IC 1369: Twilight & IC 1369: Morning

BLACK AND WHITE wings flapped, like that of a giant butterfly, on the back of a monstrous lady as she descended to her camp.
"It is just as I remember," reported the insectoid woman, having just returned from the fortress of the holy knights.
The entity, the self-appointed queen of monsters, was known by many names, for her many guises;
As her forms equalled that of the iridescent colors of a rainbow;
But to those who were intimate with her, and those who were wise, they knew her as Lady Ymago.
From the Imago Dei -- The Face of a Wrathful God.

"I am glad to see you again," said another woman, whose attentive red eyes gazed out from the hood of a charcoal black cloak.
She smiled softly. Her subtle brown lips barely carried the breath of life, but she maintained the appearance. For now, at least.

"My Munezia..." said Lady Ymago, as she drew a step closer. "You give me sustenance for this tired self, as always."
Then she stopped. "But, we cannot relax yet. It is soon that we must begin our attack."

The emotion fading from her, Munezia then asked, "Will you ever forgive them?"

"No," the winged lady replied. The eye spots on her wings staring with divine rage.
"Perhaps I could, for myself. But, for my brothers in arms, sacrificed in their ignorance... For the nameless thousands of un-humans, who died like cattle... And for your sister, who suffered unspeakable things as a living offering... I can never forgive them."

"I'm sorry that I'm only second best," sighed Munezia, the supposed lesser of the two sisters.

"Don't say that," her companion replied, Lady Ymago bringing her hands to caress the other's face. Although her claws were chitinous, there was an intimate softness in the gesture. "You have done so much to help me."

Munezia quietly held Ymago's waist... Munezia's right hand slim, near-skeletal; Munezia's left hand, skeletal in fact.

The moment between them was cut short, when Ymago broke the contact and turned away suddenly.
Staring at what lie ahead. And then turning back and saying, "But our work is not done yet."

Saddened, Munezia asked with concern, "Aren't you worried about losing yourself? Of becoming something else?"

Ymago replied, "I already lost myself a long time ago. That man is dead."
Immersing herself once more in that memory, only to reject it. "All of that innocence... All of those delusions I once had... What I thought was good and bad... It is gone, now. I have killed it."

Ymago reflected, "Everything that I once feared..."

<THE SHADOW represents everything that we HATE. And everything that we WISH we could BE.>

"...I have embraced the darkness." That Ymago declared. "This is the real me. I am becoming my truth."

The two stared silently at each other for some time.

Countering that declaration, Munezia expressed, "And yet, I believe that you are the same young boy that you were. You wanted to be a hero, didn't you?"

Ymago gritted her mandibles. "Tch..."

Munezia said in recognition, "That kindness still lives inside you."

Ymago didn't... was not able to respond to that. Returning to the new reality that Ymago had constructed, Ymago monologued:
"My contract with the maiden is nearly complete. After all of these years of work... My vengeance will be complete."

And yet, the one beside her was compelled to ask: "Was it worth it?"

The question pained her. "It never is." Ymago looked down, clenching her fists in frustration.
"But I have no choice, now. My path has been decided."

"..."

"You won't intervene?" asked the self-described monster queen. Uncertain of what her supposed partner would do.

"Since I became a taker... I cannot decide. I can only collect." Munezia, a reaper of the battlefield, held her scythe coolly.
Sworn to neutrality, she would make the death of many, but she could not indicate preference.
She would continue to experience, to remember, for a long time.

But for Ymago, she could only see her own ending. And her time was limited.

It was now IMPERIAL CALENDAR YEAR 1369.

The first light was appearing for dawn. The star of Inanna shone for the start of the season of war.

Ymago shifted into a more humanoid guise. Her wings hid themselves, as she enrobed herself in a purple and black royal gown.
Although she was now monstrous in form, she wished to make the humans see that she was speaking to them as one of their own.

"It's almost time. I have to get going." Ymago turned away from Munezia.
But, hesitating, she looked at her to say a farewell. "After the battle, I'll see you again."
Only a hope. Not a guarantee. But, making a realization, Ymago said with grim humor:
"... I guess I'll see you either way."

Munezia questioned, "How do you know it'll be me taking you?"

"I know."

*

*

*

Morning.
IC 1369.

Just outside the FORTRESS OF OTRANTO.
The Southern Base of the Order.

RAGING was the Storm that had come. A storm not of rain and lightning, but of missiles and blades.
The Monsters, long disregarded, had returned in force.

The harpies, winged beasts with the faces of angry women, from the crimson skies descended on the human defenders below.
As their wings flapped heavily, the harpies' terrible claws slashed at the faces of human men.
As feathers danced, azure and white, with each wing flap, the red of human blood dripped onto the ground below.
The archers, who believed themselves safe atop their stone towers, were caught by surprise as the bird beasts assailed them.

Half a mile away from the fortress, approaching slowly was a caravan. Elite monsters walking alongside a mysterious leader.
"How goes Attack Phase I?" asked a woman clad in black, her lips, imperial purple, speaking in the short direct terms of a commander.

"It is proceeding effectively," answered a winged lady by her side. "We have taken out the enemy's archers. They were placed exactly as you said."

"Good," the monster forces commander said with subtle praise. "Things are going just as planned."

The harpy unit captain hazarded to inquire, "But, how, Mistress, did you know the humans' arrangement already?"

The monster commander, looking somewhat more human than the rest, replied, "...That's not important. Let's just say I have a history with these people. I'll explain everything later."

"After we finish this battle?"

"...After we win."

Immediately after the harpies had taken out the archers, two pairs of giants arrived at the scene. The giants, their behemoth bodies as masses of muscle and sinew, would be the heavy infantry of the monster army. With the enemy's long-range threat removed, they could now freely begin the ground-based attack.

"Attack Phase II," summarized the monster commander. "The giants will use their strength to breach the fortress." The feminine commander's dark robes fluttering with her every step closer to the fortress.

Just as she ordered, each pair of giants held wooden logs the size of tree trunks, and used them as battering rams to attempt to smash through the fortress's doors. The doors were strong, and though not opened on the first try, they did boom and clatter. It seemed like it was only a matter of time.

Meanwhile, from within the fortress, looking down from the window of the central tower, stood the commanders of the human forces... The Holy Knights.
"This can't be!" one of them exclaimed. "Harpies and giants working together? I thought different species of monsters hated each other. Then why...?"

Another interjected, "Something... Or someone... has united them. And they are all the more dangerous because of it. This may be a concerted attack."

An arrogant human commander opined, "There's no way that monsters could be that intelligent."

"We haven't faced a threat like this since the Great Monster War... Do you think this could be a Second Great--?"

"Don't talk like that. There's no way."

"Still, the speed at which the siege is progressing... Even with the possibility of a genius monster, it feels like they are using inside information."

"All Brother Knights are bound by a holy oath. Out of our former members... Did someone betray us?"

A veteran Knight, Elder Brother Petrarchus, replied with grim realization on his face, "No... We betrayed Them."