Chapter 10

Beneath the Wyrmwound

Lady Plaguebringer chuckled darkly as she walked away from the mirror where her assassin had delivered some very pleasing news. Naerea would soon be in her grasp and she could finally exact her revenge upon that traitor Ragki.

A wind blew through one of the openings in the rock, the stench of death and decay heavy upon Red Deity took a deep breath, savoring the scent of rot that hung over her entire realm. She rested her sharp claws on the windowsill, gazing outside. Beneath the Wyrmwound was a bitter and twisted wasteland of spongy dirt and rotten stone, filled with strange plants and un-dead beasts.

Beneath the window, at the base of the tall spire of red-rock that rose from the bowels of the desiccated earth, a skeletal bear shambled, searching for food. As the bear pawed at a grey-red tendril of plant, the ground behind it erupted. A gigantic Corpse Cleaner fell onto the bear, dragging its prey back into the earth.

A sharp chittering sounded from behind the Plaguebringer. She whipped around, her maroon eyes falling upon the thin form of one of her many Plague Sprites. "Plaguelady. Da yawan hã tsira" the creature said in its high, grating voice. "WHAT!" The force of Lady Plaguebringer's roar brought fine red dust pouring down from the carved archways. "How did the Betrayer escape!" She stormed away, fury evident in every line of her being.

An hour previous….

Ragki hung by his claws from the carved ceiling above the door to his cell, waiting patiently. The door clanged open, right on time. A maroon and grey Mirror male stalked in, his four eyes widening at the empty cell.

Ragki smiled grimly, falling from the ceiling and dropping on top of the other Mirror. The guard crumpled silently, falling to the floor unconscious. Ragki poked his head out of the cell, looking left, right, left again to make sure no one was coming. He slipped out, quietly padding along the corridors that he knew so well.

At a crossroads, the sound of tramping feet reached the escaped prisoner's ears. Ragki darted behind one of the carved arches, hiding in a niche. Several Exalted soldiers moved past, weapons in evidence. Once the soldiers were past, Ragki continued on. "Stop!" The shout caused Ragki to whip around. A nocturne male was charging at him, his cohorts not far behind. Ragki swore, taking off running.

Lady Plaguebringer stalked through the red-rock palace, her fearsome claws clicking ominously on the floor. Fury bubbled beneath her skin, as deadly and explosive as the boiling cauldron of disease above her head, barely restrained by her formidable willpower.

She turned a corner, the Exalted guards flinching at the sight of her anger. She stopped, glaring at each of the guards in turn. "Are you telling me, that a single Mirror managed to evade all of you and escape?" Her voice was poisonously calm, similar to the dangerous moment of quiet before a shockwave explodes out across the land.

The guards didn't meet her eyes and one unlucky black Guardian male was shoved out of their ranks. He fumbled for a moment, meeting the Red Deity's eyes before dropping his own. "I- er- we- yes, milady."

Visible fear permeated every part of his being. "I see." His lady's voice was soft, threads of venom evident in her tone. She suddenly whipped around, her tail wrapping around the unlucky soldier and snapping his neck with an audible crack. "Find that accursed Mirror and bring him to me. Alive." Her voice rung out as she stalked away, back into her pestilent domain.

A sharp pain in her tail tip woke Naerea with a start. She tried to leap up but was tugged back by the chains around her. "I see you are awake." The voice came from near the cave's entrance.

Nae blinked the sleep from her eyes quickly, glaring at the red Spiral assassin. "How observant of you," she said sarcastically.

"We need to get moving. Lady Plaguebringer does not like to be kept waiting when she is near the endgame of a plot that has been years in the making." Sitaris unchained her from the ground, taking up the end of Nae's collar and leading her out of the cave. They trekked to the top of the cove by way of a narrow path.

There, the journey began, towards the red-tinged desert that was the Scarred Wasteland.

Hello again. In the next chapter I will introduce a new character, Kyras will discover that Naerea was kidnapped, and Ragki will flee to Rotrock Rim. Please review! That might encourage me to post faster...