They landed on the eastern shore of the northern peninsula, within sight of the spot where the cliffs began their slow ascent from the sea. It was a stunning country if not somewhat remote. Wild horses galloped over the tall grasses in the shallow hills and dales. If there had once been people living on the peninsula, they would have been slaughtered some sixteen hundred years gone.

  After a few hours of riding south they came to the edge of the dense rainforests common to that land. And there, in the shadow of the forested hills west of the high cliffs, they came in sight of the smoke from the first camp. The scouts found them as they traversed the ecotone road between the lowland jungles and the highland forests.

  Prince Adrian Maryy drove his horse toward the scouts. They were dressed in rugged olive uniforms and their caps were made of fur. They held their bolt-action sniper rifles pointed toward the ground as Adrian approached.

  "Who is your commanding officer now?" Adrian asked.

  "Captain Algot Gunn," the senior scout replied. "Imperial Marines. When we lost contact with the chancery, he immediately took command and led our forces out of the city."

  Algot Gunn is a spy, Adrian recalled. A capable man, if not somewhat young. He must have been inside the chancery when the rebellion started.

  "Lead me to him," Adrian commanded.

  The captain's camp was located on the slopes of an arid, gray-black volcanic cone jutting up from the rainforest, just below a long line of heavy artillery pieces. Imperial Marines roamed the camp, clad in white trousers and black jackets. The sentries saluted Adrian as he passed.

  Curiously, the captain's tent was illuminated from within by an eerie splash of ghostly green light.

  A Life Elemental? he guessed.

  This was only halfway to the truth. As Adrian crossed the threshold into the dim tent he froze in shock. An involuntary chill raced down his spine. She was floating beside the huge map table, bare feet dangling lazily just a few inches above the pomace floor. A Life Elemental, certainly, with a body made entirely out of translucent emerald light. This one, however, resembled a child in a frilly dress, wearing a crown of thorns and roses.

  Not just any Life Elemental. A High Daughter of the Elemental Queen of Life. And not just any High Daughter, but the infamous First, sometimes known as the War Elemental, or sometimes as the Wandering Elemental, but most-commonly known simply by the name Reyndell the Paladin had ascribed to her.

  "Felicia," Adrian whispered, voice trembling with awe.

  "Prince Adrian!" a voice snapped.

  It belonged to the soldier in the tent, who Adrian had failed to notice at first. The marine saluted sharply. From the marks on his jacket Adrian surmised the man was Captain Algot Gunn.

  "At ease," Adrian said. "What's your status?"

  "This is an intelligence failure," the captain said. "We had absolutely no warning before the rebels seized control of the city. It all happened immediately. In fact, I can't think of any historical examples of rebellions happening with such swiftness and secrecy. Not unless…"

  "It's as if they had a Light Elemental," Adrian finished. "We cannot rule out that possibility."

  "As you say, my prince."

  Adrian turned to face the High Daughter. She saluted sharply.

  "What's she doing here?" he asked.

  High Marshal Felicia, reporting for duty! a feminine, child-like voice replied in his mind.

  "High Marshal?"

  That was the rank your ancestor gave me, the Elemental explained.

  "And which ancestor would that be?" Adrian asked.

  Vaska of Veninmark, founder of the Heylin Empire. I helped conquer this land during the Second Survival War.

  "So you've been absent without leave for sixteen hundred years," he said dryly. "But that doesn't answer my original question. Why are you here?"

  Because I love moving troops around on a map! Sir!

  This reply corroborated what Adrian knew about the War Elemental.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  "She came up with an excellent plan," Algot Gunn said.

  I have seven thousand years of experience moving troops around on a map, the Elemental added.

  "So what's stopping you from retaking the city?" Adrian asked.

  "The rebels are holding the consuls hostage in the chancery," Algot replied. "I wanted to get approval from a member of House Maryy."

  "So you're saying that your spymaster is a hostage and therefore you are compromised."

  The captain's face betrayed shock. "Yes, my prince. That is exactly correct."

  Adrian sighed. "It cannot be helped. You did well to send after me, captain."

  "Thank you, sir."

  "Let's go take a look at the city, shall we?"

  They went outside and they hiked up the cone to get a better view. To the west, the walled city of New Yaren rose from the river floodplains like a smoldering firepit. Adrian's ancestors had constructed a huge dam south of the city, at great expense to the Maryy family coffers at the time. The dam had the effect of creating a huge lake to the south, while the city's major industrial and financial sectors expanded along the southern shore of that lake.

  To the north, where the mouth of the river emptied into the ocean, there was a beautiful if not impractical temple crowned with golden onion domes. The temple predated the Second Survival War and the subjugation of the Azacago people. Vaska of Veninmark decided not to raze the structure for some reason which had since been lost to history.

  Beyond the edge of the rainforest the floodplains were checkered with farmland of various shades of green. There were even some golden fields of wheat and rice marshes which reflected the gray skies with a watery blue hue. The land between the volcano and the city center was almost perfectly flat with little cover.

  "What do you think?" the captain asked.

  "A standard combined-arms attack," Adrian replied. "Sustained heavy artillery bombardment with a line of infantry following just behind the rear-most explosions."

  That was my plan as well, Felicia said. With some additional details.

  "Give the order captain. We will attack the city immediately."

  "Sir! Yes sir!"

  "High Marshal Felicia," Adrian began.

  Sir? she asked.

  "Can you heal?"

  Of course. All Life Elementals can heal, but my healing powers are especially affectatious, considering I have access to Divine Power. I can restore a vague smear of blood and viscera on the ground into a healthy, fully-functioning body.

  "Excellent. I want you to stay close and heal me if I end up as a vague smear of blood on the ground."

  Sir! Yes sir!

  Adrian sent his horse away and he joined Algot Gunn in his autocar. It was a newer model closed-circuit steam-powered autocar that only required a single Fire Elemental to operate. The captain produced a red-orange contract crystal from his pouch and he invoked the contract to summon the Elemental.

  Unambiguously female, like all Elementals, with flesh sharing the hue and luminosity of a log left too long on a fire, angry red-orange and pulsing from within. She dissolved into a fiery mist which flowed in through the engine exhaust port out of sight. Soon the engine sputtered to life and the autocar started to rattle and bump.

  All around them larger trucks started sputtering to life as well. Powerful haulers capable of moving the heavy artillery pieces, though requiring more contract crystals to operate. Over the next few hours they followed the narrow snake-like road down the volcanic cone and through the jungle to the very edge of the river floodplains.

  The infantry marched on, and Algot Gunn drove the car very slowly to keep pace with the artillery pieces. Felicia floated outside the car, silent and ghost-like.

  The sound of gunfire echoed across the flat floodplains. They passed by a farmhouse and there were some Azacago tribesmen lying dead in the front yard. Adrian rolled down the window to get a better look. Some of the tribesmen had been armed with old military surplus rifles, but most of them were armed with simple hunting longbows.

  "These are the people who took the city?" Adrian asked incredulously. Then he spat on one of the corpses through the open window.

  "That's what makes me suspect there was a Light Elemental involved," Algot Gunn said.

  "What consuls work here?"

  "Mostly just the consuls from Taisia. They report to the ambassador from House Varelion in Taisia. He is stationed at the embassy in Heyl."

  Adrian rubbed his hands through his short beard.

  "Is there anything you're not telling me?" he asked.

  "Like what?" the captain replied.

  "What were you working on before the rebellion started?"

  "I was investigating some rumors, sir."

  "What rumors?" he asked as he rolled up the window.

  Algot Gunn did not answer at first. He drove a little ways to catch up to the trucks hauling the artillery pieces.

  "We intercepted an encoded letter from Taisia's ambassador, addressed to the consul here in New Yaren," the captain began. "It was a very unusual letter. It seems the ambassador was investigating certain Heylin nationals in the capital."

  "Go on," Adrian said.

  "I honestly don't know how to say this without sounding like I made it up."

  "Did you make it up?"

  "No."

  "Let's say I believe you."

  "The ambassador was preparing a report for King Varelion in Taisia City. A compilation of testimonies collected from across Heyl. Some people claim to have memories of previous lives. Like they were reincarnated with their memories intact."

  "Ridiculous," Adrian said.

  "It gets weirder," Algot Gunn said. "These people all make the exact same claim."

  "Which is?"

  "They claim that in a past life they flew through the sky in magical flying machines."