How long had he been here?
Everything burned.
Every breath.
In.
Out.
Wheeze.
In.
Out.
"It is ready to undergo the ritual, Chief Priest."
Glowing blue eyes—
"Maios, bring me my scythe."
"Yes, Master!"
Fluttering black hoods—
"Meses, the emblem."
"Here it is, Chief Priest!"
"It will be interesting to know if a berserker can survive this. It will become a useful asset, if true."
The tip of something deadly sharp touched his exposed, paralyzed right eye.
Too much red.
Pain.
Screaming—
He was screaming, straining against too-tight restraints—
Blackness, ugly and foul, spread inwards and curled lovingly through his mind and body.
He burned.
Memories shrank back as far away from the gnawing, hungry taint as possible, trying to hide in the deepest of depths.
You sappy oaf, of course I love yo—
Dad, can we get this? Plea—
You're too slow, gra—
Who?
He stilled against his restraints, hardly breathing through the fire in his lungs.
Rotting teeth wrapped in dark shadows smiled down at him.
"Do you know your name?"
H—
"…?"
A ghostly chuckle.
"You are to replace our fallen warlord, at the side of our beloved Queen."
"Queen?"
"Our Queen weeps freely until we have avenged her son, who was mercilessly slain by the humans."
"Humans." He snarled at the word. The blankness of his mind was comforting, in a way. The emblem in his right eye warmed happily, easing any of his pain, at the rage beginning to stir from within. Black smoke twisted and curled around him before settling into the form of chitinous plated armor that stopped just below his head.
"Yes, humans." Alteron the Chief Priest gestured for his underlings to remove the restraints and then turned to the silent figure standing guard at the door. "Akanan, bring this good news to the Princess and Commander Ikrium. We will have our weapon soon."
The figure wrapped from head to toe in bandages and cloth bowed respectfully and exited.
"Maios, the mask."
The smaller shadow floated over to the Chief Priest with the grotesque muzzle in hand.
The mask clamped onto his face and wrapped around his head, keeping him from opening his mouth any more than a scant quarter of an inch.
"You will serve us, Dark Knight."
"Yes."
With his right eye visibly glowing crimson in the dim lighting, the Dark Knight bared his teeth in a grotesque parody of a smile.