Tanryn had told her a sacrifice would be provided, and provided it was. The ancient nymphtan knew the moment someone had torn through the guard spells she'd set in place, even if she hadn't reached the entrance to her home just yet.
It wasn't often she'd hear word from the banished god she'd dedicated her life to, so she knew it was something great for him to have come to her in a dream, instructing her to continue with the plan against Canden even though Igna was now dead.
Mutnya had planned on doing it, anyway, just to show them that killing her ward would do nothing to deter her. All it did was make their deaths a simple waste, needlessly watering the soil with blood that would have otherwise gone to the troubled nymphian girl.
To have Tanryn himself reach out . . . Well. Something great was coming, indeed.
She would prepare this yearly ritual for her lord, playing the gods' game, even though she knew that she would eventually lose. It didn't matter. She still enjoyed playing it, all the same. There was something curious, something enticing, about the things she set her heart on.
For every individual she killed was a person of their own, and yet all their screams sounded the same in the end. There were only so many ways a person could cry out for the pain to cease, and it was a sound that Mutnya pondered each time she heard it.
What, exactly, were they hoping to save if they survived? A lifetime of dismemberment, of terror and madness that would never truly leave. Surely they knew what would be in store for them should she decide to spare their lives. Mutnya still hadn't figured out the answer, and at times, she scarcely cared anymore. But it was a question unanswered, all the same.
One that was worth the creative slaughters she'd spend years setting into motion.
It was dark by the time she reached her pond, her limbs moving in slow, relaxed motions that would give any onlooker the impression that for all the faults in this mishap of a world, nothing could ever come to plague her.
For there was a fly in her trap, and she was in no rush to finish the end-of-autumn tradition her practice called for. Not because she didn't want to, but because there was nowhere for her prey to go.
The nymphtan smiled, her ebony skin reflecting off of the pale moonlight above as she waded into the small spring that had hidden her home for centuries.
It was time to see what her god had wanted her to give.
-.-.-.-
I thought my head was going to explode by the time I became aware of the nymphtan's presence. With the vines cutting into my body, holding me firm to the wall behind me, I could feel their toxins snaking into my bloodstream, forcing my muscles to go limp as my mind spun into a frenzy.
Holy shit, I was not expecting this. I knew this was going to hurt. I just had not expected the vines to be poisonous. Sacrificial targets were supposed to be alive, after all.
Strength. Find your strength.
Ugh.
Sweat dripping past my brow, I forced myself to look up when I sensed that I was no longer alone.
Her cerulean blue eyes glowed softly against the dimness of the cavern, as so did the symbols she had painted across her body. For a moment, she looked confused, as if not quite believing the person stupid enough to fall for her trap was an armed hunter.
"And they say Tanryn does not bless his followers," she finally spoke, her voice such a clear, swift contrast against the coarse breaths that came from my chest. "Are you the one who killed my ward?"
Are you happy now? You're finally going to die - and without completing your oath to the Circle.
They won't have me if I die like this.
No, someone much worse will.
Fine by me.
"You must be Mutnya," I replied by way of answering, finding it incredibly difficult to move my tongue. The nymphtan smiled a smile of pointed teeth.
"You are Circle Bound," she stated. "I can feel the magic they forced into your veins. How very curious, indeed."
She began to move her way towards me, tilting her head to the side as if I was a puzzle she wanted to solve.
"I recognize your aura. You were there outside of Canden - we were within arm's reach."
If I'd had the energy, I would have snapped my head back in an instant. Instead, I forced my eyes to focus on her face and not on the markings that covered her otherwise bare body.
"Why didn't you kill me?" I managed, to which she raised her brow.
"Why didn't you?"
I closed my eyes, hating the overwhelming tightness unfurling in my chest.
"I asked first," I mumbled. Oh, you're so pathetic.
A slim, smooth hand cupped my cheek, frustratingly cool against my flushed skin.
"I didn't realize you were an erla," she said simply. "You have visitors from the underworld residing in you."
Something dark and twisted stirred deep within me. I flinched, unable to hide the weak sound that rose to my throat. She chuckled.
"They don't know, do they? Your Reftin Circle has no idea what monsters you harbor beneath your skin."
"They never asked," came my curt, muffled reply.
"Hmm. You seem like a woman who loves very little."
Finding the strength to open my eyes was harder than it should have been, but I managed, knowing that I probably wasn't going to like what was in front of me. Indeed, I found an interest, but it wasn't from the obvious exposed protrusions hanging from her chest.
Never understood that logic, I thought suddenly. Men go so crazy over bits of flabby skin-
Wrenva, focus.
The charm that hung above them was made of a metal that looked as if it was made of moonlight, a picture of . . .
Snow. Freezing rain. A fishing village bracing itself against an oncoming storm-
I gasped, my eyes flying open as a wild, sharp pain pierced my side.
"Oh, fuck," I hissed, eying the single claw Mutnya was digging just beneath my bottom rib.
"Can't have you falling asleep on me, dear," she said sweetly. I grinded my teeth, unable to help the pained groan when she dug it in further. "Do I have your attention, now?"
Panting, I raised my eyes, struggling to fight past the fog clouding my head. With a grin, she yanked her claw free, waving a hand in the air that must have signalled the vines to release me. My body fell with an ungraceful thud!, and I was helpless when she moved to untie my cloak, sword belt, and the sash around my chest, my limbs tingling as the blood rushed to gain back some feeling. And she didn't stop there.
What a humbling experience, to be stripped down to one's own undergarments that consisted of a linen pair of shorts and a shirt, in my case. I had a snaking feeling she would have gone further if she hadn't sensed that the painful tingling in my body was fading enough for me to come close to moving. Once she noticed this, she was quick to bind my hands behind my back.
"You are either incredibly new, or incredibly experienced," she grunted behind me as I shook my head to clear my thoughts. "And judging from these scars, I'd say experienced."
I couldn't think of a witty thing to say, so I made do with rolling my eyes.
"So how am I going to die?" I bothered asking. "Will you drown me while your god tears apart my soul?"
The nymphtan barked out a laugh, giving an unnecessarily tight tug on my bonds. Maybe I could have said that with less snark.
"You've seen a sacrifice before?"
"Too many," I grunted.
"And did you step in, or did you watch just as you did in Canden?"
"Depends."
"Oh?"
"Yeah. Is the Circle or someone else doing the ritual?"
"Does it matter, in your case?"
I smiled, leaning forward to rest my head on my knees. I couldn't think much past the now angry pain in my side, but that was okay. Patience and timing. That's all I needed. At least, this was what I told myself when the nymphtan grabbed a handful of my hair, yanking me to my feet. I tried not to make a sound when she leaned in close to the side of my neck, but I did try to inch away from her.
"Why does he want a taste of your blood?"
I didn't think that question was directed at me - at least, she wasn't expecting me to answer, but it did make me frown. Did she think I was here purely by events her god orchestrated? She gave a jerk of my hair.
"Look at me, girl."
Not much of a girl anymore, I wanted to say. Instead, I met her blue eyes, her face inches away from my own.
"Who's hunting you?" When I kept my mouth shut, she made the decision to press one of those nasty claws back into my none-too-happy side. "Why are you quick to follow your death?"
"Ah!" I gasped, breathing a quick, sharp breath.
"I have three hours before I have to offer you," she snapped, twisting her claw. There was a horrible, sickening squish of flesh being messed with, and I wondered if she'd just cut open something that would have preferred staying closed. I wasn't crying - crying didn't come easy when the pain was just physical - but I wasn't sure how long I could keep my mouth shut to keep from screaming at this rate. "I can do a lot in three hours, dear."
Gee, so could I.
"A ravtin," I finally said, breathing a sigh of relief when she relaxed her grip on my side. "I'm being hunted by a ravtin."
There was a brief round of silence before she scoffed out a laugh.
"And let me guess. The Circle won't help you."
"Nothing much you can do against something you can't catch."
"Only if you limit yourself. So, is that what this is? You fear being delivered to your Nevhian god of ruin, so you come to the one nymphs acknowledge, instead?"
"I'm going to die either way," came my instinctive response. "What better way than to piss the Circle off?"
Another pause, and I watched with extreme dislike as the nymphtan's face slowly curled up into a grin. She laughed.
"You're bonded by contract." She shifted her grip on me, turning to face the small source of water that she would later attempt to drown me in. I was beginning to believe the gods wished me to die by suffocation over liquid. "Now this makes sense. My, we could have gotten along in another life."
Yeah, I wasn't going to waste any energy trying to figure out what she meant by that.
"Tell me, dear. How long did it take you to learn that the Reftin Circle was not as pure and whole is it claimed to be?"
"How long did it take you to step away from the god that tends to your people?" This, I finished by slamming my heel against the arch of her foot.
Mutnya yelped out in pain, shoving me forward on instinct. For a moment, I lost my balance, the pain in my side too overwhelming for me to walk straight. Fuck, there was far too much blood coming out of me for comfort. I didn't even want to think of the small puncture marks dotting my body from the damn vines.
With a skill that had been engraved deep into muscle memory, I dived behind one of the many tables, maintaining my footing even with my hands bound behind my back. Mutnya followed the movement, her lean, nimble form an evil shadow darting over me. I shoved myself beneath the table to avoid her flying claws, planting my feet on the ground and using my back to flip the furniture over.
A series of objects fell and crashed onto the floor, knocking the nymphtan off her feet. I took the time to pull my feet through my hands so that they were at my torso instead of my back. Now, to cut these bonds.
I chose to ignore whatever the hell was going on with my ankle, which had decided now would be a good time to remind me something had attempted to tear it free from its socket in the wayfold's river, and instead focused on making a grab for one of the knives Mutnya had tossed off of me. I was able to balance it in awkward fingers, slicing through the bindings just as a body collided with mine, sending my chin straight to the ground.
This next part was done purely out of panic. I felt a familiar stir in the air, a brisk, uncomfortable zap of energy that signaled Mutnya was about to do some serious unpleasant magic on me while she struggled to straighten herself. Still seeing dots and halfway to passing out, I rammed my head back, not caring which part of the nymphtan's face would meet in contact with my skull so as long as I disrupted her from doing something that could result in pieces of my flesh being stripped straight from the muscle.
Briefly, I was concerned with how much I would be feeling all of this later, considering that I was very much feeling it all now. Heads were not meant to be used as physical weapons. Not human heads, anyway.
I felt her weight shift off of me, a raging screech exploding from her chest.
Move, move, move. I forced myself to my hands and knees and began to crawl over to the water-
A pair of claws wrapped themselves around my bad ankle. Not again. My fingers were mere millimeters away from touching the cool, ominous surface when what I could only assume were teeth locked their way deep into my calf.
Well, if there was one way of dying that should be avoided at all costs, it was being eaten alive.
It took everything in me not to simply go with Mutnya's direction, to curl back in on myself to ease some of the strain that came with fighting her hold on my leg. The pained, half-sobbed cry that escaped my throat couldn't be helped. Unfortunately for my body, I was a firm believer that physical pain wasn't something I'd ever let keep me from doing what I needed to do . . . until my body gave out on me, at least.
Nothing much to do against that.
Hissing through my teeth, I lurched forward, submerging a hand in the water.
"Now!" I screeched, and prodded that evil little monster I often spent so much time forcing down into the depths of myself.
It all happened instantaneously. There was a massive increase of pressure within my skull, with blood being quick to ooze faster from whatever wounds that were still open. I wasn't sure how I had yet to pass out - I was just so damn lightheaded by now - but somehow, I was aware enough to feel a surge of energy shoot straight to my calf, where Mutnya was getting ready to tear chunks of skin.
The glowing symbols scattered throughout the cavern flashed a deeper, darker red than before . . . as well as some carefully sketched runes of my own that Mutnya hadn't noticed. Whatever magics that made up the water used to tie a bridge between this realm and wherever Tanryn was threatened to seep into my skin from where I had my hand submerged. But I was prepared for that, too. I reached out to the spirin in my veins, encouraging the spiteful source of Circle magic to the forefront of my mind.
And since Mutnya had made sure to fill her watery altar with magic meant to subdue a person, the spirin inside of me was too preoccupied keeping that at bay to focus on taking control over me.
All of these moving parts reacting in mere seconds. The tension that filled the room from so much energy and otherworldly things built and built. I had enough time to curl my fingers around the dip where the pool of water began when the symbols shone brighter and brighter. The steady breathing I'd grown accustomed to hearing within the cavern came to an abrupt halt. I felt Mutnya release my leg, sensing that things were about to go so terribly wrong for her.
Exhausted, I raised my head to look at the vines that had been quick to hold me down barely minutes prior. The small, circular runes I'd drawn with the outline of a hand caught my eye - runes that had the ability to direct a spell to another caster.
And they were working. I'd needed the nymphtan to willingly spill my own blood somehow to complete them, and then I had needed to taint the control she had within her altar - which I was currently doing by allowing the spirin to practically spill from my hands.
With a slight nod of my head, the vines snapped to, all darting for the evil bitch that had been a royal pain in the ass for the past . . . three, four weeks?
I now had complete reign over a nymphtan lair.
~ 2938 Words ~
Phew, so I know this is a longer chapter than most (probably the longest, haha).