Ashlani’s Reincarnation

Vefir

“You aren’t invincible. The Zaaktif isn’t either, so you certainly shouldn’t think you don’t need to report to one of the healers after a battle. There is so much we don’t understand about our enemies that it serves the Empire to let us see what exactly happens when one is struck by an attack. Do you understand me, Wisterl?”

The Khatif that sat on a stone bench in front of him flared her frills in acknowledgment. It was obvious that she hated being there, that she didn’t want to be injured, but it was also blatantly obvious that she was an idiot and needed to have this lesson beaten into her through shame, pain, and any other method that was allowed him.

Several seconds passed and she said nothing more, so Vefir growled at her, “You’re a Hak’Tal. Your place is to fight and bleed on the front lines of the Empire. It isn’t to die for no reason because you’re embarrassed that you’re not infallible. If you can’t learn your lesson, I will ensure that you are relegated to the back lines until your teeth fall out from old age. Are you understanding?”

At that, the female perked up and clacked her teeth in denial of the possibility. “I will exercise greater caution in all that I do! I must live up to the name given to me and become a Keel!”

“And a corpse can’t do that, so do what you need to to stay alive.”

With those as his last words, Vefir waved off the foolhardy youngling and scratched at several of the scales across his ribs. When he’d evolved to become a Keel, the scales across his chest, neck, and sides had grown four or five times larger, becoming even more armor-like than ever. He didn’t usually fight these days, but he frequently found that dead skin from his constant, slow growth got caught under those scales specifically. Every so often he was able to enter the bath with the Zaaktif, and those were a rare treat. His versatile magic could make the sands scrub so much better than mere hands could, but there was a war beginning outside. There was no time to indulge in a bath like that.

While he scratched, he felt a sudden comfort settle over him, and he stretched in anticipation of what was coming. Shemira walked out from behind him and scratched exactly where he needed without him needing to say anything about it. With a small chuckle, he leaned back into her, the warmth of her larger frame cutting through the chill of the night. She leaned her neck over his shoulder until her head draped over his chest.

Unable to stop himself, he twisted quickly and tried to catch the back of her neck in his jaws, but was unsurprised when she reacted too quickly and escaped his clutches. Unlike some of the other Keel and Khatif, they didn’t ever fight for dominance. Many of Percral’s mates enjoyed him proving his strength over them, but there were no illusions between Vefir and Shemira as to which of them would win a fight. Shamira was larger, her caste ostensibly the same as his, but having been an Alpha, however briefly, as a hatchling had shaped her growth. Though she couldn’t compare to the true giants among the Empire's citizens, she was ten feet tall and covered in lean, powerful muscle.

“Worse than expected,” she answered, licking blood off of her claws. “There were some new creatures we’ve never seen, a whole lot tougher than anyone expected. For some reason, Ashlani delayed in supporting the soldiers on the walls as well, so there were more casualties because of it, though only a couple dozen deaths. The rest will recover, and your people have taken care of them already.”

Vefir nodded in acceptance of that final point, though he scratched at the edge of his jaw, wondering why their Zaaktif had allowed more deaths than necessary in this opening battle. He wasn’t one for tactical thinking, and never had been, so he asked the Militia’s Superintendent, “Why?”

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Who knows for sure,” Shemira flicks her tail in a reluctant answer. “He’s always lead with reasons beyond the reasons we all expect. There are things that he knows that the rest of us don’t, with the exception of Sybil. She’s always been special to him but she doesn’t think it’s necessary to share this information either.”

“Once upon a time that would be a bitter sentence from you,” Vefir noted as he looked into her face. Damn, was she beautiful. It was a common thought when he looked at her, but that was no surprise, given she was widely known and accepted to be the most beautiful among the Kha, Khatif, and Keel in the Empire. Her eyes glinted as she seemed to notice him noticing her, and she twisted her head just so to present the frame of her jaw and frills as she replied.

“Our leader is an impressive individual, there’s no denying it,” Shemira gave as a way of answer. “When I hatched and when I was younger, all I wanted was power, to follow power, to gain power myself. There’s a very obvious best path for that among the Empire. Sybil has followed it, and perhaps, if Ashlani had ever been anything less than staunchly committed only to a single mate, I would have pursued him.

“However, I don’t see him ever fully trusting me,” she finished. “Maybe that is only a remainder of the fears I had as a hatchling when we were fellow competitors, but whatever the reason, I could never have the same place that Sybil does in the Empire and I wouldn’t want it anyways. To return to your original question, why did he allow so many to die? I believe part of it was a lesson that needed to be learned by those who have never gone through what we original elites did. Beyond that, he has always known what it takes for the young to grow. Surely that is a reason as well.”

That sentence reminded Vefir of that long march where hundreds of his fellows, all keelish at the time, collapsed and starved to death as they offered the flesh of their bodies to sustain those who remained. Then there were the explosions of gore behind them as the humans closed in on them, slaughtering hundreds more in that river with magic far beyond his own reach. Every casual attack had been earth shattering, and they’d escaped only due to the Moonchildren’s presence on the opposite shore.

Yes, the young ones didn’t understand the enemies that the Empire would face. Apparently, the Misti Hawar were presenting a stronger front than the Empire had previously thought possible, but conquest was not a clean, simple path to tread.

“The Empire will be constructed on the corpses of allies and enemies alike,” Vefir agreed. He was going to ask about what additional information his mate might have when she spoke again.

“My stomach feels strange after eating some of the enemies,” she said in a casual tone. “Would you check to see if their magic is influencing me?””

In a single moment, Vefir’s bearing changed as he snapped for her to lay on the stone bench. “You idiot. You’re going to sit here and ramble on when I should be ensuring that you’re safe? You’re at least twice as boneheaded as that young female in here just before you because you have the experience to know what you should’ve been doing anyways!”

He continued grumbling at her while she giggled up at him, looking coyly while flirting. He shook his head, but couldn’t help but smile at her as he spread his awareness into her stomach, where he felt the foreign magic there. He let out a quick gasp as he felt the source, about to shout at her when he realized that the magic was not shadowy in origin. Instead, it felt much like his own, as well as Shemira’s.

“You’re gravid?” He breathed. It had been years and he had largely lost hope of it being a possibility.

“Congratulations,” Shemira laughed as she stood up. “I felt a change several days past, but wanted to be sure.”

Vefir laughed and swatted her arm as he smiled broadly. There would be lives lost in this war, that was inevitable, but at least additional life would be coming on the Empire’s side. It would be necessary to fill the slopes that they claimed as their own as they forced the enemy to acknowledge their overwhelming strength. And what better to lead them than more Keel babies that grew into adults?

“Through the flaming crucible of war are we refined and through the quenching in the blood of our foes are we strengthened,” Vefir smiled as he repeated the first Phrase of the Words of Power of Nievtala and strolled out of the medical facilities. There were plenty of members of the Empire that he needed to tell the happy news to, and he couldn’t wait.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!