Chapter 6

Theanna arrived in her large extravagant throne room surrounded by her guards. With a flip of her wrist her outfit changed to all dark purple leather. “Have any of the gates fallen?” she asked as she headed to her council chambers, her guards immediately falling in step behind her.

“No, my Queen. The Titan forces at each gate are rather small and the Princes have been managing to hold them off,” Hezin informed her as he appeared at her side.

As they arrived at the empty council chambers, a table appeared in the middle of the room with a map upon it showing all of the Dark Realms. Theanna looked at all the gates where she could see the symbols for the Titan forces. “If the forces are small, where’s the bulk of their army?”

“They attack the main gate, the gate outside of the palace, my Queen. It remains strong and shows no signs of weakening,” Hezin pointed out.

“Good, good,” Theanna answered as she let her cryptology skills kick in. 'What’s their strategy?' she asked herself. Then she noticed Tiamat. “Why would they attack Tiamat's gate? There’s nothing there. Is that some of Ikisat's legions protecting the gate?”

“It is, my Queen. Damian and I felt it was important that every access point to the Dark Realms was protected at all times. If the gate at Tiamat fell, Ikisat and Sheol would both be put at greater risk,” Lazerin explained.

“Well, good work as always,” she smiled at him.

“Of course, my Queen,” Lazerin nodded at her.

Theanna grew thoughtful as she looked at the number of Titan forces at the gates of Tiamat. “They put more forces to attack Tiamat than Ikisat. They WANT all of my attention on the main gate. They want me distracted... but why? Is it simply to try to attack at the weakest point or is it something more? Damian, what are your thoughts? Something doesn't feel right with their strategy.”

“They've never before attacked, even when the gates were at their weakest under Innara's rule. Tiamat's gate during that time had no active seals. It had no guards, no protections. They could've just walked in. Why not attack then?” Damian mused. “I agree. It doesn't make much sense. There's some information we don't have yet. There’s a reason for the timing.”

Looking at Damian thoughtfully she said, “We can either let the gates do their job, simply hold them off and hope that they tire and return to Talos. Or... we go out and meet them, making it our goal to capture one of their generals.”

“Fighting the Titans means that we'll lose Daemoni. Titans are dangerous to us,” Damian replied as if they were the only two in the room.

Theanna nodded solemnly and she looked back at the map intently. “They want something,” she murmured softly. “But what?” With a resolute sigh she straightened to her full height. “Damian, does Ikisat need you or Lazerin?”

“No, my Queen. The forces have already been defeated,” Damian assured her.

“Good. Hezin, I want an additional legion at the gate at Tiamat. Every other legion not already protecting a gate in the realms needs to be at the main gate. Don't leave a single gate unprotected, they mustn’t break through ANY gate. The Titans are not our typical foe. I give all Daemoni permission to use every power and weapon at their disposal against them. We’ll not let them break through a single gate.

“I need the Royal Guard with me and Damian. Our goal is to incapacitate and capture one of their generals by any means necessary,” she ordered as she led them out towards the main gate.

As she crossed the meandering stone pathway, she looked down into the moat that surrounded her palace with an evil smirk. It was a moat filled with the glowing embers of the living essence of the High Queen's Palace. Any that dared enter without her permission, or that of Lucifer's, were immediately consumed, their souls forever to become part of the palace itself.

As they came upon the legions that stood ready at the main gate, armor appeared on them all. Theanna's armor was dark purple and made from Celestian metal like her crown. Her appearance changed from human to Daemoni as her horns and claws appeared. She spoke only in Daemoni so as to further confuse the enemy with its sounds of snarls.

As she looked up at the tallest and most powerful of all their gates, she could see smoke as the Titan's catapults attacked it with fire and rock, over and over. Before she would open the gates, she wanted to see what they were up against. Thea looked at Damian with a smirk and asked, “Shall we?”

“Of course,” he agreed as he changed into his Daemoni form and took to the air. Theanna smiled as she briefly watched her mate. His red Daemoni form was exquisite. He was large with powerful muscles, his black horns and claws were sharp enough to shred the strongest enemy, and his large wings reminded her of a powerful dragon in their elegance.

Since she didn't possess wings, she pierced the air with a sharp whistle sound. Suddenly a roar sounded as a large, dark purple Daemoni Dragon landed next to her. Instead of scales, Daemoni Dragons had ridged iridescent leather that reflected the light making it hard to decipher its true size. Its skin was thicker and harder than the reptilian scales found on traditional dragons. Sharp, poisonous spikes lined its back. Each spike was longer than Theanna's arm and in a moment's notice it could call forth additional spikes to cover its entire body. While it didn't breathe fire, the smoke it produced was acidic and poisonous in its nature and could easily dispense with its enemies.

As High Queen, it only answered her call, forever loyal. “Hello, Ryuu. Let's go for a bit of a ride, shall we?” She immediately jumped onto its back as it took to the air.

As they flew high, Theanna took note of the size of the army that attacked them. She saw catapults firing, towers of forces moving closer in an effort to simply climb over the gate, and a large army just waiting to do battle with her legions. She'd been led to believe that the Titans were enormous in size, comparable to the giants found in the Fae Realm that were easily ten stories high. Rather, the Titans were only somewhat larger than her largest Daemoni, at her best guess, only ten maybe twelve feet tall.

After flying around a couple more times, Theanna landed Ryuu. Jumping down she headed towards where all of her Generals had gathered, waiting for her orders. “They attempt to breach the gate by sheer force and are attempting to climb over it. It’ll not be breached either way. It holds fast against our enemies. Instead, we must go out to meet them. Push them back and make them return to their own realm.”

“Agreed, my Queen. The Titans are immune to our powers, though,” Casius, one of her Generals stated.

“And we know this for sure? After all, they were said to be as large as giants and they’re only a few feet larger than our guardians,” Theanna asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Titans are immune to all magick except from their own wizards. I tested this out, long ago,” Damian said as he backed up Casius.

“Then we fight with our weapons, with our sheer might and courage,” Theanna stated plainly. “Our swords, our archers, our spears, are they all ready to go? Do we have anything else at our disposal?”

“Many of our soldiers have weaponry they've forged themselves. They'll be using those as well,” General Gizren stated.

“Excellent. I want every weapon we have in use.”

“Of course, my Queen,” Gizren bowed.

“According to legend, they heal quickly, almost as quick as we do, if not faster. It’ll not be an easily won battle, but we can do it,” General Zolror added.

“Are there allies we can call upon, should we need to?” General Malvok asked.

“There are but until we know for sure that we need them, I don't wish to call upon them,” Theanna instructed. “This is a battle that’ll be hard fought as Zolror has stated. But we can do it and will. Never have the Dark Realms fallen, and never will they. We don't need anyone's help. We’re strong and we’re powerful. We don't need our powers. Without them we’re a force beyond compare. We are legions and we are many!”

“We are legions and we are MANY!” they all repeated loudly.

“My Queen, please return to the palace now,” Casius encouraged, causing Damian to immediately give him a look of warning.

“Why?” Theanna asked, honestly perplexed.

“You must stay out of the battle. It's not fitting for our High Queen to battle side-by-side with lowly soldiers. Innara...” Casius began to explain. At Theanna's darkening look, he paused.

“I am NOT Innara. I do NOT rule as she did. If my Daemoni put their lives on the line because I order them to, then I shall join them. Don't like it? TOUGH SHIT!” With a growl, she turned her back to him, looking at the map Lazerin handed to her.

“Prince Damian, please, order your mate to see reason...”

Damian snarled loudly before suddenly grabbing him by the throat and lifting him so that his feet were just barely touching the ground as he brought them nose to nose. “She’s our Queen. You’ll not disrespect me by disrespecting my mate. Do I make myself clear?”

“Of... of… course, my Prince,” Casius stuttered.

“It would be safest for you to go to your legions and prepare yourself,” Damian hissed at him as he threw him across the room towards the door.

“But...” Casius pleaded as he picked himself up.

“Hezin, see him out,” Theanna ordered darkly.

Hezin immediately took Casius by the arm and firmly guided him away from Theanna. “General, prove yourself in battle and you'll be back in her good graces. You must remember she’s not Innara and to compare her to Innara is akin to treason. If you have concerns, talk to Damian but remember, SHE is High Queen and answers to no one.”

“I just want her safe,” Casius lamented.

“Trust in us, her Royal Guard. We'll accompany her in battle and she’s our main concern.”

Casius nodded as he finally relented and walked away.

Hezin sighed as he watched his retreating back. Heading to the Royal Guard waiting for their Queen, he said to them, “Our Queen will be going to fight with her legions. She plans to capture one of the enemy's Generals alive. Our orders are to back her up and help her in any way we can to accomplish this goal. We must protect her at all costs, even at the expense of our lives. Remember how it was with Innara. We cannot go back to that. She’s forever my Queen, until my dying breath.” He slammed his fist across his armor over his heart.

With a satisfied smile, all of his Daemoni did the same. “Forever Our Queen!” the Royal Guard answered loudly.

With a firm nod, Hezin headed back to his Queen. As he approached, his eyes met hers, and with a slight nod he listened as she was instructing her Generals, “Gather all of the legions at the gate, when we open it, we’ll attack en masse, as a solid wall of warriors. The Titans can and will be taken down. We’ll discover their weakness, one way or another, and when we do, we’ll take them down and make sure they don’t attack us again!”

“If at all possible, we must try to capture one of their Generals. Titans have never attacked us. We must find out what has changed to make them do so now,” Damian added.

“Agreed! Damian and I, along with my Royal Guard, will be making that our priority. If an opportunity arises, take it. Otherwise, your goal is to defend the Dark Realms and make sure the Titans never want to return here again. Now, go! Make your legions ready!” Theanna ordered. As she watched her Generals disperse to their legions, she turned to look at Damian, releasing a deep sigh worriedly.

“We’re as ready as we can be, Zoqa,” he assured her as he pulled her into his arms and held her close.

“I know, Dnirya. I fear how many we’ll lose,” she whispered as she closed her eyes and let his alluring musky scent fill her senses and calm her soul.

“And that’s why you’re such an amazing Queen,” he whispered into her hair. “We’ll be successful, you’ll see!”

Theanna smiled softly at him and then with a deep breath to steel herself, she kissed him deeply before saying, “Let's do this and chase them from this realm!”