A grimace, lasting only a second and barely perceptible to the untrained eye flashed across the chained Malakos’s face, the impostor had shown some emotion upon noticing the prey that had got away. Yet its concern was focused instead on the chains of energy biting away at the edges of its form, appearing like waves of heat, reminiscent of a mirage within the desert. However, this flickering image was not due to the heat in the air and delirious minds of the traveler’s, no, this was caused by the fluctuations in magical energy as the chains consumed the excess mana from the glamour.
The impostor Rafflesia had to keep wasting more and more energy to maintain the glamour, hoping that some of those present would come to its aid, yet not even one did. The people’s focus was on one man, the Scholar, awaiting a response, an explanation for the two identical individuals. One of whom was the impostor, yet because of the days they spent together traveling from the capital, many were wary of the new arrival, and had felt that the imprisoned individual had felt genuine the entire time. It was difficult to know what was true and what was false, but they always had relied on their leader in such times, waiting for the inevitable explanation, a show that would always prove him to be correct, at least that had normally been the case.
“Well creature, I feel that I know what you are, and your false illusions cannot fool my eyes.” As Caedyrn spoke these words he looked over at the sitting Niko, his energy constantly feeding into the formation, forcing a reaction from the stones which provided the energy to the chains. Niko’s eyes however glowed slightly, his focus entirely upon the imprisoned individual, only turning his head once to nod toward the Scholar, verifying what the man already knew.
“I have done nothing wrong, had I been an impostor I had ample chances to cause damage and escape. Yet I remained, this person has only just appeared, how do you know he is not the impostor, seeking to harm you, my Lord.” In a desperate attempt to gain sympathy from the surrounding crowd, Rafflesia humbled itself, bowing and scraping, swearing upon the gods that there was no ruse on its part. The people might have been, and were momentarily swayed, yet that spell was quickly shattered by the Lord with a thunderous crash.
Caedyrn smiled as his heavy oaken staff lay embedded within the rough packed dirt. “You are quite the deceiver; did you think your charm skill would work? If you haven’t realized yet, those chains aren’t meant to only imprison you. Everyday for the last five days during this trip I have been upgrading, adding small modifications to the formation while you were distracted by the show… You let your guard down… Did the pain of those prisoners entertain you that much? Either way it doesn’t matter, let’s do away with the games. Let the people see your real face, the one you keep hidden behind that façade.”
The man ignored the squirming, writhing, and screaming individual, adding a few more symbols along the outer edge of the barrier. Upon completion he took out a small leather pouch, dumping the contents, a fine reflective powder, making sure that the contents remained in and around the symbols. As he made his rounds, spreading the unknown substance, the symbols began to glow and twist, like living creatures they intertwined and connected with the symbol next to them. Eventually, as Caedyrn completed his circle, so did the symbols form an intricate ring, one that resembled a carving like those beautiful mosaics seen within the city square and within noble manors. This was of a serpent, it’s head and tail connected as one, the image of a titan, a world eater of legend.
“I’ll say, this formation is not quite as powerful as the image makes out to be, but it does the job. Do you have any idea what it does?” Rafflesia refused to answer, its eyes however spoke volumes. The fear was evident, and it’s struggling only became more violent, almost to the point of tearing its own limbs to escape. “I’ll take that as a yes… let’s get started shall we. Malakos, catch!” Malakos was already on his way, limping along as his injuries had not yet healed fully, and the rough ride at breakneck speed had not helped either. Yet he was still able to catch the spear thrown his way, taking hold of the iron-tipped weapon, his eyes aflame as he glared at the monster imprisoned before his eyes, stealing his form.
While the entire convoy watched with anticipation the symbol of the titan serpent came to life, forming a floating ring around the barrier. Then, without warning the head of the serpent unlatched itself from the tail and struck out, its ethereal fangs sinking deep into the neck of the imprisoned Rafflesia. She let out an unearthly howl, then her form began to flicker, the false image shifting from male to female, running through dozens maybe a hundred different individuals.
Each time her voice and body would shift, all the while the serpent would suck away the image, the light turning into silvery wisps and disappearing into the body of the ethereal creature. Until finally it stopped, and the silver light vanished along with the serpent, what remained was a horror, an abomination of nature and decay, of flesh and wood. There were audible gasps from the watching crowd, Rafflesia had been drained of her magic and with it the glamour that had hidden her true hideous form.
“Traitor! You are no human! A deceiver no different from myself or any of my kin. You are clearly a Magarch, a high priest, yet you betray the Goddess! No human would know of our ways, would know the secrets of inscription, of mana, of magic and the other realms.” Rafflesia was visibly angry, furious as if she had been betrayed by her own blood. “You who had everything, no wonder the Magarch’s have been so keen upon your capture, your observation.”
Rafflesia seemingly had lost her mind as she began laughing, her lipless smile and many squinting eyes painting an eerie picture when combined with the inhuman laughter. “Do you know what it is like, to be treated like a bottom feeder… I was slave in life, yet even upon my ascent I am still a slave! Yet you, you who had everything, stood above all else… you gave up the power, the chance at immortality for what? Livestock? These humans that you treat as your own, they are nothing more than sustenance, a resource to be raised, converted, or slaughtered.”
The chains of power held firm even as the creature used her immense power to attempt to get free, creating small fissures and cracks in the ground itself. “We are the Sordes, looked upon as trash, the decay and bottom feeders that make their homes among the roots. Consuming the refuse none of the other’s desire, rarely able to bask in the glory and adoration of others, left to do the dirty work that no one else is willing to do… I see the promises of the order were hollow, I was never meant to succeed, was I? Just another unwitting pawn playing to their tune.”
“Are you done? I don’t honestly care about whatever it is that you have gone through. You will find no sympathy here; I can think of the things you’ve done. The many forms you took… it appears you had no qualms in consuming entire families to sate your hunger. However, it was very useful to learn that your master’s are not quite as united as they make it appear. In any case none of that will matter soon enough for you… you will never inform your handlers, and your pitiful existence will end here and now… Malakos, it’s all yours.” Caedyrn stepped back, allowing Malakos to limp forward, spear in hand and a fierce desire to make use of it immediately.
“Remember, you get one strike, make it count. To let you through the barrier we must weaken it, we have no idea what it may have up its sleeve. So, make sure that you kill it quickly, do not allow rage to cloud your judgement.” Malakos said nothing in response, giving a barely noticeable nod, yet his eyes never left the creature standing before him.
“If only I had the time, I would ensure your death was neither swift nor merciful… That is too good for a creature like you. If only I had more time…” It was clear that Malakos wished for nothing more than to end this creature, to inflict upon it the same pain that it had inflicted upon him. Yet it was an impossible task, the death of his mother like figure, his ati, was not something the creature before him could ever understand. It was a twisted thing, forged in death and decay, consuming, torturing, and taking pleasure in the pain of its unfortunate victims was how it survived. The simple act of ending its life, at the hands of what it might have considered a lower lifeform was punishment and embarrassment enough, and it was the best that Malakos would ever receive.
“Die!” Malakos roared in anger, releasing his anguish and pain in that strike. With all his strength he plunged his spear deep into the creature hideous skull, impaling it through the forehead.” Almost immediately Rafflesia’s movements came to a stop, its body went limp and the chains holding it went slack as there was no longer any resistance pulling against them. “I did it Ati, I killed it. I hope you can sleep better now.” Tears streamed down the sides of his face, he did not care for what others thought, did not care about how he looked. At that moment it was only himself and the memories of his times in the brothel as a young man, assisting the only person he could ever consider a mother.
Maatilani had already stepped forward taking the younger man into her arms, allowing him to latch on like a younger sibling would after a relative’s death. She had always treated the man as a younger brother, often looking after him since their times as mercenaries fighting under Caedyrn’s banner across Erdenia. If anyone knew how much the madame had meant to him, it was her. Yet, this touching family condolence period was not to last.
“Watch out!” Niko was the first to yell out the warning, he had seen the fluctuations in mana, realizing that the creature was only playing dead. For a moment its light had gone out, the mana dimmed to the point he had believed it dead, but this was a ruse. A combination of circumstance and opportunity, Rafflesia had seized upon it and sought to make its escape.
By rapidly crushing and consuming the assassin leader Rafflesia had been digesting within its body, she could receive a burst of energy, enough to break free from the now weakened bonds and escape while everyone was distracted. The area around her waist began to squirm and wiggle, the roots making up the outer body moving to motion of the stomach sac smashing its partially digested prey.
“Aim for the center of its chest, there is a dark substance in the shape of a small jewel. Destroy it, I think that’s its core!” Because of the sudden increase in power, all the energy Rafflesia had just consumed had entered its core, not yet distributed to throughout its body. Niko could not help but notice this, believing it to be something akin to a heart and that destroying it would also cut off the creature from the dark mana that was maintaining its form.
In that moment Rafflesia finally realized the greater threat, understanding how the Scholar had seen through her ruse. The boy had natural powers, or something like the mana that she used but different somehow. Yet, it acted identical to the ability to visualize and see mana, to associate different energies as different colors. A difficult ability to use for long periods, and a somewhat uncommon power to have. The threat such an individual would have on the goddesses’ plan was not lost upon her.
Rafflesia charged forward, fashioning her arm into a spear, and rushing to impale the boy’s skull. Niko was still seated, exhausted from the extended period of power usage, there was nothing left by which to defend himself. However, something happened before the creature even reached him, as if by divine intervention, the horrid creature simply toppled over, screaming in pain. Even the Scholar appeared surprised at the turn of events, showing that Niko had been in actual danger, that their safeguards had failed due to a moment of carelessness.
Unbeknownst to all present, the assassin leader who had been captured and consumed, had carried a low-end poison on him, Haggler’s Bane. It could have an effect on people when consumed directly, but it had shown to be extremely effective against a creature with Rafflesia’s constitution. Possessing natural plant killing effects, the poison was capable of wounding Rafflesia when applied topically. Yet the man had been consumed with one last clay vial, a vial that had not yet been dissolved, when consuming the man and crushing his remains, she had also crushed the vial and consumed its contents. Now the poison was eating away at her from the inside, dissolving the roots that made up her body, like an acid.
“Damn you all! I will not die like this! I will murder every last one of you!” In one final attempt at survival and escape, Rafflesia released her hold on her current body, allowing it to wither and die. Losing much of the remaining death mana within her core, all to send one last invisible sliver into the crowd.
Seconds later, as her previous body withered away, one of Malakos’s night partners screamed in agony. The man writhed on the ground as those around him stepped back in surprise and terror, their eyes widening in fear as his back burst open. A putrid flower growing from the base of his spine, having burst from the skin, and consuming the now deceased individual’s fluids to rapidly grow to maturity.
Before, anyone had a chance to understand what was occurring, the flower unlatched itself from the corpse’s bones, formed a pair of wiry legs of entwined roots and fled into the forest. Rafflesia had somehow managed to escape, severely weakened, lacking almost all her strength and magical energy, but still alive and likely scheming her revenge.
