Chapter 23: A Gift of Flight and Chains

As I bit down into the heart of the Wyvern immediately I heard the voice in my head sound off.

Feathered Wyvern Essence Assimilated

Achieved [Feathered Wyvern Genome] Level: 1 / 5

[Armoured Feathers] acquired

[Fire Resistance] acquired

[Wyvern Bone Density] acquired

[Wyvern Fire Breath] acquired

[Feathered Wyvern Venom] acquired

Augmenting...

[Armored Feathers] now being applied

[Molt] has been adjusted for [Armoured Feathers]

[Armour Regeneration] has been adjusted for [Armoured Feathers]

Augmenting...

[Wyvern Bone Density] has improved [Chitinous Bone Blades] material strength

Core Evolution Achieved Stage: 4

Advanced Mobility options now available…

Scanning Assimilated Genomes…

Flight type Genomes detected...

[Mantis Wings] acquired

[Feathered Wyvern Wings] acquired

Augmenting…

[Greater Feathered Wings] Acquired

[Gravitic Hover] can now offer additional mobility options during flight

When the voice ended I felt my body change dramatically. I grew another half meter taller and I felt something change on my back. My growth was slowing but that made sense considering how volume works. As my height grows the volume of my body grows exponentially so unless I ate something really significant it’s unlikely that I would get a growth spurt. Still a half meter growth is quite a lot for a creature my size.

As I focused on the new appendages on my back I felt something click in my mind as I realised I now had wings. I found I could move them easily and I instinctively knew how to use them. I spread my wings and I saw it was covered with white feathers, it was the exact color tone as my body. I looked down at my body and saw it was now covered in a layer of the same white feathers…

Hang on this tone of colour looked alot like the Angels wings, then again they do say Devourers were the first lifeforms, I guess their wings had to come from somewhere…

My body also now felt much stronger, I guess it was time to finish the rest of that little family. After that I could finish off the trolls as dessert, but first let me finish up that Troll the Wyvern was about to kill.

I reengaged my invisibility and I flexed my wings. With a single push of my wings I felt my body shoot into the air. I flew straight up enjoying the feeling of flight. I dived and weaved, getting used to my new flight ability. It honestly surprised me how mobile I was in the air, I thought my body wouldn’t be suited to flight considering how big I was. I now towered about five and a half meters tall, with wings five meters long.

I was now a large, flying and invisible monster, anyone who wants to kill me better bring a hero or an army…

I looked down at the ledge where the Wyvern had left the Troll and I saw it struggling to climb down the ledge. It was looking fearfully around him as he descended. I bet he saw what I did to that Wyvern. It did take awhile for me to eat such a large body afterall.

I swooped down and I grabbed the Troll while invisible. As I grabbed him my invisibility vanished so I just flew up the ledge and dumped it there. Then I flew up a little higher and dived on top of the screaming Troll. I grabbed his head with my hands and I smashed it into the rocky ground cracking the stone. It’s head popped like a fruit from the force, his pulped brain now splattered across the dark stone.

To think these Trolls were a challenge a few days ago…

Once I ate the troll I flew off from the ledge and began heading for the nest. I had a plan of attack, it was a little dramatic but I think I could end the fight in a single attack if I pulled it off. With my new found abilities I realised I could now generate a significantly increased amount of momentum behind each slash of my blades.

When I spotted the nest I saw the Wyvern’s mate looking out at the night sky as if waiting for its partner to return. Well something will be coming just not its mate. I turned two of my claws into blades and I flew up before diving down towards the little crevice.

I raised my blades and I saw the Wyvern still as if it sensed my approach. But it was too late, I slashed with my blades and I decapitated the Wyvern. My body then slammed the Wyvern into the back wall and I heard it’s bones crack from the impact. As I looked down at the headless Wyvern I heard frantic chirping behind me.

I saw the four hatchlings looking up at me fearfully, I felt a tinge of pity but… well food was food…

I fired a volley of spines skewering the four hatchlings. Well that was that… I went around eating the corpses. As I thoroughly enjoyed the food around me, I felt I much preferred larger prey. It was just more enjoyable to eat more at once. Eating a human was like, chomp, that’s it…

I mean it got the fuel in the tank but it was pretty lame all things considered. Well that and that the weak now tasted more and more like soggy raw dough. I guess the humans were just not up to scratch anymore. Although I would still will eat them, their genome made me smarter. That half elf I ate gave me a little bit of the Elf genome. I wonder what they will give me, or the dwarves? Were there significant differences between the humanoids? From what I read the different races existed peacefully, well mostly peacefully. There were some frictions but it rarely exploded into all out war.

As I finished eating, I saw that night had fallen. I got the second level of the Wyvern Genome, not much change from the first level. I noticed that the biggest changes happened in intervals of five levels. So for a genome the most valuable levels would be 1, 5, 10 and 15, depending on the maximum genome level. I don’t get why some are higher while some are lower in terms of level. But I notice that the bigger monsters have less genome levels. Was this because there were fewer of them?

No that can’t be that, that’s way too gamey.

It’s not like there’s this omnipotent being designing this world or something… wait a minute… yes there was. Something had to reincarnate me, but then again that man in the suit just looked like an overworked white collar bureaucrat...

Well I’m not going to find out the truth sitting around here and spinning theories in my head…

Might as well get on with it, I still had a troll village down there waiting for me…

With that thought in mind I spread my wings and flew down…

◦◦,`°.✽✦✽.♚.✽✦✽.°`,◦◦

“So it grew wings?” a woman asked as she gazed at the magic projection of her loyal servant Nox.

“Yes, Lady Nemesis.” the Nox replied.

“Has it spotted you?” Nemesis asked.

“No, my lady. It did conduct a search for us but we remained undetected. I suspect it has an ability that allows a certain degree of awareness to our presence.” Nox replied.

“Play it safe, keep me updated...” Nemesis said calmly.

“Yes my lady.” Nox said as the transmission cut.

Nemesis picked up the glass of wine on the table and took a sip. Then she heard the clanking of chains from behind her. In annoyance she grabbed a nearby chain that was hanging down from the ceiling and she pulled down hard.

Nemesis heard a blood curdling scream from behind her and she felt a smile appear on her face. Oh how she liked to make them suffer…

She looked behind her to see an Angel chained to the wall behind her. Hooks were embedded in her wings and flesh, pulling on them painfully. Nemesis gave the chain another pull and watched as chains connected to the hooks snapped tight and began pulling. The Angel screamed in agony as the hooks tore at her flesh.

“You feel that Seraphin?” Nemesis said as she pulled again eliciting another scream that ended with a choked sob. The sob sounded garbled, that was because Nemesis had her tongue cut out. She needed a source of Angel blood to sign off orders, technically there were large vats of it in storage here in her base of operations. But… Nemesis prefers to take it from a live subject…

Nemesis has one of these angels in the dozens of offices scattered across Terra. It was a bit of a hassle to maintain, but Nemesis enjoyed the entertainment…

Now then it was about time for her guests to arrive…

As if on cue Nemesis heard muffled screaming and shouts from beyond her door. Then she heard a knock on her door. Then a magic orb appeared on her desk as a voice echoed out from within it.

“My Lady, we have the guests you requested.” a voice said.

“Bring them in.” Nemesis replied calmly.

Then the door opened and a pair of her agents dragged two struggling individuals into her room. Her guests were hooded and they were shouting into their gags. The agents roughly shoved them into two waiting chairs in front of her desk.

Her agents ripped their hoods off revealing a dark haired woman and a half orc…

Sarana's eyes widened as she saw the angel that was chained to the wall. It was in a horrendous state, clearly in excruciating pain. Its eyes were filled with madness and as Sarana looked at the hooks digging into her body she felt her blood turn to ice. The hooks in her chest, they look like they went under each rib…

“Greetings, Lady Sarana and Mister Cornenk, I have been expecting you.” the masked woman said.

Sarana looked at the woman and her mind began to put it all together. She was dragged out of her bed in the middle of the night, gagged and hooded. Then she was dragged quite a distance and finally she ended up here. Not only that, she has heard about that white mask, a mask with weeping eyes and a mouth open in laughter, it supposedly belonged to the leader of the Syndicate, Lady Vengeance...

It was common knowledge amongst the underground that the members of the Syndicate wore white masks. Or at least it was a common rumour, no one has ever been able to confirm it with any reasonable amount of verifiability...

As Sarana looked on stunned at the chained and tortured Angel, she realised that the Syndicate lived up to its other name...the Seraphim Slayers...

“You are very bold to try and get out of this city when I told all of you not to.” Nemesis said with a smile in her voice.

“I am sorry…” Sarana stammered.

“No, it was the best attempt so far. You see Lady Sarana. I have plans for this city, very large plans…” Nemesis said as she tilted her head.

“You… want something from me?” Sarana asked shakily, that was after all the only logical reasons her and Cornenk were still alive. The others who tried all died extremely gruesome and messy deaths.

“Of course, you all will have a new ruler soon. I want the two of you to prepare for that eventuality. So I have an offer…” Nemesis said.

“An offer?” Sarana asked, she knew this was no offer. What was Lady Vengeance going to do if they said no, let them go? Sarana will be lucky if anyone ever finds a piece of her the size of a fingernail…

Sarana was sleeping in her bed, in the palace. There were guards outside her room and frequent patrols along the corridors. How the hell did they manage to get past all of that? If the Syndicate wanted her help then they couldn’t kill the guards. If there was a large uproar then it would diminish her use. Whispers and rumours will start to circulate, she already didn’t have the best reputation in the court. There might even be accusations of murder. After all, if you look at the scene it was easy to see how that would be a problem. Sarana disappears in the night and some of the guards near her room die, then she reappears in the palace perfectly fine. She can’t sneak through all of the guards, word would eventually get around that she was out in the middle of the night.

“Yes, Lady Sarana, you will stay in Lord Averlon’s service and you will start sowing the seeds of discord, laying the groundwork for an uprising. Agitate the peasants, frame nobles, pit the court against each other, leave them divided and desperate. Paint the court as an evil institution, shake the loyalty of the guards and army, make the adventurers guild question its continued loyalty. How you do so depends on you, what matters is that you succeed. Can you do that?” Nemesis said.

“Yes…” Sarana replied, she already had some ideas, so this wouldn’t be that hard. The issue was the timing, when did Lady Vengeance want the outrage to boil over?

“When do you wish for the uprising to occur? I need a timeline if possible…” Sarana said, trying to play the part of a willing collaborator. Sarana would need at least three months to get everything in place...

“I know you will need three months and that is right on schedule.” Nemesis replied.

“But do you intend for Cecilia Averlon to rule? If that is your wish then it is likely that she will kill me…” Sarana replied softly, Cecilia would eventually figure out that Sarana was the one that helped lock her up. Unless she already knew…

Sarana knew if Princess Cecilia took the throne, the first to lose their heads would be Princess Cecilia’s parents and the Head Mage. If she knew about Sarana’s involvement then she would be next. As for her siblings, that was a separate thing entirely. They didn’t actively cause her imprisonment, except for her younger brother who Sarana suspected conconted some political machinations to ensure he would inherit the throne. But she had no confirmation on that, just whispers and rumours. Then again he did stand to gain the most from her imprisonment…

For her two younger sisters, the elder didn’t do anything, of that Sarana was sure. With regards to the youngest sister, she is currently six years old and was two when Cecilia was imprisoned. So it was unlikely that Cecilia bore her any ill will, but if she would kill her to secure the throne... that was something else entirely…

“I am sure she can be persuaded to let you live… she will need someone of your talents afterall.” Nemesis replied calmly.

“I assume you have some way to keep me loyal?” Sarana asked shakily, she has heard that the Syndicate has access to powerful lost magic that was long forgotten. Not only that they had reagents any normal person on Terra would struggle to get their hands on…

“Of course, but first I need to speak to your compatriot.” Nemesis said as she turned to face Cronenk who flinched as soon as her mask faced him.

“Congratulations Cornenk Vorash, and yes I know your full name. You are now the undisputed master of Averlon’s underworld. The gold will continue to flow to your pockets as long as you obey my commands. If you don't, your blood will flow…” Nemesis said calmly.

“Yes, my lady.” Cornenk said as his green face went paler than it already was.

“Excellent, I will have my agents keep in touch with you. Now for your initiation. Your hands please…” Nemesis said as she rose out of her seat and Sarana went pale as she realised what she was wearing. She was wearing a cloak of gold feathers…

As Sarana looked at the angel bound on the wall and saw the gold blood leaking from the wounds. She knew exactly where those feathers came from…

The two of them froze at the sight of the cloak but the two nearby agents grabbed their hands and slammed it on the table. Sarana began to shake as she watched Nemesis slowly walk around the desk.

Sarana watched as Nemesis ran a hand along the mahogany wood as she took her time walking over. Each step she made caused that blood stained cloak to flutter slightly. How many angels did she kill to get that many feathers? They were all the same size… she was picky with her choice of feathers...

Sarana watched as she calmly took out a small pen with a blade at its tip. Then she took out a small inkwell. When Nemesis dipped the pen in Sarana saw the blade exit the inkwell stained gold.

“Seraphim blood, a powerful substance… perfect for this…” Nemesis said as she bent down and began carving runes into the back of Sarana’s hand. Sarana instinctively tried to pull her hand back but the agent held her hand down. Sarana looked down tearfully as she saw the gold blood steam as it mixed with her own. It felt like the blade was a red hot knife and all she could do was watch as the spell was weaved into her flesh.

“Ah ah ah… don’t fuss… you really don’t want me to get this wrong…” Nemesis said calmly. Hearing this Sarana bit her lip as she tried to ignore the searing pain in her hand. When powerful magic goes wrong, it REALLY goes wrong…

Sarana tasted blood as she bit down on her lip hard enough to draw blood. After what felt like an eternity she felt the blade stop.

“All done, see, that wasn’t so bad… at least compared to what comes next…” Nemesis said with a cold chuckle.

Immediately after her words Sarana felt a searing pain in her hand. She looked down and saw the bloody mark on her hand glowing and steaming. The pain travelled up her arm and soon her whole body was wracked in indescribable pain. Sarana screamed and screamed, soon she felt her vision start to flash white. Finally and perhaps mercifully, she felt her consciousness fade as she passed out from the pain…

Sarana awoke to the feeling of some kind of liquid being splashed on her face. She sputtered as she snapped awake and the first thing she saw was the empty wine glass. She looked up to see Nemesis leaning against the desk as she poured herself another glass. She took a sip of the wine before splashing it on Cornenk who was passed out next to her. He sputtered back into consciousness, as his eyes focused on her and his eyes filled with fear.

“I just put a seal on your hands, you disobey, you die. You run your mouths, you die. You try and cut the hand off, you die. Simple enough?” Nemesis asked calmly

“Yes…” the pair of them stammered as they looked down at their hands which were now healed perfectly. The only thing was that Sarana could somehow sense there was something very wrong with her hand now...

Sarana watched as Nemesis stood up and opened her arms as if seeking an embrace. As she did so her gold feathered cloak spread apart, revealing the hundreds of feathers that she wore. The angels were thought to be unbeatable by the denizens of Terra but here one stood, wearing their prized feathers stained with their blood.

Nemesis cocked her head slightly as she seemed to smile under her mask as she lowered her head slightly to leer at the pair of them.

Welcome to the Syndicate...