Chapter 116: Territory

I plopped down in the armchair. I ran my hands through my hair. I had become a queen like the ones little girls dreamed about, except little girls didn't think about all the war and politics real queens had to endure. We were talking about things like people and territories, not sparkly ponies and dragons.
I pinched the bridge of my nose as I thought. How was I going to find Kezia? How was I going to stop Mila? I guess I needed to get Kezia back, and then that would stop Mila, so I should make that my first priority. If Liam hadn't found her in town, then she probably wasn't anywhere around here. My stomach started to swirl with all this indecision. I could feel the magic inside me fizzle and snap.
I pulled the book with the resurrection spell on my lap. I looked through it again. It needed one thousand souls and a major node. The only major node near here was in Utah, so... it looked like that would be where she would eventually end up, maybe after she got one thousand souls. I had just prevented a bunch of those souls, so perhaps the darkness still needed to power up.
I whipped out my new phone. It was so fancy it even had internet. It was something I heard of, but with flip phones being ten years behind the times, I wasn't used to having all this technology at my fingertips. I searched through news headlines.
They were talking about the sinkhole that had opened up in my city. I scrolled past that. There was a fire in a local town, a few drug busts, some stolen car. I kept scrolling. I needed something big picture.
Finally, I scrolled to a headline reading: "Hundreds missing in earthquakes rocking the northwest."I read through the article. It looked like over the last three days, there had been five earthquakes in a mountain range holding a volcano that had thought to have been previously inactive. It seemed that the earthquakes were the only sign of it possibly reawakening, but the cause was still unknown since the volcano was so far away from the subduction zone. That seemed exactly like what I was looking for. Those missing people were probably dead, and they were probably dead because of the darkness.
I looked up from my phone. I realized three of the brothers were sitting on the chairs, staring at me. I had been so focused I didn't even hear them come in. They shot me sheepish looks. I smiled tightly and stood. I held my hand out to the first one. He grasped it.
"Thank you, Beloved."
I nodded. I pulled energy from him. He leaned back against the chair. The other two watched. I held my free hand towards another brother. He took it and did the same. I let the first man finish so I could move on to the last one. I was feeling pretty impatient, but I realized that the people had been on edge for three days since I blew a hole in their town and gave them all their lives back. I was surprised they were brave enough to come see me after all that.
As I watched the last two men enjoy themselves, I realize I had a place here. These people needed me. If something happened when I was off chasing the darkness, they would be left to fend for themselves. Liam was a good leader, but everyone was right; he didn't have the power to protect them. So, did I risk Kezia's life or all of these people here?
"Beloved," Amaan called from the curtain. "Liam is requesting your presence at the front lines."
I arched an eyebrow at him.
"Apparently, there is a conflict between the factions. They are fighting over territory. There is a standoff."
"How quickly do they need me? Are our people dying?"
He shook his head. "They are holding ground while each faction waits for their leaders to arrive. Whichever leader gets their first will have the upper hand. They could take out our forces in one swipe. We are spread thin."
"Is Liam out there?"
"Yes, he is holding the line."
Worry flooded through me. We had been through enough. My entire brotherhood had died, and now this. They were out there laying their life on the line again, this time on my orders. I released the men in my hold.
"Can you take me?"
Amaan nodded.
I walked quickly out of the lair and down the stairs. As I passed booths and tables, I pulled energy from the auras around me, charging up my magic. I transformed it until I could feel the god power vibrating inside of me.
By the time I reached the double doors to the entrance up to the parking lot, twenty brothers and sisters were following me. They mounted their bikes. I swung my leg behind Amaan and together we rode to the front lines.
It didn't take more than fifteen minutes. When we reached, the brotherhood stood facing three other factions. You could tell they were different by the way they were dressed. Each faction was congregated in a group mostly facing outward. They were trying to appear at ease, but not letting their guard down in case someone started shit.
At the same time our bikes pulled up, an army of black SUV's appeared. Don Archer stepped out with men in navy blue striped suits and automatic rifles. I swung off the bike with my eyes on Archer. He tipped his hat at me before turning to his men.
I concentrated on my own people. I kept my face serious. I spotted Liam and gave him a nod, then stood in front of my people, keep my eyes on the other two factions. One group looked like hood rats. They wore T-shirts and jeans with chains, hats, and baggy pants. The other group was made up of mostly tall thin pretty people with slightly pointed ears. The best way to describe them was probably the word: elves.
The elf leader showed up riding on a white cloud. His eyes were completely blue. Blue lightning bolts shimmered in his fingers as he landed on the ground. He did the same as me, never turning his back on his enemy.
A few minutes later, the hoodrat leader showed up in a limousine, followed by several hummers. The men hurried around the car as he came out. They swarmed around him. The man was small with rat-like ears and completely black eyes.
Now that everyone was here, it was time to get straight to the point. I took one step towards the center of the chaos. My thought was the first one to speak was the strongest.
"This is Ardor territory now," I said.