< First things first. I h8ve spent the p8st few d8ys occupying your body. This w8s not by my choice, 8nd I hope you’ll forgive the intrusion. >
< Now then. Onto more pressing m8tters. >
< Through my life, I wrote my journ8ls simply bec8use it w8s wh8t w8s expected of me. 8dult trolls 8re encour8ged to write them, 8s you know, for our eventu8l descend8nt. >
< When I im8gined my descend8nt, I 8lw8ys im8gined someone who idolised The Crus8der. I knew th8t wh8t I w8s doing went 8g8inst everything 8 young troll would be t8ught in their schoolfeeding, 8nd I 8nticip8ted th8t my l8ter journ8ls would be ignored, forgotten in f8vor of the “cooler” more “tr8dition8l” version of myself. >
< To le8rn otherwise is incredible. Cu8ry8 tells me you took my o8th. You 8re everything I could h8ve hoped for in 8 descend8nt on th8t f8ct 8lone. But then you h8d to go 8nd be 8 prodigy. You 8re r8pidly 8ppro8ching the level of underst8nding I h8d 8t the time of my de8th. I c8nnot express to you how proud I 8m. >
< Keep doing wh8t you’re doing. You h8ve my 8pprov8l, 8nd I truly believe you c8n do 8nything. >
< P.S. I know who you were before you met your friends. I 8m not dis8ppointed. If 8nything, I’m even more proud th8t you got out more quickly th8n I. >
Possessed : the muse is possessed by the trolls ancestor spirit.
==> Athema: Duel.
Your name is ATHEMA TEGERE. Most trolls call you THE GUARDIAN, though there are still a few who knew you when you were THE CRUSADER. One of them is in front of you now.
AVREIS SILDHE. Former Shadowmark. Seadweller. Newly crowned Empress, with her predecessor’s blood practically still fresh on her hands. She doesn’t even have a title yet. Once, she was your friend. Today, she is your enemy.
In five minutes, she will be your murderer.
You knew this was coming. You slandered her name to the Guild. When it was time to choose another Overseer, everyone expected you to favor Avreis. Your oldest friend. The Safe choice, if you’ll allow yourself some humor in your last moments. Instead, you chose KULAKA DELGUI for your endorsement. You felt the jade was a good choice for the Guild. Not only would Avreis soon have Empress duties, which would obviously take precedent over the Guild, but you’d seen her in leadership positions. It wasn’t for her. You couldn’t do anything about her taking the throne, but the Guild? There, you had some sway.
Needless to say, she was unhappy with your choice. She hasn’t spoken to you since the night of your endorsement, three sweeps ago, but for the correspondence you received a perigee ago. In it, she expressed her anger towards you, and incorrectly blamed you for what her new subjects are calling her. That one wasn’t you, though you did nothing to stop the whispers of Her Imperious Disgrace that reached you. She didn’t care. She wanted blood, and she wanted yours. So she challenged you to a duel.
And so here you are. The two of you across from each other on the seafloor, the yawning maw of a ravine at your back, the setting moon at hers. You know what she wants out of this. She sees two scenarios before her:
One, you duel, and she bests you. As the terms of your surrender, she will demand you swear fealty, come to work for her, thus fixing her reputation. Stopping this title business in its tracks, before it can truly catch on.
Two, you gain the upper hand. She refuses to surrender, eventually forcing you to kill or incapacitate her. This would be two things, as well. It would be a violation of your oath, the one you penned in your own hand to remind you who you would never be again. It would also be treason. Even in a duel, to lay a finger on the standing Empress would end in a fate worse than death. Even if you were not simply culled, your own reputation would be in shambles. This is her revenge plot.
You draw your weapons. She, the golden-chained rope dart befitting her station. You, the rapier she gave you as a gift what feels like a lifetime ago. You spot the fury in her eyes at the sight of it. Good. The anger will make her sloppy.
She launches the dart at you, the chain travelling lazily behind. You have plenty of reaction time to deflect it. Hells, you could probably sidestep the damn thing.
Instead, you drop your rapier to the ground, and meet her eyes.
The dart strikes you in the chest. From the feel of it, it breaks a few ribs, maybe even your sternum. Regardless, it hits its mark, and as Avreis retracts it from your bloodpusher your stagger backwards, a cloud of violet blooming around you.
She doesn’t expect the third option.
You sink slowly towards the bottom of the dark ravine, losing consciousness and blood at equal rates. Avreis’s figure is above you, trying to claw her way down the ravine even as the two violet agents she brought with her drag her away. You think she calls your name.
You close your eyes.
Imagine your surprise when you open them to find yourself in a hive you don’t recognize.
[Brhine is possessed by the spirit of her ancestor until midnight CST on February 5th.]
