After the Betrayal

By: Hieyoko Posted on: August 25, 2006

Words of praise from her Lords and messages of congratulations on fooling the heathens to the East rang strongly in her ears upon wakening, and the cloud of dust trailing upwards from the Pash Valley brought a knowing smirk to her lips. One short month ago, she'd been picking at truffles on Fish Street, and wandering the heart of the Jewel with her 'new friends in the Church' now, she was back Home.

She closed her eyes and stretched, and the looks of shock and betrayal on the foolish Shallamites faces flashed through her mind, causing her to chuckle slightly. Oh, their screams as they began to die! Brushing a hand firmly across a wound left from their discovery of her actions, she winced slightly, briefly reciting several of her Lord's Truths. "Weakness must be eliminated in all forms"

"Starting with the Jewel. Simple, arrogant, misguided heathens! they will learn from their mistakes soon enough."

Exiting her home, she began slowly walking through the subdivision, headed towards Stygian Crossroads. The agonised screams of those being purged of various weaknesses rang sharply through the red fog filling the air, and the occasional grotesque image of an extinguished life flickered through her link with Lord Thoth. The welcome sight of a Mhun, nailed high upon a large cross, brought an evil grin to her face as she left the subdivision, a knowing glance from several nearby citymates the extent of their public approval of her recent success.

A blood-curdling scream rang sharply from the Red Square, cut off sharply by the sound of a dull thud. The low-toned conversations abruptly stopped, and heads bowed as moments later, the Tyrannus walked past, heading down to the Gates of Mhaldor while dragging a headless corpse by one foot. As the flies began to flock to the blood trail left from the cadaver' neck, she smirked, inhaling the mixture of death in the air through her nostrils.

Ah, the joys of returning Home!

Several months passed by, and the cries of the heretics for Justice continued to ring loudly through the land. Their Lady posted Her allowance of one kill per organisation, free of Divine retribution to the Public, but the heretics were not pleased.

"Why, m'Lady, only three kills? Look at what she did! Look at our poor, beloved Icon! Look at the essence loss to You, and other Shallamese Divine! Why only once, m'Lady?"

"Heh. One kill per organisation? Rather funny, considering that I cost them an Icon, as well as countless of their worthless lives. Just further proof of their weakness."

She closed her eyes in concentration, feeling an animal spirit briefly overcome her. It was not the same as her former Necromantic skills, but a welcome change from the Devotion that she'd taken on to further her mask while in Shallam. The taint of heresy had nearly overwhelmed when she took upon her class, but the knowledge that she was performing a service to her Lords had kept her strong, and only a rare few had even suspected her true intentions. Fortunately for her, Good does not involve paranoia, and those who accused her were quickly silenced.

"Enough reminiscing. I have an essence debt to my Lord, and it is time to repay it."

Her recent fiance, Riley, approached her, and they began the long walk towards Moghedu, side by side, in complete silence. As they reached the entrance to the Mhun caves, their eyes met, an evil glint apparent in both as they stepped in to combat their enemies.

The Mhun guards were, as usual, pitiful in their valiance, and died quickly beneath their blows. The pair advanced through the caverns, spraying blood across the walls as scores of Mhun continued their defence in vain.

"They are so much like the Shallamese. Simple-minded, single-minded, arrogant, overconfident! Each drop of their blood spilled for my Lord is welcome. Their weaknesses shall be purged, and when their young are shackled in the slave markets and their old lie dead across their Halls, they will see that-"

Suddenly, a swirling vortex of colours sprang out from the air! She only had the time to blink in astonishment as it enveloped her, dragging her from the dark halls of the Mhun dwelling to a lush riverside.

Regaining her composure, she looked around warily, studying her surroundings.

"How did I get to the Pash? The stench of the heretics is strong here!"

Suddenly, a face appeared from the shadows, and the glint of a dirk flashed before her eyes. HIM! As his dirk hit her body, she fell asleep, a thousand thoughts crossing her mind at once.

The road to awakening was brief, as a third prick from his weapon jolted her awake. She struggled to move, but her body refused to respond, her muscles held captive by a strong venom. As his dirk flashed again and again, her body grew weary, her stomach revolted, and even the sunlight seemed to turn against her, casting waves of fire across her suddenly sensitive skin. Struggling, she brought a vial to her mouth, sighing softly as the cool taste of the elixir healed her pain-wracked frame. As her mind flashed through countless options for escape, his whip lashed out, scraping away a large portion of her sileris coating. She felt her blood begin to thin as his fangs sunk into her flesh once, then an excruciating pain wracked her entire body as he bit again, and again…

She closed her eyes briefly, and as a surge of revitalizing energy spread through her, the Truths rang sharply through her mind with the voice of her Lord. "Truth Five: The body may be made stronger through combat. Truth Seven: The spirit may be made stronger by enduring hardships, both self-imposed and externally-imposed!"

As his fangs sunk into her flesh once more, the venom overwhelmed her system, and she stiffened before falling to the ground, dead. The grace of the stars covered her in a soft light, and as her tattoo faded, she stood, gathering the multiple corpses that had fallen from her slain body.

Hieyoko emerged from the shadows, spinning his dirk deftly between his fingers. A glare in his eyes, he offered up a dismissive wave, and some heathen line about Justice being served. With a smirk, she quickly summoned up the spirit of the Eagle and flew off, eager to return to purging the Mhuns of their weakness!

His words rang yet again in her mind, disturbing the solitude of her flight. As the wind whipped her hair around, and the wings of her morph beat strongly to keep her airborne, her thoughts returned once again to the Truths of her Lord.

"What is called Evil is simply the drive for advancement! We have advanced greatly. We have triumphed yet again."

Dark times are ahead for the Jewel of the East… they will know the full power of our Lords. The Jewel will not stand for long.