Beyond The Empty Altar, My Reign

a P

he knee-deep snow. Before me stood the absolute limit of the Southern world and the beginnin

ped wa

on, pinning me in a harsh circle of white light. I narrowed my eyes agains

l speakers. "Identify yourself immediately! You are in restricted N

I simply lowered my arm, unbuttoned the ruined lapels of m

ifle chambering a round echoed sharply across the quiet,

attered, the metal deeply scored, and dried, blackened blood still clung to the grooves. It was forged from a

tlight hit the metal. The light caught the deep, silver-engrave

wered scopes on the

t off. A heavy, suffocating silence fell over the

lcoming green. Deep within the earth, massive hydraulic gears groaned and shrieked. The thirty-m

ng the steel grating of the entrance with a heavy, rhythmic thud. I crossed t

und, the sight w

, their black tactical gear blending into the shadows, their assault rifles he

d. The massive, scarred Alpha looked like a mountain of muscle encased

e edges of his eyes turne

e. He didn't salute. He didn't speak. He simply dropped to one knee, the heavy ar

nd him moved in perfect unison. They dropped to one knee, the collective

voice thick with an emotion he

through the air, shaking loose a show

is massive shoulder. I squeezed once. It was the only

er seen me before, were exchanging skeptical, highly insulted looks. I could smell their confusion. They were looking a

demand their respect. I just l

had ever slit, every battlefield I had ever crawled across

es widening in primal terror as their bodies instinctively hunched forward

to being a soldier. He reached into his tactical vest and pulled out

eb ten minutes ago, Commander," Rike said

the center was a candid photo of me, taken during a Southern gala. I was wearing a rid

listed crime: *Theft of highly classified South

d dropping to the heavy pistol at his hip. "I will go Sou

le woman in the photo. A cold,

across the digital keyboard in a blur, injecting a brute-force decryption worm I had built specifically to tear throu

he anonymous IP address was stripped away, revea

Estate. Main

n par

s chest. He caught it, looking at t

onto the wet concrete. Underneath, I wore a tight, black tactical undershirt. The fabric clung to my skin, revea

rmy and walked toward the heavy st

oops as the doors prepared to close. I reached up and hit the comms butto

? Let them bring an