He thinks about her. Not in an obsessive way. It's more like a mental tap on the shoulder when he tries to focus on anything else, the same shoulder she used to put him on all fours. He was joking at first with his attemts to flirt but now she's actually running through his mind. She messed with him. He's used to being an instrument, a tool to satisfy a carnal desire. She didn't want that from him ... but she did want something. Excellence. He brushes it off. It's been days since he's seen her even though she's been letting him stay in her private quarters ... at least until he's been assigned his own. She hasn't been around. Too busy being a colonel ... or maybe she's having trouble staying focused too. How could he tell? She has no tells. She never breaks. This glacier has no cracks.

Tegan tries to dismiss the juvenile inner turmoil of whether or not a girl like likes him as he stands in a wide, barren battlefield next to Pop, Rock, Quinn and her daughter Gehenna. You wouldn't be able to tell by looking at her that she was the queen's daughter. Even though Quinn can technically look like whoever or whatever she wants, she more or less always looks like a slightly altered version of the same beautiful woman. Gehenna, although equally stunning, looks nothing like her. She's much taller than anyone here, with light grey skin covered in piercings and living tattoos that shift and move over her barely clothed muscular body. Her thick, braided, red hair almost reaches the ground. She resembles a predatory feline, mostly with her fierce eyes and leathered nose. Two dark horns boarder her jawline, curling from behind her long pointed ears up to her cheeks. You can tell she's royalty, the kind that demands respect without saying a word ... which she hasn't.

"They should be here soon, guys." says Quinn as she stares into the distance waiting for an opposing army to arrive. She'd gotten word that a traveling queen had a proposition for her and agreed to meet up. Rather than compromise the location of the Deep Continent, she rounded up a handful of soldiers and transport beasts from the 3SR to answer the call.

"Let's try to handle this delicately." suggests Rock. "From what I understand, they outnumber us." He came along as the voice of reason. Being the main tactician, it's no surprise that he's at every battle.

"Like that matters." says Pop. "Our gurl can wipe them out like that!" She snaps her fingers. "¡Aniquilación total!" She opted to leave Starve behind and tag along in case anything juicy happened.

"We need more allies than enemies, luv." sighs Rock. "This could be a good chance to boost our forces."

"All I'm saying is that this being careful shit is shit." Pop throws her hands up. "Even if they somehow manage to be a problem for us, Yo lo dudo, MY man and HER man will come out here and fuckin rip heads through assholes so relaaax." She holds Rock's face and pats his cheeks. "AND it won't even come to that because Henna's here. ¿Si, chica?"

"Mom's got this." Henna yawns. "I'm just tired of missing all the fights."

"Or maybe you wanna make sure your mama is safe. Ay, que linda." teases Pop.

"If she dies, I'm queen. If not ... at least I'm not bored. So win win." she teases back. She stops to realize that Tegan has been standing with them the whole time. "Who the fuck is that?"

"Oh, that's Tegan, dear." says Quinn.

"He's cute." she says dryly. "Why's he here?"

"Because he's cute, dear."

"That's fair." She finally addresses Tegan. "You're the one staying at Wraith's place."

"The only one apparently." he laughs.

"Keep the weapons clean and sharpened."

"Uh, why?"

"Those are expertly crafted killing tools and I'm CERTAIN you're not busy there." She gives a belittling look.

"Look, I'm-"

"And you won't be. Just do it."

"Pssh. Fuckin make me." Upon hearing this, everyone who isn't Gehenna looks at her. She gets in Tegan's face ... meaning the bottom of her chin gets in his forehead.

"I could threaten you ... or hurt you ... or both ... and that might be fun for a little while ... hmm ...." She pauses for a bit while squinting at him.

"... is that it? Cause if you're trying to be scary, it ain't working, babe."

"No. I'm trying to decide what to do with you before I feed you to my brother." she says with no hint of intimidation in her voice.

"Henna. Tegan is my guest. If anyone feeds him to Descil, it'll be me." Quinn turns back to looking for her target. "And you shouldn't play with your brother's food. At least not without him."

"He's hardly a meal anyway." says Henna.

“Can't say the same." says Tegan giving her a full look up and down ... but she's already stopped paying attention to him. The other army approaches.

"Finally. Be right back, guys." Quinn launches herself forward, clearing the distance in an instant, using her wings to slow down to a stop. Both Quinn and Pop now stand before the enemy queen. "Wuh? Show off! Get back with the others." They laugh and shove each other a few times before Pop complies. "So you wanted to see me?" she asks the other queen.

"Thank you for meeting with me. I am Bulsara."

"Bulsara ..." she pauses in thought. "... heard your kingdom fell to the Frost."

"Yes. That's why I'm here."

The others wait patiently with eyes glued on the two queens. It's not long before they see Bulsara instruct her troops to fall back … but she stays. Quinn turns slightly to face her own group and her voice does what it does.

"Everyone hang tight. 
It's just me and her."

Bulsara gets right to it, her hands make strange, quick, swooping motions in front of her. She slams her palms on the ground and it erupts with wild crackling streams of electricity that shoot upward and solidify! The once empty battleground is now a forest of sharp, towering lights. They continue to spark and shatter, filling the air with floating shards of light as Bulsara's hands resume their swoops.

"Heh. Look at that." Impressed, Quinn wraps her wings around herself. They fuse to her torso and legs, covering her loose fitting clothes and shift into a tough, deep red armor.

"I expected more than a wardrobe change." taunts Bulsara. She swings her arms in a wide arc behind her, grabbing handfuls of airborne shards and hurling them at Quinn! They ricochet off of her into nearby towers of light that burst into bigger shards. These impale her face and chest! She doesn't bleed. Instead, the wounds become mouths that chew on the sparks before spitting them out.

"I expected a fight, not a light show." taunts Quinn using all of her mouths. Bulsara uproots a tower from the ground and wields it like a staff! It appears to pass through the forest with each swing causing a whirlwind of exploding electricity with each tower hit. She brings the staff crashing down on Quinn, grabs another and repeats. "You made a good choice." says Quinn. Blinding lights break and scorch the ground around her as she walks toward Bulsara who continues her barrage. "You're strong. I see why they follow you." She rushes her attacker, gripping her head with both hands! The battlefield quakes as more lightning frantically fires into the air in every direction! Quinn's fingers snake around Bulsara's head, entering her mouth and nostrils before covering everything except her eyes. "You deserve to stay beautiful." They gaze at each other while flashing shards violently detonate around them. Quinn pulls herself closer and is embraced by the enemy queen. Bulsara holds onto her ... gagging and convulsing ... until her arms drop, her body goes limp ... and the lights fizzle out.

The fight is over but now the real work begins. Quinn approaches the enemy troops alone carrying their queen's lifeless body in her arms. The front row of soldiers ready their weapons and brace themselves for an attack … but she simply walks up and stops right in front of them.

"Your queen fought well." she says.

A soldier speaks up. "Put her down and back away."

"I won't do that. She lost but she never fell in battle." Quinn glances at her vanquished opponent. "A queen is still a queen in death. You should see to it that she never touches the ground."

A more important looking soldier makes his way through the crowd and stands before Quinn. His armor is sturdy but clean, way too clean to have ever seen combat.

"I'll take her." he says in a low voice salted with sorrow.

Quinn carefully hands over the body. "You look fancy. I trust you understand the arrangement?"

The shiny soldier responds with a nod. "Yes. We will honor our queen's agreement with you. Take our villagers and be gone with you."

"The agreement was for all of you to come with me." Quinn says with a squint. "Or did she not clarify?"

"She was clear, shapeless queen." He snaps. "I've heard that you take no prisoners and that all who join you become free sinners. Are these claims true?"

"We're all prisoners here already. Keeping more for myself is redundant."

"Then my troops are free to go if we please. We serve but one queen and hold no desire for another. Again, take our villagers and be gone with you. They are far more suited to become servants and whores, if your spawn doesn't devour them first."

The soldier turns his back to Quinn and begins to walk away but he doesn't get far before her arm pierces through his neck like a lance! He gurgles and chokes on his own blood as the sharp point turns into a hand that palms the front of his helmet. Her arm retracts making him walk backwards toward her until he's close enough for her to reclaim Bulsara's corpse. The other soldiers stand fearfully ready to strike.

"Y'know what else I don't take besides prisoners?" Her hand crushes the soldier's helmet in on his head. "Orders." She removes her arm and pushes his wriggling body to the ground with a disgusted wave. "Let's try this again." She uses her everywhere voice.

"Your queen fought for her right to rule you and lost. Now you all have a choice. You can either honor her strength by upholding her word and joining me, or you can embrace her weakness and join her in death."

"Those are our choices?" asks a random soldier. "Join you or what? You'll kill us all?"

"What waits for you out here is far worse than anything I can do to you. Killing you would be an act of mercy. Face it. We've all been victims to the oppression of angels. How long do you think you'll last before their plague wipes you out?"

"Why would we last longer with you?" asks another soldier. "The Frost can't be stopped. Your kingdom is no safer than anywhere else."

"My kingdom isn't like anywhere else. You can try your luck and struggle on your own until your inevitable death or you can live comfortably until your inevitable death. Your choice."

Some soldiers lower their weapons and mumble amongst themselves. The rest remain primed to attack.

"Alright, I'm getting bored. Are any of you stronger than your queen?"

The mumbles stop. No one answers.

"No? Anyone AS strong?"

A few soft grumbles but no answers.

"Half as strong?"

If crickets existed here, you'd hear them but still no answers.

"Not surprised. Stay here and die if that's what you want. If not, follow."

With that, Quinn produces a bigger set of wings than the ones she had before and makes her way back to her entourage with one leap.

Pop gives her a sassy smirk as she lands. "Got a little impatient, did we?" she teases.

"They're a bunch of weaklings." says Quinn. "They didn't deserve their queen."

"Yuck. So now what?" asks Gehenna. "Do we still want them or was this a bust?"

"They may be weak but they can't all be stupid. They know we're their best chance to survive. We'll take whoever comes with us." Quinn shifts the armor off of herself, checks her outfit for any tears or damage, then motions for everyone to prepare to leave.

"Is that it?" Tegan asks Rock. "We just go now?"

Rock chuckles. "Si. We'll travel at a slow enough pace for them to catch up. Once they do, we'll provide protection and head back through the trails underground."

"You sound sure they'll come." says Tegan.

"They usually do when given the choice." He pats Tegan on the shoulder and walks off to join his sister on her mount.

Tegan takes a second to let that sink in before boarding with Rock and Pop. As they ride off, he looks back at the queen's battlefield.

They're all following.