious yet they were fully capable of committing atrocity. They were intelligent and educated yet mindless and foolish. "Of all the strange things I have ever encountered, you girls are the strangest of them all."

Drusilla asked, clearly offended, "Why do you say that?"

"Because it's true."

"How can you speak the truth about something you don't understand?"

"That's my point: you're human and I don't understand you."

The Concubine accused, "Perhaps your culture is too primitive for you to have an adequate basis of comparison."

Adam laughed. Drusilla scowled. The man told the woman, "I know the bite of insecurity when I hear it. I'm starting to understand you, after all."

"You know nothing."

"Yeah, that's what people keep telling me."

Zombie Girls in Blue sat at consoles and monitors. The goggles and elastic hoods of their skimpy uniforms were already cleanly removed as if never part of the garment. The bald, yellow "women" with soulless black eyes were as diligent and efficient as they were in life. One of the zombies rasped, "We are being scanned."

The monstrous, amorphous Brendaxa the Insidious looked over the undead woman's shoulder and recognized, "Mystical clairvoyance."

"Yes, milady. The source of it is hiding itself well."

Brendaxa smirked, "The Oracle of Telluria herself is taking a peek."

"Milady, the signature is emanating from within the Everlasting Storm. Our countermeasures fail to disrupt it."

"Why would we want to?"

"Milady?"

"From above, she can only see what is unhidden. Let her gaze upon the army that shall devour her world." Brendaxa stared at and through the ceiling and into the flashing and rumbling storm beyond. The spirit of the Oracle fled from her gaze.

Drusilla awoke that night, surprised to realize she had fallen asleep. Adam was still sleeping.

It was night but a strange, gentle ambiance illuminated the forest without brightening the black, brightly starlit sky. Was the phenomenon emanating from the Tree of the Oracle? If the Concubine had an analyzer she would be walking about scanning everything.

Adam still slept. Drusilla stared at him. The man was boorish but seemed rather noble. He was handsome... in a rugged, barbaric sort of way. He was too blunt to be treacherous. He was too crude to be cunning. She trusted him. The woman smiled. Though the man flustered her with his boisterous buffoonery he was somehow wise in his foolishness. His dim wits were somehow made genius by his bold spirit and pure, heroic heart.

The Concubine was ashamed of herself for admiring her master's enemy. "I buried his ass," she remembered Adam telling her. How? How could a mortal man best the Great Seen Unseen?

"I stomped her ass." Drusilla giggled. The Concubine was ashamed of her mirth... but could not help but be gleefully amused.

Adam slept. Drusilla watched him.

The plant fairies of Telluria slept as groves within sanctuaries. Obscurity and glamour concealed these secreted places. Unseen shields protected them from above and afar. Alas, the eyes of Yississ and her army scoured the world for these hidden groves... and found them. Shapeless monsters and undead women were mustered to assail and devour the sleeping plant fairies. The victims would be reborn as horrors more terrible than those that assailed them! The ravenous army of Yississ would grow like a strengthening storm... and sweep across the worlds as a tempest of living death. All who lived would perish.

Adam and Drusilla were enjoying breakfast together... when the leaves of the Tree of the Oracle rustled. The voice of the Oracle cried out, "The life of Telluria shall be made the death of all who live!"

"Calm down," Adam urged. "Tell us what you mean and we'll do something about it."

"My king, the demon Yississ means to find my people! Her will shall devour them into monsters worse than those she already commands! Our living dead shall become the death of all races!"

"How?"

"She seeks and shall find the sanctuaries!"

Drusilla understood, "The enemy grows its ranks by repurposing the bodies and materiel of its opposition. They turn victims into zombies and use resources to grow more polymorphs. Useful experts are converted into polymorphs. The partially material physiology of plant fairies could prove ideal for the production of new strains of monster."

The Oracle confirmed, "It is as our friend Drusilla tells us but it is worse than either of you comprehend. Drusilla, your undead sisters are as wise as they were in life but darkly wiser: Yississ has endowed them with knowledge unsound for human minds. They are putting this forbidden insight to terrible use."

Drusilla hesitated... before confiding, "Before her disappearance, Mistress Umbra commanded us to locate the sanctuaries. We discovered a way to do so by calibrating our scans to detect the faint mystical resonance of the protective enchantments. My sisters co-opted by Yississ have this knowledge and have equipped themselves with the means to utilize it."

The Tree of the Oracle shrank and softened... until a "woman" who's voluptuous nudity was greenish white. Her eyes and nipples were green. Her "hair" was long strands of green leaves. She pulled her feet out of the soil and approached Drusilla, saying unto her, "Woman of the Great Seen Unseen, for love of my people I ask you to do what shall save your own. For the love of all people I ask of you what only you and your sisters can accomplish: protect the sanctuaries! The death of my race shall be the death of all races. Save us all. Oh, please, I beg you, save us all."

Portals opened throughout Telluria. Throngs of undead women supplemented by swarms of aircraft and columns of legged vehicles poured through. The guns of the living dead Scouts and Sentinels were the standard plasma small arms of the Virgin Army. The entomopters and bipedal battle tanks, however, had been fused with their Jockey operators into monstrous cyborgs: once sleek technology manned by living humans, they were now abominations of metal and flesh. The weapons of these mechanical monsters were changed into magical artifices that cast continuous wave bolts or pulses that induced neural shock. Shapeless entities of unnatural flesh followed the waves of undead women and cyborg monsters.

The horde of living death and amorphous monstrosities was suddenly showered with caseless rockets and blasted by plasma cannons! Bipedal main battle tanks charged, followed by throngs of Concubine Sentinels. Entomopters buzzed and zigzagged overheard. Battle raged all across planet Telluria.

Lieutenant General Yazmin reported, "The enemy is pressing into the fray at all locations. They are determined to take the sanctuaries."

Drusilla and her officers were standing around the holographic globe and its surrounding, supplementary maps. They were busy, as were the junior Priestesses and many Keepers behind them. Adam observed but remained silent and out of the way, mindful not to be distracting or intrusive. He watched as the indicators on the globe and maps blinked and moved as they were updated.

Drusilla barked, "I want bombers pummeling that heavy concentration in Region 31."

"Yes, ma'am," a lieutenant general responded.

"Reinforce Region 29 immediately."

"Yes, ma'am," a different lieutenant general responded. "Three legions are already awaiting portals to do so."

The Virgin Soldiers were swift and bustling but all of them amazingly calm. They were all so clear in what they uttered and so precise in their responses. "You girls are amazing," the man admired them. Though mortal and only human, the women were diligent and unflinching. Yes, they were girls, but they were warriors when the need arose.

The battles raged. Burning entomopters dropped out of the sky. Legged vehicles were zapped by continuous wave bolts and either collapsed or erupted into flaming chunks. Concubine Sentinels winced and their throngs withered. Others were snatched and drank dry of blood. Regardless, the women of the Great Seen Unseen kept coming. Their Virgin Army kept fighting.

Hours passed. Drusilla was sent away by her officers and accompanied by Adam. The woman brought the man to the privacy of a room with windows for a wall. Couches, cushions and low tables were the furniture of this comfortable chamber. Drusilla seemed oblivious to all of it. Adam worried, "Are you all right?"

"No. My forces are locked in a war of attrition and reinforcements are uncertain."

"Your homeworld won't send more troops?"

"Adam, without our master, mine is the last Harvest of my people!" The man wished he had kept his mouth shut. The woman assured, "I shall request reinforcements from Central Command. Unfortunately, it will be another month before I can do so."

"Why?"

"Because it'll be a month before we've plotted coordinates to open a portal to Golgoth."

"You can't hurry that up?"

Drusilla laughed. "Adam, do you know nothing of interstellar shifting?"

"Uh, no."

"Then how did you get to this planet?"

"I'm not entirely sure because I didn't understand when the Oracle told me."

Drusilla was incredulous. How did this fool outmaneuver her forces so readily? How did he find a way to overcome an intellect beyond mortal ken? How was he smart enough to best Mistress Umbra? Was the Oracle the secret to Adam's wisdom? If so, why was Adam king? Drusilla considered: was the Oracle the true ruler of Telluria and Adam merely a figurehead? The man was grinning like an oaf. Was he an oaf? Something about the Adam was somehow inspiring. Something about his stupidity was somehow smart. No, Adam was not a figurehead. Yes, he was a fool but he was... so much more.

Adam told Drusilla, "As King of Telluria, I thank you and your sisters for doing this."

"Adam, we are doing our duty. For strategic reasons in our own interest we must deny the enemy your civilian population."

"I know. Thanks anyway."

Adam stood. Drusilla asked, "Where are you going?"

"My troops are just outside. We're going to go somewhere and have some fun."

"What do you mean?"

The man grinned, "I have the best army in the world. We're going to prove it."

A wavering bolt streamed into a bipedal main battle tank, blasting the vehicle into a staggering, flaming wreck! The legged machine collapsed and burned. An electrical _hum_ sounded and a throng of Concubine Sentinels winced, convulsed and dropped en masse. The thing that had killed both machine and women was itself both machine and women. The deadly monster was a bipedal main battle tank writhing with tentacles.

What was once a Concubine Jockey was now an amorphous mass fused to the turret and modified weapons of what was once a fighting vehicle in the service of the Virgin Army. The naked, shapeless flesh still had a human head and a healthy human complexion but such was all that remained human of its aspect. Its black, soulless eyes gazed upon the burning wreck sprawled at the feet of the machine that was now entirely part of her. The face beheld the many Girls in Red littering the forest floor beyond.

The monstrous cyborg turned its head to face the ranks of yellow zombies behind her. The undead Concubine Sentinels just stood there, impassively awaiting orders. The cyborg laughed at the undead women, accusing them in a raspy voice, "You are as useless in death as you were in life. I shall delight in sacrificing you should the need ever arise." The zombies just stood there, indifferent to all but what was expected of them. The cyborg turned its human head back around and stomped onward. "Come," she beckoned for the zombie foot soldiers to follow.

The forces of Yississ were taking Region 29. Even when the Concubines reinforced their resistance with three legions the polymorphs, cyborgs and zombies could not be stopped.

The cyborg battle tanks of Yississ stomped through the forest followed by throngs of zombie Sentinels and slithering broods of polymorphic Blood Drinkers. The cyborg entomopters overhead buzzed and zigzagged about, seeking and destroying the scattered remnants of Virgin

Soldiers.

The undead Concubine Priestess who was now the polymorphic monster Abigailix the Fierce commanded the forces taking Region 29. She reported to Brendaxa the Insidious, "The sanctuary of Region 29 is ours for the taking."

"Well done, my sister. Your victory shall double our strength."

Abigailix left the safety of her self-shifting command fortress so as to join her troops in the taking of the sanctuary... when an arrow with a glowing tip suddenly _zipped_ into her and _blasted_ her into gory chunks! Vines dropped from above and whipped around the startled zombie Sentinels! A very big, very hairy humanoid wielding a stormgun blazed streams of plasma bolts into the crawling masses of amorphous tentacles!

Adam darted from tree to tree, taking potshots with his minicarbine all the while. The human head of a cyborg battle tank spotted him and the vehicle of flesh and metal stomped towards him. Adam took cover, calling out, "Conjure, I need your help _really_ quick!" A wavering bolt streamed out of what was once a plasma cannon, licking through bushes and trees as it sought the scurrying man. "Conjure!"

Conjure the half-goblin darted between the legs of the cyborg battle tank and slapped something glowing onto its hull. He dove away and snapped his fingers: There was a _boom_ and the monstrous vehicle collapsed as a flaming, gory wreck!

Zombies, cyborgs and polymorphs converged on the Army of Four. The defenders of Telluria fought back, blasting and slaughtering with fierce, uncanny prowess!

Lieutenant General Yazmin was monitoring the situation in Region 29. She was staring at a holographic map of the area when she realized aloud, "The enemy has stopped advancing on the sanctuary." Yazmin looked up at Drusilla, reporting, "The enemy in Region 29 is converging on a location other than the sanctuary."

Drusilla came over and studied the map and its indicators. "Adam," she believed. "The enemy is converging on the Army of Four."

Yazmin mentioned, "Adam came in here and bothered to ask which region needed the most help. I told him Region 29 but explained that it was proving indefensible."

Drusilla smiled. She reminded, "We have fought Adam before. Did he best us by being wise?" The general shouted, for her lieutenant generals to hear, "I want everything we can spare to converge on Region 29 immediately!" Drusilla commanded Olga specifically, "Muster and deploy the 3rd, 4th and 5th Legions to Region 29 immediately."

"They protect this very Temple!"

"No, they surround the Temple. They shall protect it by fighting in Region 29."

"Yes, ma'am." Olga swiftly and efficiently carried out her orders.

Swarms of entomopters and throngs of legged battle tanks, Scouts and Sentinels poured into Region 29 and immediately engaged the horde of cyborgs, zombies and polymorphs. Adam cheered as caseless rockets rained into the forest and _blasted_ the monsters converging on him and his three soldiers. Flora grabbed him and pulled him away, shouting over the shrieks and explosions, "We must flee or perish with our enemies!" Hairy suddenly plucked Adam up and draped him over a shoulder and ran.

A crystal ball with an opaque core flashed from within and became a globe of Telluria. Yississ watched as her army battled the armies of Adam and the Concubines. The demon cackled. Brendaxa was in the chamber. She asked, "What amuses you, milady?"

"Brendaxa, my soldier, are you not having fun?"

"Milady?"

"Waging war is so much fun."

"Milady, we don't have the numbers to endure this operation. May we withdraw?"

"Not yet. Several groves of plant fairies are within our grasp. We must snatch them first."

"Yes, milady."

Yississ turned away from the crystal ball. "Brendaxa, my dear, why do you worry? Do you not see that all is in our favor?"

"No, milady. Our situation is proving costly and precarious. The Virgin Army outnumbers us ten-to-one. The strategic air forces remain entirely theirs. The Army of Four is against us."

Yississ loomed over Brendaxa. The demon's rotting hands caressed the polymorphic monster's bald head. Yississ gazed into the blackness that were the eyes of what was once human. "Brendaxa, my child, all is well. Yes, the Virgin Army outnumbers us but its numbers replenish our own and cannot be replenished. Because of your ingenious weapon, the strategic air forces cannot destroy our abode. As for the Army of Four: I await it. The body of Flora, greatest of the carnivorous plant fairies, shall come to me and become my own. We grow stronger. I shall be born anew and immortal. Brendaxa, my child, rejoice, for we are winning."

Chapter 5

"The Deserted Base"

The battles across Telluria raged for weeks, the uncanny prowess of the monsters tearing into the vast numbers of mortal women. The Army of Four did its part, joining the fray wherever needed or making raids to cause the enemy trouble. The monsters of Yississ gradually withdrew, taking hundreds of plant fairies and thousands of Virgin Soldiers with them. The bodies of millions were strewn in their wake.

General Drusilla was alone in her quarters at her private console. Her white hood was pulled back, as was that of an older Concubine facing her via the monitor. The faces of the bald heads with white eyes looked as if the faces of the same woman at different ages. Drusilla told Gwenya, High Priestess of the Many of One, "Yississ uses the bodies and materiel of our own against us. Her ranks grow as ours diminish."

"Little sister, I read the entirety of your report. You are authorized to act at your own discretion. We shall honor your alliance with Telluria."

"My report is not complete. Six million of us are dead or missing. Tens of thousands of us disappear daily, presumably to be conscripted against us. Hundreds of plant fairies have been abducted, undoubtedly to be made into monsters."

Gwenya assured, in a maternal tone, "Little sister, you were named 'Wise' by the Unheard Whisper. If there is a way you shall find it."

Drusilla insisted, "Our expedition needs reinforcements."

Gwenya shook her head, explaining, "Our enemies have noticed that we missed a Harvest this year. They suspect our numbers are stayed. Siphoning troops from our borders to join you would confirm their suspicions and encourage them to press us."

Drusilla suggested, "Conscript troops from the labor force. Many of them already have military training."

"Little sister, unfriendly eyes are watching. We must dispel the truth by acting as if all is well. Find a way to return our master to us!"

"I shall try," Drusilla promised, "but I must win this war to do so. Big sister, could you please ask the Phantoms to send forces to Telluria?"

"No. Their army is already overextended defending our shared colonies. Little sister, please understand that the galaxy has become very uncertain since the loss of the Great Seen Unseen. We need him. Please find him. Return him to us or all is lost."

"I understand."

"Drusilla, my wise little sister, you have made an ally of Adam of Telluria. He is a man. You are a woman. As High Priestess of the Great Seen Unseen I urge you to exploit this dynamic for the good of us all."

Drusilla smirked. She answered her elder, "I shall do what I must."

"Of course."

Beetle-type entomopters escorted by locust-types landed on an airfield in Region 84. The tail ramps of the beetle-types lowered and Scouts, Sentinels and the Army of Four disembarked. A Girl in Purple was out on the airfield, standing at ease with her hands folded behind her back. Adam greeted the Concubine Priestess, "Hello, Arlene. What we didn't kill slithered away so I hope you're satisfied."

The Girl in Purple corrected, "I am not Arlene the Pragmatic."

"You look like her," the man grinned as if telling a joke.

The woman rolled her eyes behind the blackness of her goggles. She revealed, "I am Drusilla Purple the Wise of the Fortieth Harvest."

"Another Drusilla?"

"I am one of many named 'Drusilla' but I am the only one who commands this expedition."

Adam's mouth gaped and his eyes went wide. He realized, "You're Drusilla!"

"Yes."

"The _real_ Drusilla."

"Yes, Adam, I am Drusilla."

"You're not wearing your white cloak."

The Virgin Soldier explained, "I am attired in the standard garment of a military Priestess."

"Okay. Why?"

"We've lost contact with a surveillance outpost. I shall be leading a team to investigate. Adam, would you and your soldiers please accompany me?"

The man fretted, "You're too important to be going out on missions."

"The sovereign of this world leads his troops into the fray but I am too important to lead my own?"

"Yeah."

The woman assured, "Scouts are already there. They report that the garrison is missing yet the facility remains intact and in place. Nothing has been looted. We want to know why."

"Sounds like a trap."

"As I have told you: we have Scouts there right now. Neither they nor aerial reconnaissance detect any signs of a remaining enemy presence."

"Uh, in case you haven't noticed: polymorphs are damn sneaky. Just because we don't see them doesn't mean they're not around. If they are around it's because they mean to do something nasty."

"Yes, Adam, I understand the possibilities. My investigation is meant to provide definitive answers. The Army of Four is most qualified for dealing with contingencies. Accompany me and I am certain I shall be safe."

"You shouldn't go. Send one of your girls and we'll protect her."

"Adam, I am going. Would you please accompany me?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Our entomopter is prepped and awaits us to board. Please come with me."

"Yes, ma'am." Adam waved for his troops to follow.

A single _flash_ of white light appeared and expanded in the sky over two mutually distant regions. Three beetle-type entomopters flew through the portal, traveling from one side of the planet to another as if merely flying in the same region. The aircraft skimmed over the leafy canopy of the forest below and towards the rolling hills beyond.

As the entomopters circled, Drusilla pointed out a window, asking Adam, "Do you see it?"

The man peered out the window but saw only wooded hills and a winding river. "See what?" he asked.

"Our surveillance outposts are enshrouded within obscurity umbrellas that veil them from distant visual or active scans."

Flora understood, "A glamor conceals them."

Drusilla nodded, adding, "A technological glamor."

As the entomopter descended, Adam noticed what looked like a large dome of black, interconnected triangles surrounded by prefabricated structures, small towers and rows of covered pallets. "I see it all now," he told Drusilla.

"Of course: we're too close not to."

The three entomopters landed. Two dozen Sentinels were the first to disembark, followed by Drusilla, a Keeper and the Army of Four. A Scout greeted the new arrivals. She reported to Drusilla, "Ma'am, everything is still functioning. We're reviewing every record and find no record of what has happened."

"Take us to the control chamber."

"Yes, ma'am."

The control room was the top floor of a short, cylindrical tower. The four Girls in Blue plugged a device into a terminal and sat at consoles. Their fingers nimbly tapped keyboards and holographic displays. Adam wondered, "What are the rest of us going to do?"

Drusilla answered, "We wait."

"For what?"

"For the Keepers to do their duty. Our duty is to ensure that they may do theirs unmolested."

"How long is that going to take?"

Drusilla shrugged, guessing, "Perhaps a day or two."

"What? We're spending a night in this ghost town?"

"Yes."

Adam felt uneasy, as if he was being watched. He advised, "We should all sleep in the same room; one we can easily escape from if we're surrounded."

The woman stared at the man: he could faintly see her ghostly eyes behind her black goggles. Adam had no idea what Drusilla was thinking. She told him, "We shall heed your counsel."

"Good."

Scouts and Sentinels patrolled the grounds, all of them reporting, "All clear."

"Adam," Flora whispered into his ear. "Let us patrol: just the two of us."

Adam gulped, liking the idea as much as he was wary of it. The naked fairy giggled. Adam decided, "Flora and I are going to do our own patrol. Conjure and Hairy, you two stay with Drusilla."

The sasquatch and half-goblin looked at each other. They looked at Adam. Conjure swore, "We shall protect her with our lives."

"Okay."

As Adam moved to depart, Drusilla stepped in front of him. She insisted, "I would be safer if you stayed with me."

"You'll be all right." The woman pouted. The man stepped past her and into the elevator.

Adam and Flora scoured the prefabricated structures and rows of covered pallets. The man asked the fairy, "Do you sense anything unusual?"

"Yes. Drusilla wants you with her for her own ends."

"Me?"

"You. She would rather I did not come along."

"She's not planning to betray us, is she?"

"Mortal man, you are a fool!"

"What?"

The naked, womanly fairy accused, "You do not see the obvious, though it would please you to do so."

"Hey, I'm not the psychic in our little army. If you have something to tell me, then tell me."

"You are a man. She is a woman."

"Yeah, I've noticed."

"You notice nothing!"

The man grinned. He countered, "No, I notice _everything_ ... like that firm ass poking out of her swimsuit uniform. I _notice_ her 'seen unseen' nipples and girlhood through that tight, elastic purple."

The fairy _slammed_ the man against the covered freight of a pallet! She sneered, "You dare speak to me as if I am not female? You dare smirk and boast as if you are not my prey?" Flora pressed Adam to the ground and squirmed on top of him. Her green, tasty tongue poked into his mouth and licked him.

Adam rolled on top of Flora, returning her passion with a deep kiss of his own. He stopped, just long enough to warn her, "I won't stop."

Her wild, inhuman eyes gazed into his. She gasped, "Sow your seed within me!"

"Damn, girl, I think you want to eat me."

"I do!" The carnivorous plant fairy laughed maniacally.

"Whoa!" Adam was startled. "Enough is too much here! Sorry, but let's get back to work."

Flora held the man, telling him, "You are enflamed! Desire has been swelling within you. My people and our dances arouse you. The wars arouse you. Mortal women arouse you. Alas, a fire must burn. It must consume."

Flora was not a woman but she was entirely female. Adam was a man. His masculinity was "aflame" with maddening passion. "Damn," he surprised himself as he opened his trousers.

Male and female consummated their mutual desire. The fairy _shrieked_ as the man poured himself into her. Her arms and legs suddenly sprouted into vines... and whipped around the warm creature atop her. "What the...?" Adam struggled.

The carnivorous plant fairy wailed in crazed delight, her vines trying to shove into the man! Adam rolled, squirmed and struggled. He pulled and slapped the poking tentacles! He pulled away from her face as it contorted into that of a ravenous monster! Adam punched the face. He pummeled it wet with green blood yet it grinned and snapped! The man struggled to his feet and flung the cluster of writhing vines against a covered pallet of crates.

The carnivorous plant fairy dropped from the man and crawled away from him. It shrank and contorted until in the form of a naked woman with white, greenish skin and long, green, grassy hair. Flora cringed as Adam loomed over her. The man was panting and brandishing his minicarbine. "Forgive me," the fairy smiled. "I was roused beyond my control."

"Yeah, you think?!"

"Adam, you pleased me. Thank you."

The man lowered his weapon. He pulled his trousers back up and refastened them. He scolded, "You don't eat the ones you love!"

"Forgive me. My passions became mindless."

"So did mine."

Flora laughed. The man scowled.

A patrolling Scout witnessed the strange altercation between Adam and the carnivorous plant fairy. She touched the side of her goggles-communicator, reporting, "Situation has returned to normal. It seems the struggle was actually some sort of aggressive sexual play."

"Acknowledged, Rebecca Green. Resume your patrol."

"Acknowledged."

Adam and Flora returned to the base command-and-control room. Drusilla was standing with her arms crossed over her chest. She seemed to be glaring at Adam through those black goggles of hers. "What?" the man wondered.

"How was your patrol?" Adam shrugged. "Was it uneventful?"

"I survived."

"Survived?"

"Yeah."

Drusilla turned her back to the man. She leaned over the shoulder of a seated Keeper and stared at a monitor. Adam fidgeted. Flora smirked.

Conjure the half-goblin asked, "Adam, may Hairy and I go on our own patrol?"

"Are you bored?" Conjure nodded. "Yeah, you guys go on patrol. Don't wander off the base."

"We shall stay on the grounds." Adam nodded. Conjure and Hairy entered the elevator.

A dozen Concubine Scouts patrolled the grounds of the deserted base... when snatched over the mouth and bitten in the neck! The shapeless assailants crawled and slithered into the forest, taking their squirming victims with them.

A dozen Sentinels guarded the three entomopters... when snatched over the mouth, bitten in the neck and carried away!

Conjure and Hairy wandered the deserted grounds of the Concubine base. The half-goblin rambled all the while. The sasquatch smiled and listened. "I knew the Priestess was Drusilla," Conjure mentioned. "She felt like Drusilla. Arlene feels different. Adam cannot feel the difference. Why not? Adam can do anything." Hairy grinned.

Neither the sasquatch nor the half-goblin could feel themselves being watched: neither of them aware they were being stalked.

Adam felt uneasy. Was it Drusilla's apparent scowl that bothered him? Was it Flora's predatory grin? No: something unseen was very wrong.

"Ma'am," a Girl in Blue addressed Drusilla. "The obscurity umbrella is changing and intensifying."

"What? Is it something we're doing?"

"I don't know." The Keeper stared at her monitor. She tapped keys and holographic icons. "Ma'am, I'm locked out of the system. An inaccessible program is running."

Another Girl in Blue reported, "An electromagnetic vortex is forming within the obscurity umbrella. We can no longer communicate or open portals beyond this installation."

All lights, monitors and holographic displays suddenly flickered... and went out. The only light in the room was the dim light of dusk coming through the windows.

Adam turned to Flora, imploring, "Get Conjure and Hairy back here." He told Drusilla, "Call your girls together."

The Concubine Priestess deduced, "We must secure the entomopters and make our immediate departure."

"First things first. Call your girls." Drusilla nodded.

Hairy and Conjure ran to the broad, cylindrical edifice that was the command tower for the base. The two Sentinels guarding its main entrance were missing. The doors would not open.

Hairy was armed with a stormgun: the plasma arm equivalent of a heavy machinegun. The weapon itself held a thousand charges. The sasquatch wore a power-pack that replenished spent charges via a metal cable. He raised the fully loaded, high-powered gun and aimed it at the doors. "No!" Conjure stopped him. "We need the doors to keep things out."

Conjure was a conjuror. He also had the power to make things disappear. He placed his hands over the lock mechanism and muttered, "Into my pocket and out of sight. When we are through, return all right." The lock disappeared. Conjure opened a door for Hairy then followed him inside. There was a _click_ as the lock returned into being.

Four Girls in Blue, three Girls in Brown, six Girls in Red and one Girl in Purple were together with Adam and Flora in the dimly lit command-and-control room. A lamp was in the middle of the room, sitting on a terminal. Drusilla reported, "My sisters outside this room are not responding. We shall presume they are dead."

"Or worse," Adam reminded.

"Yes, that is a disturbing possibility."

Flora the plant fairy told the Sentinel guarding the spiral staircase that came into the room, "It is my companions who are ascending the steps." The Concubine nodded, lowered her weapon and stepped back. Conjure and Hairy emerged from below. The half-goblin wondered, "What is happening?"

Adam ignored Conjure's question, instead asking one of his own, "Did you see anything out there?"

The half-goblin shook his head. He mentioned, "The guards are missing."

"Yeah, we know." Adam surmised aloud, "We're dealing with polymorphs here. I don't think they brought zombies and cyborgs along for this one."

Drusilla questioned, "Why do you believe this?"

"Because your Scouts and surveillance didn't spot a damn thing. We didn't either. Polymorphs can't be that sneaky with their lumbering cannon-fodder tagging along. I suspect we're dealing with at least one Girl in Green polymorph and a brood of Blood Drinkers."

"What do we do?"

"Polymorphs are more hunters than fighters. They prefer stalking and snatching to frontal assaults and combat. I say we stay right here and wait for morning. Tomorrow we stay close together and march out of this dampening field they have us in. We find a good spot, secure it and wait for your people to come get us."

Drusilla smirked, "The Army of Four is to flee? Alas, even you can be cowed."

Adam grinned, "I'm just pulling my foot back to give the enemy a swift kick in the googlies."

"What does that even mean?"

"It means I'm running away to fight another day. Sometimes you've got to pull back to swing forward. You've got to squat down to spring up."

"Yes, I understand the physics of your crude analogies."

"Good. I knew you girls were smart."

Later that night: A Concubine Sentinel guarded the spiral staircase that came into the command-and-control room. Adam and Drusilla sat on the floor together keeping watch. Everyone else slept. "Thanks for sharing my shift," Adam told Drusilla.

She confided, "I wanted to talk to you."

"About what?"

"About whatever comes to mind."

"Okay."

There was a long, quiet pause until Drusilla asked, "What is the nature of your relationship with the carnivorous plant fairy?"

"Personal questions?"

"If you don't mind."

Adam blurted, "She tried to shove vines down my throat and up my ass. I think she tried to eat me."

"What?!"

"Hey, a carnivorous plant fairy's got to eat."

"Adam! Are you serious?"

"Oh, yeah. So was she."

A tense lull followed. Adam eventually stated, "Flora is a good soldier, a loyal friend and a dangerous piece of hot ass. I love her dearly. I would die for her... but not because she's hungry."

"I see."

"See what?"

"You are sadomasochistic. You're coupling with Flora is perverse but entirely understandable."

"What?! She tried to deep-throat me and shove her dick up my ass! I had to smash her face into mulch to get her off me! No, we are _not_ a couple!"

The sleepers groaned and stirred as they were awaken. A Sentinel roused from her slumber asked Drusilla, ""Ma'am, are you all right?"

"Yes. Go back to sleep."

"Yes, ma'am."

Drusilla scolded Adam, "You must speak softer."

The man and woman waited for everyone to settle back to sleep. Drusilla remarked, "You are an interesting man."

"Is that a good thing?"

Drusilla shrugged.

Matildax the Cunning was once Matilda Green the Clever. She was now a polymorphic monster and the captain of a brood of Blood Drinkers. She was alone in the forest, sitting on the tentacles that were once her legs. She pressed her hands together, closed her eyes and bowed her head. Her mind reported to that of her sister Brendaxa, "Not all is according to plan. It was not Barbara the Resourceful who came but rather Drusilla the Wise. The Army of Four is with her."

"Are they aware of you?"

"They are aware of danger but they are not aware of me. They have yet to see me or my warriors."

"Let them go. Return to the forest and evade being found."

"My sister, you do not wish me to snatch Drusilla? Shall I not stalk and kill the Army of Four? I have them alone and surrounded."

"Neither you nor your warriors are a match for the Army of Four. My sister, you are too precious to be squandered. Do as I command."

"Yes, my commanding general."

Chapter 6

"Refuge"

Drusilla and the Army of Four returned to Region One without incident. Upon their return, the Concubine General received more reports of contact being lost with outposts. Adam told her, "You're forces are too spread out."

The Virgin Soldier explained, "We are exploring ways to return the Great Seen Unseen to his Temple."

"Seriously? Win the war first and worry about that later."

The Concubine snapped, "We are dealing with trouble you caused!"

"Sorry."

Drusilla turned away and sniffled. When she regained her composure, she turned back around and explained, "We need reinforcements if we are to win this war. The spirit of my master must return to Golgoth that we may grow another Harvest of my sisters."

Adam was not thrilled with the idea of the Great Shadow returning... but he knew better than to discuss such a sensitive topic with the "Seen Unseen's" loyal and obedient Concubines.

Adam arranged a meeting between Drusilla and the Oracle. The venerable plant fairy said unto the cloaked and hooded woman, "My people cannot hide from the uncanny gaze of Yississ and her monsters. May we take refuge in the woods of what you call Region One?"

General Drusilla mentioned, "We estimate your race to number ten million individuals. How many of you are coming?"

"Most of us. The other races of Telluria shall not be coming." Drusilla hesitated. The Oracle added, "My race is gentle. We shall not be a threat to you... unless captured by Yississ and made into monsters."

The Concubine general decided, "We shall facilitate the immediate evacuation of your people. You shall be provided with secure grounds for your habitation."

"Thank you."

The Virgin Army was busy conducting the worldwide evacuation of millions of refugees... when the army of Yississ launched a worldwide offensive! Fierce battles ensued as the monsters fought to snatch as many of the fleeing plant fairies as possible. The Army of Four joined the fray against the attackers, their prowess inspiring Tellurians and Concubines alike. Still, four in a fight of millions is simply not enough to turn the tide.

Burning aircraft fell from the sky and legged vehicles collapsed in flames. Throngs of Concubine Sentinels winced and dropped. Cyborgs and zombies were blasted by bombs, plasma cannons and caseless rockets and sprayed with plasma bolts. Hours became days and days grew into weeks as vast numbers of mortal women pressed into the relentless fury of hideous monsters.

Adam eventually returned to the Temple of the Great Seen Unseen. A month of fierce fighting left him unwashed and weary. Druislla greeted him, reporting, "The last of the refugees are now safe here in Region One."

The man uttered listlessly, "Mission accomplished."

"I thought the good news would please you."

The man regretted, "We couldn't save everybody."

"Adam, it is unreasonable to presume that you could."

"I tried."

"Yes, I know. Come. I shall bathe you and feed you."

"I don't want a bath."

"Adam, I shall massage you as I bathe you. I assure that you shall feel better for it."

The man grinned, "Yeah, I need a bath."

"Come."

Drusilla brought Adam to her private quarters: a quaint room with no doors except for a glass, sliding door to a balcony. The only furniture was a bed tucked in an alcove and a low table. The floor was carpeted but the walls and ceiling were white marble. The bathtub, toilet and sink were together in an alcove. The tub was already filled with steaming water. "Disrobe," the woman urged the man.

Adam was surprised by a sudden bout of modesty. "Don't get scared," he warned as he started getting undressed.

Drusilla touched the broach of her cloak, hailing, "Vanessa Blue, come to my quarters now."

A voice like Drusilla's answered, "Yes, ma'am."

Adam grinned, "Two of you?"

"No, Adam. Vanessa shall clean your clothes while I clean you." Drusilla unfastened her cloak, warning Adam, "Don't get scared." She removed the cloak, revealing her bald head and white-within-white eyes.

"Scared? You're beautiful."

The woman's pupils dilated but she did not smile. She mentioned, "I am bald and my irises are faded. My template was a brunette."

"Yeah, you'd look good as a brunette." The woman cringed. Adam added, "You look good now." The woman actually smiled.

Drusilla slipped out of her purple, elastic body shirt: revealing her smooth, firm, shapely nudity. Adam grinned. Drusilla cautioned, "I am sworn to chastity, thus, I must please you with utmost discretion."

"Please me?"

"Yes." The woman gestured at the tub saying, "Into the water, please."

"Okay," Adam complied. "Drusilla, are you really doing something you want to do?"

The bald, naked clone climbed in behind the man. She answered his question, "As a kept woman of the Great Seen Unseen I am devoted to a will beyond my own. As a Virgin Soldier I am dutiful whether to live or to die. As Drusilla, I am doing what I want to do. Please forgive my unease."

"Hey, I'm nervous too."

"You are?"

"Yeah."

The woman began to scrub and caress the man. He cooed. "You've got a nice touch."

"My sisters and I clean each other... as a practical ritual of communion."

Adam basked in his state of calm, sensual intensity. Drusilla whispered into his ear, "I want you to sleep in my bed tonight."

"With you?"

"Yes."

"Whoa! Are you sure about that?"

"I am."

"What about your vow of chastity?" A hand reached into Adam's lap and "pleased" him greatly! He shivered and cooed.

Drusilla assured, "The chaste are mindful of their pleasures."

"Oh, yeah!"

The Yississ War had been raging for six months. Of the thirty-six million Virgin Soldiers who had come to Telluria, eighteen million were either dead or undead. Thousands of plant fairies were missing.

Brendaxa the Insidious bowed before Yississ. "Rise, my child," the demon told the monster. "Tell me the good news."

Brendaxa rasped, "Milady, I have grown your army to three-point-nine million soldiers. Ten thousand of your troops are made from plant fairies and shall serve as Head Eaters."

"Head Eaters? My insidious child, what have you done?"

"Milady, your polymorphs made from plant fairies do not drink blood. They feed from the soil for their sustenance. They devour heads to feed their necromantic abilities."

"Fascinating! Brendaxa, my dear, you please me greatly!"

"Milady, we have befriended a mad wizard of the plant fairies. He assists us in channeling the power of Region Zero. His knowledge of his own blood helps us as we develop a new soldier."

Yississ remarked, "Every invasion is the beneficiary of traitors."

"Yes, milady. We believe a hybrid of polymorph and plant fairy would differ from a plant fairy turned into a polymorph. Our experiments are yielding interesting results."

"Wonderful. Brendaxa, my insidious child, your wisdom is my greatest weapon."

"Milady, I am but one of many who serve you."

Yississ cackled.

Concubine Scouts were out in the forests across Telluria scouting... when maws dropped from above, snapped their heads off and swallowed the severed things whole! The headless bodies dropped where they stood.

Squads of Sentinels patrolled the forests... when maws dropped from above and bit their heads off! The same happened to Keepers who were out taking samples or tending to devices. Finding the headless corpses of missing sisters was proving very demoralizing.

Lieutenant General Yazmin reported to General Drusilla, "The enemy is employing a new monster: one that decapitates its victims."

"Why?"

"We don't know. We never find the heads of the victims."

"Psychological warfare?"

"Perhaps. This new horror doesn't help our morale."

"How many victims?"

"Nearly forty thousand today alone. The attacks are occurring across the planet."

Lieutenant General Olga reported, "We've lost contact with everyone in Regions 14, 15, 29, 30, 86, and 88."

"Today?!" Drusilla was aghast.

"Yes."

General Drusilla stared at the large, holographic globe of Telluria. She realized aloud, "We're losing. There won't be any of us left by the end of the year."

Yazmin hoped, "Central Command will surely send reinforcements now that our situation is so dire."

Drusilla shook her head. She told her sisters, "Our enemies know we can no longer replenish our numbers. Rival powers are besieging our worlds."

"What do we do?"

General Drusilla gazed upon the globe of Telluria as she thought for a long, hard moment. She concluded, "We must survive this war if we are to return our master to his Temple. We must win this war if we are to survive." She decided, "Bring everything and everyone we have to Region One."

Olga reminded, "We've detected our master's presence in the mantle of this planet. We need control of the vortices if we are to make contact with him."

Drusilla snickered. She bluntly stated, "We're squandering sisters and resources on a desperate pipedream."

"We must revive our master!"

"Yes, we must. Bring everything and everyone to Region One."

Olga sighed... but conceded, "Yes, ma'am."

The eyes of Yississ were always watching and her ears were always listening. "Their scattered outposts provide us with an easy and abundant source of conscripts and equipment," Brendaxa the Insidious explained. "Milady, we must impede their retreat to Region One."

"Yes," the demon agreed. "Too many mortal women surround the plant fairies as it is. We shall not allow more to Region One."

Portals opened all across Telluria. Flying or stomping monsters made from the fusing of machines and women were followed by hundreds of thousands of shapeless predators and millions of expendable zombies. They stormed every outpost on Telluria, slaughtering every Virgin Soldier that resisted and snatching those who cringed and screamed.

Portals opened as the Virgin Army launched a desperate counter-offensive. Entomopters and bipedal battle tanks were followed by waves of the Girls in Red. The Girls in Green crept about, sniping and ambushing... unless pounced by the lurking Head Eaters.

The Army of Four was aboard a beetle-type entomopter. Even over the loud humming of the aircraft, they could hear the rumbling and booming of intense combat. Adam shouted, for his troops to hear, "This is a rescue mission! We stay together! We fight our way to the building! We bring the Priestess with us alive and well to the extraction point! All other personnel are expendable! We leave them behind if need be!"

"Even us?" Conjure doubted.

"No!" Adam did not like the idea of leaving women to their fate... but Drusilla insisted that rescuing the Priestess Muriel the Enlightened was too important. She would not tell him her reasons but... he trusted her. For better or for worse, he trusted her.

Outposts were being overrun. Dampening fields prevented portals from being opened in the immediate vicinity. Continuous wave bolts fired from flying or bipedal cyborgs blasted fleeing entomopters out of the sky.

Drusilla and her lieutenants monitored and directed the many simultaneous battles. Yazmin reported, "The Army of Four has secured Muriel the Enlightened. They managed to rescue her associates as well."

"Good."

Olga piped, "We're losing more than we're saving."

"Yes, the Army of Four cannot be everywhere at once."

The demon Yississ watched as her army mauled the finite multitude of mortal women. "So many," she gleamed, "yet so few." Her tall, naked, rotting form with six breasts sat on the floor with legs folded. Her eyes were closed yet they could see everything.

The gaze of Yississ peered into the swirling flow of life and death itself. She beheld the many faint lights and smiled as they swiftly went out. Her army was fighting. Her empire was beginning on Telluria.

"Adam," the demon feared and hated him. Why? How? How could this mortal weakling be the death of her living death?

"Drusilla," Yississ noticed. She watched as the man ran his fingers through the long, dark locks of the bald clone. He gazed into the brown eyes of the white eyes of the Concubine. "Alas, he yearns for a woman of the Living Darkness. She is his weakness." The demon grinned.

The battles raged for days that grew into weeks that grew into months. Millions of women were lost trying to save hundreds of thousands. Mere tens of thousands were actually rescued. The monsters eventually withdrew but they had not been routed. What remained of the Virgin Army on Telluria fled to Region One and secured their position.

Drusilla shared her bed with Adam. As they lay together, she told him, "Thirty six million of us invaded this planet."

Adam reminded, "Now you're defending it."

"No. Only six million of us remain to defend it. The others are dead or turned against us. Ironic that we shall perish defending a world we came to conquer."

The man insisted, "We haven't lost yet."

"Adam, do our millions of dead mean nothing to you?"

"Yeah."

The Concubine scoffed, "Really? Not so long ago you were killing as many of us as you could!"

"You were trying to kill me."

Drusilla huffed and rolled her white-within-white eyes. She accused, "We are nothing but expendable clones to you."

"Uh, I risked my life saving women you advised me to sacrifice."

"You are a fool!"

Adam shrugged, realizing that he was "in the wrong" regardless of any argument.

Drusilla challenged, "Are you certain you are in bed with 'Drusilla' right now? You can never tell us apart unless I wear my cloak."

"It's you."

"How do you know?"

"Because you're the only one of the whole lot of you whoever gives me this much grief."

"I trouble you?"

"You're worth the trouble."

Drusilla turned away from Adam. When he caressed her shoulder, she pulled it away. Adam sighed. He conceded, "Good night," and went to sleep.

Adam awoke... alone in bed. As he sat up, he noticed Drusilla standing out on the balcony. She was already in her skimpy uniform and wearing her white, hooded cloak. The man put on his trousers and joined the woman out on the balcony. "Nice view," he commented.

The woman nodded her hooded head. She bemoaned, "I lost my master. I forsook his Beloved Child. I am the end of my sisters."

"Not you. You're just a little girl in a big world. Just do the best you can and hope for the best."

The woman snickered, "You are a fool." The man nodded.

Adam and Drusilla stared out across the verdant canopy below and the bright blue sky above and beyond. The Virgin Soldier wondered, "How familiar is the King of Telluria with the galaxy beyond his realm?"

"I know Earth is out there somewhere. I know this is Telluria and you come from the planet Golgoth."

The Concubine of the Great Seen Unseen claimed, "We, the Many of One, are a Galactic Power. Our individuals are no match for the horrors of the galaxy. Our many are easily slaughtered. Only as an endless many are we the great power we have become."

Adam insisted, "We're not going to talk about big pictures right now. Let's keep things personal for the moment."

"Adam, these things are more important than our personal issues."

"No they're not."

"Adam, you are a king. You have responsibilities beyond yourself. I am a general..."

"Blah, blah, blah! Out here on this balcony we're just a man and a woman."

"Adam, we must consider..."

"Blah, blah, blah! You're a clone, not a robot. Stop being a robot."

"Adam..., we must be devoted to our responsibilities." The man shrugged. The woman insisted, "The greater needs outweigh the lesser."

"Boring!"

"Adam! You are insufferable!"

"I'm human. Try it: it's fun."

Drusilla clenched her hands into fists and fumed. She threw back her hood, exposing her bald head and hoary eyes. "This is what I am!" she sobbed. "Pester another for your pleasure! We're all the same to you!"

"Seriously? Why would I want another when you're the only one?"

Drusilla was taken aback. Her keen, analytical mind tried to make sense of the insufferable man's gibberish. Her demeanor calmed as she busied herself pondering. Adam told her, "Yeah, you and your sisters all look alike. You all sound alike... until I get to hear what you actually say. I always know it's you when it's you. You're the real Drusilla!" The woman smiled. The man opened his arms inviting her to embrace. She hesitated... but did so. They stood together hugging and swaying for the longest while.

After six months of a brutal war of attrition only six million Virgin Soldiers remained alive on Telluria.

Brendaxa the Insidious reported to the demon Yississ, "Our offensive proved costly. Now that the Concubines are no longer scattered, it proves difficult to snatch them. Milady, we must be cautious for now that I may replenish our ranks."

Yississ cackled. "No," she decided. "We shall be fierce and relentless. Sacrifice what we have to slaughter what remains of the Virgin Soldiers. Your siblings shall swarm the gathered plant fairies and conscript them into our service. Our army shall grow and strengthen into an army greater and more terrible than ever before."

Brendaxa grinned, "Milady, your wisdom is beyond mine. I see the logic of your strategy! Yes, I shall spend our lives for the greater glory."

Portals opened east of Region One. Thousands of cyborgs and a million zombie foot soldiers were followed by tens of thousands of shapeless monsters. The arriving forces tore into the defending line of Virgin Soldiers and pressed into its growing gap. The Concubines converged their numbers on the attackers and fought desperately to push them back. Swarms of dragonfly-type bombers pummeled the monstrous ground forces while themselves being swarmed by flying cyborgs or burned out of the sky by pulse weapons and continuous wave bolts. The Army of Four joined the fight and slew many but could do little to stay the relentless advance of the enemy.

The rumbling, zapping, humming and booming of incessant combat sounded all around Adam... yet he was too weary to care. He plopped down under a tree and helped himself to gulps from his flask. Flora the carnivorous plant fairy squatted next to him. The man asked the naked fairy, "Having fun?"

"Yes, Adam."

"Really?" Flora nodded. Adam mentioned, "You've been eating a lot of zombies."

"Yes," she acknowledged. "The women are dead but their bodies are alive and tasty. Yes, they lack the spice of a living woman's feelings but are succulent nonetheless."

Adam wanted to forget when Flora tried to eat _him!_ He dropped the conversation.

The battle of Region One raged! The stomping cyborgs and throngs of zombies pressed onward, slaughtering even as they were slaughtered. Blood Drinkers, Head Eaters and what were once Concubine Scouts skulked about, snatching and killing with raids and ambush.

The Concubines were mass-produced clones of a human female. Though skillful, efficient and equipped with advanced technology, they were only human. Though they matched the prowess of the zombies made from them, they were outmatched by the cyborgs and polymorphs. The living women outnumbered the horrors, however, and used sheer numbers to desperate advantage.

The battle of Region One ended with the eventual destruction of the attacking cyborgs and zombies. The surviving polymorphs slithered and scattered away. Yississ grinned.

Chapter 7

"Beginning of the End"

Shrubby was a little plant fairy incapable of assuming humanoid form. Her aspect was always that of a little bush with what looked vaguely like a face. Restless and childlike, she had a tendency to uproot and wander.

Shrubby was exploring the forest of Region One... when she felt a sickening dread... and glimpsed unnatural movement. The little plant fairy hid among actual bushes. She watched as what looked like a Concubine came into view. The approaching thing was wearing the green body shirt of a Concubine Scout but without the goggles and elastic hood. This creature's eyes were soulless black! Its upper half was humanoid but its "legs" were clusters of crawling tentacles! A throng of shapeless things crawled and slithered after it.

"They are coming for the grove," Shrubby realized. "They are coming to turn us all into monsters!" The little fairy feared sounding a warning for she was warned that the monsters could hear thoughts as easily as they heard voices. Shrubby cringed and trembled as the shapeless monsters crawled and slithered past her as a wave of encroaching death. "No," her heart feared for her sleeping people. "Oracle!" her mind cried a whisper. "Oracle, please hear me! Please hear Shrubby!"

"I hear you, little one," the warm, soothing, maternal voice of the Oracle answered. "I see you now. I see what you see and hear what you hear. Stay hidden."

"I will."

There were millions of plant fairies on planet Telluria, less than a thousand of whom were carnivorous. The hundreds who ate flesh and blood were warriors when the need arose. They guarded their millions of gentle kin. The carnivorous plant fairies heard the shout of the Oracle hail them, "Warriors of the woodlands, monsters come for us! Save us all!" The warriors could see what the Oracle showed them and they hurried to meet it.

Brendaxa the Insidious bowed before Yississ. The monster reported, "Milady, our plan has been foiled. We could not reach the sleeping plant fairies."

"Why not?"

"Milady, our hunters were ambushed as they converged upon their prey. Our soldiers in Region One are slain to the last."

"Ambushed? Mortal women cannot surprise our hunters."

"Milady, it was neither the Concubines nor the Army of Four who pounced them."

The rotting demon snarled.

The bodies of millions of women and over a million monsters littered the charred and cratered east of Region One. The burnt husks of sprawled vehicles, downed aircraft and grotesque cyborgs were spread out among the carnage. "I'd like to say we won," Adam remarked at the sight of countless bodies.

Drusilla mentioned. "We are nigh destroyed."

The man bowed his head.

Adam joined Drusilla and her officers in reviewing the situation. Lieutenant General Yazmin tallied, "Only one-point-three million Virgin Soldiers remain on Telluria. We have nearly four thousand main battle tanks and over four thousand entomopters. Ninety-eight of our remaining aircraft are strategic bombers."

Adam reminded, "We slaughtered everything they threw at us." He wondered, "How many monsters does Yississ have left?"

Lieutenant General Elzbeth answered, "From what our Scouts can observe, hundreds of cyborgs, thousands of polymorphs and over two hundred thousand zombies."

Everyone stared at the holographic map of a section of the Bleak Mountains. An armored fortress with a tower in its middle sat perched on the highest peak. "We can't open portals any closer than ninety clicks," Lieutenant General Olga informed. "Our aircraft are susceptible to mass destruction within sixty clicks."

Drusilla added, "The terrain is a natural fortress."

Adam wondered, "Can that super weapon be used against ground forces?"

Olga answered, "Not effectively. The uneven terrain won't allow it. Besides, the beam is innately responsive to motion and may have difficulty reacting to the motion of things on the ground."

Drusialla explained, "Ground forces are relatively safe from the weapon but will be massacred trying to storm those hills."

Yazmin said to Adam, "Ten million plant fairies are residing here in Region One. Perhaps you should conscript them for military service."

Adam chuckled, "Most of those girls couldn't fight or kill to save their lives: literally."

"What of the males?"

"Honestly, I've never met a male plant fairy. Apparently they're rare and like to be left alone. Most of them live in the Lonely Forest and only come out when they're in the mood to 'pollinate'."

"Region Zero," Olga recognized. She told Yazmin, "Scanning and communication are impeded in Region Zero."

Yazmin insisted, "The plant fairies need not fight or kill. If they simply join our troops in storming the hills they will lessen our losses of valuable combatants."

"No!" Adam fumed. "What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"Her idea is entirely logical," one of the hooded women vouched.

"Hell no! My girls aren't your damn cannon-fodder!"

"Yet you are willing to use us as yours."

"You girls are armed and dangerous soldiers! I want you to fight, not die! Throwing plant fairies up those hills is damn coldblooded!"

"Inefficient," Drusilla concluded. "Our troops would be unable to maneuver if burdened with herding noncombatants. We must be nimble and swift." The black hoods of the lieutenants nodded in acknowledgement of their general's conclusion.

Adam stared at Drusilla, wondering if her final decision was compassion or cold logic. Maybe it was both. Did she care? He believed she did... but was that just his wishful thinking? Of all the strange creatures the man had ever encountered, this woman was the strangest of them all.

Adam wandered out into the woods to pay the Oracle a visit. The man peered up into the leafy branches of the Great Tree. He called out, "You knew I was coming."

The leaves rustled as the Oracle answered, "I was waiting for you."

The man summarized, "Yississ sacrificed the bulk of her troops just to kill as many Concubines as possible. She slaughtered most of them so I can't say she failed."

"My king, slaying mortal women was but a means for slipping through them. Our enemy was fighting so as to hunt. Our little Shrubby foiled the true design of our murderous enemy."

"Shrubby?"

"My king, our little Shrubby found her courage and dared a whisper. I heard her cry. Her voice was the death of creeping monsters and the salvation of us all."

"Wow! Our little shrub did all that? I'm proud of her."

"As am I, my king. I wanted you to know."

"Back to business," the man insisted. "Yississ depleted her own forces while mauling the Concubines. Our girls won't get their strength back. The monsters will, slowly but surely. If we don't stop them now, it'll be too late. Am I right?"

"Yes, my king. It is as dire as you say."

"We need more troops. Rally everything we have."

"My king, your kingdom is a world of few warriors."

"Give me everything we've got."

"Adam, what few warriors we have guard the many who are gentle."

"I know. Yeah, we're taking a big risk but I'm not being reckless. We need to hit the monsters fast and hard, while they're still weak. We need to finish this before they finish us."

"Yes, it must be done. Adam, King of Telluria, I believe in you. I shall do what you require."

"Thank you."

Adam returned to the Temple of the Great Seen Unseen. The Oracle cried out, "Warriors of Telluria, come! Your king beckons! Come to him!" Thousands of goblins armed with bows, arrows and daggers came to the Middle Forest: Region One. Thousands of sasquatches also came. Hundreds of carnivorous plant fairies awaited the mustering force.

"This is it?" Adam worried.

The naked Oracle of Telluria was in buxom, humanoid form. She answered the man, "The people of Telluria are few and our warriors are fewer."

"We have an entire planet! We need more people!"

"My king, this world was meant for human dwelling. Humanity was to fill our lands. Alas, you are our only humanity."

"How good are these warriors?"

"Their prowess is deadlier than that of Concubine Scouts and Sentinels."

"How do they compare to the Army of Four?"

"Your four outmatch them."

"Seriously? The Army of Four could whoop all their asses?"

"My king, the Army of Four is mighty indeed."

Adam sighed.

The Concubines armed the goblins with minicarbines and sharpshooter carbines and the sasquatches with stormguns. The women trained and helped organize the Tellurian warriors. Drusilla told Adam, "Your subjects prove surprisingly amiable and cooperative. They learn quickly. You're carnivorous plant fairies have assumed the role of officers and work well with our Priestesses."

Adam looked at Flora and winked. The carnivorous plant fairy smiled.

The Concubine Expeditionary Forces were as scientific as they were military. The Girls in Blue and their commanding sisters in purple studied the weapons and devices of the enemy and developed countermeasures. Olga Purple the Erudite reported their findings, "The enemy super weapon is initiated by its supporting edifice but powered by the Everlasting Storm. Breaking the connection will disable the weapon for twenty minutes or longer."

Drusilla asked, "How do we break the connection?"

"By firing enervation ordinance into the stream. Few such weapons are likely to hit unless fired in overwhelming volleys. Should even one connect, it should prove adequate to disrupt the stream and perhaps break the connection."

"We're going to lose a lot of aircraft getting that close."

"Yes, ma'am."

Adam and the lieutenant generals waited for General Drusilla as she pondered her options. She asked Adam, "Would the Army of Four be willing to fly behind the bombers and land right at the enemy's doorstep?"

"Totally."

"Don't be so quick to volunteer. Your entomopter may be zapped out of the sky before reaching its destination."

"Yeah, I know."

Drusilla explained, "Depending on how many of you survive the super weapon, the Army of Four, hundreds of Tellurians and thousands of Scouts and Sentinels shall land just outside the enemy's perimeter. Each group among you shall have its particular objective. Your success shall allow us to pummel the enemy with airstrikes and to move our main body into position." Adam nodded. Drusilla warned, "This won't be easy. It may prove impossible."

Adam assured, "One way or another, this is coming to an end."

"Yes, indeed."

The Army of Four gathered under the Tree of the Oracle. Adam told his soldiers, "I love you all. No matter what happens, I'm proud to have fought alongside you."

Conjure the half-goblin worried, "Are we losing the war?"

Adam grinned, "Aren't we always?"

Hairy the sasquatch smiled. His large hand patted Conjure on the head.

Flora the carnivorous plant fairy assured, "Adam, we shall prevail by you, our king."

"No, I'm going to win because I've got the best troops in the world." Adam collected his thoughts. He told his soldiers, "We'll be flying in with the vanguard. If we survive the antiaircraft and that super weapon we'll find ourselves face-to-face with every monster on Telluria. We fight our way up a mountain to that metal castle on top. We get inside and we reach that damn super weapon. Conjure, you'll have the honor of blasting that thing into scraps." Adam looked at Flora as he told everyone, "Yississ is in that metal castle: it's her home here on Telluria. She's stronger than any of us so we don't fight her alone. We take her on together. Any questions?" Conjure raised his hand. "What?"

The half-goblin wondered, "Shall the Concubines be coming with us?"

"No, Conjure: they're dropping us off so we can fight a demon and her two hundred thousand monsters all by ourselves."

"Really?" Adam rolled his eyes.

The Gentle Desert was a gray wasteland of rocky hills under a dark, flashing, rumbling sky. The Bleak Mountains were the middle of this rugged terrain. "This land shall be the seat of my growing power," Yississ had decided. "Our base here shall become the capitol city of our galactic empire of living death."

Portals opened near the southern, northern and eastern foothills of the Bleak Mountains. Entomopters, legged vehicles and throngs of Virgin Soldiers poured through. Thousands of goblins and sasquatches armed with plasma guns and led by carnivorous plant fairies accompanied the army of clone women. They marched into the hills and valleys as they converged on Yississ and her monsters.

The Army of Four was still in forested Region One. They were on the bustling tarmac of a Concubine airfield when greeted by a Concubine Priestess. "This way," the Girl in Purple led them and a group of Scouts and Sentinels up the tail-ramp of a beetle-type entomopter.

Rapidly flapping wings _hummed_ as they lifted aircraft _buzzing_ into the air. Flashes of light ahead expanded into portals to the other side of the planet. The swarm of entomopters flew through them.

Hairy was a very big, burly humanoid armed with a stormgun and wearing a large power-pack. Too big for a seat, he lay prostrate on the floor of the entomopter he was aboard. "Comfortable?" Adam asked him. The sasquatch whimpered.

Adam, Flora, Conjure and Virgin Soldiers lined the walls sitting in padded bucket seats. "Hello!" Adam uttered over the vibrating _hum_ of the aircraft. He offered his hand to the Girl in Purple sitting next to him. "I'm Adam!"

The woman shook his hand, introducing herself, "I am Drusilla."

"Drusilla?"

"Yes, Adam, it's me."

"What?! Why? You should be in your command room directing the battle!"

"I have already outlined my strategy. My sister Yazmin is the better tactician so she shall direct the particulars of the battle."

"Yeah, whatever!"

Drusilla pouted, "I didn't ask for your consent because you have no say in the matter."

"Obviously!"

"Don't worry Adam: I am among the most proficient combatants in the Virgin Army. Those accompanying me are as well. Our best are coming with you."

Drusilla was not wearing a parachute, otherwise, Adam had a mind to drop the tail-ramp and toss her out. Then again, there was something so sexy about her insisting on coming with him. The man grinned.

Brendaxa the Insidious was not one for overconfidence. Antiaircraft emplacements surrounded the basecamp. Electromagnetic pulse waves and streaming, wavering beams of plasma shot up from the mountains and tore into the encroaching swarm of entomopters. Victims burned and or exploded.

"Whoa!" Adam was startled by the jostling of the aircraft. Hairy suddenly slid and rolled towards him! Adam caught the burly sasquatch with a kick and tried to heave him back. The man groaned, "Stay out of my lap!" The entomopter leveled and Hairy plopped back onto the floor. The big sasquatch flattened himself against it as best he could.

Scores of dragonfly-type bombers led the swarms of locust-types, followed by the many beetle-types. The bombers themselves were fully armed with enervation ordinance and meant exclusively to disable the super weapon. Concubine Jockeys, the Girls in Brown, were the pilots and crew of Concubine aircraft. A monitoring Jockey reported, "Enemy super weapon initiating. Ready weapons. Await lock before firing."

The tower atop the Castle of Yississ flashed and sparked into a continuous bolt between itself and the Everlasting Storm above. Tendrils lanced out and _zapped_ bombers! Aircraft burned and plummeted. The many others kept coming, more of them burning and dropping all the while. "I have a lock," a Girl in Brown reported.

The remaining bombers unleashed a volley of rockets with glowing yellow warheads and whitish yellow tails. Tendrils shot out from tendrils and blasted the incoming missiles, eroding the volley until only one rocket remained. The last missile _smacked_ into the skyward bolt with a blinding _flash_ and a resonant _boom!_ The skyward bolt was no more... for now. "We are clear," a Jockey reported. "Make your landing."

The dragonfly-type bombers veered to the sides on their way back to base. The locust-types and beetle-types kept onward: the beetle-types touching down as close as they dared. Tail-ramps dropped and thousands of Scouts, Sentinels, Keepers, goblins and sasquatches disembarked. Locust-type attack entomopters covered the landing troops with sprays from chin-mounted stormguns and volleys of caseless rockets. Beetle-types shot back into the sky or were blasted by continuous wave beams while trying to do so.

"We're going in hot!" Adam warned as his entomopter swerved and landed. Hairy was the first off, his stormgun blazing into awaiting zombie Sentinels. Blood sprayed and the undead defenders winced and dropped.

The Castle of Yississ was an armed and armored, self-shifting assault fortress converted into the housing of a super weapon. The edifice was also the home of Yississ and the headquarters for her army. She watched from a metal balcony as the Battle of the Bleak Mountains raged below. The demon smirked, uttering, "Men are brutes and women are victims. Together they are mindless and helpless. Adam and Drusilla, you and your underlings are gathering for a slaughter." The demon's forces had an ambush waiting for the Concubines marching towards her from south. Those coming from the east would be next, then those from the north. "My darling Brendaxa knew you would eventually come. She prepared for these final days of your feeble struggling."

Flora, the strongest of all Telluria's carnivorous plant fairies, was coming. Yississ looked at the rotting hands of her own body. Long ago, this festering flesh with six breasts was once the comely body of a priestess who worshipped her. This human form had long since corrupted into something grotesque and monstrous. Now it was rotting and dying for it was human and outliving itself. "I shall be strong," Yississ shivered with anticipation. "I shall be lovely and my loveliness shall be eternal. Come, my new body. Come to me." Yississ had foreseen the coming of the lovely, terrible fairy. "Come to me, my lovely, terrible flesh!" The rotting demon outstretched her long arms and cackled maniacally.

Sasquatches wielding stormguns and wearing power-packs blazed away. Goblins and Concubine Scouts peered through telescopic sights and made precise shots. Concubine Sentinels stormed positions.

The monsters fought back: Cyborgs that were once bipedal vehicles and their crews were followed by throngs of zombie Sentinels. Blood Drinkers and Head Eaters crept about among the rocks, pouncing and snatching victims.

Shapeless maws dropped from the edge of a rocky cliff. The mouths bit off and swallowed the heads of Concubine Sentinels below! "Hairy!" Adam pointed at the scene. Hairy raised his stormgun and strafed the cliff with streaming bursts of plasma bolts. Head Eaters shrieked, bled green and dropped.

Blood Drinkers were swarming from below. "Conjure!" Adam hailed the half-goblin. "Burn 'em!" Conjure knocked an arrow and aimed. The head of his missile burst into bright blue, heatless flames. He loosed and the arrowhead exploded into a ball of blue, heatless yet consuming fire! The shapeless monsters _shrieked_ and shriveled!

Zombie Sentinels were charging... when vines shot out of the gray dirt and whipped around the undead women! Flora strangled, crushed or slammed them together.

Conjure ducked and rolled as the tentacles of a cyborg battle tank swung at him. The partially mechanical monster tried to stomp on him! Conjure slapped a glowing bomb onto the thing's "crotch" then dove aside and snapped his fingers. The monster was _blasted_ into gory and fiery chunks!

Concubine recoilless rifles mounted on short tripods blasted the other approaching cyborgs. A barrage of stormgun and small arms fire slaughtered the incoming waves of zombie Sentinels. Drusilla and a squad of Sentinels finished off what remained of the assailing Blood Drinkers.

When the shooting stopped, Adam asked Drusilla, "Having fun?"

"I am doing my duty."

"You do it well! Take cover, girl: more are coming."

Brendaxa the Insidious was in her command-and-control room monitoring and directing the battle. "I am not to be disturbed," Yississ had commanded. "My child, do whatever you must and we shall be victorious."

Brendaxa loved Yississ. Yes, the demon was harsh and cruel but always for the better. Brenda the Insightful was weak and fearful. Brendaxa the Insidious was mighty and terrible. It was better to be an undead monster than a living human being. It was better to be the instrument of fear rather than its victim. Brendaxa relished her inhuman strength and unholy insight. She was grateful. She swore unto Yississ, "Milady, all that I do I do for you. My mistress, your will be done."

The air assault was but the vanguard of the ground offensive. A three-pronged invasion was converging from the south, east and north. Most of the Virgin Soldiers and their battle tanks were coming from the south, because its route was relatively easier. "Mortal women are easier to catch unawares," Brendaxa deduced. "They are easier to slaughter." The trap had been laid. The women were soon to spring it.

Chapter 8

"The Goddess of Death"

The Bleak Mountains were gray, barren and rocky under a dark, rumbling and flashing sky. Hundreds of thousands of clone women and thousands of their bipedal main battle tanks marched through the steep, winding valleys to the south. Locust-type attack entomopters _buzzed_ overhead.

Wavering beams and electromagnetic pulse waves suddenly shot from below and blasted the aircraft out of the sky! Hidden neural disruptors activated, causing women to wince as if stung and drop en masse. Wavering beams streamed and tore into columns of battle tanks and _blasted_ the vehicles into flaming chunks! Snipers above picked off women below. Virgin Soldiers fled to the cover of rocks... only to be snatched by awaiting tentacles!

The polymorph that was once Ingrid Purple the Apt was now Ingridax the Wily. Her raspy voice reported, "Our enemies to the south shall not be coming."

Brendaxa the Insidious hoped, "They are slain to the last?"

"Yes and no: hundreds of them are now living dead. Shall I send them to you?"

"Yes. Shall you be ready for our enemies to the east?"

The voice snickered. It assured, "We shall be ready."

"Well done, my sister! You serve our mistress well."

The Army of Four, Drusilla, a Keeper and a dozen Sentinels followed a Scout up the mountain on their way to the Castle of Yississ. A robot striding on four spindly, nimble legs followed after the advancing party. The machine was laden with supplies and controlled by the group's Girl in Blue.

The Concubine Scout found a spot among boulders. Everyone nestled there and made camp. Adam drank from his flask. He peered down at the battle raging below. He worried, "I hope we didn't leave them in a rut."

The man shared his flask with Drusilla. The woman assured him, "They have captured supplies and heavy weapons and are holding good ground."

It would be two more days before the main body of ground forces reached the basecamp of the monsters. Adam hoped everyone would survive long enough to be relieved. Not wanting Drusilla to worry, he assured her, "The best of our best are down there."

"No, Adam. We are the best of our best."

The man nodded.

The Gentle Desert and its Bleak Mountains were always dark yet it was getting darker. Drusilla commanded her Sentinels, "Margo and Wendy, you take first watch. Everyone else go to sleep."

"Yes, ma'am," the Virgin Soldiers responded.

Adam told Drusilla, "Not to disparage your army, but you girls are usually wimps. All of you have been kicking ass."

"As I have told you: our best Scouts and Sentinels were selected for the air assault. Those in my presence are the best of these best."

"Hey, the quality shows."

The dark, rumbling, flashing sky seemed so near here on the slope of the highest mountain. The Everlasting Storm was a tempest yet is was somehow... tranquil. Adam soon fell fast asleep.

Concubines and Tellurians had reached the basecamp and could not be dislodged. More were coming. The women coming from the south had been destroyed or turned into zombies. Ingridax the Wily was lying in wait for the women and Tellurians coming from the east. Where was the Army of Four? "They come to me," Yississ answered the question of Brendaxa. "I have foreseen their coming. I await it."

Yellow zombies that were once Concubine Sentinels guarded the peak where sat the Castle of Yississ. The undead women stood at their posts vigilant and unflinching... until snatched or pounced! "Too easy," Flora smirked.

"Yeah," Adam agreed. "That's what I'm worried about."

Drusilla pointed up at the metal edifice, informing, "The systems ventilation ducts are our best way in."

"What's the catch?"

"It is dangerous. A venting would blast and cook anyone in the ducts."

The Concubine Keeper of the group assured, "The upper left primary vent should be safe unless they initiate the super weapon. Even then, we'd have several minutes before a vent."

"Several minutes?" Adam cringed.

The party climbed up to the upper left primary vent and made their way through the ducts. They came out finding themselves in a large chamber full of _humming_ machinery. Zombie Sentinels guarded the floor and network of catwalks. Zombie Keepers manned consoles or tended to machinery. The intruders crept about, snatching and subduing the undead women.

"Is this the generator for the super weapon?" Adam hoped.

"The super weapon is primed via the communications and teleportation system," the group's Girl in Blue corrected. "The Everlasting Storm actually powers the weapon. This is one of three kinetic shield generators."

"Then why did we make that turn? Why didn't we go straight on to the super weapon?"

The Keeper giggled. Adam knew the little twerp was rolling her eyes behind those black goggles of hers. He would not ask her why. Drusilla whispered to him, "Crawling into the reaction chamber of the main reactor would fry us. We came out the nearest maintenance hatch."

"Oh."

The group ventured deeper into the fortress. More zombie Sentinels were snatched and subdued, either by arms and hands or by vines. "This is still too easy," Adam fretted.

The Scout took point and led the way. Adam and Drusilla followed close behind her. Hairy was at the rear, his large gun always at the ready. The sasquatch suddenly heard the soft patter of many running bare feet. He poked around a corner and blazed away! A throng of zombie Sentinels winced and dropped as a stream of plasma bolts burned through them! More were pouring into every other corridor! The intruders blasted the sudden waves of attackers! Zombie Sentinels dropped yet more kept coming! Eventually: the last of the assailants dropped to her knees then onto her face. The corridors were carpeted with the bodies of women who were already dead. A cackle suddenly resonated throughout the area. The voice of Yississ rasped, "I have more. I always have more. Alas, I am the Goddess of Death."

Adam warned, "She's having fun so expect the worst."

In the valleys and gorges to the east: hundreds of plant fairies, thousands of goblins and sasquatches and hundreds of thousands of clone women were under attack! The Tellurians swiftly disappeared among the rocks and ridges. Beams blasted bipedal battle tanks and Girls in Red winced and dropped en masse. Snipers peppered the frantic crowds. The Concubines feared they were abandoned... until they glimpsed fighting along the cliffs and slopes. Scouts and Sentinels found their courage and thronged their way up to the fray!

Adam, Drusilla and their party found themselves wandering in circles. The man worried, "Does your Scout know where she's going?"

"Yes. She was briefed on the design plans for this class of edifice."

The Girl in Blue behind them was waving a handheld analyzer. She whispered to Drusilla, "Ma'am, everyone but King Adam is showing faint signs of enchantment. We may be experiencing sensory manipulation."

"Adam is as lost as the rest of us."

"Ma'am, he's just following our Scout with the rest of us."

Adam noticed that his beloved carnivorous plant fairy was missing. He worried, "Where's Flora?"

Flora was lost in the corridors of the enemy fortress. She heard a cackle, then a raspy voice utter, "Debrax, my child, I am impressed. Your sister proves wise to have chosen you for this task."

"Thank you, milady."

"Reveal us." Flora suddenly found herself alone in a room surrounded by six polymorphs and the demon Yississ! The monsters were "women" wearing green body shirts and standing on clusters of tentacles. The demon was a naked, rotting, towering "woman" with six breasts. "I disgust you?" Yississ sneered at Flora. "Your beauty shall be my own."

"No."

The demon loomed closer. The fairy cringed! Yississ boasted, "The ancients of Golgoth feared me as you do. They adored me for it. They built temples in my name and shed their own blood for my favor. I live in the flesh and by the blood of their wisest woman. Alas, a human life cannot endure. Inhuman fairy and terrible huntress, I shall live forever by your eternal flesh and blood."

"You shall not!" Flora cried. She lashed out as whipping vines!

Yississ cackled, snatching the appendages as mighty tentacles. "Fight!" the demon mocked. "Squirm that I may relish your touch!" Yississ _shrieked_ with laughter! Her voice lost its stolen humanity when it snarled and rumbled, "You are but a fairy. I am the Goddess of Death!"

Adam was stricken with sickening dread. He barked, "Hairy! Conjure! Follow Drusilla's orders! Don't wait for me. Don't look for me. Don't look back and blast this place to hell."

Drusilla chased after Adam, telling him, "Our mission is more important than one person."

"Yeah, I know: that's why I don't want you to wait for me."

"Adam!" the woman grabbed him. "We need you!"

"No you don't. Flora does."

"I'm coming with you."

"No!"

"Yes," the woman insisted. "You're too important to be sacrificed."

"Thanks for caring."

The Concubine Priestess commanded one of her Sentinels, "Margo Red, you are in command. Mind our top priority. See to the destruction of the super weapon."

"Yes, ma'am."

Adam told Hairy and Conjure, "Follow her orders." The addressed nodded.

The King of Telluria and the Concubine Priestess then hurriedly disappeared together around a corner.

Flora was thrice as strong as her strongest carnivorous kin... but weak against this festering demon! The middle of the tentacles that were Yississ suddenly opened as a gaping maw lined with sharp, yellow teeth! The monstrous thing snapped at the struggling fairy! Flora _screamed!_

"This way," Drusilla ran in the direction of the shrill cry.

"Obviously," Adam followed after her. "Get behind me," he urged... but Drusilla ignored him. "Hey!" the man snatched the woman's shoulder. She pulled away from him and pouted. Adam told her, "You follow my lead. Got it?" Drusilla nodded. She allowed Adam to take the lead.

The six Girls in Green polymorphs were armed with minicarbines and hiding in plain sight. They awaited Adam and Drusilla. "Kill them," Yississ commanded. "I have no use for them."

Adam ran into something, tackling whatever it was to the floor. Tentacles suddenly whipped around him and a gun poked into his ribs! The man was faster, reflexively grabbing the polymorph by her head and _snapping_ her face past its shoulder. The monster convulsed and her tentacles loosened.

Drusilla dove aside and rolled back onto her feet as writhing tentacles snatched at her! She _zipped_ a bolt into a monster's face, _blasting_ brains out its human head! The other monsters crawled and slithered towards her, raising minicarbines! Drusilla darted behind cover, barely avoiding the sudden volley of plasma bolts.

Adam pounced from behind, pressing a polymorph to the floor. He _snapped_ the monster's neck. The remaining three turned to face him. Drusilla blasted one of them from behind! Adam raised his own weapon and blasted the other two.

The man and woman panted, six polymorphic monsters sprawled at their feet. "Worse than the zombies," Adam remarked.

"In every way," Drusilla agreed.

The man and woman resumed their search for the imperiled plant fairy.

Flora pulled and writhed. The long, red tongue of amorphous Yississ licked her. The demon's maw kept snapping at her... until shots were fired and the gaping mouth wailed! The tentacles of Yississ dropped the vines of Flora and lashed out at new arrivals. Adam and Drusilla dodged the thrashing and whipping tentacles, the humans _zipping_ bolts into the shapeless monstrosity. The amorphous abomination scurried away. Its mind cried out as loudly as if a voice shouting, "My children, our enemies assail me! Help me! Come to me now!"

Zombies and polymorphs throughout the station abandoned their posts as they rushed to the urgent defense of their mistress.

Adam and Drusilla kept after Yississ, pelting her shapeless mass with hot bolts of ionized gas. Monsters suddenly poured into every corridor around them! The man and woman blazed away as throngs of attackers converged upon them.

Conjure and the others watched as a polymorph and the zombies guarding Primary Engineering hurriedly abandoned their post. The half-goblin looked up at Hairy, saying only, "Adam." The sasquatch rumbled a chuckle. The intruders reached their objective uncontested.

Adam cycled charges and kept shooting as Drusilla darted up the winding stairwell behind him. The man followed her up... when tripped. He blasted the ensnaring tentacle and scurried upwards. The monsters below did not pursue.

Adam and Drusilla entered a corridor on the level above. The man slid against the wall and sat on the floor. He aimed at the opening to the stairwell, ready to shoot anything that dared to come up.

"Margo Red reporting, over," Drusilla heard the voice of her sister.

The Concubine Priestess touched the side of her goggles-communicator, responding, "Report, Margo Red."

"We have secured Primary Engineering and are planting the bombs. We shall await your order to detonate."

Margo Red was the consummate Concubine Sentinel: ready to die following orders she never questioned. Drusilla knew her sisters in red well enough to know Margo was willing to stay with the bombs to ensure their detonation. Unless commanded to leave, the Sentinel would most likely stay to her own death. Drusilla ordered Margo, "Escape the facility. Should I not give the order within twenty minutes, detonate."

"Yes, ma'am. Understood."

Adam grinned, "Twenty minutes? We'll need longer than that to find our way out."

"I know where we are," Drusilla assured. "Follow me."

"Yes, ma'am," the man saluted.

Brendaxa the Insidious remained in the command-and-control room. Her orders from Yississ were, "You, my general, shall wage my war. Win this battle. Do nothing else lest I call upon you by name."

The enemy below had neutralized a third of the basecamp's kinetic shield generators and secured others for their own use. The forces marching from the east were fighting through Ingridax's defenses. A thousand Tellurians and a hundred thousand Virgin Soldiers marching from the north were still coming. Brendaxa wanted to inform her mistress that the situation was dire. She wanted to suggest that the army flee to the west and scatter among the mountains. Alas, Brendaxa would follow her orders not to disturb her mistress.

"Adam," the unheard voice of Flora called to him. "I have joined the others. Hairy and I shall come to you."

"We're leaving," the man's thoughts responded aloud. "Get out of here."

"Yes, my king."

Adam suddenly fell through the floor! The hand of a rotting arm snatched him by the throat and hoisted him up off the floor! He heard the mind of Yississ command her monsters, "Keep the woman away but do not slay her, not yet." Adam raised his gun and _blasted_ Yississ right in the face! She _wailed_ and dropped him! Adam kept shooting when a tentacle suddenly whipped out and _smacked_ his gun sliding across the floor! The minicarbine _hissed_ and smoked, apparently broken. Another tentacle smacked Adam against the wall!

The naked, towering, rotting "woman" with six breasts loomed over the mortal man. Yississ rasped, "Greater kings than you offered their sons for my blessing. Your sacrifice shall be for my curse!" Adam lunged! Yississ smacked him against the wall. She cackled.

"Keep it up," Adam encouraged. "My sacrifice will be worth it."

"Oh? You believe we shall burn together? Mortal man, the woman of Shadow shall not destroy us quite yet. Yes, she is against us, but she believes she needs you. She believes you are required for the return of her master."

"I buried his ass."

"Fool! The Great Shadow is climbing his way back up! I would bury him forever but you stop me! He shall return, because of you! The clone women fight alongside you for the return of the Living Darkness. Have you any doubt?" Adam knew the demon's claim was true. He whimpered. Yississ told him, "Your woman is a slave girl of the Great Shadow, Devourer of Worlds. All that she has done for you she has done for your greatest enemy. She is against you even as she is for you."

Adam wanted to dismiss the demon's claims as lies... but her claims rang true. "I know she's a Concubine of the Great Shadow," he admitted, "but I got the chance to meet Drusilla. There's a human being under all that indoctrination."

"She is but one of many."

"Yeah. Aren't we all?"

Yississ grabbed Adam by the neck with both her large, rotting hands. She pulled him up off his feet. She glared into his bulging eyes, telling him, "I wanted you to know... before I kill you." A gaping maw suddenly erupted from her chest and the rest of her form became writhing tentacles! The man kicked at the snapping yellow teeth and the lapping red tongue. Helpless to break free, he plunged into the large mouth.

Elsewhere and closing: Crowds of zombie Sentinels withered as Hairy blazed into them with rapid-fire streams of plasma bolts. Blood Drinkers shrieked and burned as Conjure loosed flaming arrows into their slithering throngs. Drusilla and her sisters blasted monsters as they poured into other corridors. "This way!" Flora led everyone onwards.

They found a shapeless, rotting mass sprawled on the floor. A bulge was within the mass. The Girl in Blue waved her analyzer over the thing, concluding, "It's Adam. He's alive." Hairy unslung his power-pack and set down his stormgun. He lifted the dead, shapeless mass of rotting tentacles. He opened its large, slack maw. Flora reached in and pulled Adam out. The man was covered in blood and slime.

The Concubine Keeper of the group injected Adam with a stimulant. The man opened his eyes, wondering, "Did we win?"

Drusilla was leaning over him. She asked, "What happened?"

The man glanced over at the sprawled mass of rotting tentacles. He smirked, "I gave her something to choke on."

Hairy put his power-pack back on and brandished his stormgun. He took point as Drusilla directed everyone out.

Brendaxa was still in the command-and-control room directing the battle... when a _boom_ suddenly shook the facility and the lights and monitors went out. A zombie Keeper reported, "Our main reactor has just blown!" The doors of the elevator suddenly burst out and the room was filled with bluish white fire! Brendaxa and the zombies screamed and burned!

The escaped intruders watched from behind boulders as the Castle of Yississ erupted into a bluish white inferno! The tower that served as the conduit for the super weapon wilted and collapsed. Adam cheered, "Mission accomplished!"

Soon thereafter, the dozens of remaining dragonfly-type bombers pummeled the helpless monsters below with _booming_ and devastating ordinance! The Army of Four and elite team of Concubines watched from the rocky slopes of the highest mountain. Adam and Conjure cheered. Hairy clapped and laughed. Flora smiled. The Concubines simply watched.

Yississ was dead and her castle and super weapon destroyed. For the next forty days, the Tellurian warriors and Virgin Soldiers scoured the Bleak Mountains hunting and destroying what few monsters managed to crawl or slither away. The Yississ War was over.

Everyone returned to Region One: the Middle Forest. Adam wanted to talk to the Oracle. He stood under the tree that was her and looked up into its leafy branches. "I have a personal question," he began. "I'm afraid to ask it... but I really need to know."

The leaves of the Tree of the Oracle rustled as it spoke, "I know your question, my king, but you must be a man and ask it."

"Okay. I heard some nasty things about Drusilla and her sisters. Are they true?"

"Adam, what is true is seldom all that is true. Only all is one of everything."

"Okay, uh, no riddles, please. I really need to know what I'm dealing with."

The Oracle answered, "A woman of the Great Seen Unseen heeds the Unheard Whisper with no thought of her own will. A Virgin Soldier of the Great Shadow fights whatever battle she is sent into. Drusilla loves Adam."

"She loves me?"

"Adam, is she a Concubine or a woman?"

"She's a woman."

"Yes, but she is also a Concubine of the Great Seen Unseen. As one of the Many of One there is no Drusilla. Only as Drusilla does she love you." Adam sighed. "Man and woman are the one of humanity. As two they are nothing. Only as one are they meant to be."

"What?"

"Be a man. Heed my counsel! Be a man."

Adam rolled his eyes. "Thanks," he uttered, not sure if he meant it.

The King of Telluria signed a formal peace with the commanding general of the Concubine Expeditionary Forces. Drusilla was in her white, hooded cloak. Adam was wearing his jeans and shirt from planet Earth. Everyone was watching them as they signed the documents. The man told the woman, "Now we have to make it official."

"We did."

Adam shook his head, correcting, "As King of Telluria, I've made it the arbitrary law that no document signed is official unless sealed with a kiss."

Drusilla smirked under the cowl of her white cloak. "Very well," she agreed. "Let's make it official." The man and woman embraced. They kissed.
