Lament

by Tycho Ralesh

“Tobias,” my brother always preferred my given name; it served to rouse me from my musings. Why had Iggwilv maintained this place, a hollowed place, I could not say. I needed no explanation, only the respite it offered. Perhaps even the she, once known as Tasha, desired a place of apart from the depravities she dragged lusty into this world. We had rested here as best we could; sure that the next door led to the inner sanctum. I hadn’t given thought to the curse emblazoned on each gate until now. It suddenly seemed as folly to tempt a power such as hers. Iggwilv had bent demons her will...a curse hardly seemed beyond her powers or inclination. A growing and gnawing thought.

We went warily, and stealthily. The guards that waited had indeed been many. We had bested most, but the blue beast still lurked about. We found our way to the last door without incident, and though it lay now agape, we could see nothing beyond the threshold. Ilias looked at me and nodded that he was ready. I was crouched down, hoping to slip in unseen after my companions. One by one we stepped in.

A woman of impeccable and porcelain beauty sat upon a dais, wearing filigreed plate of the highest craftsmanship and artistry. An imposing bastard sword lay across her lap. She made a languid show of her rousing. Laying the back of her wrist upon her forehead, she gave a long, sensual yawn. I sank back to the wall and padded along the ledge that ringed the inner sphere.

“Saviors,” she called out in an amplified breathy whisper. I could almost feel the sounds of her voice roll along and wash over my brother, cowing a man I though could not be cowed. A single word with such magnitude, its very wake drew out my hesitation as I thought to myself, ‘Stop, you will lament destroying such beauty’.

“Come to me,” she called to Ilias in the most alluring, melodious sound ever to grace my ears, and I became jealous of my brother as he presented his neck. Time had ground near to a halt when a streaking shape snapped me from my enthrallment; Phalcor’s owl brandished its talons toward the vampire’s eyes before swooping away. Phalcor followed in an instant, slamming into the bitch with his shield even as she feast upon my brother’s lifeblood.

As I leaped down from the ledge, I called on a favored power, then drew my blades at loathing odds with myself. I cut her deeply, and again, and then twice more, but fate would not let me blink away. She returned my cuts in savage kind, and chanced a moment to lick my blood from her claws. Her malevolent eyes, red on red, flared as she savored my essence. I could not now fathom how I had found this monster beautiful.

Remarkably, Ilias regained himself and fell upon his bewitcher. We all stuck at her without respite, while she fell mainly upon my brother, the taste of his salty blood drawing her thirst. Every blow seemed to take an unnatural toll; he had desiccated into a gaunt husk of his once hale visage. Her prowess was formidable, and the battle ferocious, but she could not withstand our combined furry forever. As I stuck the final blow, her crimson eyes rolled up into her head, and her armor collapsed startlingly beneath me. Her body had disappeared into a mist, lingering for a moment along the cracks of the stone floor, then seeping into the Oerth.

I could still feel her presence growing distant, but not fading. She had been banished, perhaps even humbled, but not yet vanquished...and more likely thirsting for vengeance.

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Background
1st of Readying

The Fouled Stream
20th of Readying

Words with Lord Summerford
21st of Readying

I Believe You Mean Warlock
23rd of Readying

Miner Difficulties
27th of Readying

A Victory Celebration
28th of Readying

In response to Ilias
1st of Coldeven

The Winged God.
14th of Coldeven

A Patron's Favor
15th of Coldeven

A Traitor to the Folk
16th of Coldeven

The Scions of Elemental Evil
11th of Planting

A Gift to Palor
24th of Planting

First Conversations with Morley
25th of Planting

Roots of the Humble Ogre
26th of Planting

At the Temple's Steps
24th of Flocktime

Trapped in the Labyrinth
25th of Flocktime

Warmth of the Light
27th of Flocktime

The Horizons of Mind
1st of Wealsun

A Whoelsome Diversion
3rd of Wealsun

Pursuing Derider
4th of Wealsun

Rising Filth
4th of Wealsun

A Winged Shadow Flees
5th of Wealsun

The Slumbering Ogre
7th of Wealsun

Paradise Defiled
22nd of Wealsun

One Man's Salt
23rd of Wealsun

A Song of Whispers
28th of Wealsun

Lost No Longer
3rd of Richfest

Revelry and Memory
4th of Richfest

Many are the Guards who Wait
28th of Reaping

Lament
2nd of Goodmonth

The Maelstrom Blade
16th of Goodmonth

Lament

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