Chapter 31: Through the looking glass

Nadia sat alone in a large room. The room was white washed, white gauze moved from a gentle breeze from the huge widows that were letting lightly colder air in. Her eyes were closed and she was thinking about plans, and counters and other such things. She was sad about Mat. He would have made a marvelous addition to her team. She had felt him on the train station but had had not had the time to deal with him or even recruit him. Benjamin, her second in command had made a grave mistake in ordering an attack on the kid. But it was all in the past now.
Sitting on the floor in the lotus meditation pose, she supervised the battle ground from above like the Tsar of old guided their armies. She truly was the last descendent of the sadly famed Romanov and took pride in her heritage. She, like her famous ancestors wanted to conquer. Destroy humanity was a very different goal though.
On a small table next to her were lying a few books: The Art of War, Julius Cesar’s Gaul conquest, Churchill’s biography and surprisingly, a graphic novel from DC comics and one from Marvel. What did they have in common? No one would ever know but her. This was her sanctuary, her most sacred place of all. Those who knew about it knew enough to stay as far from it as possible. Nadia Romanov did not like to have her privacy invaded by anyone.
The whole house was like this room: white, almost bare of furniture and spread carelessly around the different rooms, books and weapons. The books were about all sort of topics, from history to psychology passing through mythology and obscure subjects like the habits of the Ithach’Ïa, a secretive tribe of Amazonian natives. The weapons were all exquisite craftsmanship. From a Russian sword with the Romanov crest on the scabbard to a hand crafted Ak-47 with the cross carved to resemble a blooming lily, everything was as beautiful as it was deadly.
Sighing, she stood up and went to the window. There she stood looking over the Huacachina Oasis in Peru. She had her own helicopter, a small and beautiful thing she loved her Dragon 334 gp from a small business in Italia, Dragon Fly. She had had to pay a handsome supplement to have a motor that was twice the power of the current one and to augment the flight distance accordingly. But it had all been worth it. The liberty of going and coming to her most beloved location in the world from the nearest airport was unparallel.
Something made her eyes lose focus: the battle in Germany had started. And she needed to concentrate over there. She had over 2 000 troops awaiting he command and she had 6 generals anxious for blood. Such inelegancy saddens her but, when the time was right, they too would perish, as would she. And all would be over and good.
Nadia followed the battle with her mind. She saw the leader of the small platoon move straight for her well planned trap. Then, without reason that she could understand, turn around and move his troops to safety. She ordered the use of her special force, recognizing the leader as Thompson, a man to be weary of. To her utmost amazement, he not only survived but repelled her assault. She had to give him and his troop’s credit; they had done a marvelous job with such feeble resources at their disposal. Opening her eyes, she looked at the sky. Over two hours had passed and the outcome of her plan in Germany for a swift takeover of the city was to be planed again.
With her mind still as the lake of the oasis, she turned her attention to Japan. There was a plan that would come to fruition. Soon, hundreds of undead would emerge from the center of Tokyo. Japan was not ready for this. They had planned well, but she was simply better. She understood their main flaw: their distrust of foreigners. Gaijin’s as they called them. They would never call for help outside their own country. And thus their fall would begin. They would be the first nation to fall. Nothing personal there, it was just that it was easier that way. She would attack every island nation out there as they were easier to infiltrate and they could not escape the Bringers of Light. In the end, on one would.
A small smile played on her beautiful features, warming her for a few instants as she imagined the earth pure and green as it would be in a few hundred years from now. And as the sun is masked by a cloud, coldness and serenity masked her face as she turned her full attention to a small drama that would soon become a blazing fire purging this magnificent land that had been Japan. She closed her eyes for the second time that day.