Taint

Interlude I - Stitch in Time

The Abyss had known a moment's peace for the first time in centuries when the entire Shadowthorn family ventured Mortward for a family outing. Shrieks of the damned echoed a tad quieter, eternal suffering was down seventeen percent. Even the family healer, an arachnotaur named Sindra with impossible skill at seamless surgery, had taken a quick break. She kicked her feet up (which was saying something with eight legs) and enjoyed a sip of her favourite beverage, a vodka tonic with a twist of lime. The Shadowthorn chambers, resplendent in their hideous decor, had never been so beautiful. Sindra leaned back in the boss's Throne of Agony and admired the ghoulish wall hangings and shelves of organ-bearing jars.

"Sindra!"

Sindra remained at rest. She couldn't have heard Lord Umbra's voice just yet. They'd only been gone a short while. These outings, while rare, usually lasted for months or years. The last time Lady Elanizia and Sharla had gone on a 'ladies' trip', they hadn't been back until Rome officially fell. Abyssian historians were still working on the exact timeline. Either way, that had been a pleasant respite.

"SINDRA!"

That time sounded serious. Sindra wasn't in a huge rush to be disemboweled and put back together again today, like when she'd accidentally sewn Kai's face to his ass after a skiing trip at Olympus Mons on Mars. Lord Umbra had not been pleased, and even though she knew they liked to keep her around, having your internal organs removed through your eyes wasn't a pleasant experience on the best of days.

The massive throne room door burst open just as Sindra downed the last of her drink and hauled herself up out of the chair. She tried her best to make it look like she'd been busy at work. A quick breath check into her human hand was more limey than vodka, so she was in the clear.

The Shadowthorns stood in the doorway, a shambles of their usual impeccable selves. Any sense of their royal stature was gone - in its wake were these husks of demons now staggering into the throne room. Sharla lacked an arm, and the Lady Elanizia's wings were shredded beyond recognition. The Lord himself carried his own head under his arm. Sindra lowered her chin. They may have been in an unsightly state right then, but once healed, anyone that dared laugh, smirk, or even look at the royal family with anything other than terrified reverence would receive a punishment so severe their descendants would feel it for ten thousand years.

"Sindra, what the hell do you think you're doing?"

The arachnotaur glanced up at where Lord Umbra's head was supposed to be before correcting her gaze down to his armpit.

"My liege, I am simply working on some new pain administration techniques for more efficient anguish," Sindra said. "I was hoping to surprise you."

"Never mind that now," Lord Umbra said. "You know I love to watch you work, but I'm afraid we have more pressing matters at hand."

Lord Umbra thrust his head into Sindra's outstretched arms.

"Go on, stitch it back on, and be quick about it," Lord Umbra ordered. "I can't believe that little shit!"

Sindra got right to work webbing the lord's head back onto his neck stump.

"Not much blood, instant cauterization." Sindra often made her medical observations out loud. "This wasn't some haphazard human exorcism. I assume the little shit that did this knew what they were doing."

"They sure as Hell did." Lord Umbra twitched with rage, making Sindra miss a stitch. She doubled back and repaired the gap. "God-damned Malachai!"

Sindra paused mid-stitch. "Kai did this?"

"Don't call him Kai!" Lord Umbra yanked away from the arachnotaur, ripping out five or six stitches. If this were any other patient, Sindra would have given up the job and jabbed them for food later. "That is not his name! No one will call the future Lord of All 'Kai!' There's no meat to it! I... we didn't call him Malachai to go around with some wincy little nickname to strike happy, friendly vibes from here to Mort and everywhere in between!"

"Oh, Umbra, hold still," Lady Elanizia chided. "The boy is misguided, yes. And will require a few hundred years in the dolorium to pay for what he's done to my wings..."

"What about my leg?" Sharla hopped over to the throne and plopped herself down. "I liked that leg! You know how many mortlings I dispatched with that leg?"

"Oh, shut up about wings and legs!" Lord Umbra swatted Sindra to get her back to work. "My head came off! I've never been exiled before! It was a very humiliating experience!"

Lady Elanizia cleared her throat and sashayed over to her husband. She gave Sindra a knowing look and the arachnotaur almost imperceptibly nodded.

"Almost done, my liege," Sindra said, and doubled her efforts to reattach Umbra's head.

Elanizia took her husband's hand in hers and stroked it in a way only she knew how. She held his palm upwards and traced a circle with her thumb in the centre of his. His rage remained, but his breath slowed and his shoulders relaxed.

"Yes, my love, we have been exiled," she said. "But this was no ordinary, pedestrian exiling. Do you think just anybody could exile the great Lord Umbra? How many have tried during your glorious reign?"

Lord Umbra smiled. "I don't think there's a high enough number."

"Of course there isn't. Your time as Lord of All has seen the Abyss grow and expand in impossible ways. Who cancelled days off for good behaviour?"

Umbra raised his other hand. "That was me."

"Do you remember the outrage? And how you swiftly quelled it by removing those souls from existence with no chance of redemption or reincarnation? It was brilliant." Elanizia reached up for his other hand and began tracing the same circle in its palm.

"Yeah, that was a good one, wasn't it?" Lord Umbra's eyes were glazing over.

"Yes, it was, my love. Yes, we were exiled. Yes, it was humiliating." Elanizia leaned in and gave her husband a gentle kiss on the forehead. "But your son did it."

The lord's rage bubbled to the surface again. "What's your point, woman?"

"He's ready," Lady Elanizia said. "The boy is powerful enough to banish his dread father to the Abyss, when no one else can. He will make a great Lord of All."

Lord Umbra grinned - a smile that made even the arachnotaur surgeon uneasy.

"Stitch, spider," he ordered. "We'll get that boy back on our side, if it's the last thing we do."