Beira awoke to a strange and not in the least annoying tune playing right inside her skull. There was something repetitive about the tune, like it was one of those strange and troublesome devices called radios, or music players, or whatever Fioreans called their little pockets of maddening witchcrafts that produced sounds with little to no apparent reason for it. Whatever this sound device was, it seemed to have been placed repeatedly on replay, and of all melodies to place on replay, it just had to be that particularly annoying three-noted sound that just kept going on and on and on. After what seemed like a long time, though Beira eventually realized it wasn’t up to three seconds, she realized that what had been imagined as a recurring sequence of music was actually the consistent running of a machine, its parts constantly making the sounds she was currently hearing, the sounds that were ticking her off. The consistency of the machine’s sounds had been so uniform that the God Slayer had thought that, as was expected of some variations of modern Fiorean music, after a few moments of listening to the irritating rhythmic sound, an equally odious voice would burst into song.
In any case, there was much to be thankful for; she was not going to be hearing people singing to upbeat tunes anytime soon. But if this wasn’t a karaoke session, where was she? The Utgardian began trying to recollect what had happened last to her. She knew she had been wandering and exploring some ruins at the southern border of Fiore, and she had walked through an archway, and that was it. Everything seemed to have started becoming hazy from there, and between then and now, it was particularly difficult to recollect what had happened between her time investigating the ruins, and now. And speaking of difficulties in mental faculties, Beira realized that she could not see clearly. All her senses, in fact, were little more than a mess and a jumble. For someone who prided herself on the acuity of her perceptive powers, it was the strangest thing to realize that all her senses were in disarray. She realized what it could possibly mean: something, or someone, was interfering with her senses, and most likely making her memory hazy as well.
No matter how her perception was scrambled, Beira was sure she would feel much better if she moved. Which brought about another strange thing; she could not tell whether she was lying down or standing up, which way was down and which way was up. What was actually as shocking as it was frightening was that she discovered that she could move, though her motions were limited, especially as her wrists and ankles seemed to be restrained. The realization hit her almost immediately, and left a most uncomfortable feeling in her stomach. She was somebody’s prisoner, but the question was, whose? Beira struggled to free herself, but she soon realized that her attempts at trying to free herself were vain. Either she had been weakened to the point wherein she was incapable of freeing herself, or she was restrained by manacles of material sturdy enough to hold down a young and healthy Utgardian. It seemed also that her ability to tap into her more supernatural powers was also greatly hindered, if not altogether rendered useless. Panic began to set in. She had never been in a position such as this, except when she had been abducted by those cultists back in Utgardr, and had absorbed energies from the plane of death as well as ice, making her the Winter God Slayer. Even then, as soon as she had gained control of her awareness, she had dispatched the cultists and freed herself. It was frightening enough to realize that, at this moment, she seemed to be totally powerless.
There was a presence in the room with her, but she could not, for a moment, tell what, or who it was. The Utgardian strained as hard as she could, willing herself to gain enough mastery over her faculties to at least make sense of the world around her. Her gaze sharpened enough to see a form before her. Whether the form changed or her vision played tricks on her, she couldn’t say, but after a bit of more focusing, she saw Levinia Arx Creuset, her protégé, standing before her, the girl’s features obscured by her habitual mask. Of course, it was quite confusing to see her ward here, but if the girl was here, then it was good news. She had an ally here. Levinia seemed unbound, so Beira hoped that the masked girl would soon free her from her restraints.
”Levinia, I have no idea what you’re doing here, but you’re indeed a sight for sore eyes,” the God Slayer said happily. ”Now, be a dear and free me from these constraints.” The masked figure did not respond. Her two heterochromic eyes stared blankly at the restrained God Slayer for a moment, before an ominous chuckle emanated from behind the mask. ”Free you? ” The mocking laughter continued for a bit, then the masked figure continued. ”I think I’m quite pleased about your present position. So, be a dear and just remain where you are.” Beira’s countenance darkened, as she locked eyes with Levinia. ”I grow weary of this joke. Jocularity aside, I am in no mood to entertain unnecessary wastes of my time. So, if you will not get me out of these bonds, explain to me why I’m here. And be careful of what enemies you pick, lest you regret your actions in days to come.”
”Well, if you desire an explanation, you shall have one,” the God Slayer’s protégé replied, seating herself comfortably on a strange object with blinking lights, which was probably not initially designed with seating in mind. ”You yourself believe that it is a great disadvantage to be weak. Well, I have been weak for far too long, and I decided that the best way to attain the strength which I desire would be to stop waiting for you to give it to me, and get it myself.” Beira shook her head, confusion all over her features. ”That makes no sense, and it has no relation with what I am doing here. It was you who wished to tag alongside me, if my memory serves me well, and if you had grown tired of my plodding steps, you could have just informed me of your desire to strike out alone, and I should not have been bothered in the least.”
”You’re dumber than you look, God Slayer,” Levinia cooed. ”You see, I was approached by people who could give me what I wanted. They would lift my curse, and give me great power so as to never let myself be abused by those with power. So, I opted for that, instead of following you. And in exchange for all that, just a little price to pay: yourself. But I’m sure you’re wondering, who would be so eager to get hands on such a one as yourself?” Here she paused, allowing the Utgardian time to let the information sink in. Beira frowned. True, she was a member of a dark guild, and she had done things that had put her at variance with powerful people, but most of those she had crossed were normal, mundane creatures. To promise power such as the one being offered Levinia, no normal mortal could do that. And Beira was sure that whatever supernatural creature she had probably crossed in the past had been buried in the past. Unless… no. It was not possible. As though Levinia sensed Beira’s thoughts, the masked girl said, with a derisive edge in her voice, ”do you perhaps begin to have an inkling of who would have encouraged me to catch you? I’m sure you may be familiar with them. They call themselves the Old Ones.”
The Old Ones? That name had kept popping up in Beira’s sphere of existence of recent. They seemed to be, as their name suggested, quite ancient, maybe even dating beyond the time she had been born. Whoever they were, Beira was yet to discover their intentions, but so far, they seemed to have been very meddling in her life, and she was beginning to hate them for it. Nevertheless, these Old Ones had piqued her interest, because they seemed to be directly related to her past, much of which was shrouded in mystery, even to herself. ”What do you know about the Old Ones, Levinia?”
”That they own you, and they have you now. The guild has to cut off unnecessary members.” Another familiar face appeared, smiling at her. This time, it was her Guild Master, Saraphina. ”No…” Beira said, shock evident on her features. ”No, why would Errings Rising betray me? I’ve earned my keep for the guild so far. I haven’t broken any rules. Why?” A third voice chimed in, as another identical figure came into view, this one being Belladonna Black. ”No hard feelings, Beira, but you’re of more harm to our guild than an asset, so we just have to get rid of you. Truth is, you’ve never belonged to us, and you never shall.” Soon, other figures began to appear, each one of them someone that Beira had met in the past, and parted ways favourably with them, one way or the other. And they all had the same message: that Beira’s existence was more harm than good, that she belonged to the Old Ones, and that she would never fit in to any society. Eventually they left, leaving the God Slayer an emotional wreck.
For a while, she sobbed silently and alone, but her fighting spirit, developed in the face of various adversities which she had been exposed to from as far back as she could remember, both in Utgardr and Earthland, soon began to re-emerge and exert itself. Why stay here and cry? If she didn’t belong to any society, and she could never be a part of any group that would accept her, then she would continue to exist alone. And even if she couldn’t, at least she would let the Old Ones know that she wasn’t just an item to be had. She would liberate herself, or die doing so. She had been born free, royalty even. She would never succumb to the lie that she belonged to the Old Ones. Even if they claimed a right to her, she would fight them for the claim to herself. Having whipped up her battered spirit, Beira decided that she would not depend on anyone to help her get out of here. She would do so herself. She was resourceful, she knew that. All she had to do was take cognizance of her environment, find something that could help her break out, and make herself scarce. No, she would do a bit of investigation before she left, in order to see if she could reveal more things about these Old Ones, determine if they were deserving of her vengeance, and if they were, find ways by which she would make them suffer for their treatment of her.
It seemed, and this appeared to be the first piece of good news, that her senses were becoming cleared. She had been able to recognize all the traitors, those whom she had thought were friends, or at least acquaintances, who had just been using her for their own ends. The God Slayer wondered whether it would be good to have revenge on them all. On some, she wouldn’t. Levinia for example. Such ones were desirous of quick power, but oblivious to the fact that those to whom they went for this power never had their good in mind. Experience would teach the brat. As for Errings Rising, that one was an organization, well-structured and stable. She would wheedle at it carefully, until it fell, or she died doing so. The rest, she would avenge herself on them or spare them, as her whims dictated, were she to meet them again. As she contemplated, Beira realized that her unnatural Slayer strength was returning. She strained against her bonds, and felt them giving way. Very soon, there was a snapping sound, and her right arm was free. Quickly, she liberated herself from the rest of her restraints, and headed cautiously for the door.
No sooner had she gotten to the door than the floor under her suddenly gave way, plunging her into an abyss beneath. Suddenly, she perceived there was no longer the sensation of falling. Instead, she was on a rather uneven and rough surface. As she tried to rise to her feet, the surface beneath her began coming apart, with her realizing that the ground beneath was composed of living vermin. Repulsed, she attempted to jump as high as she could, and use her ability to manipulate nether rime to run on the air. Her powers failed her. As the vermin swarmed her, she fought to prevent herself from being submerged by the living creeps, all to no avail. The only reason she resisted the urge to scream was because she feared having something slimy crawl into her mouth. Soon she was deep beneath them. She could feel their myriad legs, scales, claws and whatever they used as locomotion, in torturous acuity. Then she noticed she was surrounded by many glowing red lights, which she soon realized to be the eyes of the vermin. Her futile struggle to break free was renewed, as the only thing worse than vermin, in her opinion, was demonic vermin.
Something bit her.
If she was alarmed then, she was frantic now. Still, the demonic critters kept swarming all over her, biting her as they did. She saw where a centipede-like thing had bitten her hand. It was turning a strange purple-black, and long white hairs began growing out of it. To Beira’s horror, she realized that the bites of these things were transforming her into some demonic creature. And as her physical form mutated, her mind seemed to be locked in a prison of its own. She soon saw, as though she was disembodied from her body, that what she had turned into was some hulking monstrosity. She was no longer Beira the Third, child of Utgardr. She was nothing. No one would know who she was, no one would hear of her deeds, good or ill. Shadows, which she suspected to be Old Ones, approached her and gave her commands. Commands she had no choice but to obey. Beira watched as she rampaged across Earthland, destroying the planet along with similar creatures like she was. Then the shadows, having destroyed Earthland, began aiming for the stars. And through it all, as she watched, Beira kept hearing a whispering voice telling her that this was how it all had to end, that this was what her purpose was in life, and the sooner she embraced her purpose, the easier it would be for herself. It all began to seem so peaceful. All she had to do was accept what she was now, give in to it….
”No!”
She would not allow this! Somehow, anyhow, as long as she retained a sense of what she was, of who she was, Beira would not just roll over and allow a bunch of manipulative cowards to determine what she would be and how she would turn out. She felt something, an external force, trying to keep her will suppressed. She began to strain against it. She sensed panic somewhere, like something was alarmed at her desire to fight against her current condition. She could hear voices from without, like the voice of one speaking when another was in a state of partial consciousness. She could hear someone screaming about maintaining a seal. She could feel a severe burning sensation, like her heart was on fire. With a final exertion of her will, she pushed. Her mind seemed to pass through a film which shattered like glass, and all of a sudden, there was a rush of sensory input: physical and mental. Memories suppressed flooded her mind. Things she didn’t know suddenly made sense to her. She was not Utgardian, at least not by birth. She was an Incarnata, a genetic mishmash of powerful sapient creatures, designed to serve the Old Ones. She had been placed by the Old Ones in Utgardian society, to undo the work that the greatest king of Utgardr, Hrim the Old, who was incidentally an Incarnato as well, had done. Hrim had rebelled against the Old Ones, escaped from them, and found the Utgardians struggling against their enemies, the frost giants. He had led the Utgardians to war, and built defences with his cosmic powers, that would secure the Utgardians. Beira remembered how she had been manipulated into destroying the defenses Hrim had established, but she had never imagined that even the dark elves and mindflayers that had manipulated her into doing it had themselves been manipulated by the Old Ones. Her old acquaintance, Aelyd, whom she had eventually slain in Earthland, was a servant of the Old Ones, and the reason the Old Ones had been interested in her was because as an Incarnata, she was a conduit of cosmic energy, and if she was unwilling to fight for the Old Ones, would serve as a power source.
Like she was doing now. Everything now made sense. The strange inscription over her heart was a seal to keep her powers suppressed by the Old Ones, as well as a sort of tracker, so they could find her anywhere she was. Somehow, by force of will, she had broken the seal, and now she could feel the cosmic energy coursing through her, an invigorating feeling. She was still attached to the strange machine she’d woken up to, which meant that everything she had experienced just moments ago was an illusion. She could feel the sensation of relief that she hadn’t been betrayed by those she had trusted. The God Slayer’s eyes flickered open, and came to rest on quite a number of forms, quite difficult to discern with mere vision. The Old Ones. She knew what they wanted. They had had a great empire far away in the eons of time, but they had been destroyed. Their much weakened remnants, up till today, had been trying to learn how to jump through time, and correct what had destroyed them in the past, whatever it was. These ones before Beira were unfortunate. Their own mission would end in failure.
”I am Beira the Third, of Utgardr!” she announced, more as a statement of self-assurance than anything else. Even if she wasn’t Utgardian by birth, it had been home. ”For your crimes against my people, I sentence you all to death. May whatever rules the afterlife have mercy on your souls, if you have any.” She could feel that the machine which held her was siphoning the cosmic energy that flowed through her into whatever establishment was here. With a little effort, she freed herself, even as a burst of nether rime emanated from her body, freezing everyone that wasn’t her. Placing a hand on one of the machines in the room, Beira gained understanding that it was a strange space-faring vessel in which she was. An idea came to mind. Using the knowledge she had gleaned from touching the interior of the ship, she found its navigation controls, and turned the vessel towards a great star, setting it to maximum acceleration. Having set the spaceship’s course for the star, Beira created a doorway to her Librarium Obscuri, and stepped into it. Science had mentioned that starts were actually superhot giant balls of light. She hoped, for the sakes of the frozen Old Ones aboard the ship, that science was right.
WC: 3315 words
In any case, there was much to be thankful for; she was not going to be hearing people singing to upbeat tunes anytime soon. But if this wasn’t a karaoke session, where was she? The Utgardian began trying to recollect what had happened last to her. She knew she had been wandering and exploring some ruins at the southern border of Fiore, and she had walked through an archway, and that was it. Everything seemed to have started becoming hazy from there, and between then and now, it was particularly difficult to recollect what had happened between her time investigating the ruins, and now. And speaking of difficulties in mental faculties, Beira realized that she could not see clearly. All her senses, in fact, were little more than a mess and a jumble. For someone who prided herself on the acuity of her perceptive powers, it was the strangest thing to realize that all her senses were in disarray. She realized what it could possibly mean: something, or someone, was interfering with her senses, and most likely making her memory hazy as well.
No matter how her perception was scrambled, Beira was sure she would feel much better if she moved. Which brought about another strange thing; she could not tell whether she was lying down or standing up, which way was down and which way was up. What was actually as shocking as it was frightening was that she discovered that she could move, though her motions were limited, especially as her wrists and ankles seemed to be restrained. The realization hit her almost immediately, and left a most uncomfortable feeling in her stomach. She was somebody’s prisoner, but the question was, whose? Beira struggled to free herself, but she soon realized that her attempts at trying to free herself were vain. Either she had been weakened to the point wherein she was incapable of freeing herself, or she was restrained by manacles of material sturdy enough to hold down a young and healthy Utgardian. It seemed also that her ability to tap into her more supernatural powers was also greatly hindered, if not altogether rendered useless. Panic began to set in. She had never been in a position such as this, except when she had been abducted by those cultists back in Utgardr, and had absorbed energies from the plane of death as well as ice, making her the Winter God Slayer. Even then, as soon as she had gained control of her awareness, she had dispatched the cultists and freed herself. It was frightening enough to realize that, at this moment, she seemed to be totally powerless.
There was a presence in the room with her, but she could not, for a moment, tell what, or who it was. The Utgardian strained as hard as she could, willing herself to gain enough mastery over her faculties to at least make sense of the world around her. Her gaze sharpened enough to see a form before her. Whether the form changed or her vision played tricks on her, she couldn’t say, but after a bit of more focusing, she saw Levinia Arx Creuset, her protégé, standing before her, the girl’s features obscured by her habitual mask. Of course, it was quite confusing to see her ward here, but if the girl was here, then it was good news. She had an ally here. Levinia seemed unbound, so Beira hoped that the masked girl would soon free her from her restraints.
”Levinia, I have no idea what you’re doing here, but you’re indeed a sight for sore eyes,” the God Slayer said happily. ”Now, be a dear and free me from these constraints.” The masked figure did not respond. Her two heterochromic eyes stared blankly at the restrained God Slayer for a moment, before an ominous chuckle emanated from behind the mask. ”Free you? ” The mocking laughter continued for a bit, then the masked figure continued. ”I think I’m quite pleased about your present position. So, be a dear and just remain where you are.” Beira’s countenance darkened, as she locked eyes with Levinia. ”I grow weary of this joke. Jocularity aside, I am in no mood to entertain unnecessary wastes of my time. So, if you will not get me out of these bonds, explain to me why I’m here. And be careful of what enemies you pick, lest you regret your actions in days to come.”
”Well, if you desire an explanation, you shall have one,” the God Slayer’s protégé replied, seating herself comfortably on a strange object with blinking lights, which was probably not initially designed with seating in mind. ”You yourself believe that it is a great disadvantage to be weak. Well, I have been weak for far too long, and I decided that the best way to attain the strength which I desire would be to stop waiting for you to give it to me, and get it myself.” Beira shook her head, confusion all over her features. ”That makes no sense, and it has no relation with what I am doing here. It was you who wished to tag alongside me, if my memory serves me well, and if you had grown tired of my plodding steps, you could have just informed me of your desire to strike out alone, and I should not have been bothered in the least.”
”You’re dumber than you look, God Slayer,” Levinia cooed. ”You see, I was approached by people who could give me what I wanted. They would lift my curse, and give me great power so as to never let myself be abused by those with power. So, I opted for that, instead of following you. And in exchange for all that, just a little price to pay: yourself. But I’m sure you’re wondering, who would be so eager to get hands on such a one as yourself?” Here she paused, allowing the Utgardian time to let the information sink in. Beira frowned. True, she was a member of a dark guild, and she had done things that had put her at variance with powerful people, but most of those she had crossed were normal, mundane creatures. To promise power such as the one being offered Levinia, no normal mortal could do that. And Beira was sure that whatever supernatural creature she had probably crossed in the past had been buried in the past. Unless… no. It was not possible. As though Levinia sensed Beira’s thoughts, the masked girl said, with a derisive edge in her voice, ”do you perhaps begin to have an inkling of who would have encouraged me to catch you? I’m sure you may be familiar with them. They call themselves the Old Ones.”
The Old Ones? That name had kept popping up in Beira’s sphere of existence of recent. They seemed to be, as their name suggested, quite ancient, maybe even dating beyond the time she had been born. Whoever they were, Beira was yet to discover their intentions, but so far, they seemed to have been very meddling in her life, and she was beginning to hate them for it. Nevertheless, these Old Ones had piqued her interest, because they seemed to be directly related to her past, much of which was shrouded in mystery, even to herself. ”What do you know about the Old Ones, Levinia?”
”That they own you, and they have you now. The guild has to cut off unnecessary members.” Another familiar face appeared, smiling at her. This time, it was her Guild Master, Saraphina. ”No…” Beira said, shock evident on her features. ”No, why would Errings Rising betray me? I’ve earned my keep for the guild so far. I haven’t broken any rules. Why?” A third voice chimed in, as another identical figure came into view, this one being Belladonna Black. ”No hard feelings, Beira, but you’re of more harm to our guild than an asset, so we just have to get rid of you. Truth is, you’ve never belonged to us, and you never shall.” Soon, other figures began to appear, each one of them someone that Beira had met in the past, and parted ways favourably with them, one way or the other. And they all had the same message: that Beira’s existence was more harm than good, that she belonged to the Old Ones, and that she would never fit in to any society. Eventually they left, leaving the God Slayer an emotional wreck.
For a while, she sobbed silently and alone, but her fighting spirit, developed in the face of various adversities which she had been exposed to from as far back as she could remember, both in Utgardr and Earthland, soon began to re-emerge and exert itself. Why stay here and cry? If she didn’t belong to any society, and she could never be a part of any group that would accept her, then she would continue to exist alone. And even if she couldn’t, at least she would let the Old Ones know that she wasn’t just an item to be had. She would liberate herself, or die doing so. She had been born free, royalty even. She would never succumb to the lie that she belonged to the Old Ones. Even if they claimed a right to her, she would fight them for the claim to herself. Having whipped up her battered spirit, Beira decided that she would not depend on anyone to help her get out of here. She would do so herself. She was resourceful, she knew that. All she had to do was take cognizance of her environment, find something that could help her break out, and make herself scarce. No, she would do a bit of investigation before she left, in order to see if she could reveal more things about these Old Ones, determine if they were deserving of her vengeance, and if they were, find ways by which she would make them suffer for their treatment of her.
It seemed, and this appeared to be the first piece of good news, that her senses were becoming cleared. She had been able to recognize all the traitors, those whom she had thought were friends, or at least acquaintances, who had just been using her for their own ends. The God Slayer wondered whether it would be good to have revenge on them all. On some, she wouldn’t. Levinia for example. Such ones were desirous of quick power, but oblivious to the fact that those to whom they went for this power never had their good in mind. Experience would teach the brat. As for Errings Rising, that one was an organization, well-structured and stable. She would wheedle at it carefully, until it fell, or she died doing so. The rest, she would avenge herself on them or spare them, as her whims dictated, were she to meet them again. As she contemplated, Beira realized that her unnatural Slayer strength was returning. She strained against her bonds, and felt them giving way. Very soon, there was a snapping sound, and her right arm was free. Quickly, she liberated herself from the rest of her restraints, and headed cautiously for the door.
No sooner had she gotten to the door than the floor under her suddenly gave way, plunging her into an abyss beneath. Suddenly, she perceived there was no longer the sensation of falling. Instead, she was on a rather uneven and rough surface. As she tried to rise to her feet, the surface beneath her began coming apart, with her realizing that the ground beneath was composed of living vermin. Repulsed, she attempted to jump as high as she could, and use her ability to manipulate nether rime to run on the air. Her powers failed her. As the vermin swarmed her, she fought to prevent herself from being submerged by the living creeps, all to no avail. The only reason she resisted the urge to scream was because she feared having something slimy crawl into her mouth. Soon she was deep beneath them. She could feel their myriad legs, scales, claws and whatever they used as locomotion, in torturous acuity. Then she noticed she was surrounded by many glowing red lights, which she soon realized to be the eyes of the vermin. Her futile struggle to break free was renewed, as the only thing worse than vermin, in her opinion, was demonic vermin.
Something bit her.
If she was alarmed then, she was frantic now. Still, the demonic critters kept swarming all over her, biting her as they did. She saw where a centipede-like thing had bitten her hand. It was turning a strange purple-black, and long white hairs began growing out of it. To Beira’s horror, she realized that the bites of these things were transforming her into some demonic creature. And as her physical form mutated, her mind seemed to be locked in a prison of its own. She soon saw, as though she was disembodied from her body, that what she had turned into was some hulking monstrosity. She was no longer Beira the Third, child of Utgardr. She was nothing. No one would know who she was, no one would hear of her deeds, good or ill. Shadows, which she suspected to be Old Ones, approached her and gave her commands. Commands she had no choice but to obey. Beira watched as she rampaged across Earthland, destroying the planet along with similar creatures like she was. Then the shadows, having destroyed Earthland, began aiming for the stars. And through it all, as she watched, Beira kept hearing a whispering voice telling her that this was how it all had to end, that this was what her purpose was in life, and the sooner she embraced her purpose, the easier it would be for herself. It all began to seem so peaceful. All she had to do was accept what she was now, give in to it….
”No!”
She would not allow this! Somehow, anyhow, as long as she retained a sense of what she was, of who she was, Beira would not just roll over and allow a bunch of manipulative cowards to determine what she would be and how she would turn out. She felt something, an external force, trying to keep her will suppressed. She began to strain against it. She sensed panic somewhere, like something was alarmed at her desire to fight against her current condition. She could hear voices from without, like the voice of one speaking when another was in a state of partial consciousness. She could hear someone screaming about maintaining a seal. She could feel a severe burning sensation, like her heart was on fire. With a final exertion of her will, she pushed. Her mind seemed to pass through a film which shattered like glass, and all of a sudden, there was a rush of sensory input: physical and mental. Memories suppressed flooded her mind. Things she didn’t know suddenly made sense to her. She was not Utgardian, at least not by birth. She was an Incarnata, a genetic mishmash of powerful sapient creatures, designed to serve the Old Ones. She had been placed by the Old Ones in Utgardian society, to undo the work that the greatest king of Utgardr, Hrim the Old, who was incidentally an Incarnato as well, had done. Hrim had rebelled against the Old Ones, escaped from them, and found the Utgardians struggling against their enemies, the frost giants. He had led the Utgardians to war, and built defences with his cosmic powers, that would secure the Utgardians. Beira remembered how she had been manipulated into destroying the defenses Hrim had established, but she had never imagined that even the dark elves and mindflayers that had manipulated her into doing it had themselves been manipulated by the Old Ones. Her old acquaintance, Aelyd, whom she had eventually slain in Earthland, was a servant of the Old Ones, and the reason the Old Ones had been interested in her was because as an Incarnata, she was a conduit of cosmic energy, and if she was unwilling to fight for the Old Ones, would serve as a power source.
Like she was doing now. Everything now made sense. The strange inscription over her heart was a seal to keep her powers suppressed by the Old Ones, as well as a sort of tracker, so they could find her anywhere she was. Somehow, by force of will, she had broken the seal, and now she could feel the cosmic energy coursing through her, an invigorating feeling. She was still attached to the strange machine she’d woken up to, which meant that everything she had experienced just moments ago was an illusion. She could feel the sensation of relief that she hadn’t been betrayed by those she had trusted. The God Slayer’s eyes flickered open, and came to rest on quite a number of forms, quite difficult to discern with mere vision. The Old Ones. She knew what they wanted. They had had a great empire far away in the eons of time, but they had been destroyed. Their much weakened remnants, up till today, had been trying to learn how to jump through time, and correct what had destroyed them in the past, whatever it was. These ones before Beira were unfortunate. Their own mission would end in failure.
”I am Beira the Third, of Utgardr!” she announced, more as a statement of self-assurance than anything else. Even if she wasn’t Utgardian by birth, it had been home. ”For your crimes against my people, I sentence you all to death. May whatever rules the afterlife have mercy on your souls, if you have any.” She could feel that the machine which held her was siphoning the cosmic energy that flowed through her into whatever establishment was here. With a little effort, she freed herself, even as a burst of nether rime emanated from her body, freezing everyone that wasn’t her. Placing a hand on one of the machines in the room, Beira gained understanding that it was a strange space-faring vessel in which she was. An idea came to mind. Using the knowledge she had gleaned from touching the interior of the ship, she found its navigation controls, and turned the vessel towards a great star, setting it to maximum acceleration. Having set the spaceship’s course for the star, Beira created a doorway to her Librarium Obscuri, and stepped into it. Science had mentioned that starts were actually superhot giant balls of light. She hoped, for the sakes of the frozen Old Ones aboard the ship, that science was right.
WC: 3315 words
