Chapter 162: Privilege
[ A kingdom beyond the borders of the Old World]
The humidity was so overbearing that it felt like even the air had weight... like it was burdened with memory!!
Selene’s boots sank as she made her way forward.
Each step into the murk was a struggle. She was knee deep in slush that looked like tar spun from crushed violets and coagulated blood. It made sickening ’shllk’ ’shllk’ noises as she trudged forward.
Every step earned an involuntary ’hiss’ of disgust from her lips.
"Ah! Ah fuck this," she whined through gritted teeth. Her voice echoed strangely in the warped, endless expanse.
The reddish violet mire dragged at her ankles like it was trying to hold her back. Every paddle forward left ripples that shimmered like oil under a poisoned sky. Before her, loomed a door...no, it was not really a door.
It was a monolith.
Wrought iron, rusted black, its monstrous height vanished into the clouds above, where thunder curled and cracked like a sleeping beast. Vines, like black veins, pulsed faintly across its surface.
Perched atop the highest spike of the door was a raven. But not just any raven.
Its feathers gleamed as if soaked in wine, and its eyes were bright violet. It stared straight ahead. Unmoving.Like a sentinel.Watching everything... and nothing at the same time.
Selene craned her neck up with what looked like much effort. Her face was pale and slick with sweat. Her voice was hoarse.
"Open the door," she demanded, nearly whispering...too tired to scream,but too furious not to speak.
The raven blinked at her. And then... looked away.
Selene’s fists clenched at her sides. Rage flared. "Don’t you dare ignore me,you stupid bird."
No response. Not even a caw.
"I said open the fucking door!" she screamed, stumbling forward. She slammed her hands onto the metal and almost rattled it...or at least tried to. It didn’t budge. Her muscles trembled, and the tar clung to her legs weighing her down. Almost pulling her in like quick sand.
And then came a voice.
Sultry. Mocking. Drenched in menacing silk.
"My, my... the prodigal daughter returns. Aren’t we so lucky to have you back?"
Selene froze.
Her head turned slowly towards the voice.Her nostrils flared as her lips peeled back in fury.
"Ravenna..." she growled.
A figure emerged through the crimson purplish fog, walking across the tar like she weighed nothing at all. She wore almost nothing as well...just a few strands of silver thread and coiling shadows.
Her long, crimson red hair tumbled down her shoulders, barely covering the swell of her breasts.
Her skin was moon pale and almost translucent, glowing softly in the dark.Very much like Selene... only paler.
Ravenna smirked lazily. "You look like shit, sweetheart."
Selene’s eyes flared with heat.
"Open the fucking gate, Ravenna! I said...now!"
Ravenna didn’t flinch. She merely flicked one long, lacquered finger.
With a deafening, metallic groan, the massive doors shuddered and began to creak open...ominously slow. As if some ancient monster was being awakened from slumber.
Selene all but crawled out of the tar pit, dragging herself onto the solid stone beyond the gate.
She gasped, sucking in air like it was fire and her lungs had been drowning. Her chest heaved as she stood up, barely able to keep upright.
"Aw, out of breath already?" Ravenna crooned, slithering behind her. She dragged a single finger along Selene’s bare shoulder, trailing sparks. "So much for our little scout ."
Selene spun around like a whip. With lightning speed, she snatched Ravenna’s finger and twisted it backward until the taller woman hissed in pain, her body bending backwards.
"I didn’t come here to play games," Selene growled through gritted teeth, eyes wild. "Where is my mother? Why can’t I feel her?"
For a second, the real Ravenna was gone. She was just a beautiful woman in pain.
Then she laughed.
Unfazed. Infuriating.
"You want the truth?" Ravenna purred, stepping back as Selene let go.
Selene hissed louder.
" Alright! Truth it is." She circled Selene slowly."She has been moved."
Selene’s blood turned to ice.
"Moved? Where?"
A pause added with a smirk. "To the lower grounds."
"...The lower levels?" Selene’s voice cracked. "You mean...beyond the seventh?"
Ravenna only walked ahead, leading her further into the crimson purplish mist beyond the gate.
A twisted landscape of towers and spires loomed ahead...a fortress or perhaps a castle. A few of them.
"Why the fuck would you do that?!" Selene snapped, grabbing her again by the shoulder. Her hands trembled. "Why would you...why would anyone..."
"Because you couldn’t keep up!It’s your fault." Ravenna snarled, suddenly turning. "There was a time limit, Selene! You knew that.We made it very clear. Your task wasn’t a fucking side quest. You either get results, or you lose privileges."
Selene looked torn between slapping her and falling to her knees.
"I am getting results," she whispered, biting back tears. "I am setting them up. I am feeding their hatred. I am aligning the pawns.You know that."
"You are playing games.We have seen that" Ravenna’s tone changed. Sharper. Colder. Her entire presence seemed to grow...taller, darker, like she was shedding her sultry skin and showing the monster beneath.
"But a war is coming,Selene, " Ravenna bellowed, voice like steel. "The final war. Survival of the fittest. If we don’t crush the wolves before that... they will outbreed, outlast, and overwhelm us.Not to mention the real threat from our own kind...the traitors who shunned us. Do you want that? Do you want our kind to be slaughtered? To perish again?"
Selene’s lips trembled.
She opened her mouth to argue but Ravenna didn’t let her.
"And let’s not forget," she sneered, stepping closer, "being a halfling,technically, you shouldn’t even be allowed past our gates. We gave you this privilege because of your mother... and because of your service."
Her long, clawed nails traced Selene’s throat...down to her cleavage and pressed slightly into the skin just above her heart.
"Don’t push your luck, sweetheart."
Selene’s breath hitched.
For a second, the fire in her eyes faltered. She gulped, suppressing the rage that coiled in her gut. Her words came out quieter this time.
"I just... want to... see my mother."
Ravenna didn’t answer.
She only turned, walking towards the shifting fog and leaving a silence behind that felt like it would swallow Selene whole.