Empyrean Iris Story Collection Vol. 3

The Triumvirate

Kneeling on the floor, the old warrior held her gaze.

Thin pulsing line of orange ran down the side of his face and onto his neck following the path of veins and arteries towards his heart.

He did not speak at first.

"A lesser man would have broken by now, but you, you are stubborn."

Lord Celex laughed, familiar now with the sound, with the way it rolled up through his human body and out his lips. He closed his eyes and flexed his muscles slowly, first his wrists, pulling against the chains of blackness, than his back, feeling the muscle rolling as he adjusted his shoulders and rolled his head on his neck. There was no wind her to stir the hair on his head, or the finely sculpted beard he had cultivated over his captivity.

When he had died and been taken by the Void, Lord Celex had learned that in his state without a construct, he could mold his body into any shape he chose. The process had taken a while to fully master, but he had had plenty of time alone to think and practice. He had been able to form himself into many shapes and identities, and spent plenty of his time as his old self.

However, he liked this human form, and when it came to dealing with Kazna, he was almost positive that his human form annoyed her, and because of that he had grown rather fond of it.

The shape Lord Celex chose to take was that of a distinguished man in his mid to late forties, still handsome but distinguished. He had the body of a warrior, with wide shoulders and narrow hips. His skin was a pleasant, tanned brown not entirely light nor dark. And though he did enjoy his human form, he kept the hair of a celex, determined to be proud of what he was and where he had come from. Like he had been in life, the hair on his head and face was a prismatic array of colors, bright and dichotomous to the blackness, defiant against the void.

His eyes were similar.

He did not choose to speak to Kazna today though his jaw worked slightly with the words he would like to have said, but had learned the hard way would not be particularly helpful to anyone.

The fine hairs of his beard rippled gently in the wind stirred up by his movement, well kept and tight to his cheeks aside from the noticeable point that jutted out from his chin.

Kazna glowered at him, her yellow eyes bright within the depth of her swirling blackness. A cape of shadow undulated at her heels.

"What, no sarcastic commentary today ."

Her annoyance amused him, and he kept his mouth shut.

He watched her hand tighten, and then slowly relax.

Her voice lightened.

"No matter. I have soemthing better for today, Something I think you might find interesting."

She stepped forward and with a wave of her hand the chains on his wrists vanished to be replaced by a thick metal collar which clamped itself around his neck. Still, he kept his head high. They might treat him no better than an animal, but Lord Celzex had always been sure of one thing. Pride and dignity couldn't be taken from you, the only way you lost them was if you gave them away.

And he was not about to give his away.

She tugged him forward roughly over the hard ground. He should have been in pain from who knows how long on his knees held by chains, but this body wasn't a construct and didn't have the normal weaknesses of flesh.

He felt just as spry as he might have waking up from an early summertime nap.

Kazna waved her hand before her, and the darkness opened creating a crackling portal through which she pulled them.