The jungle was harsh, unforgiving and full of bugs. Every time she stopped to cut some vine or scratch a new bite on her skin, Isabel's irritation got more intense. However, more than the irritation that she felt, her fear, mixed with with some excitement, kept her going. She was about to find an end to her predicament, one way or another. Or so she hoped. No, hope didn't really matter, she had done her research, she knew what could happen, what should happen.

Abruptly, the trees ended. She had arrived. She saw the huge and strange body of water. How to describe it? It wasn't something easily done. It was a flat and calm surface, too calm in fact, as if it wasn't completely liquid, almost like a sheet of glass. Was it gray, black, or white? Isabel couldn't really tell. It seemed to shift between colors imperceptibly. It was a fascinating and almost hypnotic sight. Isabel almost wanted to let herself be mesmerized, but she was there to do something else.

Careful not to get too close to the water, she walked around until she saw one of the metal piers she was told she could see in the Pool of Reorigination. Swallowing her nervousness, she steeped on the metal, walking to the end of it. She then put down all the many things she was carrying and for the second time stared into the strange body of water. It made her reminisce about how she had gotten to this situation in the first place.

What had gone wrong, what had she done that was wrong? Isabel had just wanted, like her father, for her people, the people of Trestia, to be truly independent of the Empire. She just spoke and acted against what she saw as a constant, creeping and insidious encroachment of Trestia's culture and sense of independence. For that, she was isolated, exiled and now hunted by assassins sent by a vengeful and merciless Emperor.

Where did it start? Ah, yes, that damnable religion of the Empire. Holy Flame, wasn't it? Personally, Isabel saw nothing holy in it, although she felt calling it a flame was right. Just like a raging flame, that religion was something that spread indiscriminately, taking and burning away everything else in its path, leaving nothing but ashes in its wake. She had no respect for its supposed teachings of wisdom or claims to balance. In it, in the attitude of its followers and proselytizers she saw only a stifling order and purging of interesting things. In it, she saw the seeds of the destruction of any one person's identity and spiritual being. Why shouldn't she fight its spread and advocate in the council for the banning of any public displays of it? What was wrong with refusing to tolerate the intolerable? It was the start of her downfall, due to a point that she wouldn't concede, would never concede, even if she was now threatened in death, she would not move.

From that first spark of conflict, the Empire found a reason to interfere with Trestia's domestic politics. How she had hated these other nobles, most of the council members. They paid lip-service to the idea of an independent and unique Trestia, but took every opportunity available to bow down and lick the boots of every visiting dignitary from the Empire. How Isabel loathed the lot of them. Every single one of them, they were worse than maggots.

And so, at every turn, all her attempts of diminishing Imperial influence was thwarted. She called for limits, she was called irresponsible and warmongering. She wanted actual measures to protect her people's freedom's while the Empire demanded guarantees that, in her opinion, made her people second-class citizens in their own country. Not accepting them made Isabel a bigot in many people's eyes, but she didn't care, she knew that in their hearts, many people agreed with her, but the truth would be known, eventually it would break free of the Empire's lies.

Her influence waned, more and more, again and again, she spoke truth that were called lies. That damnable religion kept spreading, little by little everything changed, people changed. Attitudes in relation to Isabel changed, for the worse. She responded by becoming more authoritarian herself. Could people truly blame her? She merely wanted to save her people, her culture, from obvious encroachment. If even her people, blinded as they were by her political opponents, could not help themselves but support the suicide of their very soul, was sitting back and letting it happen the right thing to do? No, Isabel would never consider that the right answer.

And so she fought, with the best weapons at her disposal: Special powers for special occasions. As people screamed at her for her supposed madness and lust for power, she would have loved to scream back at them: You made me do this! You are the mad ones who must be stopped! But the time for dialogue had long been past, and she didn't think they deserved the satisfaction of an answer.

In the end, however, she had been foolish. To invoke the spirit of war and brute force with the Empire as the opponent was nothing short of suicide. It didn't even need to get involved directly. With Imperial weapons and huge piles of supplies sponsored, all in the name of supposed “freedom” from a “tyrant”, it didn't take too long for these cursed rebels to defeat Isabel's forces. She had failed.

She failed in her duty as ruler of Trestia and lost everything. Her power, her prestige, contact with her remaining family, her day-to-day life. The only thing escaping preserved was her now wretched life, but escape she did. In spite of everything, she was not yet ready to go face her father in the underworld and explain her failures. If it had only ended there, these actions she was taking now might not be needed. However, the Emperor was a petty and vindictive man. He had obtained almost complete success. It might still take many more years, but Isabel had no doubt that eventually Trestia would be absorbed by the Empire. He stripped her of everything, except for one thing: Her life. And so, even in exile and failure, Isabel found herself pursued by assassins. She did have one advantage though, the Emperor strictly wanted her executed in front of him, which severely reduced the course of action her pursuers could take: Nobody wished to fail or go directly against the Emperor's wishes.

So she fled, at first accompanied by her most loyal friends and guards, then alone as they were killed by her pursuers or gave up out of fear. Some of her pursuers also quit or were killed, by her companions or hungry Infected, but there seemed to be no end to them. So she kept fleeing, and fleeing, until she left behind Imperial territory. With the help of locals, she crossed the Desert of Scar and found herself in the Wildlands.

She learned as much as she could about the locals, Mutants they were called. She learned about their culture, traditions and legends. She learned about how the Pools changed them, how the Pools could change anyone, in any way they so long as they had the capability and will to make it so. As she kept evading capture, she learned the legend of the Lizard King, the story of the Immortal Wise Tortoise, among many others. Every one of them gave her a piece of the puzzle that she eventually built and was now going to test whether or not will work.

In the small boxes she had been carrying with her, were various different species of spiders. Looking at them Isabel shuddered, but smiled, they were such terrible creatures, but that is exactly why she went out of her way to obtain them. Once again she looked at the eerie body of water in front of her. She had to hurry, she suspected at least some of her pursuers might find her soon. She positioned the boxes near the border of the pier, from which they could easily be thrown into the water. She then took a pair of knives out of her backpack and stood resolutely near the water. She then chanted in a low voice her very own improvised prayer.

“Oh, Great Mother, grant me the chaos of change that will turn me into one capable of carrying out my vengeance!” She slashed one of her wrists, making sure that her blood fell on the Pool. “Oh, Great Father, protect me from the uncontrollable chaos that might rob me of the reason needed to carry out my vengeance!” She slashed another wrist and sure that that blood too fell on the Pool. It seemed to change and react to her blood, almost like a living thing. “I offer the rest of what I am so that my wish is granted! Make me a vessel of divine retribution and give me my vengeance!” She shallowly slashed her throat, kicked the boxes with the spiders into the Pool, then threw herself into it.

Paul considered himself a good person, or at least he thought so considering the world he lived in. Living outside the walls was a dangerous and brutal proposition, but there just wasn't enough space for everyone inside all the walled cities the Empire built. Of course, the kind of skills Paul acquired in hunting and protecting his family from Infected could be applied to regular humans, and for some reason going after humans got him more money than going after Infected. Paul's brother and sister-in-law might not like his choices in professional career, but working as an assassin had earned him enough to build a quite protected property outside of Oostburg's walls. Still, even that would be unnecessary once he finished this one job.

Capture and bring the Butcher of Trestia to justice. He had hesitated a lot before accepting this job. Firstly because it came directly from the Emperor, a man who wasn't known for his patience or mercy towards failure. Secondly because he wasn't sure whether it might be truly possible. Sure, neither her, nor any of the people accompanying her had augments, but she was a person who did what she had to do to accomplish her objectives. Paul only had to refer to the massacre during the Emperor's Birthday Festival organized by the church in Trestia. Unlike most of the others he met during this job, he never underestimated her or thought it would be anything but extremely difficult. He was unsure, but the reward was too good to pass: Anything within reason. One of the examples given was the opportunity to move one's family into any of the walled cities. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. He couldn't afford not to go after it. Paul would do anything to keep that cute niece of his safe, even make this hellish journey through these hellish lands.

Some would argue the worst part was the beginning. Paul didn't think so: Dealing with and evading the Infected was his specialty, though other assassins and even the companions of his target did not fare quite as well. Still, even working together with three other men, he never managed to find a good opportunity. But he was a patient man, he could wait. Wait and stalk he did, eventually, the Butcher of Trestia started to cross the desert, that was when many others dropped out of the job. However, some also left from the Butcher's side. From his point of view, it was a matter of attrition, and Paul was very good at that. It wasn't just his pride in always seeing a job through or the prize that he sought, his grit and persistence were pretty much his best qualities.

After the desert were the grasslands. These weren't too bad and Paul even had a pretty good opportunity there, unfortunately, he was thwarted by a pretty stupid young boy who still held delusions that that woman represented the spirit of the “Free Trestia”, how patriotic of him. Still, the grasslands had offered the most and best opportunities, whether in any small villages they passed through or medium sized cities, even the sea of grass showed plenty of opportunity, but every single one of them failed, and one day the jungle started.

Fuck that jungle. In there, even he almost considered turning back and giving up. He couldn't, he was this close to finally getting to her, or so he kept saying to himself. As the Butcher chased legends and tales all over the damned jungle, Paul met up with and joined forces with the two other men who, just like him, insisted in this crazy pursuit. Justin was... to put it mildly, a piece of shit. A greedy, crude, cunning and highly competent man, Paul would never want him within eyesight of his family, but for this kind of job, he couldn't be a better companion. Elias was... surprisingly naive considering all that had already happened, but perhaps that was due to the vengeance that burned in his chest. Most of his family was killed during that first massacre that started the civil war in Trestia. They were not even politicians, but merely servants of the people who opposed the increasingly mad and paranoid ruler of of Trestia. With their different objectives, safety for their family, untold riches or righteous vengeance, the three of them worked together, slowly closing off the Butcher's options to escape.

Eventually, it all led to this strange lake they were now looking at.

“Hey! You sure she didn't fucking slip past you? You were the one following her from a distance. I am damn sure she didn't come this way.”

Justin sounded quite irritated, and no wonder. They had planned this for quite a while now. When she visited these so-called “Pools of Reorigination” they would trap her. He was unsure why she would be coming to this strange place, but not even someone as her could have courage to dive into that water, right? None of the stories Paul heard from the locals were pleasant in the least.

“No way, I didn't let her through either, she must be somewhere around here. Can't have gone back into the jungle, what would be the point?”

While he argued with Justin, Elias emerged from the jungle, looking just as disappointed and irritated as them.

“I was completely still, if she entered the jungle in pretty sure that with my augments I would have heard her. Flame knows you two were making enough noise. Oh, there!”

He pointed at something on one of the piers nearby. It wasn't a person, but a scattering of objects, which the Butcher had likely been carrying. Paul knelt to better examine them.

“What is this? A backpack, mostly empty now, a crude map pointing to this place's location, some snacks, a compass, rope. A lot of survival-related items and... is that a knife? Is that blood on the fucking knife? By the Flame, and she dares to call our religion barbaric.”

Justin gave him a look of incredulity for what he was implying.

“You don't think she performed some kind of... ritual, do you?” Paul nodded. “Well, she did leave alone, this doesn't seem to have involved any kind of struggle. Wait, what if she offed herself? Fuck, that would be one sick fucking joke.”

Paul couldn't resist scoffing. There was no way, that woman had ice in her heart and a spine of steel. She wouldn't give up just like that, up until now she hadn't shown any signs of giving up. Elias seemed to be of the same opinion.

“That's ridiculous, if she was the kind of person to give up just because she's cornered, we wouldn't be in a situation like this. If anything, she might be faking a suicide here to get us off her back. Which means we have one choice:”

Justin completed what Elias was going to say, shoeing a smile all the while.

“We prepare an ambush and wait for her to resurface.”

And so, the three of them, with their rifles loaded with tranquilizer darts, took positions so as to cover as much of the lake's edge as possible, forming a triangle. There was no way he would let her go now that she was cornered like that.

Almost an hour passed by, way longer than it took for someone to drown. What was going on? Did she actually kill herself? There was no way... Wait! Movement caught his attention. Acting on fine-honed instincts, Paul quickly took aim, taking into account the distance and shot. Only afterwards was he overtaken by a sense of dread. What had he shot at? To be sure, it had come from the lake, what else but her could have come from the lake? But it didn't even look human... It was... skittering, he was pretty sure. Was it a hallucination? It had been quite fast after all. He was still in a daze as the other two came beside him.

“What are you standing around for? Did you get her?”

Justin shook him, which helped clear his head a bit, but he still had a very bad feeling about this whole situation. For a moment he wanted to say he didn't and that they should give up on the pursuit. He didn't.

“I... think so, she went in that direction, you might find her.”

He showed them the point from which it had entered the jungle, still not quite sure. Justin didn't seem amused.

“You... think so? What is going on, man? Keep your fucking head in the game, we are at the end now, just a little bit more and we can leave this hellhole and get rich as fuck!”

He then entered the jungle with no hesitation, followed by Elias, who said nothing, but seemed angered and excited, ready to finally take his vengeance. Paul just watched them get in, still taken by fear, still unsure. Then, that shrill scream pierced the air. It sounded like a young girl, way younger than the butcher anyway. Somewhere in his mind, Paul decided that it was probably the kind of sound that his niece would make if she found herself in a horrifying situation. Not even sure what a young girl might be doing around these parts, driven by instinct, he ran into the jungle. Even when the scream stopped, he kept running, whatever that thing was, it was a danger for anyone, especially a little girl.

He almost bumped into Justin, who just stood there, staring up at something in a tree. What was wrong with him?

“Damn! Where's the girl?” He then looked up in the same direction as Justin, expecting to see a girl held by a monster, instead, he saw something that confused him very much. “What? The hell is going on?”

Elias was strung up by his feet, unconscious, next to him was a woman? No, she was the thing he had seen get out of the lake. It was like a woman, but it was also like a spider. She looked like she was covered in what looked like a strange, completely dark suit of armor. Things looked not quite right... Were those extra limbs on her side? Was that spider silk slowly being produced in her hands? That face! Excluding those weird extra eyes in her forehead and the completely jet-black eyes, it was a face he knew very well!

“Oh, you came! Good, I wasn't sure what I would do if you had run away or something, fortunately, it seems the call worked perfectly.”

What was with that sarcastic smirk? Bastard, so she turned herself into a mutant was it?

“Quite fitting for a monster like you!”

The time for games or kid-gloves was over. He might not get the best possible reward, since the Emperor wanted to see her executed in front of him, but Paul quickly realized that if he didn't try to kill her, then he would have no chance. Quickly, he pulled the pistol he always had at his side. He rarely used it, since it made so much noise that it was a poor weapon for assassinations. It had never failed him in a hard spot before, though, as a last resort he couldn't ask for anything better. He aimed at the thing's chest, and shot. All in a moment. The resulting sound was... less than satisfying, it was like he had just shot a tank. The thing in front of him casually lowered the hand with which it deflected the bullet. The smile it wore was quite terrible.

“Hmm, oh yes, this look of shock, it is absolutely delicious. I'd tell you about the importance of not cornering a lion, but unfortunately for you, I don't intend to let any one of you three live.”

Not good. He regretted his decision, should have given up a long time ago. He fired a couple of shots that were deflected as well and had no hesitation in turning around and running. Did he feel bad about simply leaving Elias behind? Slightly, but not enough to make him change his mind. The boy knew what they were doing and the possible result. If you're willing to kill, then you better be willing to get killed. Still, Paul didn't want to die, not yet. And it seemed like neither did Justin, who ran beside him, looking completely terrified.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck. What the fuck is going on? How did she become that thing? What is this fucking place? What is that fucking lake? Run! Fuck, run!”

In response to Justin's curses, a mocking laughter echoed in the jungle above them.

“Yes! Run! Faster! It gets the blood pumping like nothing else!”

Fuck, where was it? Above? Behind them? In front? He wasn't sure, but he had to keep running. He couldn't... Justin stopped. Why did he stop? Out of pure instinct, Paul stopped and approached the other man, who was frantically pulling one of his arms, tears starting to appear in his eyes. He looked increasingly desperate.

“No, no, no, no,no! Fuck! Hey!” He turned to Paul, wearing a completely pitiful face. “I think I got caught in some kind of web. It's really thin, you can barely see, but it's here! See?” No, could anything he had even cut through such a thing? “Come on!” But Paul could not approach even another step, not with that thing behind his colleague. “Ah, she's behind me isn't she?” Paul didn't nod, but he didn't need to, as Justin was quickly silenced by what looked like a tape made of spider silk. He was the only one left, sort of.

He ran, but it didn't run after him. Where was it now? He didn't know. He stopped running and looked around. Was there any web around? Would he get tangled by air? He saw how thin it could weave its web. And yet... It was hopeless. He stared at the ground, completely despondent. Something crashed into him and pinned him on the ground. Obviously it was it. It whispered maliciously into his ears.

“Got you.”

Like Justin, he was silenced, then he was tied up with a thicker weave of web, like Elias. What was their fate now? Would they be eaten by the monster? Eventually, the three of them were dragged to one of the piers of the strange lake. After it murmured a few things that sounded like some kind of prayer, it slashed the still unconscious Elias' throat and calmly bled him to death, making sure that most of it fell on the lake, finally, dumping the body into the lake when it seemed like he was dead. Then, it removed Justin's gag. Before it could say anything, he started begging for his life in tears.

“Please! Let me go, please! It was nothing personal! I was just after some easy money, you know? I will do anything, anything, I will even kill the Emperor for you! Please! Spare my life!”

It looked quite annoyed at his outburst and calmly slashed his throat to shut him up.

“Yeah, yeah, nothing personal, I'm just showing some gratitude to the forces that saved me. I was going to give you the chance of having some dignified last words, but you don't seem to want it.” After it was done bleeding him dry, then dumped his body in the lake, it looked at Paul and removed his gag. “What about you? Any last words?”

He wanted to spit on it so bad, to show the depths of his contempt, but then he suspected he might not get to say what he really wanted to.

“Barbaric, sacrificing people, and you dare to call the Holy Flame a savage god of a savage religion?”

He expected death to come, but instead, the monster responded to him.

“I guess? You guys are just my prey right now, though, isn't it agreed upon that sacrificing one's prey to the gods is an act of devotion?” It looked like it was reflecting on something. “So, what about you? Do you have any reason why you came after me?”

It wanted to talk? No. He knew what he was trying to do. He wouldn't say anything. That thing couldn't be satisfied with just three deaths it seemed. He wouldn't say anything to lead it to his niece. He spit on it, expecting to be killed for it.

“I have nothing to tell a monster like you!”

But it didn't kill him, not instantly at least.

“Trying to take it to the grave or something, Paul Velasquez?” It knew! “Too bad. You know, for an adherent of a religion that talks so much about the spirit of the flame that dwells in every human being, all spirituality and stuff. You really seem to think that I have lost mine just because my body has changed. Oh! I just had the best idea! I was planning on eventually going to the Empire one day and taking the head of that piece of shit that sent you after me. I suppose you might have until that day to convince me not to bring a certain little girl to visit her uncle, and perhaps a few other things. Before leaving Trestia I went after as much information as I could about every single person that came after me, as well as tortured anyone I could catch for extra information. Yes, I am quite the vengeful person, but then, you should have already known about that when you came after me. Nobody crosses the Countess of Trestia and come out unscathed.”

Paul wanted to scream, but he couldn't, the gag came back, this time soaked with something it had spit, poison perhaps? He lost consciousness, the last thing he saw being that cruel smirk displayed by Isabel de Trestia, The Butcher of Trestia, the Last Countess.