Prologue

"…while the Meridians themselves are a relatively peaceful people, their religion is particular… scary. It is dark, murderous and goes against every Migichinan principle… and the way the priest treat the women… I'll have a hard time sleeping tonight."

Captain Winter Ventrosia – MNV Draesoneth Ship's Logs

***

Never in the life of Maxaa Branwyn did she have to run from anything. Her life was filled with success after glorious success, both as a Human Federation Naval officer and as an agent of the god Merid… Her success as a person had been a source of pride for her or at least that was up until now. Now, she was little more than a fugitive from Migichinan law, wanted for crimes against the Alliance in a bid to try and place Riskahd Slann in the position of Migichinan Lord Chancellor. On top of that, she remained a pawn of a very dark and evil being.

She curled up on the bed in her sparsely decorated cabin aboard the Saurian Freighter Tobrin's Rift. She did not know what the Elven god Merid would do to her, and she was afraid to imagine what the possibilities could be. She did everything according to his plan, and to the best of her own knowledge. She was certain that she was the perfect instrument of the god's policy. She was flawless! She knew she was! Seducing Slann, whispering glory into his ears, dictating the man's actions. It was all very easy for her, easy because Slann wanted the power and glory of conquest, and easy because of her own feminine wiles. She allowed herself to smile because the sex was good, but even that was just a memory. All she had to her name now was a jumpsuit that was at least one size too small and a stolen pulse pistol with a 50% charge. Her only advantage at the moment was that the freighter captain asked no questions when she booked passage.

She pulled the thin, scratchy covers tight around her body. She cursed the Saurians and their thick, scaly hides. There was no need for comfort for them when it came to linens and Maxaa wished she could at least have a fleece blanket. Drifting off to sleep would prove to be a difficult task, but sleep did indeed come eventually…

***

…She awoke not to the cabin of the Saurian freighter, but to the dark stone walls of a castle's throne room. Firelight danced off the polished black marble walls and floor, and banners of Elven glory hung from the rafters. Maxaa knew where she was. She had been here before, and because of that familiarity, fear filled her heart.

She slowly walked to the center of the chamber as the eyes of Elven spirits and other supernatural entities followed her movements with suspicion and loathing. At the far end of the chamber sat Merid, god of the elves of planet Meridia, named in his honor. He rested upon a throne of bone, which featured the remnants of Migichinan, Saurian, and Humanis who had stood in defiance of his 'children'. He was adorned in the finest of silk and satin and wore jewelry so splendid that not even the greatest of mortal monarchs would be worthy of. Maxaa prayed that her own bones would not be added to the throne.

"Dear sweet Maxaa, how nice of you to join us." The corners of Merid's lips curled in to a poisonous smile. "Please refrain from the typical questions of 'How did I get here?' and 'what's going to happened to me?'" The Elven god said with a sarcastic yawn and lazy wave of his hand. "You are here because I will it to be, and what's going to happen to you depends very much on the next few minutes and what I decide to do."

Maxaa went pale with deepening fear. It was well known amongst the Meridians that this god rewarded failure with slow and painful death. Maxaa was certain that this would be her fate as well.

"My lord", she stammered as she fell to her knees and bowed to Merid. "I can explain everything. Please! I beg you!"

"No, I doubt you can explain." Merid leaned forward, casting his full, ominous gaze on Maxaa. "Your grasp of the scope of your failure is severely limited! I'm afraid your pitiful, mortal brain is not developed well enough to be able to comprehend the ramifications of Slann's defeat." The dark elven god replied. "Yes, you are here because you failed." He paused for a moment, looking upon the mortal woman with utter contempt. "There is only one reward for failure…"

Two Elven spirits approached from the midst Merid's court, sheathed in shimmering black chitin armor, ornately demonic in appearance with eyes that glowed red from deep within their helmets. They held out their hands, which changed shape. Fingers became long blades, razor sharp and able to cut through stone as if it were butter. Though humanoid in figure, there was nothing human or even elven about the dark guards.

Merid held up his hand. "Not yet. I believe that we may not yet have lost. I'm certain that Maxaa Branwyn wants the opportunity to beg for my mercy and beg for another chance?" He extended his hand to gently caressed Maxaa's jaw. Though his fingers were ice cold, she could feel her skin begin to burn.

As she started to shiver, Maxaa looked up at Merid. "Yes! Oh yes my lord!" She sobbed, "Please, give me another chance! I will not fail you again!"

The Elven god took more interest in his fingernails than in Maxaa's groveling. He yawned and continued to look down at her through his nose. "Realize that this is the only second chance you will receive from me.. a final chance. Fail me again and not only your life, but the very existence of your soul shall be forfeit." Merid warned.

"Yes Master." Maxaa replied. "What is it the Master wishes of me?" She asked as humbly as she could.

Whisps of magical energy emerged from Merid's palm, taking the shape of the Tobrin's Rift. "You are on a ship that is taking you towards the Humanis Federation. There, in the Humanis Federation, you will seek out a Cyberneticist by the name of Rina Kosteele. She is developing a weapons system that may be capable of defeating a Migichinan warrior in combat. I want to ensure that she finishes her project and that the result is used against the Migichinan.

"What services can I provide? I am a military operations & political science specialist. I don't know much about science or engineering." Maxaa said.

"Simple. Provide the scientist with protection and funding. Those who are above her do not fully support Dr. Kosteele's project and would see it 'shut down.' They fear that what she is working on may not be ethical, or morally acceptable, to the citizens of the Humanis Federation. This may require some political wrangling, etcetera." He frivolously looked over the jeweled rings on his fingers. "You are very familiar with, aren't you? Subtrefuge? Shadowy power plays? Seduce politicians; buy them, whatever you have to do! Kosteele's cyborg monstrosities must be created and they must do battle with those accursed Migichinan!" Merid was regularly angry, but his anger was more intense than ever before. All in his ethereal court knew of his hatred for his sister Migichina and her children, and all knew that he would stop at nothing to destroy them.

"You know what you must do. Go back to your whimpering in that dank Saurian freighter." Merid hissed and with a flick of his wrist, Maxaa Branwyn vanished.

***

Merid sank back down onto his throne. He brushed his long, jet-black hair away from his face. In doing so, he saw a member of his ethereal court approach.

"Dark Lord, Dark Lord, so powerful and precise. Destroy the Migs? You'll need more than living-dead robots to do that." Uhaii'ju Latasalaem, a dark priest of Meridia who through his devotion to his God earned an eternal place at his lord's side, took his place at Merid's side as streams of dark energy swirled around him. "Maxaa Branwyn is not your daughter. She is of the soulless Humanis who care nothing of religion or spirits. She only follows you because of your power. She follows you because of the power you bestow upon her. She does not love you as we do. She fears you."

"Again you speak wisdom, Uhaii." Merid said. As defiant as his follower was in practice, Merid could not deny Uhaii's devotion. The dread elven god allowed him more liberties than he would anyone else because of this devotion. Regardless of his servant's devotion, it would not stop Merid from wondering whether the warlock's motive was an eagerness to serve his God or to serve himself.

"What, then, do you propose, Latasalaem?" Merid asked, curious to see what direction the dark priest would go with this.

"The woman needs to be followed. She needs to be watched. After her failure on the Migichinan homeworld, I wouldn't be surprised if she's trying to figure out ways to turn on you, defect, or otherwise make a break for it."

"Doubtful". Merid said. "She wouldn't dare. I know her every move before she even makes it. Were she to betray me, I would strike her down!"

"Dark Lord, that would be a waste of energy and time. All Maxaa will need is some proper guidance." Uhaii said, drumming the tips of his fingers together. "She needs someone to coach her along, make sure she walks the straight and narrow, a smack on the fanny, catch my drift?"

"You speak like a Saurian." Merid pointed out. "You spent too much time on Reptilus."

"That may well be true." Uhaii said, reverting to a more proper form of address in sensing his master's disapproval, "But I probably know more about the Humanis than anyone else here because of my experiences. The Saurians have tangled with them almost as much as the Migichinan have. I think that for any plan of yours against the Migs to work, you're going to have to create a political rift between the Saurians and the Migs."

"Sound advice as always, Uhaii." Merid said as he thought about it. "While there are only a billion or so Migichinan, there are easily trillions of Saurians spread out across three-quarters of the galaxy. They would likely stand by the Migichinan in a time of war, and if that is the case, the Humanis Federation wouldn't stand a chance, unless I get more directly involved." Merid's fingers brushed the blood red ruby Phoenix Tear pendant that dangled around his neck. "I do in fact have a plan that just might work, provided Maxaa can succeed in her mission."

"I do NOT like that look on your face." Uhaii commented, slipping from proper speak.

Merid laughed. "My loyal servant, my success is your success. However, I do concur that Maxaa will need guidance. Go, watch her, help her if you have to, and make sure she keeps my best interests in mind.

***

Maxaa awoke in a cold sweat in her cabin on the Saurian freighter. She tried her best to calm herself down, but the meeting with Merid left her in a terrible state. She got up out of her bed and stripped off her jumpsuit to take a shower.

When she stood in front of the mirror, she noticed something new on her skin: the mark of Merid. She did not immediately remember being branded, but this looked fresh, within a few days at least.

She ran her fingers across the mark and cried out when it burned. Her vision blurred and the pain sparked a memory…

***

Merid commanded his guards to hold Maxaa down. They tore away the shirt that covered her chest and ripped away her bra.

"This is the price of failure, woman." Merid stood over the mortal woman, casting him imperious glare upon her.. His minions held Maxaa down on a cold, stone altar as the Elven god took up a golden branding iron. He opened his other hand and a flame appeared. He placed his flaming palm underneath the branding iron and the flames surged from orange to blue white! The iron itself began to glow as Merid infused his power into it.

"You will remember now and forever who your true master is, woman!" Merid growled.

He touched the iron to the skin just above Maxaa's left breast. She screamed as the searing heat penetrated and permeated every nerve in her body! The ordeal lasted only seconds, but it seemed like an eternity.

When Merid was satisfied that his mark would be permanent, he lifted the branding iron away from Maxaa and handed it off to an attendant.

"You belong to me now." Merid turned away from her and laughed as the guards continued her torture by taking certain 'liberties' with the helpless woman.

***

Maxaa fell to her knees and sobbed. She now remembered the pain and the smell of burnt flesh and the other ways in which her body had been violated. It must have happened at some point during her meeting with Merid, but she could not remember when. It must have happened at the beginning.

"You belong to me, now." She remembered him saying. Those words would forever be etched into her mind and soul, just as Merid's mark was now etched into her body.

"C'mon, pull yourself together, you cow." Maxaa cursed at herself. She should not be like this. She knew she was stronger than that. She stood up and looked in the mirror. "You work for Merid now. If you want to live, then the Migs have die. That's the only way."

She finally managed to get into the shower and wash the sweat and stench off of her body. A long time ago, a shower would have been welcomed, but ever since she threw in with the Dark Lord of the elves, she would never, ever feel fully clean again.

"Protect the scientist, I can do." Maxaa told herself. "Political support, I can manage that, but funding? I don't have a stinking' dime to my name. The Migichinan and the Saurians both seized my assets!" She reached for her towel and cursed every rough fiber and she began to dry herself off. She slipped on a bathrobe and walked out to the main cabin to see a number of large chests opened to reveal a substantial amount of gold and Humanis currency.

"Oh... wow..." She gasped as she ran her fingers through the coins. There was also a small wardrobe supplied for her, a few weapons, and an envelope. Maxaa picked it up and opened the envelope to reveal a note tucked inside. She pulled it out and unfolded it to see words written in blood.

"Remember, you belong to me."

The blood… was her own.