Interlude - The Beast Queen's Melancholy

Everything started falling apart as the orange leaves fell from their trees.

I was inundated with paperwork, even more so than usual. Forms from a simple increase in salary to managing food reserves were strewn about my desk in no particular order. It wasn’t like this on purpose, but I made no effort to tidy anything. There were too many other issues weighing on my mind.

Our country was rather poor – we barely had enough resources to feed everyone, much less manage a proper defense. The people were constantly under the threat of death. However, it wasn’t from the beasts or other countries.

No, it was from other people.

To be considered a ‘person’, a creature must look human. Regardless of which plant or animal race someone originated from, a creature looked human if they could socialize with others, possess intelligence, and manifest their mana. Of course, I looked human too; however, to other humans, I was anything but.

I placed a hand atop my head once again, tracing my fingers along a crown-like horn. I was a descendant of the flying earth dragons: an ancient race that had been around for millions of years. While most of us were born as people, some remained in their beastial form, indiscriminately killing anyone around them. With hundreds of thousands of dragons born, there were bound to be a few that looked slightly different – the same with any living creature. These horns on my head could be considered a result of that fact.

Other people didn’t see it that way though. They claimed I was a beast that must be put down. I still remembered the cold expressions from the other dragons when my horns grew in, denouncing me just because I looked different. Because I didn’t look completely human. Other people might lie and steal and kill, but because I had horns, I was worse than any of them. No matter how much I pleaded, no matter how much I begged, they refused to change their minds.

So I flew. I flew as far as my mana would take me, until I ended up here: a country for those who looked different. There was some discrimination here and there, but it was trivial compared to being killed on the spot. However, I still wanted to do something, anything to be accepted by other people. That wish propelled me forward until I became the ruler of these lands.

It was slow-going, but eventually, we made progress. Tengah, the forest country, offered to supply aid and protection. When we visited the capital, their people were so kind, regardless of how we looked. I could still feel the warmth that had spread throughout my body.

However, it didn’t last long.

Not even fifty years passed before unrest started to grow between our people and theirs. Many citizens of the forest capital started to disappear, and our people started to call for one of our own to take the crown. The envoy from Tengah reported something big was happening, but he couldn’t find out what. I started to grow worried, thinking I would have to intervene somehow.

But I didn’t even have time to worry about that.

Slam! “President! We just received a report that tornadoes have been spotted in the wasteland!” One of our intelligence officers barged into my office. It was a bit…wait, what?

“What do you mean, ‘tornadoes in the wasteland’? Nothing ever moves in the wasteland, and no one would be crazy enough to go into it with all that stagnant mana.” Nobody knew what the wasteland was or how it came to be. My lineage spanned back millions of years, but not even they witnessed what had happened. All anyone knew was that no living thing could survive there for long. Even with my strength, I could barely survive in that place for half an hour.

It was actually rather lucky that our country bordered the wasteland. Since nobody could survive the journey, we could dedicate our resources towards protecting our other borders. However, if someone did manage to cross the wasteland, they would have to be absurdly powerful. Maybe even a god.

“I’m not sure exactly, I sent more people to confirm the situation, but all they saw was a bunch of sand and water spinning around in a tornado.”

I could feel my body tense up for a moment. “You’re sure it's water?”

“That’s what it looked like.”

Water didn’t exist in the wasteland, so somebody must’ve imported it. But why? I didn’t understand what their end goal was. However, nobody there could get a closer look at the situation with the wasteland’s abundance of mana. Even if they did, this person had the strength to survive in the wasteland, so most people wouldn’t be able to stop them. That meant…

“I will investigate myself. This is an unknown threat, and I would rather get rid of it sooner than later. Let everyone know I’ll be out until nightfall.”

“Yes ma’am!”

I flew out the window, moving as fast as my mana could manipulate the winds. The giant castle disappeared beyond the horizon in an instant. At this speed, it would take an hour or two for me to arrive. However, the information must have taken weeks to get here. For all I knew, this mysterious individual could have already accomplished their goal.

I had to hurry.

~~~

The wasteland quickly came into view. As soon as I entered, I could feel the abundance of mana crushing me on all sides. It was so dense, I could feel myself struggle to breathe, much less control my mana. It was pure luck that my flight spell hadn’t disappeared. I had to finish this quickly.

Immediately, I recognized something off in the distance.

Wait a second, didn’t I just come from there? It looks like the castle where I work. But that can’t be right. The castle isn’t in the wasteland.

More details came into view. There was no mistaking it, that was definitely the castle. Though, this version seemed much larger than my own. It was as though everything had doubled in size. The hallways, the rooms, the doors – nothing was exempt. However, the most peculiar thing was that everything was made from gray sand, as if the building itself was a giant sandcastle.

But, that’s not possible. There’s no way a sandcastle can be that large while maintaining its shape. There has to be some magic at work.

Argh! I can’t sense anything! This wasteland has too much mana!

“[Ray of Light]!”

A loud voice echoed across the entire wasteland, putting me on high alert. I instinctively dodged to the side. A giant beam of white light fell where I once was a moment later. Only one thought passed through my mind:

There’s an enemy here.

“[Meteor Smash]!”

I yelled out my spell while raising my hand into the air, concentrating my mana. There was no time to figure out where the enemy was, so I aimed the spell at the fake castle. A giant meteor slammed into the ground, creating a large dust cloud that spread in all directions.

Well, I shouldn't have done that. That spell used up a decent chunk of my mana. I should focus on smaller spells; otherwise, I’m not going to make it out of the wasteland even if I do defeat whoever’s targeting me.

I raised my hand in the air once again.

“[Meteor Shower]!”

Hundreds of meteors, much smaller than my initial one, slammed indiscriminately into the ground below. Dust clouds flew all over the area as more and more holes dotted the ground. I had no idea where the enemy was, but this was the most efficient way to find out. I just had to look for a gap in the dust clouds.

“[Wind Barrier]!”

“[Pierce]!”

There! I concentrated my fire on the newly formed wind barrier.

“[Pierce]!” “[Pierce]!” “[Pierce]!”

My attacks did nothing. Most of the meteors bounced off the barrer. Any too large were sliced into pieces.

Hmm, this seems to be getting nowhere. There are at least two people, but I’m not sure whether they are actually my enemy yet. For all I know, they may have just attacked the castle and didn’t see me. Maybe I can talk with them? If push comes to shove, I can pin them down while I try to escape.

I stopped my barrage, swooping down to get a visual.

…

…it’s them.

As soon as I saw their armor, I recognized them right away. It was the party our people referred to as the Executioners: a thief, an archer, a mage, and a self-proclaimed hero swordsman. Compared to your everyday mana user, they were only slightly above average. However, when paired with their infamous adamantite armor and weapons, each of them was almost as strong as me. I doubted they would even survive a second in the wasteland if it wasn’t for that armor.

Words spilled out of my mouth. “Why do you Executioners always try to kill us? What have we ever done to you!?” I screamed.

“Are you serious?! You attack and kill innocent people, razing our villages to the ground. You are beasts, and as such, you must be stopped!” the hero responded, pointing her sword directly at me. I could feel my anger rising.

“You’re the ones who attacked first, slaughtering our kind just because we have horns or tails or ears atop our heads. Just because we don’t look completely human. You declared war on us, but you’re saying we should just take it and die? We’re not even the beasts you’re so desperately trying to fight. We’re still people!”

“And yet, unrest still grows between your people and ours in the forest capital. More and more people continue to disappear, and the beasts are beginning to revolt. These events are too well organized to be anything but an attack from you, Beast Queen. As the hero, I, no we, must end you to save our own.”

Ah, so that’s the reason. Because I wasn’t competent, because I wasn’t strong enough to stop my own people, they were trying to end me. It wasn’t a bad plan. Kill the queen and the country would fall soon after. I couldn’t tell them that I could fix everything since I didn’t know what was wrong. There were no words to convince them. My hands clenched as I came to that realization.

I looked back towards the hero’s party once more; a somber tone escaped my lips. “There’s no way I can get you to retreat?”

“I cannot. Your death will end this cycle of bloodshed.”

“...then prepare yourselves.” I raised my hand to the sky, gathering as much mana as I could spare.

“[Meteor Shower].”

The meteors fell from the sky once more, slamming into the wind barrier, starting our war of attrition. With the hero pinned down, this would all come down to whose mana ran out first. However, their thief and archer weren’t doing anything, so even if I took down the hero and the mage, I would still lose in the end. Funny out how life turns out, huh? But I’m not going down without a fight!

However, as soon as I thought that, the hero jumped out of the barrier. He was…using my meteors as a foothold!? The hero jumped gracefully from meteor to meteor, quickly getting closer. I stopped my spell as soon as I noticed, but it wasn’t fast enough. The hero kicked off the last meteor to get within striking distance.

Crap! There’s no time to prepare another spell! I’m going to have to dodge…huh?

Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip.

Pitter-Patter. Pitter-Patter. Pitter-Patter.

The lone cloud in the sky rained upon us – more than a single cloud was capable of. Although it only lasted a few seconds, it felt like a torrential storm had passed through. Clouds rained every so often, but not in the wasteland. There shouldn’t even be any clouds at all with the lack of water. However, something weirder was happening.

“How…”

There was some sort of mana coming from the water, weeding its way into my body. I felt more powerful than I ever had before, but something felt…off.

Maybe I’m experiencing the effects of mana deprivation. Yeah…that’s it.

Regardless, I had enough mana to escape. The hero fell to the ground due to the weight of the water in her armor, giving me ample time to run. I flew back to the castle as fast as possible. The flight was significantly shorter, only taking around ten minutes. Did having such an excess of mana make spells more powerful? I had to look into this later.

But that was for another day. My body was screaming to rest. I took a detour to my room and jumped into bed. My mind passed out right after, as though falling into a long slumber.