-From Philosophies of the Smoothskins: Forward
“No!” Vivex roared with all her soul.
Startling the birds!
She had been completely severed from her goals.
Just three simple words.
And now was forced to accept her fate.
Destined never to have a mate.
And let her bloodline go extinct.
No! I refuse!
Time stood still.
Her frame shook.
She couldn’t think.
Only look.
Not even to name the emotions within her, racing through her mind and nerves and rendering her immobile for that crucial imperative second.
Fight or flight.
Which?
Fight!
Yes. Kill them all.
Cull the issue from the world.
No! Flee! Run away! Escape!
Find somewhere else to live and live free.
Into the breach, the great God stirred.
“Patience!” He roared into the Juvenile of Scales’ mind. “You must show patience, Initiate of Shadows!”
Green hue!
Now that she knew to look, she noticed it right away, something that wasn’t her inside her thoughts.
Get out!
She hated those thoughts. She would not be patient. Not anymore! It only lets others take advantage of me.
Her hand gripped the hilt of the matte black blade as she fought back that hue, feeling it dim in this unending moment in time.
Shashk would die!
“I said Patience, you insolent child!”
It responded!
She hadn’t expected that.
Green. The same green! Not an it, but a He! Szez’tek Vooznal!
But why? How? No, that didn’t matter, the Ambassador still filled her vision, moving incredibly slow. Vivex was still screaming. She would kill the Redscale traitor and then any others who stood in her way. She would THRIVE!
“PATIENCE!” The mighty Scaled One roared, teeth like swords flashing as his mighty maw snapped. “Do as I say Juvenile of Scales!” His tail lashed the ground.
CRACK! BOOM!
A thunderbolt lanced through a clear sky, and the Truescales jerked away from it as the ground trembled for that instant.
Vivex felt the lash of the God’s thoughts against her. The Stubborn-Warrior snarled, trying to yank the blade free, feeling it start to move. She knew if it left the sheath, she would be able to kill the Redscale. Or at least try.
But the God’s influence was making it difficult.
Glaring at Shashk, meeting those flat turquoise eyes.
Vrrrrmmmm-wmmm-wmmm-wmmm-wmmm!
Several acolytes up above had boluses whirling, ancient things of intricate cord and smooth stone. Humming like angry hornets.
Damnit!
She had lost the element of surprise. She would have to fight even harder to kill them. How dare this God try to make her accept that she had been condemned?! How was it even talking to her at that momen-
“Szez’tek is pleased with you.”
Toks words, drug up from behind her sanguine and stygian rage burst to the surface of her thoughts.
“I recommend you give an offering.”
She looked at her thumb.
I did this… And Tok…
He had been praying for help from his God. For her.
He hadn’t given up!
And the God had answered! A God of the forces of nature, of what was right and wrong.
“Patience. There will be a time to show them all, Juvenile of Scales.” Tones swirling with both maroon and yellow. Prefixes of sincerity and understanding.
She snapped her jaw, and realized she was deep in her black and red. Shashk and the Bluescale Shaman were staring at her. Watching her pattern swirl and shift like the storm inside her mind.
Vivex yearned for Shashk’s blood. This betrayal… it was too much to leave unaddressed.
But she chose to heed the God. And she was very aware that it was her own choice.
For now.
“She has spirit…” Szez’tek rumbled, grunting deep in His throat like a rockslide. He settled back down.
I wiped my brow, glad He hadn’t noticed all of the work I had been doing up above.
The fact that that Grouch had managed to get what he wanted despite being about as subtle as a sharp stick to the eye was impressive.
Shashk lifted a hand, and the whirling boluses slowed as she continued to stare at the Initiate. Turquoise eyes flashing in the sunlight. “Silence.” She snarled, her tail popping.
It waggled as it did!
Dehk-zuir! One word alone, “Wait.” Vivex wouldn’t have noticed if she wasn’t so keyed up. She is hiding that from the others?
And now that she had started to focus again, Vivex realized it was the same motion as before! The one the Initiate had ignored when her Teacher had first named the Initiate fodder, her tail had moved in the same way! And where the other Truescales couldn’t see it!
Just me.
Out loud in the Truetongue, Shashk continued, “There has simply not been enough time to correct the deficiencies.” turning back to the Bluescale priest.
“What are you saying, Ambassador. Get to the point.” The Bluescale hissed.
“She shows potential to be third rank at least, given time.” Shashk said flatly.
“An extension for that long is only able to be given by the Council themselves.” The Bluescale hissed.
“Then so be it.” Shashk said, dipping her head.
The Bluescale growled, but glanced up into the sky, then back down, frill lifting in agreement, “That explains the… irregularities. Escort her then, Ambassador.”
“Come, my Student.” Shashk hissed, tail popping again, and began her ascent.
Vivex contemplated flight. She might be fast enough to get away from the whirling snares, and she didn’t trust any of them to be truthful with her now. Every time she had, something else had changed to make her regret that trust.
And now my fate is once more in the claws of people I have never met. It was meeting Shashk for the first time all over again.
No. Thrive! Show them! Her Instinct snarled, and she found her forebrain in agreement.
She stubbornly took the first step of many, catching up to the Redscale and growling at all the others she passed.
The grandiose majesty of the towering structures, each inlaid with stylized angular carvings of the gods and their mighty deeds and of heroes who had struck down mighty foes was completely lost on her in this moment of boiling frustration.
“I passed my trial.” She hissed when they passed the last of the visible acolytes.
“You are a runt. You are lucky I have done this much,” Shashk hissed, “You are lucky that I respect Tok as much as I do, that I respect the last words of an old companion.”
“Why name me fodder at all?!” Vivex snapped, teeth gnashing. Damn the Redscale’s pet sixth genera if this was somehow her fault.
“Because you are. There is nothing I can do to change that. But I can give you more time to prove me wrong.”
A legacy! There must be one! Fight! Kill! Grow in rank! Her Instinct howled from her arms, her legs, her tail, cycling through them as she fought to not throw a tantrum on the temple steps right there. Compete!
“Enough. Listen to me now. I shall describe the council to you.” Shashk told her student as much as she could as they ascended higher and higher.
Once they reached the top, Tok stood outside, his sword gone, eyes focused outwards, but in a way that made it clear he was aware of their presence.
Boom!
He stamped a mighty foot.
“Who approaches?” He snarled.
“Two for the councils judgement. Shashk, Ambassador, and Vivex, Initiate.” Shashk said, holding a hand in front of Vivex’s snout to signal for silence.
I should bite off her fingers! Vivex growled, and Shashk actually grabbed the Initiate’s snout to hold it shut. Vivex’s eyes bulged, and she nearly did bite the other female.
“Ambassador, they expect your arrival. Leave the Initiate here.” Tok said, still staring out across the land.
Shashk bowed slightly, then strode in.
When she was gone, Vivex stared at her Provider.
Then, not caring, she climbed back up onto his shoulder.
He didn’t look at her still. But he grunted ever so softly in his throat.
She grunted back, curling against his powerful scull. Shaking.
Petrified.
“Your Provider… she is on the council…”
He blinked. He couldn’t talk to her, but she could read him well.
“Shashk said she will want to destroy me…”
Soft grunt.
“I am scared, Provider… and so tired of fighting.”
He was silent for a long time. Then, deliberately, he lifted his head, exposing the red spot at his neck.
An open challenge.
She looked out in the same direction as him. Looking at the vast expanse of the Belly before them. Knowing the rest of the world lay beyond that. He held his head high as a wind whistled up the Truescale-made mountain.
“Challenge the whole world, my Neonate.” The gesture seemed to say.
She hated that she ever doubted him, bright yellow pride flaring into her pattern as the black and red flickered for a moment there as well.
Fight. Compete. Win! Her Instinct gnashed, reminding her that even alone she had herself.
She grunted back, pressing closer as the wind blew, chilling her for a moment before it died and the bright sun and Tok’s scales warmed her once more.
“I will come back.” She promised. The same promise she made at the end of the Trial.
Grunt.
It was only an hour later when Shashk came back down the steps leading to the top of the structure, motioning for Vivex to go up. Vivex slid down Tok’s back and tail, landing on three toed feet.
Shashk watched her, then turned away, lingering only for a moment before walking down as Vivex walked up.
The Initiate stood as tall as she could as she entered the oval of the meeting space.
It was open to the sky, ringed with pillars of natural crystal that glittered and glowed with a greenish yellow light. There were wide steps going up the sides of the space, which each of the counselors used as seats.
There was a councilor of each brood, but the one that concerned her most was the Blackscale. Ersha. She was a grizzled female. Deep scars carved crevasses along her rippling muscles. She was far bigger than Tok, bigger than the runeslave had been.
The Blackscale Councilor wore a necklace of teeth, many thousands long, coiled several times around her neck. Most of them were flat and hideous, clearly from smoothskins, but there were others from beasts and members of the brood itself.
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Ersha was just beginning to swell with eggs, her belly starting to round under rippling abdominal muscles.
Tok’s Provider.
Vivex’s Grand-Provider.
She had crimson eyes like he did, only raising more questions, and they stared at her. Making Vivex feel like prey to the depths of her very soul. Ancient eyes of a proven Apex that had maintained that position for a scale of time the Greenscale had no way of comprehending. Centuries.
Ersha was a predator deciding whether or not to pounce on something as insignificant as the Initiate. Tok’s massive earthbone sword rested against her shoulder.
No. Her blade, not his.
Where it was slightly too big for Tok, it was slightly too small for Ersha, only emphasizing her massive scale. Close to thirty feet tall, if not more. It was hard to judge with her sitting down like that.
“Initiate Vivex,” a wheezing hiss from one of the others.
Her eyes snapped to the speaker, the Bluescale Councilor. High Priestess Ekartu. She matched the description Shashk had given.
“Greenscale fodder of Devrehsk-Gul province." The ancient Bluescale continued, staring over her head with milky cataract-clouded eyes framed in a face blanketed in scars.
Her yellow tongue flickered out from between purposely notched lips. Like Vivex’s default pattern, vertical lines all the way around the maw.
She was an Elder of the Truescales, and Shashk had said she was the most levelheaded of the council. "Tok, Hero of the Battle at Splash-Flats, Slayer of Kuzlim, Soulbound Warrior of Szez’tek Vooznal, has spoken on your behalf. As have your tutors. As has your Teacher. As have your broodmates.”
Ersha snorted, and it sounded like a branch getting ripped from the trunk of a tree.
“Let’s not mince words with this here runt.” She snarled, looking right at Vivex even as her words rumbled in the Initiate’s chest.
Fear and anger vied for control inside the little warrior. Her Instinct suggested several unhelpful actions that would likely end with her bifurcated.
No, I need to remain respectful. She only hoped that the words of the others had been in her favor.
In spite of her efforts, the Initiate felt a bright flash of red slide across her skin all the same, and she strained to force out a flicker of pale deference.
The legacy! Anything for continuation!
Ersha’s blood red eyes were unblinking, and hungry, and Vivex forced herself to stare back, to not look away.
She had seen the outburst.
“Be careful, runt. Young Tok done pulled some strings for you. If’n I weren’t fond of that neonate, I’d strip your carcass for my next clutch and be done with it.” She patted her swollen belly. “If it was even worth the effort. I don’t mind a crunch in my meal.”
Vivex swallowed and met the other female’s gaze. She ducked her head, signaling respect with her pattern at least. She struggled to manage it with her prefixes. “I am forever grateful for your consideration, Grand-Provide-”
BANG!
Ersha’s jaws slammed together and her eyes blazed with homicidal intent, a growl rumbling in the venerable female’s throat. “Runt! Never associate me with you again. The boy should have culled your egg, that would have been the Way. His mistake don’t make you any kin of mine.”
Her Grand-Provider’s eyes lingered on her, and Vivex quickly decreased her saturation again, fighting another outburst, her pride in ragged tatters and raw with rage. She wished she could vent it out, it was like she was about to burst like a boil.
Come on Kiddo. You got this!
It’s a fight.
Fight! Win!
The only way I can is by not having another outburst!
Her Instinct snarled, dragging itself back into its place in her hindbrain, still seething, but she could feel that part of herself dig her claws in, determined to not screw it up for herself.
The counselor hissed, and it sounded like a gale. “Polite little turd.” She growled, leaning back, one hand rubbing her swollen belly again.
“As I was saying,” Ekartu said, still staring at a spot that was only vaguely in Vivex’s general direction with blind eyes, “It is this council’s opinion that the Ambassador is correct.”
“I am not fodder!” Vivex snarled, muscles clenching, wanting to attack.
Crack!
The Redscale councilor, Rikkan, whipped his tail, frill expanded, and Ashlav, the One-eyed Greenscale councilor shifted into his own black and red, maroon highlights throughout it. Vivex flinched at the sound, expecting pain and not receiving any.
Still growling, she forced herself to flicker a desaturated apology again, though she could feel red and black in her own pattern. She silenced herself when she felt more than heard Ersha’s response, a deep resonant growl too low to be audible, but powerful enough to be felt.
“However, Shashk did argue,” Ekartu hissed, her eyes narrowing and raising her voice to quiet all of them, “as did the others, that given time you could be of more use to the brood than fodder. This will be done via an assignment that no other Truescale has received.”
The High Priestess shook her head, the tattered frill that ran down the middle of her head, neck, and shoulders flapping as her vertebra crackled loudly as they shifted back into place.
By reflex, the others also shifted, popping joints and stretching stiff limbs, even Vivex cracked her knuckles demurely in front of the most socially powerful people of Truescale society.
“What assignment, Councilor?” Vivex asked, using only respectful prefixes. Her Instinct growled impatiently, wanting them to get to the point.
"You would be sent to the smoothskin empire’s capital. The seat of the apostate emperor. To infiltrate it." Said Ashlav. The Greenscale councilor was comparatively young compared to the others, snarling out the smoothskin words with prefixes of disgust.
Vivex couldn’t tell exactly what his age was, but he couldn’t be middle aged yet. Maybe a little older than Zegoth?
Shashk had told her that he was a little hot-headed, and it showed. The prefixes of dominance and expectation in his words were mirrored by his skin's intricate pattern of red and black, which had not faded since the Initiate’s outburst.
It was vibrantly saturated, on par or possibly better than her own.
Not better. Her Instinct growled, full of yellow pride.
He, like the other council members, was scarred, and was enormous for a Greenscale. He would probably stand more than six feet tall. She looked away from his single staring eye, and struggled just as much to look into his empty socket.
Thunder flashing. Thorns scraping. Mad ravings of a broodmate that would kill and eat her, exposing her soul to his corruption.
I don’t have time to think of One-eye!
She needed a distraction, and she tossed her mind out to think of one.
He is young, so that means…
Smart. Her Instinct hissed. He had competed against his predecessor and won with less experience.
Yes. How do I use that though?
Compete! Her Instinct snarled.
Display my skill?
Her Instinct grunted. Quivering for action inside her mind.
She forced herself to look into his one-eyed face, matching the counselors coloring.
His single yellow eye blinked.
She made it less dark, not to much as to be cringing again, but not at full saturation. Signaling determination rather than dominance, resolve rather than challenge.
Stubborn-Victory.
He watched her the whole time she did this, yellow eye staring. His forked tongue flickered out for a moment, bright pink standing out against the dark of his skin.
I grinned. I had been inspired by Maruc for this next part, and reached out to subtly influence the Councilors.
“Blend.” He ordered, eye narrowing, “Like your life depends on it.”
She blinked, then shifted, matching the background as best she could.
“Move.” He ordered, and she felt anger flicker out from her Instinct, but she did as he said, remaining silent, not trusting her words to be respectful enough.
She flexed harder, seeing him alone tracking her easily.
Distract first!
Zegoth’s voice.
Like the trial.
She flared her colors, dazzling unnatural shades and hues, then slammed her camouflage back on and leaped to the right, sending the colors left.
Ashlav rubbed his eyes, as did Rikkan. Only Ersha and Ekartu didn’t respond. Ekartu for obvious reasons, but Ersha seemed to just not care about this test.
“Reveal yourself.” Ashlav hissed, maroon flickering around his eyes for a moment.
No. Her Instinct growled.
Agreed, it isn’t enough, need to startle him. Need to impress him!
She slid forward, low to the ground.
“I said revea-”
She snapped back into her default right in front of him and he jerked back, hissing.
There was a long pause.
“You asked for that.” Ekartu hissed. “They said that was her niche. The neonate was bound to show off.”
“How-”
“She jumped left.” Ekartu continued, staring eyes turning vaguely in Vivex’s direction. “Then she… No, she is small, and there was no scrape, which means she didn’t crawl on her belly.”
The priestess hissed again, grunting for just a moment, “She crouched and slunk forward. I almost couldn’t hear her.” There was a single prefix signalling that she was impressed.
The others were dismissive though.
Aimed at Ashlav? She wondered, hopeful again, waiting there, nervous to be so close to the councilors.
There was a sudden flash of buttercup yellow around Ashlav’s eyes, approval, for only an instant.
Yes, adapt, thrive! This time her Instinct spoke from somewhere around her navel, making her uncomfortable. She didn't need a reminder of the issue at hand.
"In the smoothskin city, in Salkov, there is an eighth genera who is named Ironmantle.” This time it was Rikkan who spoke.
The ancient Redscale’s frill was decorated with the bright plumage of foreign birds, his wrists and ankles bedecked with the yellow earthbone.
“He is the Provider for a monastery there, known in hushed corners as the Dark Estuary. It is a brood of hunters, killers, assassins.” Again, when the smoothskin word was used the councilor snarled it, clearly hating it as much as Ashlav did.
“Shashk as said you are skilled at learning most things,” he curled the flexible end of his tail around a book, holding it out to her from where he sat with it. “Read.” He growled.
She stepped over and took the book, seeing it was written in the smoothskin runes, opening it up, glancing at him.
“Can you not?” he asked, frill opening the only thing showing his annoyance.
“I was told not to speak their language. Am I to translate this as well?”
“Can you?”
She looked back to the words, picking a place at random.
“ ‘The consolidation of the Bizmavi lands was… historically one of the most… peaceful transitions of power ever… recorded. It is said that the entire… brood… rejoiced, and it was a time of plenty. The… Gods at this time… smiled upon King Leon, as his rule lasted well into his… seventies, and his offspring-’”
The tail wrapped back around the book, and Rikkan hissed, “Good, enough.”
“She is slow.” Ersha grumbled, glaring down at Vivex again.
“She has gotten that far in only two months.” Rikkan hissed. “Imagine, if this project continues, she will be a valuable asset even in our libraries alone.”
The Blackscale hissed, and snapped her jaws again.
Rikkan continued when the Blackscale didn’t voice further complaints, “You will infiltrate this monastery, and learn the secrets of their ways. They have strange and secret magics there. Then you will bring them back to the brood to distribute them.” His frill fluttered and his tail snapped crisply, “Dark Estuary… Even the name is fortuitous, is it not?”
“Magics, Counselor?” she asked, maintaining her coloration.
“Combat techniques, Initiate.” The voice was reedy, with no noticeable accent. It used the prefixes of reassurance, which made the Initiate search for the source.
It was someone Vivex hadn’t noticed, a smoothskin that sat on the steps with the council. Looking at her with strange round-pupiled eyes, the long slender ears tilting in a sickening way. Its hideous aspect disturbing her almost as much as the fact that there was a parasite sitting in a place of honor.
It was wizened with age, and enveloped its body in loose fabrics of green, tan, and brown.
Hiding weapons?
Would it be so dumb as to try and incite violence here?
Its skin was the color of oak wood. The sex of the interloper was vailed by all of the cloth the parasite was wrapped in though.
Pointed ears. Fifth genera. Elf. Her Instinct observed from her eyes.
She yearned to kill the thing. Surely it would be alright to kill a smoothskin.
Is it one of the counselors’… what? Pet? A snack for later?
She heard herself hiss slightly, her tongue flickering out as she almost took a step back, the saturation briefly increasing before she got control of herself.
The El’narin smiled, its hideous flat teeth disgusting Vivex as well, and she struggled to remember it wasn’t a threat display.
Or is it using that knowledge against me?
It spoke as if it was unaware of the disruption it was causing, “Those techniques could aid the Truescales in their constant struggle against our mutual enemy, the Falsescaled.”
“You speak out of turn, elf.” said Ersha, leaning forward with a snarl, her necklace of teeth rattling as she did.
“The fodder-caste was wondering about me, Counselor Ersha.” The smoothskin said, prefixes of calm and respect matching its gentle tone.
Vivex fought down a snarl, managing to make it only a growl, her pattern flickering between the default and her challenge. She would not be called fodder by some parasite!
Counselor Ersha hissed, her bright blue tongue sliding out as she regarded the fifth genera with unrelenting crimson eyes. “We are allies here, but you will speak when spoken to, parasite.”
“For someone who claims no kin with the Initiate, you both seem equally distressed by my presence here.” The filthy smoothskin said, lightly.
Ersha turned with a snarl, eyes wide with hate.
“Enough, Warrior.” The Bluescale priestess said, waving a hand in the Blackscale’s direction but still looking straight ahead. “Ambassador Kithiyannia has been a part of this council for two score years, representing the Barkskins.”
So that’s it. Now it made sense, even if it was still rage inducing.
Ersha grumbled. “Regardless, she spoke out of turn.”
“I apologize, councilor, that was not my intent.” The filthy elf said with its too flat teeth.
Enough of this. She wanted to get to the point. She was tired of waiting.
“Why not just force the secrets out of this Ironmantle? Or even just kill him once I get accepted?” Vivex asked, and Ersha grunted deep in her chest, the barest glimmer of approval shining in her gaze.
Rikkan plucked a fish from a platter and held it in his claws snapping it up, his tail popping softly. “You are Tok’s Initiate. Very direct.”
Vivex grunted even as Ersha growled again.
“On the first issue,” Ekartu said, holding out a hand to Rikkan, unseeing eyes still staring forward. “He is a deadly being. Worthy of respect when it comes to strength of arm and will.”
Rikkan placed one of the fish in Ekartu’s uplifted palm, “Your likelihood of killing him without his training is…” the Priestess crushed the fish in her palm with a wet pop, blood and viscera squirting out before she opened up her hand to show the destroyed remains within, “doubtful.” She lapped them up.
Kithiyannia shaped her lips strangely, either side pulling down, and it wiped some gore from its cheek.
“And for the second point, we need to manipulate him for our own schemes, if we are to gain the secrets of the brood of assassins for our own purposes.” Rikkan replied. “This can only be done with you at his side, not with him in your belly.”
Ersha lifted her weapon, looking down its edge with one eye, saying “Get accepted into this Dark Estuary, learn these methods and secrets, and pass them along to our warriors.” Her red eyes became half-lidded like Toks. Vivex could see so many of his mannerisms had come from her.
Kithiyannia coughed, and they all turned, but it waved its hand, shaking its head to signal it wasn’t important. It started to rub its temple. Muttering to itself.
Ersha placed the sword down and looked at Vivex, bright blue tongue sliding out. There was a long pause as her Grand-Provider reevaluated her, the gaze making Vivex extremely self-conscious.
Her skin lost even more saturation by reflex.
The pregnant warrior’s eyes crinkled slightly at the corners. “Do these tasks successfully, surviving the climate and feeding yourself as well, and your caste will be elevated three levels.” She hissed, finally.
Three levels!? Yes! Say it! Her Instinct slammed into her vocal cords, making her cough.
She swallowed and then said “I agree to this assignment, thank you, councilors.” She had a hard time fighting to keep herself under control.
Ashlav cut in “Wait, fodder-cast. Wait. You will be challenged though. Winter in the northlands is enough to kill in and of itself, and the smoothskins are untrusting of any Truescaled.”
“If you do not overcome the cold, you will die, Initiate.” Elder Ekartu hissed, the yellow tongue sliding out once more. “And there is a high likelihood the smoothskins will attack you at some point for being one of the brood. Our wars with them have made them hateful of Truescaled. This is good for the collective, but for the individual-”
“Oh just say it.” Ersha rumbled. “You are getting this post in part because you have been deemed expendable.” She stared at Vivex again, her red eyes daring the fresh Initiate to prove them wrong.
Vivex thought about it. Really, it wasn’t any different from how her life had been so far… And competing against the smoothskins would have to be easier than the trial she had just recently completed.
And I can get away from these fucking bigots. She needed an escape. And they were giving her one. As if cold could kill her anyway, she knew how to start a fire.
“My answer hasn’t changed. I accept.”
Yes… compete! Win!
She already knew that she could, and promised herself that she would. No one would ever think she was worthless by the time she was done. She would get into the Dark Estuary, no matter what.
Kithiyannia rubbed harder at its temple, muttering louder. The Truescales glanced at it in turn, but each ignored it soon after. If there was an issue it would say something.
“Good.” Ashlav hissed. “There are more details as well. Issues more dire that must be discussed in hushed tones.”
They spoke for another hour, and Vivex understood her duty, as well as some of Shashk’s frustration.
“Now go!” Ersha hissed, “Before I get any hungrier.
Vivex flashed deference to the four members of the brood, and was ignoring the elf as she turned to leave, when the parasite gasped.
They all turned again, and she started speaking now… to herself.
“Young one… please… don’t.”
“What is this?” Ekartu hissed, dorsal frill snapping once.
“I will not be silenced. I will be strong! I will speak to my friend.” The El’narin hissed in a different voice.
“I can convey your message! Please!” Kithiyannia was screaming now, back arching as she started to float off of the ground. Now clearly a she as her coverings fell back to reveal a plain green garment.
Ersha rumbled “Stop being dramatic elf-”
“Be silent!” The Blackscale blinked, but the Ambassador to the Barkskins kept talking, “Out of my way smoothskin! I will speak to my friend, the Vivex!”
Vivex recognized that intonation. And she could almost hear the groaning of the branches of the Red Alder.
“Arubra?” She hissed.
“Vivex? My friend?!” The El’narin screeched.
The Initiate winced at the volume. “I am here!” Vivex shouted over the wind as the gale became even more violent.
“I have seen! And I know! You will listen before you go!” The elf shrieked as the wind roiled around them, clouds spiraling above.
Green light blazed from Kithiyannia’s eyes, splitting her skin and pealing it back like drying leaves. She screamed into the sky as she slowly spun.
“A quest accepted,
A doom rejected,
Heed my words my dearest friend,
Else to despair your river wend,
Last and first.
First and last.
Again and again, the die is cast.
You, young Vivex, snag the skein,
Of the Gods’ weaving, and soon domain.
I see it now, your path is bright.
Across land and sea and starry night.
A place both new and ancient waits.
Full of enemies within the gates.
But hark ye, young Greenscale, lest ye die,
The soft death falling from the sky.
A full and vibrant life you may lead,
though the favored hue is what mortals bleed.
In time I see a leap of faith.
Farther still, a floating tower.
Closer though, your ramshackle bower.
Rivalries and found bloodlines,
An exiled daughter of the mines,
A Hero’s broken blade, reforged in zeal,
But despite the woe you can snatch the weal,
Find the warmth, both false and true,
Or your destination will be a bitter end for you.”
The light faded, and the elf crashed to the ground, unmoving except for a hitching breath that showed she was struggling to stay alive.
Her face and body bled with fresh scars, crimson pooling beneath her.
Her staring eyes still glowing green with Aether.
“It seems that you have been given help from the barkskins, Initiate Vivex.” High Priestess Ekartu hissed, standing and padding over to the elf. “Leave. This is my task.”
“Fool fifth…” Ersha growled. She noticed Vivex. “You still here? Leave!” She snapped her jaws with a sound like the smoothskin’s gunfire.
Vivex scampered out, before anything else happened. She couldn’t get away soon enough.
She had a destination. A mission. And a way to get away from all the brood until she could force them to acknowledge her greatness.
I will return! I will show them all! I will dominate Salkov and make it MINE!
Thrive!
Thanks so much for reading to the end of The Migration of Vivex! The first Interlude of The Saga of Vivex!
Our Greenscale Hero will return in Book 2!
The Vindication of Vivex!