Sintheros
04-27-2012, 03:28 AM
[Word Count: 1980]
The wind whistled through the night air, painting a picture of subdued serenity through the darkness. The moon hung low in the sky, the only source of light on a starless evening. The clouds were determined to keep Newerth draped in shadow, it seemed. Perhaps they favored the demons that lurked in every crevice who wished nothing but ruin on this once peaceful world. Peace. What a foreign word. Newerth has known nothing but struggle for so long. Yet it seemed so close. The clouds dare not obscure the moon, not with her watching so intently. She stood on a cliff side, a chunk of rock and grass overlooking a canyon. The canyon was new. Much of the terrain seems new these days. War ravages more than flesh and spirit. The cliff was less than new. The grass and small ferns were too attached to it to have been something that had just sprung up. The moon was a curious attraction to her these days. It’s a symbol of what they’ve accomplished, and yet too it’s a symbol of everything they’ve lost.
The Moon Queen took a long sigh. She was aging. This war has brought a greater toll to her and her people than any other age that their lore will ever recount. Her body was not meant to be exerted in this way, she’s too fragile. She glanced down at the glaive in one of her more humanoid arms. It was worn and dented, having seen more true combat than anyone could ever have expected when crafting a ceremonial masterpiece. She never ceased to be surprised by how well it actually functioned. The moon truly blessed her, her people, and her cause. This simple ceremonial glaive had carved the life out of countless Hellbourne minions, and only slightly fewer seasoned defenders of darkness. She was a true Moon Warrior, this was no doubt. If Newerth was to prevail in its darkest hour, she would surely go down as a legend in her people’s history, or what’s left of it. The Warrior-Monarch. It had a ring to it, that’s for sure. She let out a high-pitched chuckle. To think that she’d find herself here. In this conflict. Calling down the endless power of the celestials to protect her hive and her planet from unfathomable monstrosities. How the world has changed. With that thought, a chill descended on her wings. Instantly she hopped and reoriented herself facing down the cliff. He’d actually come. She’d say that she’d seen stranger things, but she’d be kidding herself. The larger insect emerged from the trees below cloaked in a mist of swarming flies and clinging darkness. The Moon Queen’s heart filled with hate. Moon Warriors rarely feel hate. This was long overdue.
“You have quite the nerve, calling me here tonight. See how the moon frowns in your presence?” she called down in her high-pitched voice, gesturing to the floating silver sphere behind her.
A raspy voice came from the swarm of shadow. “What good would it do me to send for you if I wasn’t planning on attending myself, my lady?” The voice crawled across her skin. She could not stand to hear him and his mandible of lies.
“You dare refer to me as such? After all you’ve done? The lives you’ve ruined? The hive-bonds you’ve shattered?” she spat. “We don’t need formalities here…Pestilence…why did you call me here of all places?”
“You call me by my chosen name yet you don’t appreciate my formalities. Intriguing, my lady. I’m surprised you didn’t come with your royal guard.”
“This is where I bestowed upon you the rank of Crescent Adviser; you know that as well as I. Nobody outside of our hive even knew of this overlook. …So nobody but us.”
Pestilence suddenly looked up. He had been avoiding her confrontational gaze. “Nobody? They’re all gone? Allow me to express my deepest…”
“No. You will express nothing, you traitorous filth. You broke the seal. You allowed others to enter our hive for the first time in millennia. Their blood is on your hands and yours alone. Do you think I fight with increased vigor for nothing?” She worked herself up. Anger is not a natural emotion to the Moon Warriors. “Now then. Why. Did. You. Call. Me. Here.”
Pestilence’s gaze turned ground-ward again. He looked still for a moment, and then raised his wings. The Moon Queen instinctively held out her glaive and raised an arm to the air in preparation to strike down his inevitable lunge.
But it never came. The dark swarm of insects spilled from Pestilence’s wings and flooded into the forest behind him. Pestilence closed his wings and looked back at her; a sullen look covered his now-visible face. She hadn’t seen him since that day. Not truly. He was not the same. His carapace was once a shining blue hue, but now it appeared tarnished in shades of black and green. Dents riddled his outer shell, and his proud horn seemed dulled. She thought that she could spot a few tears in a wing and a crack in a piece of his chitin on his shoulder. War had been no kinder to him than it had to anyone else. The treasonous councilor had cloaked himself in filth and famine, it was only fitting that he outwardly fit the role. The Moon Queen frowned.
“Battle scars, Pestilence? We all have them. Hiding yours under layers of treachery do not make them any more endearing.” Vindication never had more of an audible ring as it did when she spoke. “Is this why you called me here? To look pathetic under the light of that which you betrayed? Do you think that anything you could possibly say could ever bring back the millions you damned? What do you think you gain from this, monster?”
“Please…” began the male, his voice only somewhat less gravely without his shroud of flies. “You don’t understand.” Pestilence’s head began to turn to the side, perhaps if mulling his thoughts over. It quickly snapped back to meet her eyes. “You don’t know what it feels like to be me.”
The Moon Queen stifled a laugh. “You must be joking. Never has a feigned apology sounded so absurd. And there isn’t a soul living or dead who would want to know what it feels like to be you, you sack of filth. It’s almost poetic that you’ve decided to live amongst the flies. Do you truly believe that genocide is so easily forgiven, if at all? Have you become so delusional?” She began to turn away. This was what he wanted? Noble, if nothing else, but far too little and far too late. Her people were dead. Forced outside the safety of their moonlit hive and cut down by the millions. The actions of one doomed them all.
“Please, my lady.” He began to hover up the hill towards her. Nearing the top he shut his wings and kneeled. “My lady…I never…Ees-veena…”
She whipped around and in less than a second her glaive was at his neck.
“How dare you! You dare call me that after what you’ve done? Tell me why I shouldn’t slit your throat on the spot! If it would bring even one of our hive back from beyond the veil I would do it. I swear by the moon and its radiant glory I would do it.”
“The day I left…the day I broke the seal…I wanted to turn back right then…I wanted to fly right back to the hive-throne and profess unending loyalty to you…that what I had considered was foolish…but I was afraid…” The larger insect choked out the words.
Pestilence avoided matching her gaze. “I couldn’t bring myself to see your face again. I couldn’t look into your eyes. All you ever wanted was to keep our people safe…all I wanted was to rule…I thought myself best fit…I thought myself strong…”
Ees-veena stood firm, glaive at his neck. She breathed heavily, and for a time there was nothing but the sound of the two of them taking in one after another.
The traitor continued, slowly. “I never meant the things I did. I was never strong. I understand that now. You made me Crescent Adviser because you valued my opinion, not because you valued my sheer strength.”
She finally spoke again, glaive held fast. “No, Pestilence….Pil-achh….I made you Crescent Adviser because I valued you as a friend. I trusted our people in you because I trusted you. Remember those days when we were young and you would laugh about how I’d be Queen some day and you’d be my mighty Moon Warrior protecting us from any who’d seek to break the seal? And then we’d laugh amongst the pale silver flowers? You were the closest friend I’d ever had. To this day I’ve never had a mate. And thanks to you I never will.”
She lowered her glaive. “Just tell me this. Why? What possessed you to turn your back on everything you had? On your people? On me?” She raised her glaive again along with her voice.
Pil-achh turned his head to the side. “I was weak! I was foolish! There is nothing in my life nor any life I have had nor may have that could ever compare to the atrocity I committed that day, and nothing I ever say can make it right again! I just needed you to know that I never wished you any harm, my lady…”
“Save it.” The Moon Queen snapped at the larger insect. “If you’re so full of sorrow and forgiveness, why do you still fight for them? Why do you seek to bring further ruin to our world? LOOK AT ME!” She grabbed his head and turned it towards hers.
“It’s not that easy!” Pestilence was frantic. “Those flies that surround me are hardly mine. It’s taking my full force of will to pry them away from me as we speak. Would I try to fight back they’d devour me in a second. Treason is not so simple the second time, it would seem.”
“Then tell me, why don’t I end you right now? You do more good for what’s left of Newerth dead than you do fighting a lie.”
He shook his head out of her hand, but continued to face her. “I swear, my lady, I will do everything in my power to right the wrongs I’ve made. If I could repair the seal I would. If I could bring them back I would. But I can’t. I promise that I will make you proud of me again, somehow, even if it costs me what I have left of this husk of a body to do it.”
She lowered her glaive again, backed up a step, and let out a sigh. “...I appreciate the gesture, Pil-achh. I give you my blessing to see your task through. Please stop this bloodshed, somehow. Newerth has bled far too much already, as have we.”
“Thank you, my lady; I will not fail you again. Not now, and not ever. I pray that you can find it in your heart to forgive even a fraction of me.”
“May the moon’s light grace your blackened soul in your endeavors, Pil-achh. Now please…leave me.”
The great battered insect turned toward the forest, his senses drowning as his swarm rejoined him. The queen watched him depart with a heavy heart, and then turned back to the cliff side. She looked down into the fresh wound in the ground, then up to the moon. This war must stop, for all those who’ve died, all those who live, and all those who may yet live.
“I will burn you all by the moon’s light. I swear it.” Her voice whispered softly down the overlook. With one last glance towards the forest, she turned and walked away.
The wind whistled through the night air, painting a picture of subdued serenity through the darkness. The moon hung low in the sky, the only source of light on a starless evening. The clouds were determined to keep Newerth draped in shadow, it seemed. Perhaps they favored the demons that lurked in every crevice who wished nothing but ruin on this once peaceful world. Peace. What a foreign word. Newerth has known nothing but struggle for so long. Yet it seemed so close. The clouds dare not obscure the moon, not with her watching so intently. She stood on a cliff side, a chunk of rock and grass overlooking a canyon. The canyon was new. Much of the terrain seems new these days. War ravages more than flesh and spirit. The cliff was less than new. The grass and small ferns were too attached to it to have been something that had just sprung up. The moon was a curious attraction to her these days. It’s a symbol of what they’ve accomplished, and yet too it’s a symbol of everything they’ve lost.
The Moon Queen took a long sigh. She was aging. This war has brought a greater toll to her and her people than any other age that their lore will ever recount. Her body was not meant to be exerted in this way, she’s too fragile. She glanced down at the glaive in one of her more humanoid arms. It was worn and dented, having seen more true combat than anyone could ever have expected when crafting a ceremonial masterpiece. She never ceased to be surprised by how well it actually functioned. The moon truly blessed her, her people, and her cause. This simple ceremonial glaive had carved the life out of countless Hellbourne minions, and only slightly fewer seasoned defenders of darkness. She was a true Moon Warrior, this was no doubt. If Newerth was to prevail in its darkest hour, she would surely go down as a legend in her people’s history, or what’s left of it. The Warrior-Monarch. It had a ring to it, that’s for sure. She let out a high-pitched chuckle. To think that she’d find herself here. In this conflict. Calling down the endless power of the celestials to protect her hive and her planet from unfathomable monstrosities. How the world has changed. With that thought, a chill descended on her wings. Instantly she hopped and reoriented herself facing down the cliff. He’d actually come. She’d say that she’d seen stranger things, but she’d be kidding herself. The larger insect emerged from the trees below cloaked in a mist of swarming flies and clinging darkness. The Moon Queen’s heart filled with hate. Moon Warriors rarely feel hate. This was long overdue.
“You have quite the nerve, calling me here tonight. See how the moon frowns in your presence?” she called down in her high-pitched voice, gesturing to the floating silver sphere behind her.
A raspy voice came from the swarm of shadow. “What good would it do me to send for you if I wasn’t planning on attending myself, my lady?” The voice crawled across her skin. She could not stand to hear him and his mandible of lies.
“You dare refer to me as such? After all you’ve done? The lives you’ve ruined? The hive-bonds you’ve shattered?” she spat. “We don’t need formalities here…Pestilence…why did you call me here of all places?”
“You call me by my chosen name yet you don’t appreciate my formalities. Intriguing, my lady. I’m surprised you didn’t come with your royal guard.”
“This is where I bestowed upon you the rank of Crescent Adviser; you know that as well as I. Nobody outside of our hive even knew of this overlook. …So nobody but us.”
Pestilence suddenly looked up. He had been avoiding her confrontational gaze. “Nobody? They’re all gone? Allow me to express my deepest…”
“No. You will express nothing, you traitorous filth. You broke the seal. You allowed others to enter our hive for the first time in millennia. Their blood is on your hands and yours alone. Do you think I fight with increased vigor for nothing?” She worked herself up. Anger is not a natural emotion to the Moon Warriors. “Now then. Why. Did. You. Call. Me. Here.”
Pestilence’s gaze turned ground-ward again. He looked still for a moment, and then raised his wings. The Moon Queen instinctively held out her glaive and raised an arm to the air in preparation to strike down his inevitable lunge.
But it never came. The dark swarm of insects spilled from Pestilence’s wings and flooded into the forest behind him. Pestilence closed his wings and looked back at her; a sullen look covered his now-visible face. She hadn’t seen him since that day. Not truly. He was not the same. His carapace was once a shining blue hue, but now it appeared tarnished in shades of black and green. Dents riddled his outer shell, and his proud horn seemed dulled. She thought that she could spot a few tears in a wing and a crack in a piece of his chitin on his shoulder. War had been no kinder to him than it had to anyone else. The treasonous councilor had cloaked himself in filth and famine, it was only fitting that he outwardly fit the role. The Moon Queen frowned.
“Battle scars, Pestilence? We all have them. Hiding yours under layers of treachery do not make them any more endearing.” Vindication never had more of an audible ring as it did when she spoke. “Is this why you called me here? To look pathetic under the light of that which you betrayed? Do you think that anything you could possibly say could ever bring back the millions you damned? What do you think you gain from this, monster?”
“Please…” began the male, his voice only somewhat less gravely without his shroud of flies. “You don’t understand.” Pestilence’s head began to turn to the side, perhaps if mulling his thoughts over. It quickly snapped back to meet her eyes. “You don’t know what it feels like to be me.”
The Moon Queen stifled a laugh. “You must be joking. Never has a feigned apology sounded so absurd. And there isn’t a soul living or dead who would want to know what it feels like to be you, you sack of filth. It’s almost poetic that you’ve decided to live amongst the flies. Do you truly believe that genocide is so easily forgiven, if at all? Have you become so delusional?” She began to turn away. This was what he wanted? Noble, if nothing else, but far too little and far too late. Her people were dead. Forced outside the safety of their moonlit hive and cut down by the millions. The actions of one doomed them all.
“Please, my lady.” He began to hover up the hill towards her. Nearing the top he shut his wings and kneeled. “My lady…I never…Ees-veena…”
She whipped around and in less than a second her glaive was at his neck.
“How dare you! You dare call me that after what you’ve done? Tell me why I shouldn’t slit your throat on the spot! If it would bring even one of our hive back from beyond the veil I would do it. I swear by the moon and its radiant glory I would do it.”
“The day I left…the day I broke the seal…I wanted to turn back right then…I wanted to fly right back to the hive-throne and profess unending loyalty to you…that what I had considered was foolish…but I was afraid…” The larger insect choked out the words.
Pestilence avoided matching her gaze. “I couldn’t bring myself to see your face again. I couldn’t look into your eyes. All you ever wanted was to keep our people safe…all I wanted was to rule…I thought myself best fit…I thought myself strong…”
Ees-veena stood firm, glaive at his neck. She breathed heavily, and for a time there was nothing but the sound of the two of them taking in one after another.
The traitor continued, slowly. “I never meant the things I did. I was never strong. I understand that now. You made me Crescent Adviser because you valued my opinion, not because you valued my sheer strength.”
She finally spoke again, glaive held fast. “No, Pestilence….Pil-achh….I made you Crescent Adviser because I valued you as a friend. I trusted our people in you because I trusted you. Remember those days when we were young and you would laugh about how I’d be Queen some day and you’d be my mighty Moon Warrior protecting us from any who’d seek to break the seal? And then we’d laugh amongst the pale silver flowers? You were the closest friend I’d ever had. To this day I’ve never had a mate. And thanks to you I never will.”
She lowered her glaive. “Just tell me this. Why? What possessed you to turn your back on everything you had? On your people? On me?” She raised her glaive again along with her voice.
Pil-achh turned his head to the side. “I was weak! I was foolish! There is nothing in my life nor any life I have had nor may have that could ever compare to the atrocity I committed that day, and nothing I ever say can make it right again! I just needed you to know that I never wished you any harm, my lady…”
“Save it.” The Moon Queen snapped at the larger insect. “If you’re so full of sorrow and forgiveness, why do you still fight for them? Why do you seek to bring further ruin to our world? LOOK AT ME!” She grabbed his head and turned it towards hers.
“It’s not that easy!” Pestilence was frantic. “Those flies that surround me are hardly mine. It’s taking my full force of will to pry them away from me as we speak. Would I try to fight back they’d devour me in a second. Treason is not so simple the second time, it would seem.”
“Then tell me, why don’t I end you right now? You do more good for what’s left of Newerth dead than you do fighting a lie.”
He shook his head out of her hand, but continued to face her. “I swear, my lady, I will do everything in my power to right the wrongs I’ve made. If I could repair the seal I would. If I could bring them back I would. But I can’t. I promise that I will make you proud of me again, somehow, even if it costs me what I have left of this husk of a body to do it.”
She lowered her glaive again, backed up a step, and let out a sigh. “...I appreciate the gesture, Pil-achh. I give you my blessing to see your task through. Please stop this bloodshed, somehow. Newerth has bled far too much already, as have we.”
“Thank you, my lady; I will not fail you again. Not now, and not ever. I pray that you can find it in your heart to forgive even a fraction of me.”
“May the moon’s light grace your blackened soul in your endeavors, Pil-achh. Now please…leave me.”
The great battered insect turned toward the forest, his senses drowning as his swarm rejoined him. The queen watched him depart with a heavy heart, and then turned back to the cliff side. She looked down into the fresh wound in the ground, then up to the moon. This war must stop, for all those who’ve died, all those who live, and all those who may yet live.
“I will burn you all by the moon’s light. I swear it.” Her voice whispered softly down the overlook. With one last glance towards the forest, she turned and walked away.