Axium

CHAPTER 7

XRenia appeared in space above the earth. Her grandfather stood inside his capsule-like shield over top of the world his calm and straight-faced demeanor the perfect picture of the powerful ruler he was. With precise smooth motions of his hands, he formed a scrying far larger than she believed was possible.

When he finished he clasped his hands behind his back and stared imperviously down at the world below. "Tell me what you see."

She gazed at her grandfather's scrying with unbridled curiosity. It spanned the width and breadth of their kingdom and worked like a liquid magnifying glass. Wherever her eyes swept the scrying would zoom in bringing every aspect of Terra into crystal clear view. She gasped in awestruck wonder for it was the most beautiful and magnificent sight she had ever seen.

The rolling hills of ordinate green and the seas of tall graceful trees flowed seamlessly into each other. Villages and towns dotted the endless expanse in complete harmony with breathtaking nature about them.

Her grandfather turned his head slightly and raised an eyebrow.

"It's our kingdom."

"Describe it for me."

"It's green and lush. The towns and villages seem to blend perfectly into nature and they seem so. . so tranquil."

"And the cities?"

XRenia eyes swept across the land to focus on Coriander one of the largest cities and her favorite one. It was vibrant and full of life and there was no black smog hanging over the city like there was in other nations. Exquisite hanging gardens let their vines hang down every skyscraper. Tall luscious green grass grew under the glass riveted walkways and even the roads for the constant flow of vehicles were somehow designed in such a way that they added to the beauty of the city instead of taking away from it. "The only word I can think of to describe them is elegant."

"I prefer the word pulchritudinous. But yes they are elegant."

He waved his hand and the land shifted and morphed. The land that replaced their fair kingdom was a hideous clay red. A giant desert sat right in the middle of it. The northern lands covered in ice and continuous blizzards. The few forests there was, were brownish-green. The Eastern side was dotted in factories that spewed forth sickening black clouds. Giant gaping holes could be seen across the entire land and at places it looked like a beast the size of a nation had taken its claws to it, ripping colossal size gouges into the earth.

"This is the Badlands. What Terra used to be called and looked like."

She gasped. "That can't be true. It looks nothing like our kingdom."

"That's because your grandmother and I, along with your parents have spent our entire lives changing it into what it is today."

XRenia put her hand to her mouth in amazement.

"Over a billion people call Terra home and thanks to our efforts they live peaceful happy lives." Her grandfather took a deep and satisfied breath. "This is the result of our blood sweat and tears. This is what you are capable of."

He turned and stared meaningfully at her his starlight blue eyes burning home his statement. She swallowed hard and without saying another word her grandfather produced a rift and disappeared.

She floated there in silence staring down at her grandfather scrying. For the life of her, she couldn't believe that this ugly continent staring back at her used to be what their beautiful kingdom looked like.

XRenia couldn't even imagine what it would take to heal even one of those holes in the land. Yet her family had healed them all. Then she remembered what Verin had said about putting others first. That is exactly what her grandfather, grandmother, and parents had done all their lives and she had never even realized it. Oh sure they ruled the kingdom but she knew quite well that was no picnic even if many adolescent teenagers her age believed it was. No, her family had continuously given and gave of themselves while she on the other hand was spoiled rotten.

Her grandfather's scrying started to fade away along with the shield he had put around her. She took one last good look at the way things used to be and decided what she was going to do. She pushed a rift opened and floated through.

XRenia came out of the rift into the castle's war room. It was a grand dome-shaped room with white marble floors and an earthen brown ceiling crafted out of magically molded fire clay. As her foot touched the reflective floor the shield around her faded away and she noticed her grandmother standing over the massive map in the middle of the room.

"Grandmother, why are you here?"

Her grandmother looked up from the map and frowned at her. "I think I'm the one you should be asking that question. I don't think I've ever seen you in here before."

XRenia shrugged and walked around the rectangle-shaped map towards her grandmother "I've come here from time to time. What are you up to?"

Her grandmother waved her hand at the map and it returned to its normal state. "Your grandfather and father are dead set on avoiding a war but I kind of like the idea it's been half a century since I had a good throw down brawl with another mage."

XRenia put her hand to her mouth. "Grandmother I didn't know you were so violent."

Her grandmother Tara smiled and patted her on the head. "Oh don't be so shocked. I was an anarchist long before I met your grandfather. Fighting has always been my life and all this political maneuvering has me about to pull my hair out," her grandmother said in a lighthearted manner but XRenia saw the frustration in her eyes.

She took her grandmother's hand to keep her from petting her on the head again and asked, "So what was your favorite fight?"

"Ah, that's a good question." Her grandmother closed her eyes as if thinking and after a second a smirk planted itself firmly on her face.

"You going to just stand there smirking about it or are you going to tell me?" XRenia asked impatiently.

Her grandmother laughed. "When we first came here the eastern border was covered in factories kept running through slave labor. We started our small kingdom closer to the western border but after we established a fairly secure base your grandfather wanted to free the slaves. The first factory we took down was pretty easy. But it took us almost three months to give all the slaves proper homes so by the time we went back for the next it had been fortified."

Tara floated up into the air and glided to the eastern side of the map. "Sentry turrets, missile launchers, and magic emplacements along with a host of low-rent mages. Boy did we have fun tearing that place up. And the next two factories we took out became even more well fortified. At last the owner of the factories, a man a little more powerful than King Brokon had, had enough and declared war on us. He marched on our kingdom with a full army of hired maggots." She turned around and waved her hand causing a point close to the middle the map to magnify. "We clashed here and our battle was one for the ages. Your grandfather was only twentysomething at the time but I love how he obliterated swaths of the enemy forces and man how he tore that crime Lord's head clean off at the end. . . It was something to behold." Her grandmother's eyes sparkled as she stared down at the map.

Okay maybe her grandparents weren't perfect symbols of selflessness.

"You know I believe your father was conceived later that night."

"I didn't need to know that," She blurted.

A giant knowing smile spread across to grandmother's face. "Oh sweetie you'll be the same someday. Well if you and Vifctif ever work it out that is."

XRenia frowned. "Vif who?"

"That's Verin's real name dear."

"Oh." She felt her face flush with embarrassment.

Her grandmother laughed again. "Don't worry about it, dear. It's a horrible name and if he were my man I'd have him change it to. Though you probably should've asked him to change it first before you started calling him by a new name."

XRenia kicked at the floor. "I know, and I certainly shouldn't have tried to force myself on him either."

Her grandmother floated down to her. "I actually think that parts kind of endearing. Just think he can tell your kids. Your mother thought I was such a fine catch she forced me to marry her the first time we met."

XRenia stepped back. "Kids!? He hates me."

"I doubt that and I don't believe any man is able to resist my stunning granddaughter for long. I'm already planning a full-on marriage ceremony for your birthday."

She rolled her eyes. "You're delusional grandma."

"We will see," her grandmother said as if she knew something XRenia didn't. "You on other hand still haven't told me why you're in here."

"I'm going to get an early start on Thaxium so I'm here to return the kingdoms money and resources." XRenia reached into her dimensional inventory and sent all of her stock resources and money into the kingdoms vault hidden underneath the map.

Her grandmother's eyebrows furled and c****d her head to the side in confusion as she watched the transfer. "Why are you doing that? You should be taken more out not put it back. Not only that we have a whole catch of magical artifacts and enchanted items were planning on sending with you when you go."

XRenia really didn't want to try and explain it to her grandmother but what Verin had said about things not costing her anything had really hit her hard. Her entire life she had everything handed to her on a silver platter. Never once had she had to work for something if she wanted it her family or her magic had let her have it. This time however it was going to be different so she sidestepped her grandmother's question by saying, "As you probably already know grandfather just showed me what our kingdom used to look like but no one's ever told me how the Badlands became the Badlands. I mean I know exactly how Thaxium became like it is but not even my teachers ever mentioned how the Badlands were formed."

"It was countless years ago and were not quite sure how it happened. And don't try to sidestep my question. Why did you put your money back?"

"Come on grandmother you must know something," XRenia pressed.

"Why do you want to know?"

"Because I lived here all my life and only today did I find out what it used to really look like. You must have done some research on it or at least I know grandfather must-have."

Tara sighed "We've read documents and done scryings of the past yes, but we only have speculations."

"So what are the speculations?" She pushed.

"Fine I tell you what I believe happened but you should know your grandfather does not agree with my assumptions."

"Sweet." XRenia said as she hopped up and sat on the corner of the map.

Her grandmother sat down on an invisible chair and leaned back. "Well for generations the nation that ruled this land had a strict one-child policy. And the people of that time always wanted boys because they could carry on the family name as well as be the labor force. This overtime resulted with there being two to three men for every woman."

XRenia's eyes grew wide. "That sounds like a recipe for disaster to me."

Her grandmother started to gently rocked back and forth in her invisible chair. "Indeed it was and to make matters worse the woman of the nation wanted nothing to do with settling down and the few that did often married foreigners. The government tried to oppress the woman and force them to marry. This tactic may have stemmed the tide if it hadn't been for the rebirth of magic which gave the common person previously unheard-of amounts of power. It took the government almost three years to get things back under control and by that time the previously oppressed woman had fled the nation leaving mostly nothing but men."

She pulled her legs up underneath her and leaned forward. "So let me get this straight the men of the nation now have magic but no woman? Can I say Armageddon?"

Her grandmother laughed. "Yes, man are beast at the best of times and is a full-on monster at the worst of times. They rebelled blaming the government for their problems tearing the nation apart from the inside and thanks to the re-emergence of magic the chaos awakened a Dragon. After almost a millennium of sleeping it was starving. It sought out the nation's power sources destroying them and sucking down the excess energy unknowingly causing them to meltdown and explode. The land became toxic and the people fled. After that the land was the site of many wars until eventually it was just known as the Badlands."

"Whatever happened to the Dragon?" XRenia asked excitedly.

"No one knows," her grandmother answered as she stood up from her invisible chair. "Now I've answered your question so you need to tell me why you put the money back."

It was XRenia's turn to sigh. "Because grandma I want to try to do this on my own."

Worry filled her grandmother's eyes. "Oh, honey that's not a good idea. Thaxium is dangerous even for someone as powerful as you."

She unfolded her legs and slid off the map. "I know that but if I start my own kingdom using grandfather's money or artifacts it will be tracked back here and no matter what we say it'll be seen as a power grab. Especially if I start doing it before I'm officially banished."

"Then let them. If they want war they will find a reason no matter what we do. There's no way I'm letting my beloved granddaughter charge into a hostile environment without support."

If it had been earlier that day XRenia would've fully agreed with her grandmother about the war thing but after seeing the genuine terror in the Duke she was pretty sure the only way he or his ilk would pick a fight with her family is if they truly believed it was their only option. "I don't think you're right grandma. They probably want to avoid a fight to their deaths just as much as we want to avoid killing them."

Her grandmother rolled her eyes. "Honey you have a lot to learn about the stupidity of humans."

XRenia walked around the table tracing the edge of it with her finger. "Maybe I do. But I don't want to provoke them any more than I already have. God knows that in the last month alone I've probably peed off someone in every one of the eight nations. So I don't think it be wise for me to continue to do that."

"No, I guess it wouldn't." A small smile played at the corners of her grandmother serious face.

"Grandma?"

"I'm sorry sweetie. I just.. Your mother didn't show you the report this morning did she?"

"Report?"

Tara waved her hand at the map and a holographic report appeared above it.

XRenia looked at it with curiosity. "What's it about."

The smile on her grandmother's face grew. "Apparently one of your flights cause a shockwave that killed high Chancellor Dunnville's pet migrating goose. Enclosed in the report is his personal letter demanding that you be immediately exiled to space for your crimes against humanity."

Her face paled. That wasn't funny at all and now she knew why the wall she encountered earlier that day was there. "Oh my," she gasped. "I need to apologize."

"You can't. Right now he has no legal leg to stand on. If you apologize however he will be able to say that you openly admitted your guilt and are therefore subject to legal retaliation."

"Politics!" She heard Verin curse. Hearing his voice and remembering that he was listening made her stiffen but then she realized he probably hadn't meant for her to hear that. Which meant she could hear him if was emotional.

"Honey?" Her grandmother asked frowning at her.

"Apparently Verin doesn't like politics," XRenia answered.

"Ha. Well, tell him his Grandfather in-law says he better get used to them."

XRenia's eyes grew wide. "Grandfather is listening in!?"

"Of course he is. He also says that you're not going anywhere without supplies and he's had a chance to give Verin proper combat training."

Well, that was just great. So much for her wanting to get an early start. And now there was a zero chance of her being allowed to do this on her own.

Verin broke her concentration by pressing the memory of her combat training at her. She shrunk back and shivered. That was not a memory she found enjoyable. He pressed a particular part of it where she was thrown hard against a cave wall so hard that she had broken her left arm.

At that moment XRenia realized that Verin wasn't trying to remind her he was asking about it. A smile spread across her face and she mentally said to him, "Oh you think that's bad? You're a man so he'll naturally be harder on you, not to mention the fact that you've made his precious granddaughter cry." This time she clearly felt the shiver that ran down his spine.

Her attention returned to the war room and she was about to say goodbye to her grandmother then go mope in her room when she noticed her grandmother's eyes flicked to the side. XRenia glanced past her to see a small statue of a Dragon's claw floating towards her. The arm portion of the claw was shaped like a spear and the talons of the statue clutched a miniature model of the planet. A scrying appeared above it that read, "If you're going at least take this with you when you jam into the ground it produces a shield that protects you from the effects of broken ley lines. I'll keep grandfather fooled about your whereabouts for as long as I can. Good luck."

Ecstatic joy flooded her as she reached out with her magic and shoved it into her dimension inventory. She wanted to wrap her arms around her grandma but she knew that would tip her grandfather off so she forced herself to frown instead. "Okay grandma I understand," she said and walk mopingly out of the war room.

As she was going to the door her grandmother said, "Tell Verin that grandfather wants to talk to him and begin his training. And that he won't be very happy if he has to hunt him down."

She felt Verin stiffen and she couldn't help but smile.