Prolouge

The corridor was pitch black, the dark stone of the walls seeming to meld into the dark stone of the floor. The roof offered the only change in colour but only because the once blinding white marble had faded to a grey. The whole place stank of ruin and decay, but not the decay of rotting bodies, just of a once proud city fallen into the cold hands of time. The dust began to stir as a large wooden door was opened and in stepped a cloaked figure. Creatures scuttled and scampered away from the light that now barely pierced the shadows and the figure stepped into the darkness. A wave of a hand and the corridor seemed to come to life. The dust was blown away, the torches sprung to life, an eerie purple fire burning from them.

"Malakey! Are you insane?" Another figure entered the corridor, this one with its hood back. Its eyes were serpentine, the colour of fresh spring grass, with scaled skin the same colour as the torch fires. The nose was like that of a snakes and when it talked, two fangs stood out against the rest of its teeth. The first figure simply hissed as it leant against the wall, chest rising and falling as it tried to catch its breath.

"I couldn't stand to see our home like that," The voice identified the first figure as a male and he too pulled back his hood. He looked like the first, except with more masculine features compared to the second figure which was a female. She moved over Malakey and placed a hand on his shoulder gently, the four fingers glowing for a moment as she transferred some of her energy, her magic, back into him. In the background, the torches flickered and hissed, seeming like they would die out at any moment.

"Nisa, you should not waste your macra on me. It is dangerous," Malakey warned straightening up as new energy flowed into him. To these beings, macra is their life force, their magic that allows them to do almost anything. Centuries ago, the Serpine were a proud and powerful race, but that power came with a price. To gain their magic they would steal the life force of other people, destroying whole worlds to do so. They were nearly unbeatable until the Serpine made the mistake of attacking Asgard.

"We need two to finish this job, so next time; don't waste your magic on simple pride. There is work to be done. Come," Nisa said, speaking swiftly as she walked away. She held her head high and led the staggering Malakey into a dark and dank room that had not been touched by the magic. There was no light, except for one that shone from the ceiling and fell onto a stone pillar, illuminating the white surface like a beacon. Nisa walked forward slowly and a small vile came into view, filled with a bright green liquid.

"Is that it? We risked out lives to gather that?" Malakey scoffed voice obnoxious as he glared at the tiny vial. "It has barely enough potion in it!"

Nisa hissed, a deep guttural sound, as she placed the vial away into her clothing. "This potion is what will bring the fall of Asgard. Everything is planned out." Nisa said, whipping her tail at him, the sharp tip scratching his cheek. Malakey stumbled back a little, snarling as he placed a hand on his cheek. He looked up at Nisa, who had moved closer to him. "And if you dare disrespect me again, I will not hesitate to kill you."

Malakey shrunk back in fear for Nisa was of higher rank than he. If he were to strike back, the punishment would be immediate death. "I understand." He said, looking at the floor as he stood up. He could no longer meet her eyes.

With a snort, Nisa led the way out of the room and instead of going back to the way they had entered, she continued down the corridor into another room. This one was larger than the other and at the end was a large statue of their species, obviously a God of some kind. His hands were outstretched and Nisa led the way over to him. Opening the vial, she tipped what meagre contents it had into the hands and they disappeared.

"Why did you do that? I thought we…" Malakey began but was stopped out of fear for Nisa had her tail end right at his throat. Her eyes betrayed nothing and her face was set like stone. Malakey knew what was going to happen though and he now knew why he had been chosen for this mission. He had no family, no friends and he worked in the mines. He was expendable.

"For the Serpine."