1109/3000WORDS
Trinity
I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity.
Sin was such a delicious country, a barren wasteland rife with grotesque and ancient monsters. There were few who dared to venture into the country’s borders. Even the populated areas were hardly safe at any given time, relying on magic to keep its citizens protected from the wild threats that plagued their city walls. Only the hardiest and fearless of individuals elected to call such a twisted place home, outcasts and criminals with no where else to go who are desperate -- or crazy -- enough to seek solace in its desolation. And among them, only the truly insane ever took it upon themselves to actually venture into its horrific wildernesses.
Thana was one such individual that seemed to have a death wish. Not only had she been out by herself for over a day at this point, but she also had no weapons or supplies with her to keep her safe or fed or sheltered. It was a test, set upon her by her guildmaster Janet in order to gauge her resolve and strength as both an ace and member of Elysium. All were welcome in the guild, but only a very select few knew its true aims. Janet required utmost loyalty, a trait that was admittedly foreign to the psychopath, but the quest of Elysium intrigued Thana enough that she had elected to join their cause to see where it led. Janet, having seen her potential, had slotted her as her Ace of Destruction, a title that Thana took quite a bit of pride in.
But now it was time to have her skills and allegiances truly put to the test, and Thana had been more than a little excited by the prospect. Janet had wanted to find a trial worthy of Thana’s skills, and that trial was none other than surviving the harsh landscape with nothing but the clothes on her back, the skills of her hands, and the wit of her fractured mind. A tantalizing challenge, one that Aeron was not looking forward to in the slightest. The grumpier of Trinity’s personalities had grumbled and thrown a little hissy fit when Thana told her, much to Thana’s delight, but even Aeron wasn’t dumb enough to argue the idea in front of their guildmaster.
So off Thana had wandered into the night, clad only in what she’d been wearing at the time of receiving the guildmaster’s instructions. The only item of any worth on her was the gem that held the spirit of the wizard Darius, which Trinity always wore on a cord around her neck. Though the man had been a mage of great renown during his time, he had long ago shed his mortal body and was no longer capable of performing any great feats of magic or strength. Now, he was little more than another voice in her head that occasionally contributed and offered knowledge to her, nothing more. Thana had only even left the item on because Darius was the only one capable of communicating with Trinity, and if for some reason the original personality of the body took over during the trail, Thana wanted to make sure the insufferable coward didn’t fail them by running back to the guildhall before the five days were up.
The first two days so far had been nominally uneventful, all things considered. A few monsters had shown their ugly heads, of course, but Thana had met more than her fair share of those throughout her life. Before she had found her way to Elysium, she and the other two personalities that shared a body had once been a slave for a pit fighting group. Their specialty had been surviving against horrific creatures just like the ones that wandered through Sin, so there was nothing yet that overly frightened or surprised her. Mostly it had been just a few run of the mill beasts that were taken down with a quick fight, and turned into a meal.
Of course, that changed the minute her bright amber eyes laid upon a glorious beast like a great, white tiger that was twice as large and mutated in breathtaking ways. Great horns like a ram protruded forward from its forehead, twisting back to form a curve and covered in sharp spikes like thorns on a vine. Its tail was long enough to wrap around its whole body, with feathers and a fin-like tip that was more akin to that of a dragon than a feline. It also had two immense, white feathered wings fixed at its shoulders. The creature grunted where it sat on a tall ledge overlooking a deep ravine, predatory eyes fixed below in search of game.
It hadn’t seemed to have caught her scent yet. With a deep grin, Thana shifted her size down to that of a pixie, producing a pair of wings of her own to lift her up in the air above the great creature. She adjusted her flight pattern on the breeze, took aim, and dove down at the beast’s back, shifting back to her full size a split second before impact. It was caught completely off guard by the small but capable attacker, who hit the creature so hard they both stumbled and rolled right off the cliff. The beast roared like the tiger it mostly appeared to be, trying to flap its wings to get airborne even as it kept turning its face to try and snap a maw full of vicious teeth at her.
Unfortunately, with her weight on its shoulders it was unable to get its wings up properly enough to get any lift, and Thana had grasped the creature firmly by the horns with a wild and gleeful shout. She used her hold to keep the mutated feline’s jaws away from her own extremities, as well as to keep them twisted and turned in the air as they plummeted toward the ground. Cackling madly, Thana waited until it would be near impossible for the thing to be able to right itself before letting go, practically throwing it at the ground beneath her even as she spread her own wings, the draft immediately halting her in the air before she could make impact with the ground.
The winged tiger was not so fortunate, continuing to twist its body in an attempt to do the same thing but it was too late. Its massive body hit the ravine floor with a sickening crunch before it lay still with death. Thana grinned and fluttered down to it, her fingers running through its soft fur. “I know just what I’m going to do with you,” she purred to the corpse.
Thana was one such individual that seemed to have a death wish. Not only had she been out by herself for over a day at this point, but she also had no weapons or supplies with her to keep her safe or fed or sheltered. It was a test, set upon her by her guildmaster Janet in order to gauge her resolve and strength as both an ace and member of Elysium. All were welcome in the guild, but only a very select few knew its true aims. Janet required utmost loyalty, a trait that was admittedly foreign to the psychopath, but the quest of Elysium intrigued Thana enough that she had elected to join their cause to see where it led. Janet, having seen her potential, had slotted her as her Ace of Destruction, a title that Thana took quite a bit of pride in.
But now it was time to have her skills and allegiances truly put to the test, and Thana had been more than a little excited by the prospect. Janet had wanted to find a trial worthy of Thana’s skills, and that trial was none other than surviving the harsh landscape with nothing but the clothes on her back, the skills of her hands, and the wit of her fractured mind. A tantalizing challenge, one that Aeron was not looking forward to in the slightest. The grumpier of Trinity’s personalities had grumbled and thrown a little hissy fit when Thana told her, much to Thana’s delight, but even Aeron wasn’t dumb enough to argue the idea in front of their guildmaster.
So off Thana had wandered into the night, clad only in what she’d been wearing at the time of receiving the guildmaster’s instructions. The only item of any worth on her was the gem that held the spirit of the wizard Darius, which Trinity always wore on a cord around her neck. Though the man had been a mage of great renown during his time, he had long ago shed his mortal body and was no longer capable of performing any great feats of magic or strength. Now, he was little more than another voice in her head that occasionally contributed and offered knowledge to her, nothing more. Thana had only even left the item on because Darius was the only one capable of communicating with Trinity, and if for some reason the original personality of the body took over during the trail, Thana wanted to make sure the insufferable coward didn’t fail them by running back to the guildhall before the five days were up.
The first two days so far had been nominally uneventful, all things considered. A few monsters had shown their ugly heads, of course, but Thana had met more than her fair share of those throughout her life. Before she had found her way to Elysium, she and the other two personalities that shared a body had once been a slave for a pit fighting group. Their specialty had been surviving against horrific creatures just like the ones that wandered through Sin, so there was nothing yet that overly frightened or surprised her. Mostly it had been just a few run of the mill beasts that were taken down with a quick fight, and turned into a meal.
Of course, that changed the minute her bright amber eyes laid upon a glorious beast like a great, white tiger that was twice as large and mutated in breathtaking ways. Great horns like a ram protruded forward from its forehead, twisting back to form a curve and covered in sharp spikes like thorns on a vine. Its tail was long enough to wrap around its whole body, with feathers and a fin-like tip that was more akin to that of a dragon than a feline. It also had two immense, white feathered wings fixed at its shoulders. The creature grunted where it sat on a tall ledge overlooking a deep ravine, predatory eyes fixed below in search of game.
It hadn’t seemed to have caught her scent yet. With a deep grin, Thana shifted her size down to that of a pixie, producing a pair of wings of her own to lift her up in the air above the great creature. She adjusted her flight pattern on the breeze, took aim, and dove down at the beast’s back, shifting back to her full size a split second before impact. It was caught completely off guard by the small but capable attacker, who hit the creature so hard they both stumbled and rolled right off the cliff. The beast roared like the tiger it mostly appeared to be, trying to flap its wings to get airborne even as it kept turning its face to try and snap a maw full of vicious teeth at her.
Unfortunately, with her weight on its shoulders it was unable to get its wings up properly enough to get any lift, and Thana had grasped the creature firmly by the horns with a wild and gleeful shout. She used her hold to keep the mutated feline’s jaws away from her own extremities, as well as to keep them twisted and turned in the air as they plummeted toward the ground. Cackling madly, Thana waited until it would be near impossible for the thing to be able to right itself before letting go, practically throwing it at the ground beneath her even as she spread her own wings, the draft immediately halting her in the air before she could make impact with the ground.
The winged tiger was not so fortunate, continuing to twist its body in an attempt to do the same thing but it was too late. Its massive body hit the ravine floor with a sickening crunch before it lay still with death. Thana grinned and fluttered down to it, her fingers running through its soft fur. “I know just what I’m going to do with you,” she purred to the corpse.
Please forgive me if I don’t talk much at times. It’s loud enough in my head.
IVYLEAF33