2014/07/14

Ch3 Epilogue


“That BITCH!” Nekh hisses wildly at the Dukaine lieutenant standing before him.
The unfortunate messenger, Margrave, a wizard, had stepped into Nekh’s office only moments before to deliver the news of the failed attempt at subjugating Three Rats. While Nekh finished with some other task, scribbling orders on some kind of enchanted parchment which causes the words to vanish upon reading, the lieutenant stood patiently before the ornate desk, a dark mahogany with rich scrolling that matches both the bookshelves behind the Archon and the large meeting table taking up half the office space to the left. Although two visitor chairs sit before the desk, Margrave took neither, knowing well that this news would bring the Archon out of his chair.
He was right.
His vulturine head bobbing up and down on the end of a long, strangely graceful neck, powerful beak locked in a threatening grin, every feather erect with anger, Nekh circles around the desk clutching the one-page report, hissing and grunting his rage. “That Death Clan whore restored the Pearl and revived the Oracle?! How did she overcome the spell? That was a high-mage incantation!”
“We don’t know for sure, Lord,” Margrave responds, fighting not to stammer, his normal composure being stripped by Nekh’s tirade. “We are still investigating.”
“Our plans thwarted, three top agents lost, and that divine...was very special to me. Did she kill them too?” Nekh angrily inquires.
“No, Lord,” the lieutenant responds, now feeling better about being able to answer a question. “There appears to be a mortal mercenary loose, gone rogue. One of a gang we thought we had wiped out before. The information we’ve gathered indicates that she killed our specialists.”
“WHA–! A mortal? A mortal girl killed my divine and two of my best agents?” the Archon exclaims.
“Yes, Lord.”
“I want her dead, Margrave!” Nekh hisses.
“Yes, my Lord. Understood.” Margrave ignores the vulture-god’s mistake as he has for months.
Nekh steps back towards his desk, his head shaking in disbelief. “That bastard, Math.  He put her there to block me. Her! After all I’ve done for her, saved her, protected her after that lover of hers ran away scared to the Void. This is how she repays me…”
Collapsing into his chair, he crumples the report in his feathery fist and pounds it on the desk. “But no more! She will pay for this betrayal. So help me, she will pay…with her children!”
Looking up at the lieutenant, Nekh commands, “Return to Three Rats. Take your best men. Find that rogue mercenary and eliminate her. Come back and report when it is done.”
The lieutenant stands straight in attention. “Yes, Lord. And Sergeant Alma?”
“Leave her to me,” Nekh sighs. “Leave her to me…”

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