Astra Alive

Aephix Tes'Eestra looked at the figure and sighed: "Another one dead, m’Lady?"

The figure nodded in the affirmative.

"How many have we taken? How many more do we need?" asked Aephix.

The figure hunched her shoulders very slowly, heavily, as if with great thought.

"Come, m’Lady," said Aephix. "I have prepared a bath for you. You need it, the waters will soothe you."

The hooded figure neared Aephix and took off the dusty and bloody robe. The figure proved to be a woman, flame-haired, tall and golden-skinned. Her aquiline nose, sharp cheeks, and her athletic figure confirmed her status as a member of the amazon race.

"Ah, m’Lady," cooed Aephix as the red-head undressed and stepped into the warm waters of the bath. "Who would have believed that we would be here on this bloody mission, who would have believed but a year’s time ago that we would take the word of Myr’din as our plan?"

The other woman’s body shook at the sounding of that name: Myr’din.

Aephix tossed some lily petals into the warm water and added a scented liquid, the other’s nostrils flared as she breathed in the scent. "Forgive my naming the mage, m’Lady," whispered Aephix. She then grew silent, moving her hands over the muscles of the other. She both bathed her mistress as well as kneaded away the knots of her day, of her journey, of her deathly mission. After a while of silence Aephix began to murmur a song, almost subconsciously: "Fear is the soul killer, touch it not – Fear is a man-thing, grab it not – Fear is a useless appendage, cut it off."

After some time the bath and massage was complete. Aephix stood ready with a dry towel. The other woman arose from out of the waters. "Ah m’Lady Astra, what a cruel thing that to gain enough strength you must go killing your very self."

"It saddens me to no end, little woman," whispered Astra of Aqualaria. "...to no end."

Even as Aephix dried off Astra, the two women thought of their mission - the DreadMage in their land had grown to enormous power, it had murdered or mutilated many great wizards and mystics and few remained who could put up a fight. The men of the north had sent many brave knights to the Lair with hopes of killing it, the amazons had heard some of the names: Paulito, Torence, Joshua and Fredrigo - all now dead. The men of the north had failed. Communications between north and south had always been sparse due the Shreken, and due the Goth contact with the west was never very good, but these days it seemed that the whole of the borderlands had been burned away, turned to ash by the DragonMage's fury. Aqualaria now was under fierce attack and it seemed that no one lived who could give her aid.

And so the Queen had sought aid with her deadliest enemy: the Archmage Myr'din. He feared the DragonMage as much as everyone and so did not give fight against the Queen, instead he spoke of a wheel - a wheel of worlds, all like their own but with slight differences, all with northmen and southwomen, all with a Queen and with an Astra and with a DragonMage. He spoke of a multiverse, as strange as that did sound, worlds all mostly alike vibrating at different pitches but existing in the same space. He spoke of a doorway that could reach these worlds, of a waiting space, a limbo. He spoke of the fact that when one goes into the other worlds and kills their other-self, they take into themself the life essence of the other-self, they become stronger, faster, smarter. He spoke of a plan, one that became a mission - Astra's mission.

Astra was to enter into as many other worlds as possible, find her other self and kill her - and when she became more powerful, more quick, more wise, when she became the superwoman her world needed, she would come home and fight the DragonMage.

And so here she was, in the Inbetween, with her handmaid and help.

1. Astra is ready to return to her own homeworld...
2. Astra needs one more life and then she will be ready...

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