Chapter 51 The Invasion of Elvonia.
1722 Words
Of all the species that the Zetans altered in their image, the Elves were the ones that were most alike the Zetans. Like the Zetans, the Elves had very long lives spanning over a thousand years, a prolonged reproductive cycle, and powerful affinity to the pure untainted Zeto Crystals. This meant that the Elves liked to live in harmony among each other and their environment, keeping all their planet Elvonia in a pristine ecological condition. There was, however, one significant point of difference between the Zetans and the Elves, that while the Zetans had valued knowledge and science over everything else, the Elves valued tradition and preservation. Thus, the Elves were living with very primitive technology, despite being the second most intelligent species in the Galaxy.
The Day of the invasion started like any other day on Elvonia. King Mellron led a prayer to the True Maker, in the form of the primordial Zeto Crystal, and the crystal in return granted a peaceful aura of bliss and balance to all living beings on Elvonia. Suddenly, there was a bright light in the distance coming from the long-deactivated portals, and the Elves were excited. Had the mythological Zetans, the primordial creators of the Elves, that had not been seen for thousands of years, finally come to visit? King Mellron remembered the last time he saw the Zetan god Gaia, he had been a young boy, and he was now an old man, thousands of years later.
King Mellron gathered his court, and together they moved towards the distant forest glade where the portal had opened. If the Zetans indeed had arrived, they deserved nothing less than a royal reception. As King Mellron approached the forest glade, he had a foreboding feeling that not everything was in order. He sensed an unpleasant and worrisome feeling surging through his body. The putrid smell of fire and burnt flesh suddenly filled his sense of smell, and as he got closer, he could hear the tormented squeals of his brethren. When King Mellron reached the portal opening, he realised the terrible truth, that it wasn’t the Zetans that had returned, but something else, something that instead of focusing its energy on the lights of creation, harmony and balance, focused on destruction, evil and demise.
A group of Melchior’s Xeno-Martian hybrid soldiers rushed to seize King Mellron, and he raised his ornamental staff encrusted with the holy Zeto Crystal to purify their souls and bring them peace. As their souls had been so corrupted by Rangda’s dark Zeto Crystals, their bodies couldn’t take it, and they dropped dead to the ground.
Mellron studied the fallen combatants and felt sorrow. He had only aimed to pacify them to avoid confrontation and instead he had inadvertently killed hundreds of living beings. Such a terrible waste of life and he didn’t understand what he had done wrong. Suddenly, he felt a terrifying presence chilling his bones, and Rangda appeared, coming out from the portal accompanied by a large group of her Xeno bodyguards. Rangda was wielding a staff equipped with two corrupted dark Zeto Crystals, so dark and eerie, they absorbed all the light around them, and the previously bright forest glade turned into a twilight zone.
Rangda studied Mellron and spoke:
- King Mellron. For too long have you bereaved your people of the light of progress. It is time for a new beginning. Both for the Elves and for the rest of the galaxy.
King Mellron:
- And who are you, if I might ask. And what are those dark abominations that you carry with you that extinguish the light around you?
Rangda:
- I am Rangda, god-queen of the Xenos, and soon to rule the whole Galaxy. Yield now and I’ll spare most of your people. I’ll need them to reform Elvonia to its true potential.
King Mellron:
- True potential? Elvonia is a paradise. Every living being lives in harmony, and once the lifespan of an individual dies, they pass on peacefully, giving back their life force to the Zeto Crystal that granted it in the first place.
- What else could my people possibly want from existence?
Rangda:
- They could want progress, ambition to become better than their boring fellow elves, greed to fill their pockets with treasures and vaults with precious metals.
King Mellron:
- That sounds terrible. Giving up on balance and bliss, pursuing hollow goals and desires that tear people apart and destroy the natural environment!
Rangda:
- Whatever you say, King Mellron. I am not here to discuss philosophy. I am here to get your untainted Zeto Crystal. Resist me if you must but be wary of the consequences if you do.
King Mellron:
- I don’t think you understand Rangda, us Elves and all life forms on Elvonia are dependent on the Zeto Crystal for our existence. If I give it away, I will doom us all.
- I am afraid I’ll have to ask you to leave. Go back to whatever dimension you came from and leave us alone. I do not wish any more bloodshed.
Rangda:
- And yet you chose to condemn your entire entourage to a painful death by refusing to cooperate.
- Xenos, Charge!
On Rangda’s signal, hundreds of Xeno Warriors came charging against King Mellron and his court. In the last second, Mellron conjured a spell and covering his group with a white forcefield. All the Xenos that rushed into the forcefield were repelled and set ablaze. The forest glade was filled with the wailing of the Xenos running around, burning with white flames that consumed their bodies. A short while later, most of them were dead or dying, scattered around the grove. Rangda studied Mellron, smiled, and spoke:
- Feels good, doesn’t it Mellron? The sound and sight of your enemies’ lives extinguished in front of your eyes? The only sad part is wasting of the flesh. But I sense there is a lot to eat on this planet so we can afford to be wasteful!
- But their deaths won’t be in vain. As a matter of fact, they’ll be hailed as heroes!
King Mellron:
- And why is that?
Rangda:
- Because they just drained your Zeto Crystal of energy, while my two corrupted Zeto Crystals are fully charged!
After saying this, Rangda aimed her staff with black Zeto Crystals towards Mellron’s entourage. The crystals drained all the light, and the whole sky became black. Suddenly, Mellron’s followers started screaming in agony before their heads exploded and the headless corpses fell to the ground. Rangda smiled diabolically towards Mellron and spoke:
- Interesting. It seems that the Elves affinity with the Zeto Crystals makes it possible for me to charge them using your life force. How delightful.
Mellron:
- What are you talking about, you evil monster! The Zeto Crystals are charged by the benevolence and grace of the True Maker.
Rangda:
- Perhaps your useless crystal is, but my crystals are not.
- Farewell, Mellron. Die knowing that your death will serve a useful purpose; making me more powerful.
Mellron:
- Please don’t. All life on Elvonia is attuned and powered by the untainted and pure Zeto Crystal. Steal the crystal, and you’ll turn our beautiful paradise into a barren wasteland.
Rangda:
- That is precisely what I intend to do Mellron, goodbye!
After saying this, Rangda turned the power of her corrupted Zeto Crystals towards King Mellron. The Elven-king tried to resist her influence, but he had no means to do so. He had drained his pure Zeto Crystal when he misused it to kill the attacking Xenos. Rangda used her powers to lock Mellron in a psionic force field that stopped him from moving, then she proceeded to very slowly absorbing and shattering his soul to charge her crystals. Rangda had decided to kill Mellron very slowly as he had resisted her and needed to be punished. Mellron’s tormented screams echoed in the forest for hours before he finally slumped headless to the ground.
After Rangda had killed Mellron, Melchior approached her.
Melchior:
- I take it your mission was successful.
Rangda:
- Yes, as I anticipated, forcing Mellron to kill our troops with his pure Zeto Crystal turned out to be his undoing. His crystal lost its power the moment he used it to take life instead of giving life.
Melchior:
- Good, how many casualties on our side?
Rangda:
- Less than a thousand, so inconsequential.
Melchior:
- Good. The local population do not have the strength or the technology to stand against us. I believe we can conquer the whole planet within a week.
Rangda:
- Don’t bother. I think I know a quicker way!
Rangda picked up the fallen Mellron’s staff and studied the Zeto Crystal. Its bright blue light had faded, and it looked like any regular gemstone. Rangda lit a bonfire and put the uncorrupted Zeto Crystal in the middle of the fire. She then took a knife and cut a deep cut in her arm, making her blood drop down on the crystal in the fire, while chanting curses and focusing her mind on the pure Zeto crystal. After a while, the fire had extinguished and left in the ashes was, a corrupted dark Zeto Crystal, so dark that it absorbed the light all around it. Rangda picked up the dark Zeto crystal and slotted it into her staff, laughing diabolically. As she did the plants around her started to wither, and the decay was spreading at a tremendous pace.
Melchior:
- I guess we won’t be able to sell Elvonia as a tourist destination anymore.
Rangda:
- The Elves, they should have surrendered their crystal and bowed to me. Now they will suffer.
- Order your men to gather as many resources as they can and survey the planet for resources. We’ll stay here for a while to regain our strength before we move on. The galaxy is vast, and we have plenty to do.
Melchior:
- Yes, Queen Rangda. I will do your bidding!
- Writer
