The Yississ War

By Shawn O'Toole

“...a modern masterpiece.”

-- Jason Kehe, Wired

A demon's army grows as her monsters turn the living into hordes of living death. The Army of Four and the Virgin Army join together to resist. A mortal man, mystical creatures and mass-produced clone women battle zombies, cyborgs and shapeless horrors. Their war is a suspenseful tale of high adventure.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Shawn O'Toole
• Release date: May 7, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310141775

Shawn O'Toole

Shawn O'Toole is an avid reader who expresses his love of literature by writing his own. Though his favorite works are classical fiction, most of his actual reading is historical or scientific non-fiction. He combines his inspirations to create yarns that are fantastic yet believable. He is restless and eager, so one need not wait to delve into his adventures.

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THE YISSISS WAR

by

Shawn O’Toole

SMASHWORDS EDITION

*****

PUBLISHED BY:

Shawn O’Toole on Smashwords

Cover Art Illustrated by:

Shawn O’Toole

The Yississ War

Copyright © Shawn O’Toole 2014

Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the publisher of this story, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Your support and respect for the property of this author is much appreciated.

This story is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are products of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.

*****

The Yississ War

*****

Chapter 1

Sowing the Seeds of Living Death

The Many of One were a society of women cloned from one woman and endowed with her formative memories. As the Concubines of the Great Seen Unseen they were an order of nuns devoted to the will of the Unheard Whisper. As Virgin Soldiers they were the relentless Virgin Armies whose might made them a Galactic Power.

The Many of One were mortal and only human. Though skillful, efficient and equipped with advanced technology, their soldiers were prone to heavy losses when pitted against the strange and terrible races of the galaxy. The clone women were cheap and easy to mass-produce, however, giving them the overwhelming power of sheer, readily replenished numbers.

The uniform of a Virgin Soldier was simple: an elastic garment that covered the torso, neck and head but left the shoulders, buttocks and limbs completely bare. The lower half of the wearer’s face was exposed but black, singular goggles fixed to the elastic hood covered her eyes. The Virgin Soldier wore nothing else, not even shoes, boots or a utility belt.

A Concubine Sentinel wore the red version of the standard uniform. When armed and standing guard she held both vertical grips of her small, compact plasma weapon. The deadly artifice was advanced but simple and minimalist: rugged and reliable but with iron sights and no shoulder strap.

Girls in Red guarded the Temple of the Great Seen Unseen. Their posture was erect, they remained silent and they did not fidget. They watched through their black goggles as their sister Lieutenant General Elzbeth approached and or passed them. The Sentinels had heard the grumbling whispers of the Priestesses concerning Elzbeth but such concerns were of no concern to the Sentinels of the Great Seen Unseen. The Priestesses commanded the Virgin Army. It was the duty of the Sentinels to obey without curiosity or question.

The uniform of a Concubine Priestess was purple. Lieutenant generals wore a short, black, hooded cloak over the purple. Elzbeth Purple the Bold, however, had become Elzbeth the Favored of the Beloved Child. She was now the military attaché for Mistress Umbra, Daughter of the Great Seen Unseen. Blue-green would look prettier on you, Mistress Umbra insisted. Wear it instead. Elzbeth obeyed the command. Her skimpy uniform underneath her black cloak was now blue-green. Unfortunately, even this one small alteration stirred contention between Elzbeth and her sisters.

Drusilla Purple the Wise was the commanding general of the Concubine Expeditionary Forces. Her hooded cloak was white rather than black. She was currently in the command-and-control room with her lieutenant generals. Elzbeth, one of the clone sisters whispered. The generals became tense as their sister Elzbeth entered the chamber. General Drusilla stepped forward, asking, Have you come to issue orders from our mistress?

Yes. Elzbeth told her sisters, It is the will of our mistress that her armies come to this world. They shall ravish it. They shall devour its inhabitants.

Zandra insisted, We are the army of our mistress.

No. My sisters, we shall provide for her soldiers that they may do the fighting and killing.

Drusilla fretted, We are not to ravish this world. It must remain pristine for our master’s consumption.

We shall not ravish this world. The soldiers of our mistress shall do so.

The lieutenant generals looked at Drusilla, ready to honor whatever she decided. The commanding general pondered for a long, hard moment… before declaring, The Beloved Child is our mistress for she speaks with the authority of our master. We shall obey her commands.

Mistress Umbra was the only begotten child of the Great Seen Unseen. Though the material of her flesh was entirely human, half her nature was the inhuman spirit of Shadow. Umbra was a beautiful woman with fair skin, lustrous black hair and radiant, silvery gray eyes. As a creature of flesh and blood her mass was that of a human being. She was oft a giantess, however, when her corporeal frame was stirred by her spiritual nature.

Mistress Umbra was nude and levitating, her toes pointing towards the floor and her arms outstretched. Though her eyes were closed, she watched as little Elzbeth descended the winding steps that lined the wall of the deep, dry well of marble that was this sacred chamber. Umbra settled back onto the floor to greet her. I told them, Elzbeth reported. I watched as Drusilla herself issued the order to plot the coordinates you gave to me.

Good, Umbra’s resonant voice rumbled as if a mighty whisper. She snuggled the little woman, telling her warmly in a human voice, My father shall soon be avenged.

The loyal little Concubine wondered aloud, Shall he return to us?

First things first. Umbra could hear the thoughts and feel the feelings of all about her. She watched and listened as the Concubine generals sat on the floor together to eat supper. Eat with your sisters, Mistress Umbra advised Elzbeth. They must be assured that you are still one of them.

Why?

Because they are weaker without you. Mistress Umbra sat on the floor, folded her legs and pressed her hands together. Elzbeth wondered, What are you doing?

Waiting for Adam to sleep.

Why?

"I’m going to find him and I’m going to kill him.

Mistress Umbra went missing. Elzbeth implored her sisters to seek out the Beloved Child of the Great Seen Unseen but General Drusilla smirked and answered, It is her command that we wait. We shall wait.

A naked, towering woman of rotting flesh and six breasts was the physical form of the demon General Yississ. The body was once the vessel of a human soul but had long since succumbed and corrupted into something hideous and inhuman. Yississ commanded Mistress Umbra’s army of polymorphic monsters. The demon general was also given command of twenty thousand human lives. Mistress Umbra instructed the demon, I have given you twenty thousand of my father’s weaklings. Make them stronger than their feeble humanity. Turn them into living dead monsters.

Yississ cackled, "Give me all of the women and I shall make them all stronger than their humanity!"

No. You shall have only the twenty thousand I have given you.

The tall, rotting woman with six breasts grinned and bowed, assuring in a raspy voice, I shall serve you as you command me, my mistress. The loyalty of a demon is uncertain at best. Mistress Umbra was missing, perhaps dead. Yississ was now at liberty to do as she pleased. The demon would act quickly, lest Umbra return.

Adam was a mortal man native to the planet Earth. Finding himself on the alien world of Telluria he was persuaded by its Oracle to accept the mantle of sovereignty. As the King of Telluria and the general of its army, Adam fought the invading Virgin Army of the Great Shadow, Devourer of Worlds. He defeated the invaders by vanquishing their immortal, inhuman master. He vanquished the Daughter of the Great Shadow when she assailed him in his own dream. For now, there was a de facto armistice between the kingdom of Telluria and the invading Concubines of the Great Seen Unseen.

Adam was lounging under a tree and eating an apple. He watched as a large, burly, hairy sasquatch hoisted a little half-goblin