Amazonia - A betrayal unmasked

The night is dark and full of secrets.

I am my Shadow self again, the pain suffered during the transformation a fading echo of my weaker self. I'm outside the city of Amul, whose gates are shut, following one of Kax's priestesses towards a woman's guest-house, set among the wood and stone buildings huddled around Amul's walls. A matronly woman bows us in and I follow the priestess up the stairs, my face hidden by my cloak's hood while my armor hides the rest of me. My Rune sword hangs at my side and my helm's in my hand.

The warped stairs groan as we walk up them, flakes of paint fluttering from the wall as I brush against its surface. We reach the hall and turn right, following the threadbare carpet until reaching a plain wooden door. The priestess speaks a few words in the Sasnayam language and the door to a bedroom opens. I follow her inside.

The room's simple, with a wooden bed and a table shoved into one corner, holding a platter next to a brace of daggers laying in a pile. Six women, with hair either the color of fire or blood, are holding a seventh with hair the color of snow down on the bed. She's dressed in black leather armor much like what the dead Fae Yrg wore, except the buckles have been unfastened and the chest armor's pulled back, while her black arming tunic's been pulled up, exposing her chest. A ripped breast binder is laying next to her on the blanket.

Kax and a half dozen other priestess-mages are standing together against the wall, and as we walk in, Kax says, "Are the dead in position and ready?"

"My Necromantic legion is waiting for the signal to rise up and attack," I reply, motioning towards the bed with my free hand. "What's this?"

Kax motions at the struggling woman, urgently trying to speak past the gag in her mouth. "I had grown suspicious that there might be a traitor in our midst, and one of my priestesses confirmed it when she went through Snow's travel bag and found an amulet of the traitor Chaac among her possessions. I was about to cut out her heart and consume its mana nodes."

"Snow?"

Kax gives me a sardonic smile. "Yrg nicknamed her that." Kax's smile vanishes as her gaze falls on the white haired woman. "Her betrayal is hard, because Yrg taught her all the assassin skills Yrg knew."

Looking around the room, I raise my eyebrows. "By chance, was the priestess standing beside you the one who denounced your assassin?"

Kax rears back as a flash of terror, quickly masked, flashes across the blood haired priestess' face. Kax's eyes narrow. "How did you know? Intuition, or a lucky guess?"

All eyes in the room are on me as I drop my helm and draw the Rune sword from its sheathe. "Neither. I see signs others cannot, which is how I knew who the Sasnayam spies were without asking questions. You wear a crown of flame at your brow, while all the women in this room, including her," the tip of my blade motioning towards the white haired mage, "wear a smaller crown like a tiara." My sword whips up to point at the priestess beside Kax. "This one wears a snake in her hair like a tiara devoted to someone else."

All eyes are now upon the blood haired priestess as she pales. "My lady, this creature is lying. I would never-"

Kax's hand shoots out and wraps itself around the woman's throat. "Someone get Bita's travel pack from the next room and bring it here." The priestess who led me upstairs quickly bows and hurries from the room, returning a moment later with a leather pack meant to be strapped onto a horse. As the priestess sets it on the bed, Kax lets up her grip on the woman's throat. "You were deep in Muzen's councils-"

"My lady, I have done nothing wrong." The blood haired priestess motions at the bag. "Go through my belongings, and you will find nothing that incriminates me."

With the tip of my blade, I tap what appears to be a seamless part of the bag. "What about the rune of power I can see that's faintly glowing right there?"

"There is no rune of power," Blood-hair snaps at me. "You are trying to trick my lady into... Urk!"

Kax's hand closes around the woman's throat again as the priestess who carried in the bag places her hand above the area I've pointed out. I pull my sword back as she speaks a word, the stone in her ear glowing blue as the rune dissolves. A flap flies open and a medallion on a leather cord falls out.

The priestess grasps it by the cord and holds it up. The medallion is the shiny black of an Artifact device, with the symbol of an old woman wearing a snake on her head carved into the wood before a mage cast the spell and transmuted it. The other priestesses gasp as Kax releases her grip just enough for Blood-hair to talk. "That is not mine, I swear it! This is all a trick-"

With her other hand, Kax slams her fist into Blood-hair's stomach. The woman gasps and drops to the floor as Kax releases her. "Release Snow and hold down Bita," Kax says. The other priestesses let go of Snow, who rips the gag from her mouth as they rush over, grab Blood-hair and force the struggling woman over to the bed.

One of them jams the gag into Bita's mouth as Snow throws herself at Kax's feet. "My lady, apologies and contrition for my sins of arrogance. Yet I've always been your faithful servant."

"I know that... now." Kax reaches down and runs her fingers through Snow's hair. "Apologies for doubting you, and gratitude," Kax looking up at me, "to you, Shadow Knight, for speaking up."

I incline my head as I sheathe my sword. "For as long as we are allies, I'll continue to do so." I motion at the medallion. "Since I assume that's a messaging device, are you going to contact Ix-Chel and gloat?" The priestess with the medallion holds it out, and Kax goes to reach for it.

Then she stops and closes her hand. "Much as I want to, Yun's voice in my head reminds me that the longer we keep our enemies in the dark, the more chaos we can cause." She looks at the priestess. "Can you imitate Bita's voice?"

The priestess nods. "My lady, will you whisper in my ear and tell me what to say?"

Kax smiles. "Of course. Once the business of the night is done, we will contact her." Kax's still running her fingers through Snow's hair, who is now leaning her head against her leg. Kax grips her hair and gently gives it a tug. "Snow, get dressed and resume your place guarding my back." Her smile turns cold. "Would you care to do the honors?"

Snow's smile is colder than her name. "I would like nothing more, my lady."

She gets to her feet and starts buckling her armor while Bita struggles against the priestesses holding her down, the one priestess opening the pouch at her belt and dropping the medallion inside. Then she pulls out a ceremonial dagger and hands it to Snow. She bows to the priestess as she accepts it, the priestess bowing back, and both of them bow to Kax before walking towards the bed. The priestess takes the breast binder and shoves it in her pouch as Snow uses the dagger to slice open Bita's dress.

Then she leans over and begins whispering into the woman's ear. Whatever she's saying causes Bita to stop struggling as tears roll down her cheeks, Snow rising back up as she turns towards Kax and presents the knife. Kax nods and Snow turns around, presenting the knife to Bita, who watches in terrified fascination as Snow leans over her once more.

I move around Kax to get a better view. Snow doesn't plunge the dagger into her chest but slices with delicate motions, the rest of the priestesses rushing over to help as Bita struggles wildly to break free. Snow continues her methodical cuts, exposing the heart before severing the smaller vessels as blood freely pours out. Bita's struggles grow weak, and finally cease a few moments before Snow makes the final cuts and lifts the heart out of the corpse's chest. The priestess beside her takes the platter from the table and holds it out. Snow drops the heart onto the platter, the priestess holding it steady as Snow takes her time slicing away the glowing mana nodes and dropping them onto the platter.

Snow carves away the last one before picking the heart back up and returning it to the gaping hole in the corpse's chest. As Snow begins wiping her hands on the torn dress while the priestesses rise to their feet, the other priestess walks in a stately manner with the platter held out in front of her, and presents the bloody mana nodes to Kax. She nods, and begins picking them off and delicately eating them. I give a snort and she looks at me. "You find something amusing?"

"A memory from my weaker self, when she was a slave who entertained the elite at fancy parties. You remind me of a noble eating dainties off a tray."

Kax shrugs. "An apt comparison." Finishing the last one, she licks the blood off her fingers and uses the hem of the dead woman's dress to wipe her mouth. "Alright, gather up only what fits in your pouches, and leave your clothes in your packs. Once the dead have swept through Amul, you can dress in whatever finery we find."

Snow takes the daggers from the table, then follows Kax and her priestesses as they leave the room. I pick up my helm and walk out into the hall, all of them returning a short time later wearing cloaks. I motion towards the open doorway. "Aren't you worried the innkeeper will raise a fuss?"

Kax smiles. "The innkeeper is about to have more pressing concerns. Will you proceed us?" I shrug, raise my hood and lead the way down the stairs, lingering beside the open door as the priestesses file past me into the darkness. Kax is the last, and as the matronly woman hurries over, says to her, "My ladies and I are going to take the air. One of them made a mess upstairs, so pray send a maid up and add the cost to my bill... oh, and pour wine for everyone in the common room, including yourself. My treat."

The innkeeper gives Kax a gap toothed smile. "Your will, milady." She gestures for a servant to run upstairs, then calls for wine on the house.

A chorus of happy female voices answers this as we walk out into the night, and I glance at her. "I truly don't care, but my weaker self would wonder why you're being so extravagant?" Kax only gives me a smug smile as I settle the helm on my head, until a voice behind us from the upstairs room screams.

A moment later fire explodes out the doorway and bottom windows of the guest-house. "Naphtha and a little fire sprite," she says to my questioning look as more screams begin behind us. "Like your Shamblers, they understand simple commands and are patient." The five Xian mercenaries Zanzabel had brought along as guards are waiting, cloaked and hooded as we are, and Kax says, "Are all of you ready?" All five understand Greco-Roma, and nod. Kax flips her hood back. "Then let us get started."

As we approach Amul, the gates creak open and a dozen or so guards rush past us towards the fire, which has spread to the upper floor and now threatens the buildings beside it. Six more guards are standing at the entrance, watching, and as we get close, one of them says, "Apologies, but after dark, no one's allowed-"

Kax's hair glows orange-red as she creates a ball of fire in her hand, then flings it at the group. It explodes, the men shouting in pain and surprise as the mercenaries flip their cloaks back, exposing their repeating crossbows. The first one peppers the guards with bolts, bringing them down as the other four rush into the gatehouse. They open fire while the first reloads.

I draw my sword and stand guard as Kax places a black speaking device into her ear and taps it twice. "People of Amul," her voice echoing while screams of a different sort begin on the edges of the village outside the walls, "I am Kax, the destroyer. Yun brought you peace and prosperity, but the Lord of Storms and the Lady of Lies plotted to bring us down. When the decree came to tear down our temple, did you protest? No, you did nothing. Your ancestors are ashamed of you, people of Amul, and tonight they are rising from their graves to bring my wrath down upon you." Behind me, several of the priestesses gasp, and I turn around.

A horde of dead men and women are lurching towards the gate. "They won't hurt you," I tell them as the priestesses huddle together with their eyes closed. The dead shamble around them as Kax and Snow step back. "These are the ones least useful on the battlefield. I was going to use them as arrow fodder, but for causing terror, they'll be perfect."

There's a clattering sound coming from a shadowed doorway leading up to a tower, and a moment later several young guardsmen run straight into the horde. Dozens of hands grab them and pull them down, their shrieks abruptly cut off as blood spurts. "My Shamblers know to go for the throat," I say to the women's horrified faces. Even Kax appears deeply disturbed as I smile. "Once Amul has been cleared out, the Necromancers will search the corpses for the most useful bodies to reanimate, like the ones there."

"Let me know when it is safe to enter," Kax says.

She's holding onto Snow like a lover, and I store the knowledge away for another time... for the day will come when the enemy of my enemy becomes my enemy once more. "When Amul has become a city of ghosts, I will inform you. Keep them safe," I tell the mercenaries. "Cermet will be at the end of this mob with a company of Necromantic legionnaires to help you hold the gate."

They bow to me, and I stride forward through the gatehouse into the square beyond. With the Rune sword in my right hand, I throw my arms out wide. "Amul belongs to the night and to us." The dead flow past me as I begin to laugh.

The night is dark and full of screaming.