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 Posted: Tue Sep 14, 2010 7:15 am
They call me Scytheress
I am a Elf-Fox Demon
I am Head of Security at Reed
My past is long and complex. I was born to forbidden lovers centuries ago and was separated from my parents when I was seven. Since then, I've married a dragon and bore two children. My husband I lost to hunters and I haven't seen my twins since my old friends took them into hiding. I've wandered the world ever since trying to find my place in life, teaching for a stint at one magical highschool before coming here to Reed. While teaching half-breeds and demons of all kinds about the wonderful world of sex was fun, my heart has always lied in battle. As it was, even as a teacher, my innate strength and powers came in handy more than once when evils plagued the school or students got out of hand.
To know me is to look sarcasm straight in the face. While I may be a figurehead on school grounds I have no love of childish squabbles or Chatty Kathys. I'm generally quiet and keep to myself. My past is mine to keep secret and you'd do well not to inquire. There are a few I can call friends, and possibly one day lover, but until then everyone will stay at arms' reach. 
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Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2010 2:34 pm
In-Depth History
Part One Scytheress was born to a Elven woman and a Fox-Demon male but not with the name she is now known for. Her birth name was Rem Caiden Roze. They kept her a secret as long as her silver hair covered her ears as a coupling between the races was forbidden. When she was seven, the furry red tufts atop her head were discovered by the Elven council and they deemed her an abomination that must be destroyed. Her mother was distraught and pleaded with the council to spare her child. They agreed on the condition that she would reveal the identity of the father. Ashamed, she complied. The fox was outed to his own tribe then, and he was beheaded. Elves were not so barbaric but more cruel in their punishment of the mother. She was bound in chains and sentenced to live the rest of her days underground, never to again see the sky, the trees, or feel grass beneath her feet, just the cold wet stone until she died.
As for little Rem, she was exiled. A relative took pity on her and saw that she was given a new home in the human lands. Racial integration was still in progress but there were budding agencies that placed non-human children with human families and they put Rem in a home. She once again had a father and a mother but also an older brother. However, her new family didn't see it that way. Rem did everything she could to please her parents, she always smiled at them and did whatever they asked but the father still hit her when he got angry, and the son would bully her constantly. The mother, though, just watched her with sad eyes. What Rem didn't know, was that she was taking her place as the object of anger in the house. Eventually, the woman made it so the little fox-elf was always locked in her room so that she wouldn't be punished for every little thing that happened. It was a blessing and a curse. Some of her wounds got to heal, but now she was in a prison.
 After a few months of the new arrangement, they cut a flap in the bottom of her door and that's how she was given meals. She wasn't permitted to make any sounds when the family had company, and she was only let out to use the bathroom three times a day when the father was away. On the weekends when he didn't leave she was forced to heft herself onto the window sill... But even such humiliation wasn't the worst of it. When she turned thirteen, the sexual abuse started. Her 'brother' was seventeen now and had a girlfriend that he wanted to impress with his 'technique' so he decided to use Rem as a practice doll. When the father found out, rather than scolding the boy, he began to critique his performance and demonstrate the proper methods. This went on for another year until the son went off to college. She at least thought it was nice that they were showing interest in her, even if it did hurt. But at least for that time she wasn't ignored...
That next year saved her life. Because she had no access to anything about the outside world, she didn't know about pockets of demonic liberators that were rescuing orphaned mythical beings like herself from similar situations. It was a surprise when one day, Rem's adoptive mom threw open her door and told her to run. She was scared, but she bolted for the front door. She heard her father thundering down the hallway from his room, cursing and shouting as she made her escape. He might have caught her too but her mother got in the way. Rem heard a scream before she was scooped up in the waiting arms of her rescuers. She never found out what happened to her second mother, but it didn't matter any more. She was safe.
But, safe was a relative term. She was safer than before, but now she had no where to live. The groups that were helping children adopted out by some companies weren't that organized themselves. They were groups of slightly older children that had realized their abilities and were using them to liberate their fellow mythics. Rem fell in with a pair of boys who showed her the ropes. It took a lot of time, but eventually she relaxed enough to speak and interact normally with other people. She was so used to silence being a must that her voice was actually hoarse when she first began to use it again.
It was in these boys' company that Rem realized her own powers and was able to help. She had the ability to manipulate air thanks to her father and control over earth from her mother's heritage. It was difficult at first but Rem began to gain control over these abilities and slowly mastered them. A few short years later, she had helped to free others that had been in her predicament and found them havens of their own.
When she was twenty years old, she split from her faction to wander the world on her own. She was powerful now and didn't need the protection of the other mythics. She headed north for the big cities where she made an unfortunate discovery that the depravity that she had witnessed in the town she was raised in was wide spread. She needed a place to stay so she rented a room from a business owner. That same man gave her a job at his strip club. There must have been something special about her body considering how her 'family' treated it, so why not put it to good use and make some money? Rem quickly became the main attraction with her silver hair and red ears and tail. Not many demons made it into the city, let alone showed their faces in public, so some came for the sexual attention others just to gawk. Like so many in her position, her boss got her hooked on drugs. She didn't need much coaxing though, every time she worked, flashes of her past would surface and the hallucinogens helped her cope. The club owner wanted to try her out for 'full-service' but every time she was placed into an intimate session, she shut down. That at least kept her in a strictly hands off position.
This continued on for several years. All the work she'd done to build herself up, to regain who she was after the torment in her foster home, was slowly slipping away. She didn't know any better, she thought this must just be what creatures from the forest did unless they were rebelling. It wasn't until someone from the old liberation forces found her that things changed. It was the boy that she'd first fell into the arms of when she escaped her adoptive home. Siloh, a lynx demon, had been in the city and heard of this dancing oddity. He visited the club and saw Rem up on the platform. He couldn't believe it. He gritted his teeth and sat out the performance and then approached her behind stage. Rem didn't even recognize him with the amount of drugs in her veins. Siloh played the part of an enthusiastic fan to get her to come back to his hotel room for the night. When they arrived, he helped her into the shower to get cleaned up since by now she was starting to crash. He left her in the tub by herself with the water on. When he came back with some food from the restaurant in the lobby, Rem was hugging her knees to her chest and sobbing.
It was the second start to her recovery. Siloh never let her return to the club and kept her hidden from her now incredibly angry boss. In the first few weeks, things were especially hard for Rem. She cried a lot and would lash out at her protector only to then inflict harm on herself for attacking the one person she knew wanted something better for her. Siloh had great hopes for her though, but every time he thought they were almost there she'd relapse. Being a creature of earth and air made it difficult to contain her. One way or another, she'd manage to get morphine or something else into the room before he'd notice and he'd come home to an intoxicated woman. After several months of this, Siloh decided he had to take her out of the city, perhaps back into the woods he hailed from. As they were leaving, Rem had been sober for all of four days, and they ran into her old boss. When he saw them, he charged the pair, arms pumping up and down as he readied to tackle Siloh. When he launched himself, Rem's hand shot out with blinding speed and seized around the robust man's throat. Her sharpened nails dug into the sides of his neck as his wind pipe was crushed. Siloh was astonished at this display but fear quickly took hold when he looked to Rem. Her hair had turned fiery red and her golden eyes flared with incredible intensity. On lookers screamed and shouted for police. Any help would arrive too late as with one simple flex of her hand, her fingers sliced through the tender skin and muscle and the man's body fell to the ground, a section of his throat still clutched in Rem's hand. As she released the flesh, the asphalt under the deceased caved in and swallowed him whole before repairing itself. The amount of money and effort to retrieve the body wouldn't be worth the government's time. He'd be trodden on for the rest of eternity.
Siloh was terrified as the bloody hand of this 'helpless' girl grabbed his own and began to pull him along. He didn't know if her sudden fury would turn on him or where they were going. Rem was turning down alleys and back roads until they reached the outskirts of the city. At the last building, Rem suddenly shoved the man against the bricks and slammed her fist into the wall beside his head. "You take care of her, or I'll be back." With that said, Rem's hair reverted to it's original silver color and she collapsed against him. Instinct forced him to catch her, but when he realized what had happened, he was more surprised he didn't wet himself. Gently, he picked her up and began the trek for the forest.
Long months passed and now that they were outside the city's influence, Rem's recovery accelerated. Not able to get her fix, she began to learn to cope with life sober once again. When he thought she was ready, Siloh told her about the red-headed monster she had become the day they left. To his surprise, she already knew. She could still see out of her own eyes and she felt the stubbled neck as it gave way to her grasp. When intense emotions surfaced, her fox half became dominant and took control, otherwise her tame elven personality showed through. It hadn't happened since she was a small girl and threw her first temper tantrum in front of her birth parents. They cautioned her against getting angry and the other person she became scared her into being complacent. From then on, she'd been a good, calm girl.
Nearing the end of her recovery, Siloh found that his feelings toward Rem had moved beyond the sibling love he'd had for her when they met in onto something more romantic. He knew about her troubles being intimate, but made himself believe that he could help, that he could fix it. One night, he confessed his love to her. He told her that all the work he'd done for her was because of these feelings and that he hoped she felt the same way. Rem was confused and appalled. She knew she felt something towards him, but she didn't think it was love, friendship maybe but nothing more. Siloh pushed it though, and as Rem became more conflicted within herself, he hair began to tint red. When Siloh saw this he began to panic and backed away. Rem saw the fear in his eyes but she couldn't stop the welling anger inside her. The man watched on as the elf and fox in side Rem fought for control. She wrapped her arms around herself, trying to contain the beast while Siloh watched on helplessly. After what felt like an eternity, Rem flung her arms out and her reddening hair turned jet black. "Enough!" There was a burst of air that blew out the windows and over turned what little furniture they had in their woodland home. Siloh crouched and cowered against the wall. Rem however, for the first time in years, had a a peaceful and confident look on her face. The warring personalities had neglected the strength of the third persona, Rem herself. Her lineages were beaten back so that the real woman could shine through.
From that point on, Rem's addictions were gone as were her fears, she had control of herself for the first time and she loved it. No longer was she seeing life through someone else's eyes. Also, she could now take revenge on the source of her problems. She'd need to be better prepared before she could take on the respective councils of her parents, but one day they would find justice at their door steps and beg for mercy.
~*~
Thus began the warring age of Rem's life. She moved east to the vampiric lands where there had been constant war between races since the beginning of time. She enlisted with the Lycan Legions where her wind and earth abilities were put to great use in beating back the Nosferatu. They howled her praises with each city they took back from the vampires. This helped her become battle-hardened, seeing death and killing foes made her realize what wars really are and that they were necessary no matter the reason. Freedom above all else.
After leaving the Legion, stories of her had spread across the mythic lands and a name was given to her based on the weapon she carried. Her tool of death was a swallow with 2 arcing scythe-blades on either end, one set facing opposite the other. This was how she got her trademark name, Scytheress. The weapon sometimes over shadowed the wielder as it stood six and a half feet tall while Rem was only 5'4". It next appeared in the great Minotaur Wars of the East Barrows. Keeping her deeds balanced, Rem sided with the bull creatures in oppressing the rest of the beings in their lands. Evil as it may be, she found she enjoyed the hunt more than the cause she was fighting for. The act of murder became fun and soon she lusted after it. She moved from war-zone to war-zone fighting on whichever side saw the most action. She single handedly caused the rise and fall of many kings and didn't care about any of it. It was all about her now and gaining the prowess to combat the foxes and elves in her homeland.
A hundred yeas passed in this fashion. Rem received boons from some of the factions she fought for including housing, money, and servants. The slaves she didn't much care for and generally returned them to their families if she could. She enjoyed war but she wasn't fond of the aftermath. Despite her hardening exterior, she still felt remorse for the people the slain left behind. After a while, she stopped participating in the conquests of bold men and rejected the pleas of the damned for aid and simply plotted her revenge. She sent messengers to find Siloh. After the century of relative solitude, she wanted the comfort of the one person she ever called 'friend.' In a week's time he arrived at her humble fort and Rem welcomed him with a wide smile. He, however, grimaced at her approach. He couldn't stand who she'd become. While at one time he had loved her, Siloh hated the woman that stood before him. The only reason he'd come at all was the small chance he could get her to change back into the sweet girl he'd met decades ago. When he professed his wishes to her, Rem scoffed. She accused him of not liking her anymore simply because she didn't need him any more, that she wasn't a helpless little girl. Siloh tried to reason with her because he could tell that she really did need someone whether she'd admit it or not. So as not to argue in the public of her grand foyer, she invited him up to her private chamber.
Rem sat gingerly on the edge of her bed after shutting the door behind them. She opted to stay away from the bitter subject of herself and inquired how her old companion had been faring. Siloh didn't respond but kept his same disappointed gaze fixed on her. Rem sighed but continued on about her new plans. She was ready to face the people who had separated her from her birth parents and she was going to get her mother and father back. Siloh's jaw dropped. She couldn't be serious? His emotions brewed in his stomach, fear and concern dominating the fray. Rem was by far the singularly most powerful person he'd ever heard of, but both of the nations she was going to go up against had armies. She had no backing. Not even the tribes she'd fought for would stick their necks out for her. By now the factions understood she didn't fight for them but for herself and her own blood-lust. Siloh bit his lip but offered to go with her in her quest.
The pair arrived first in the vixen lands of Bardortha. Their presence was unimpeded but closely followed. Rem could feel each of the scouts, humanoid and animal, through the vibrations in the air and in the ground. She could have crushed them all in an instant if she had felt like it. When they reached the camp, contingents of guards were waiting for her. The elders were there as well, sneering with their fangs protruding from their mouths. Rem returned the grin and then demanded the release of her father. The elders chuckled at this, some out right guffawing at her request. Rem's smile didn't waver as she was taunted and she repeated her statement. It was then that one of them blurted out that the "********" was dead. A few guards to the side parted to reveal a tribal painting on the side of one of the stone houses. It was a story. It showed a fox and an elf deeply in love and then torn apart. Then it focused on the fox-man. He was depicted kneeling as a metal spike was set above the back of his neck about to be struck with a mallet. The next scene had the fox flat on the ground with a proud elder holding the spike and hammer above him.
Seeing such a rendition of her father's murder began to boil the anger that had already begun to steam within her. Siloh, fearing the worst, muttered for her to stay calm. Rem gritted her teeth but took a deep breath. Here in the secluded woods, they hadn't heard of Rem's accomplishments and didn't realize the danger they were in. The earth began to shake and then the ground began to pop up and swallow men whole. Homes were sucked into the ground and screams filled the air. The elders looked at Rem in disbelief and horror as she brought everything they'd worked hard to create crashing down. As quickly as it had started, the rumbling stopped and all was still save for the settling dust. The remaining elders and townsfolk trembled in the eerie silence that ensued. Siloh thought Rem would speak after that, give them some kind of message to fear her and repent for needlessly killing her father, but she just turned and walked away.
Later that night Siloh tried to talk with his friend but she remained mute. She didn't say anything at all nor did she eat. Her expression didn't betray the pain she felt, but her eyes did. She had been too late. If she'd never existed the man she was born loving would still be alive. If she'd been stronger back then she could have protected him or if she'd been smarter she could have reasoned his release. She'd never get to see his face again now. All she had left was a distant memory.
The next stop was the elven lands of Nalthorien. Rem's presence was immediately met with resistance. Armed guards escorted them from the edge of the forest to the center of the city where contingents of soldiers surrounded them. The council came before them and looked down their angular noses at the duo. Rem demanded her mother be brought forward, much like she had issued the request to the foxes a week before. Rather than laugh, the council snickered and whispered amongst themselves. The High Lord raised his hand for silence so that he could tell her that she was free to visit her mother at her leisure and gestured toward the mines.
Rem was confused by the reply. Surely this was some kind of trap, elves never went underground if they could help it. Still, she moved toward the opening and descended the steps. In the fire lit halls, elves were shackled together at the ankles as they chipped delicately at the walls trying to pry out whole precious gems. Rem strode down the corridors, not realizing that with every face she passed her pace quickened, hastening to find her mother. After the fourth turn, she saw her. The visage of her mother was unmistakable and she found herself sprinting to her. The elven woman looked at Rem with glossy eyes. "Who are you?" Rem told her she was her daughter but the woman just shook her head. "No... No I don't have a daughter." She turned back to her task and didn't give Rem another thought. The fox-elf was stunned. She was so sure this was her. The image of the gorgeous woman who had raised her was forever burned in her mind.
The soft mirth of the council echoed down the hall as they approached. They reinforced that the woman Rem had spoken to was indeed the one who gave birth to her, but she was so ashamed of having a half-fox child that she exiled herself underground and vowed never to speak of the b*****d again. Now, Rem was broken. Streaks of silver began to appear in her hair so Siloh quickly grabbed her hand and squeezed it reassuringly. Not only was her father dead, but her mother rejected her. She could destroy this village just like she had the other but what good would it do? Rem kept her eyes fixed on the ground as she made her way passed the council and back into the sunlight. As soon as she crested the stairs she took off running. Siloh went after her, not quite able to keep up and lost her in the woods.
Siloh wandered for hours before he came to a lake. There was a small island in the center of it and he could barely make out the huddled form of Rem. She was soaking wet, having swam out there and neglecting the boat moored on the shore. Siloh climbed in and rowed to the isle. Rem was crying but she was still herself. The man knelt to try and comfort her but the moment his hand rested on her back she lashed out. "What's the point any more? Why am I even here?" She screamed. It was then that he noticed that she was holding two objects: a spike and a hammer. Siloh knew what was to come next. She turned to him, distraught. "End it! End it for me!" Sobbing, she fell to her knees and shoved the tools into Siloh's hands. She bared the back of her neck and waited. "Do it!" She continued to plead but he couldn't find the courage to kill her. Deep within himself he knew he shouldn't, but everything she had lived for was gone and death would be a release from her torment. Her life was never good to her and she was only happy when she was causing destruction so it would be better for the world as a whole if she ceased to exist. Slowly, he placed the sharp end of the spike between two vertebrae on her neck. Feeling the cool metal made Rem calm a bit as she readied for the end and then in one quick strike her cries stopped altogether.
Rem slumped forward and fell into the water. Her lifeless body began to sink and Siloh now began shedding tears of his own. What had he done? He could have helped her. He could have saved her from herself and this cruel world. He dropped the items in his hands and jumped back into the boat. He couldn't stand to be there anymore and rowed back to the mainland.
It would be many more years before anyone heard from Siloh again, and even then, he couldn't speak. Some time during his journey, an encounter had left him with his throat slashed.
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Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2010 7:28 am
In-Depth History
Part Two Death would have been a sweet end to the life that had been riddled with hardship and pain, but that would not be so for the poor fox-elf. Though murdered by her one true friend, her body would not lie long in the depths of her watery grave. After Siloh left the scene of her demise, he wandered. No longer tied to the depressed woman, he could regain some of his old life. He went first back to his home to recover. While he hadn't been physically harmed, mentally he was was in pieces. He'd devoted much of his life to Rem, and now that she was gone he was having trouble finding a driving force to his existence.
Other lynxen friends helped him initially cope before he was finally on his own two feet again. He integrated back into society and began the task of leading an ordinary life. It wouldn't last. The Fox Tribe Rem had devastated was looking for her. They'd called on all of their allies to wage war on the Elves who they believed were harboring her, and then sent raiding parties into other outlying areas in search of the half-breed. A special force was sent to find Siloh. They attacked the lynx village, slaughtering any who resisted. Their goal was to inflict the same pain on others that Rem had dealt them. When they got their hands on her old friend, they bound him and took him back to the elders. They demanded to know where she was and at first he wouldn't say. After days of torture he finally caved in and told them she was dead and decaying at the bottom of the elven lake. As soon as those words were spoken, they sliced his throat and left him for dead.
Siloh survived, but he could no longer talk. He found a cave to live in away from any civilization and never returned to his people. He lived out his days as a hermit and cursed the name of his once friend for bringing such a fate upon him.
The elders, armed with the new knowledge that she was dead and the location of her body moved with all haste to retrieve the corpse. The Lake of Life, where Rem lay, was the birthing place of all elves for a reason. The babies were bathed in the waters for its magical qualities, blessing the kin with long youthful appearances. On the shadowed bed of the lake, Rem's body was being preserved. The foxes brought a sealed box to fill with the sacred water to keep the body in until it was time. The elders realized that they could use Rem's terrible powers for their own purposes if they could just get her body.
While Rem was being retrieved, the fox druids were working on a ritual that would call her soul back from the after-life and bind it to her physical form. Elves that had been captured were used for practice. They were murdered, healed, and then the rites performed. Some came back, others didn't. Most importantly were those that did, returned insane. They had been instantly driven mad at having their souls ripped from the bliss of heaven to be returned to their corporeal bodies. Even after only being there for an hour, the turmoil of thought was too much. This worried the elders that Rem's return would be no different, and they only had one shot. The practice runs had been without the proper ingredients as there only existed one blood rune. The druids were confident that the addition of the rune would create calm and understanding in the soul and Rem would be as she was in life.
The day came to revive their nemesis and most of the villagers had fled. They'd been witness to the destruction Rem had wrought before and weren't eager to see it again. The casket containing her body was set in a small recess in the ground and opened. She rested against the bottom, her black hair billowing around her with the gently rocking waves. The blood rune was placed on her chest and the druids gathered around to perform the ceremony. Their voices soon rose as one in a haunting chant and incense was lit to cloud the air. The water in the coffin began to bubble as if it were being heated and Rem's body rose to the surface. The druids dances around the body until lightening shot from the sky and struck Rem. Her eyes flashed open as her life returned but rather than scream like those revived before her, she just gripped the edges of the box and sat up, her golden eyes alight with emotion.
 The resurrection had been a success. Rem was alive with her sanity in tact. When she saw the foxes around her she began to stand so that she could wipe them out once and for all but one of the elders stepped forward. He cautioned her against any rash actions and explained that her soul was now bound eternally in her body, that she could never die again. Well, not unless she had the scroll in his hand. On it was the incantation that would reverse the soul binding and release her back into the ether. On the one hand, Rem didn't care. The place she'd come back from wasn't one of light. She had been a prominent minion in the legions of hell when she was brought back to life. In Hell she hadn't been the strongest though, not like up here. Among the living, she was god. The foxes gave her an ultimatum: she could do their bidding and once the task was complete they'd give her the scroll, or she could refuse and they'd send her back now. When she asked why she couldn't just kill them all right now and take the scroll, they replied that only a kitsune holy man could successfully invoke the spell of release. Scythe shrugged. It didn't matter much to her anyway. She'd play dog for these people for a while and then be free to reign terror on the masses as she saw fit.
Rem had no idea her first assignment was going to be wiping out the elves of Nalthorien. She had no love for the elves, but she didn't want to accidentally kill her mother in the process. Maybe she could barter safety from the elven council if they turned her mother over to her... She brokered the deal with the council but when it came time for the exchange, the foxes shot her mother dead. Rem immediately razed the forest to the ground, the elves dying in droves with the 'accidental' fox casualty here and there. All the while, Rem kept her gaze on the smug druid holding the scroll to her life.
Next came the conquest of the human lands, areas where mythics hadn't yet made their mark. Rem led the vixen armies to victory time and time again but unlike her previous warring years, these skirmishes held no joy for her. Each win was empty, each kill meaningless. At least during her first life, she'd had a reason for all this; to rescue her parents and for Siloh. They were all gone now. The foxes pushed on into the minotaur lands and Rem was forced to raid and destroy her own home. Finally, the foxes seemed content with their new holdings. They were stretched as thin as they could be and still retain dominance over each province. In a private ceremony, the elders passed the scroll over to Rem and she disappeared into the night.
What the foxes didn't expect was that Rem wanted her home back and the races she'd conquered had more to offer her now then the kitunes. Revenge was such a sweet dessert. At the beginning of her new rebellion, she discarded her name for good, taking up Scytheress as her one and only call sign. Starting with the minotaurs she'd fought with before, she made her first real alliance. With the bulls she pushed the weak foxes back and stampeded through the human lands all the way back to the foxes' villages. She didn't lead this time, though, but rather sat amongst the ranks of the mythic legions. She'd been beaten down and wanted nothing to do with the aristocracy any longer.
Sitting around a camp fire with various races that had come together to repel the vixen oppressors, she met a man who would become a life long friend and she would adopt him as her younger brother. He was a red-winged angel named Rio Yakku. He hated her at first for the things she done and Scythe could only hang her head in shame as he listed off the world's grievances with her. When he finished, he was breathing heavily from nearly screaming at her. A crowd had gathered but kept their distance as they thought for sure, the half-breed killing machine would turn her fangs on him. However, she simply set her bowl down and said she was sorry before walking off.
That incident changed the tone of the rebellion. While the contingents that had surrounded Scythe had slept in fear, they now joked and jostled each other knowing that the demon that had wrecked havoc on their enemies had no intention of retaliating against them.
Nearing the end of the rebellion, Scytheress and Rio disappeared. In the many talks the two shared, Rio learned that she had lost her love of the battle field after she'd been killed. She had pursued the military in Hell only because it was that or slavery, and even then being a soldier was much like being a slave anyway. He also learned that long ago she had wanted to own her own business, a bar or some place she and her friends would be able to hang out. Scytheress had given up on that dream when she realized she had no friends to invite. She'd never been a people person, even while helping the other orphans when she was young. She shied away from social situations and generally never talked. The two left the army once Rio had convinced her to pursue the establishment and that he would be her first customer.
~*~
Years later, the bar Tigonochi was established deep within the woods outside the city that had first tainted the fox-elf. Scytheress owned it and served as it's bartender. Rio was an employee as well, filling the duties of entertainer. He was marvelous on the piano and had the voice of, well, an angel. She took on other servers as well and finally settled into a life she liked. Away from war and conflict, Scythe began to relax but she couldn't quite get rid of that itch to fight. To help this, she installed a caged fighting ring inside the bar. Anyone who beat her got a free meal. Many tried, all failed, but it satiated her blood lust. Often, Rio stepped into the cage with his new sister to help get her aggression out. He'd learned that she was prone to out bursts if she didn't get regular violent exercise. Before the cage was installed, she'd attacked a delivery man and slowly licked the blood from her hands. Without her knowing, Rio also began to lace her favorite drink with the sanguine liquid. It wasn't too difficult with strawberry smoothies, but he was nervous every time he did it.
Few knew of the bar at first, only a select few from the war were told about it and the only way to find it was to go with someone who already knew where it was. It had been a safety measure to keep away the fox clans and anyone else looking to settle a score with the fox-elf. Quickly, though, word spread and Tigonochi found itself with a large set of regulars. Among them were two Elemenians, a dragon named Baikou Kimodo and a phoenix named Shadow, a god named Fusser, an underground kitsune named Sadei Stone, a siren named Serena, another angel named Amethyst, and two enigmas called Riack and Darkage. They became a surrogate family to Scytheress and she soon found herself smiling almost everyday.
Scytheress' relationships with the patrons grew as time passed and she found herself falling in love for the first time. She was confused at first, but the dragon's presence elicited a strange feeling in her. She didn't like it but she couldn't help always watching the door to see if he was coming in. At the same time, she was in a physical relationship with the fox. Anyone outside her head would clearly be able to tell she was engaging in the violent trysts with Sadei as a way to express her hatred of his people. Often, when the two would reappear from the guest room, Sadei's lips would be blood stained and his skin would be riddled with bruises the next day. It never went beyond intense kisses though, even hundreds of years later, Scytheress couldn't handle the thought of sex. That was until Baikou. Rather than the whirlwind love she had with Sadei, Baikou was slow and gentle. He watched Scy's body language to know what was too much and when to back off.
The love triangle had been going on for nearly two years before it finally happened. It was late one night after closing and all the employees had gone home. Baikou had stuck around to keep her company while she finished closing out the cash registers and then cornered her. Scytheress' heart nearly beat out of her chest as Baikou held her against the wall. His kiss was sweet and calming so she found herself able to slow the thrum in her chest as they walked to the guest room. The following morning Scytheress didn't want to leave her lover's arms. What she'd experienced wasn't anything like the rapes she'd dealt with in the past. Everything that happened that night had been on her terms and rather than her mind escaping to a better place, all she had to do was look into Baikou's eyes to know it was ok. Real life was now her happy place.
A month later the bar was shattered with the news that Scytheress was pregnant.
Sadei felt betrayed. He thought he would be the one to help Scythe through her trauma and win her heart. After all, Scy had shown him more affection over the years, so he was the obvious choice. Not many noticed the fox's disappearance after the news of the upcoming child except Scytheress herself. She felt remorse for what she'd done to Sadei, but she had bigger things to worry about now.
Being part fox, she only had a few months before her baby would be born and Baikou insisted he marry her before then. The pair ended up having a small ceremony just outside the bar with Fusser officiating and Rio as their witness. That night, Scythe decided that she wouldn't be needing the scroll to her mortality. She tied it to a messenger pigeon and sent it to the far end of the world.
The pregnancy was running smoothly until Baikou banned his new wife from the cage. He was concerned for his unborn child's safety and the safety of his wife but it made Scythe furious. Rio was the only one who knew why. The angel waited around until Baikou had left one night and then invited Scy into the cage. She gritted her teeth and refused at first, reciting Baikou's reasoning, but Rio's coaxing drew her in. The man moved to the far end of the cage and reached out to his sides and clasped his fingers through the mesh. "Go for it." Scytheress was confused at first, thinking the angel was crazy. He told her he wanted to try something out and that she should attack him. With a glint in her eye, the fox-elf lunged forward and landed a close-fisted blow to his ribs. Rio coughed and his grip bent the metal squares that made up the cage. Scythe swung again and caught her claws across his midsection. She only struck once more before she realized what was going on. She jumped back on her toes as Rio slumped from the wall to his knees. Scy quickly knelt to check him over and he just waved her off. He could take this kind of punishment easily and told the woman to just head home. Scytheress just shook, angry at herself for taking out raw aggression on the man she called her brother. It wasn't right. "I have to go." What Scytheress didn't say was that the exertion had caused her to start going into labor and she quickly disappeared into the night.
It was several weeks later before Scytheress returned. Baikou was beside himself with worry and it was all the other patrons could do to keep him from running off or accidentally burning down the bar. When the fox-elf did return, she had two toddlers with her. Thanks to the vixen blood they matured quickly at first and could already walk and say simple words. They were twins, one girl, Akira, and one boy, Kenji. Kenji looked like his father with slightly pointed ears and he had patches of dragon scales along his torso. Akira was the strange one. She had her mother's fox ears but a slender dragon tail that often got in her way and tripped her up. Baikou's heart melted when he saw them and swept one up in each arm before pressing his lips to his wife's cheek. They were beautiful.
With the children born, Scytheress could resume her cage matches though she tried to wait as long as she could between them to try and control her blood lust. It was helping a bit, and her need to fight came less frequently over time. Her lust wouldn't resurface until Sadei did. Nearing the children's first birthday, Fox came back. The passionate fire Scytheress had felt before reignited and it took all her will not to jump him when he first arrived. Not even Baikou's loving embrace tore her eyes from the kitsune. His arrival couldn't have come at a worse time, either, as Scythe had been weeks without drawing blood.
That night, after Baikou and the kids had gone home, Scytheress drew Sadei behind the bar and nearly cracked his head against a shelf as she claimed his lips. With her fear of sex gone, she had no reservations as she moved their passionate session toward the back. Making love to Baikou had never been like this. With him it was careful, gentle, but with Sadei, the heat that radiated from them both was intense and they fought each other for dominance. Scytheress had no idea how long the stayed back there, but it must have been too long as when she returned to finish cleaning the counters, Baikou was sitting in one of the booths. Dragons are not known for their forgiveness, and when the Elemenian saw Sadei appear from the back room after his wife, the temperature in the bar sky-rocketed.
Scytheress had never witnessed the speed at which Baikou flew across the room and barreled into Sadei. The fox wrestled with the dragon while Scythe looked on, wondering who to pull off. Suddenly, she reached out and grabbed hold of Baikou's shoulders and threw him back toward the other side of the bar, standing between the bloodied kitsune and the vaguely ruffled dragon. "You protect him?" Scytheress shook her head at her husband's accusation but said nothing. Her eyes pleaded with him though to let this go so they could forget it even happened. She knew she had a problem but she didn't know how to fix it. She worried that if she didn't get it out she could unleash her anger on her family... a family she didn't realize was all present.
A sniffle rang out first and then Scythe saw Akira and Kenji sitting on the couch near the fire place. She took a step towards them but Baikou jumped in her path. "If this is what you've chosen you have no right to see them ever again." Scytheress's jaw dropped. Never see her children? But she carried them, raised them, they were her's! She tried to push passed Baikou but he grabbed her. Without thinking, Scy shrugged off his hands and then laid a hard left hook into his jaw. Baikou stumbled away as the fox-elf scooped up her twins. They were both crying now, scared of their mother as she carried them. Kenji was the first one to act and tried to push away while Akira called for her father. Scytheress pressed her lips together. If she couldn't have her children, no one would. She slowly began to squeeze them and the harsh cries hushed. Baikou shook his head to clear it and then jumped into action. To his surprise, so had Sadei. Together, they ripped the twins from her arms and tripped her so she laid flat on the ground. She was momentarily stunned so the two men dashed off. They knew they had no chance in a fight against her and fled.
When Scytheress came to, her head ached but what hurt more was her heart. How could she have done that? She tried to murder her own flesh and blood. She sat up and fisted her hands in her hair. She hadn't changed at all from her first life. Her only desire was to cause harm and she couldn't stop that. She got up and ran behind the bar to scribble a quick note on a napkin before fleeing into the night.
The next morning, Rio was the first to Tig and discovered the messy letter. He gasped when he read it. "By the time you read this, I will be dead. I can't stand the person I am and I can't live with myself knowing I have the potential to kill my children. I'm sorry everyone, but you're all safer without me." Tears leaked from Rio's eyes when he told Amethyst as she came in. They had no idea what had happened the previous night but they both took off for the Kimodo residence. When they got there it was empty. The door was ajar but no one was home. They would have kept searching but they had to be at the bar to notify the others and maybe someone would show up that knew something of what had happened.
Sadei came by several days later and told Rio of the fateful night. The angel's first reaction was to punch the fox but he then calmly sat back on his stool. Sadei admitted he deserved the hit. It was only after that that Rio told him of Scytheress' note. Sadei wouldn't believe it at first and asked to see the letter. Sure enough, if was the fox-elf's hand writing. Sadei then left in a huff. He had to find her body.
Months past and Rio took ownership of the bar. Tigonochi fell on hard times after the passing of its creator and without the charismatic woman's pull, customers stopped showing up. Rio was loosing hope and his new wife, Amethyst, was having doubts as well. They were getting ready to lock the bar up for good when a strong gust of wind made them look around. Landing behind them was the fox-elf but her back was adorned with two eight-foot long black wings. Rio immediately lunged into her arms. He couldn't believe she was back! Amethyst crumpled to the ground sobbing with happiness. They both had so many questions for her, but once they calmed down their first inquiry was to the whereabouts of her family. Now it was Scytheress' turn to be confused. They hadn't come back? The three went to check her house again but it was just as they'd seen it last. Empty. Scytheress was crestfallen but she sucked it up and smiled. She was back and she had a mission.
After that fateful night, Scytheress had committed suicide, neglecting her immortal state. As the blood flowed from her wrists her soul went into a state of limbo where she was visited by her mother and father. She was transformed back into image of her childhood and frolicked through a field with her parents. This was the bliss she had been missing all her life. They sat her down and told her they loved her very much and her mother apologized for forgetting her. Being underground did terrible things to an elf's mind. They also told her that God had an offer for her. At first Scytheress thought it was a joke, her soul had already been damned to hell and if she had really died she would be there now. Her mother just smiled and said he wanted to make her a Death Angel, a minion of both realms whose only job was to ensure people died. She wouldn't have to worry about souls or the goodness of the people she killed, but as long as she filled a certain quota, she would never be sentenced back to Hell. Scytheress readily accepted when she heard the quota was a single soul a year.
Becoming a Death Angel was difficult though and the transformation was brutal. Growing her first set of wings introduced Scythe to a new realm of pain and there were ten more to come as she progressed. However, with the wings came new powers. The first set of wings gave her the ability to create and control fire and the second increased that ability to dominate white flames as well thought they give off no heat but are bright. The third set gave her control of shadows so wherever there is the absence of light she reigns. The fourth set amplified her power over earth and the fifth increased her control over air. The sixth was the most devastating. Whenever this pair of wings is extended, they have the power of complete disintegration. Anything they touch is immediately turned to ash and this includes Scytheress herself. The wings grew at intervals, every few months, and the fox-elf was wracked with pain each time. Sometimes it would happen at the bar, other times at home, and she would writhe and scream in agony. At least she was able to dismiss her wings, otherwise no one else would fit in the bar or be able to get near her. Generally, she kept them all hidden, but on some days she kept her first set out just for show.
Nearly a year later, when her transformation was almost half done, the bar was finally getting back to normal. Scytheress continued to participate in the cage to keep her blood lust at bay and the patrons flocked back. Even Sadei reappeared, though interactions between him and the bartender were strained and awkward. Seeing him just brought back memories of the last time she laid eyes on her children and it made her heart ache. She pestered Sadei about their location at first but when he continued to refuse she gave up. Maybe it was a good idea to keep the twins away from her... but she missed them dearly.
Normalcy came just in time to get the boot out the door when a figure from Scythe's past showed up at Tigonochi.
Ceron was a powerful warlord from across the ocean. He had made a conquest in these lands centuries ago and had been moderately successful with Scytheress' help. In her last rebellion with Rio, she had apparently encroached on his territories and had come for compensation. Compared to Ceron, Scytheress was a pebble in his boot and the fox-elf knew this. If she argued or fought with him, she'd be crushed and her dear friends would die in his wake. She shed a single tear for the loss of the life she'd finally regained and surrendered herself up to the warlord. Ceron just grinned through it all. The pompous a** thought he knew what he was getting himself into, but he had no idea Scytheress had her own plans for her kidnapper.
~*~
Scytheress was stowed away in Ceron's castle, in an antechamber of his own personal quarters. She was frequented regularly by his wife, a hermaphrodite with an insatiable lust, and doted on by her. She would dress the fox-elf up like a doll, put make-up on her and do her hair in long curls, and then ******** her. Scytheress lashed out at every chance she got and for it she was kept chained to the wall at all times, her hands in leather bags so she couldn't scratch or pick at the locks. Sometimes the woman had guards come in and hold the prisoner while she had her fun just to be safe. However, Scytheress would not submit this time. She'd conquered the memories of her adopted father, of her life in the city, and would one day conquer Ceron and his horny wife too.
For the first several months, she never saw even a peek of the warlord. Scythe found out later it was because he was waiting for his wife to destroy her spirit first. When news came that the fox-elf would not be tamed, the muscled man took up the task himself. The first day, he sat across the room from her and told her to kneel. Scytheress, of course, refused. "Alright then. I'll wait." Ceron smirked and gave a nod to one of the attendants. The servant woman went about stripping Scytheress of the attire the lady of the castle had dressed her in, a gypsie outfit, and then scurried off. Ceron then blocked the heating ducts that brought in hot air from the bellows below the castle. He retook his seat across the room and propped up his feet as an attendant brought him a hot mug of ale. Still, Scytheress would not kneel. She stood shivering on the stones and wrapped her arms around herself for warmth. After an hour of shifting to keep circulation to her legs, another gesture from Ceron sent the attending woman forward and tightened the chains around Scythe's arms. This forced her arms out and her back against the freezing wall.
Scytheress fell unconscious before her knees hit the floor.
When the fox-elf awoke, she was clothed in warm furs and the heat had returned to the air. She was lying on a pile of pillows, which was how she slept most nights, but when she looked around, Ceron was still sitting in the chair, smiling at her. "Get on your knees." Scytheress gritted her teeth and remained where she was. "Get her up." Two male attendants rushed forward and pulled Scytheress to her feet and then began pulling her clothes off like before. Scythe just stared into Ceron's eyes defiantly. Not even an hour later the room was frigid again. Scytheress could see her breath dissipate in wisps of white air as she continued to battle against the warlord's gaze. Ceron downed his latest mug of hot liquid before standing. Maybe he was going to leave? Scytheress was already shaky on her legs and didn't know if she could physically resist any advances he made. Sure enough, he walked right up to her. The man towered over the half-breed and with a single finger, pushed down on her shoulder. Her knees buckled and she found her head resting against his knee cap. Ceron chuckled, "That wasn't so hard now, was it?" Scytheress' heart raced and in an instant, she tilted her head and bit down as hard as she could on his leg. Ceron let out a roar as the girl's fangs punctured his skin and he kicked out, sending her bouncing off the wall.
This kind of back and forth continued for two years. During that time, Sadei had mounted a rescue effort but they'd been easily defeated. He tried again on his own and nearly got killed. He was released only as a warning to the rest of Tigonochi to forget about their beloved bar mistress.
For the third and forth year of Scytheress' captivity, she was alone. Ceron stopped coming and his wife was forbidden to see her. A lift was installed that would bring food to her room, but there was no contact with any living thing. Scytheress was becoming delirious with the sparse diet and solitude. After the first several months, she actually began to miss her daily battles with Ceron and being dressed up by that woman. The loneliness was eating at her. She couldn't handle time anymore. She needed someone, anyone. This was unbearable...
After two long years, the door creaked open and Scytheress stopped pacing the narrow strip she had access to. Ceron, in full battle armor, stepping in and fixed his malnourished prisoner with a cocky grin. Scythe's heart beat faster at the prospect of another person, even if it was the man she loathed. She walked to the end of her tethers until they were pulling back on her. "Kneel." Perhaps it was the lack of food, or maybe it was the desire to just not be alone, but an instant later, Scytheress' knees met the stone floor.
From that point on, Scytheress was treated like a pet. She was let out into Ceron's personal chamber now, but she was still clothed and used by his wife. Ceron only had his way with her when he came back from the front lines during which his wife would watch so she could teach Scytheress how to do other things for her husband. Scytheress was completely brainwashed. Every now and then, there would be a flicker of her old self, it would only happen when Ceron was near, and she would lash out at him. Though Ceron was akin to a god, Scytheress would maul him pretty good before being subdued. After each episode, she'd be left in solitude for several months before training would begin again.
Eventually, Scytheress was left on her own from time to time, she was even given access to one of the courtyard to play with the many hounds Ceron had. That was all she was, another dog to him, only she was a dog that could satisfy his other urges.
Believe it or not, but Scytheress remained Ceron's toy for 251 years. That was how long it took him to reconquer the territories Scytheress had stripped from him.
On the day after his conquest was complete, Ceron grabbed Scytheress by her hair and dropped her over his balcony to the flat rocks below. Any other pet would have hit the paving stones with a sickening crunch but Scytheress somersaulted midair and landed safely on the ground. "Go home." Scytheress obediently began to walk back for the door to return to his side but a pot came hurling down at her. "No, your own home." Scytheress was confused. Didn't her master want her anymore? Did she do something wrong? Why was he sending her away. This time, a bolt of energy crackled down from the awning and shattered the statue nearby. "Go before I kill you." Scytheress shrank back from the exploding sculpture and then glanced to the other servants. They gave a gentle shooing motion and urged her to run. One even whispered 'go.' With great sadness, the fox-elf dashed away from the place she had called home for two and a half centuries.
Scytheress wasn't sure what to do with herself now. All sense of her former life was gone, all she knew was Ceron. Several times she found herself backtracking and gazing on the castle from afar. The last time, a stream of energy vaulted from the castle and struck the ground beside her. He'd seen her and was displeased. That was the last time Scytheress saw the fortress. She made for the beach as she tried to recall who she had been before Ceron. He'd done such a good job of stripping her of all sense of self worth that she was mentally crippled. Seeing a tavern, memories of the bar flooded back to her and she quickly began filling in the gaps. While on board the ship she hoped would take her home, she recalled her family. Her heart suddenly ached to see them again. She wondered what Akira and Kenji looked like, what they were doing. What about Baikou?... She started to cry thinking about her husband. She was convinced he didn't love her any more.
What Scytheress didn't know was that, shortly after she'd been kidnapped, there had been a genocide against mythics. Demon hunters popped up everywhere. One such group caught wind of Tigonochi and knew that if they could bring in the mythics there, they could get a lot of money. Word of the bar's imminent danger spread through the mythic-held lands and ultimately to Baikou. While he'd been playing protector to his children, he never stopped loving his wife. She was the other half of his soul and no matter the wrongs she committed he still loved her with all his heart. He wasn't about to leave her to fend off the encroaching hunters alone.
Baikou had rushed back to Tigonochi only to find his wife had been kidnapped. Sadei told him of his rescue efforts and the dragon thanked him but knew his wife would make it out on her own. She was the strongest person he'd ever known and believed she would be alright. Baikou then instructed the other patrons to run. He would protect Scytheress' life's work. Rio wouldn't leave, and neither would Riack and the others. Amethyst and Serena departed though, to be with the twins and make sure they were kept safe.
The hunters descended on Tigonochi and died in waves. Between Baikou's dragon-fire, Rio's angelic powers, and the others, the hunters were making no progress. Tigonochi was a staple of the mythic community and would not fall. Deitl von Haussen... it was a name none of the patrons had heard before but would learn to fear. When he joined the scene, he single-handedly killed Darkage. After that, Riack and most of the others fled. Baikou couldn't blame them. Darkage had been a formidable demon and for him to fall so easily terrified the others. Next to flee was Rio, and with him went the rest of the defenders except Baikou. Rio knew there was no chance against Deitl and they'd do better to fall back with the rest of the demonic forces. Baikou wouldn't have it. This was where he'd met his wife... this is where he'd gotten married, where he consummated his love with Scytheress... He would not abandon Tigonochi.
When the hunters saw the last of the mythics depart, they jumped on the bar. They hadn't been expecting a dragon to remain. Baikou transformed, his scales reflected any attacks the hunters had and his flames swept across the battle field. However, there were just too many of them. While Baikou attacked one group, another got behind him and began to climb. He would barely be able to shake them off, often by rolling and crushing them, but Deitl managed to hop on and hold on fast. When Baikou rolled, the man hid beneath the joint of his wing so he wasn't crushed and then dashed toward his neck. The hunter used a hook to slide under scales and hook into the soft skin underneath and hoist himself up. Baikou lashed his head back and forth and brought his wings forward to try and knock him off but failed. Deitl grabbed hold of one of Baikou's horns and swung around to his muzzle where he stabbed the gem ensconced in his forehead. Baikou roared in pain and energy shot from the wound. The men who were climbing on him scattered as he flailed. Deitl was flung off into the trees and landed with only minor injuries as the dragon let out his final scream. Rio, hiding in the treetops a few miles away heard the cries and shuttered. Baikou had fallen.
Scytheress walked up the path to Tigonochi only to see the bar had been renamed "Brothers in Arms". Well she had been gone a while, maybe Rio had decided a change would bring better business. When a drunk human stumbled out, she thought nothing of it. She had never discriminated against any race. It was when that human began to stutter and then faint at the sight of her that she quirked a brow. She pushed open the door and that's when she realized something was wrong. On either side of the bar were two tall black obelisks that jutted out of ground and through the roof. A memory tickled her brain but she couldn't place it. The bar had also fallen silent and every eye was turned in her direction. Her tail began to twitch as she looked around. Where were her friends? Had they all left? And where were the other demons? She strode up to the bar and fixed the man with a worried stare. "Where is Rio?"
The man looked absolutely terrified and just shook his head that he didn't know. Now closer to the new decoration, she ran a hand along one. A fond smile came unbidden to her face and at first she couldn't figure out why but then a picture formed in her mind, a memory of when Baikou took her flying for the first time. She could still recall the feel of the air rushing through her hair, whipping her tail about, and the playful roar her husband issued at an innocent cloud. She almost laughed but then she suddenly pulled her hand away as if it had been shocked. Her stomach plummeted and her heart nearly stopped as her eyes widened. These were Baikou's horns. He was...he was...........
A voice pulled her from her immediate depression, "You'd better get out of here you mongrel or we'll kill you just like my great great grandfather killed that damned dragon!" Scytheress bit sharply on her lower lip to steady her expression as she turned to the man. "And how did he do this?" She kept her eyes narrow so the tears wouldn't fall. The man recounted the great battle, touting Deitl von Haussen's prowess, that he conquered all the demons in this establishment and claimed it, dropping the mythic morale so much that they just had to walk into most towns to liberate them from the demons. Scytheress' fangs bit deeper and deeper into her lip as the man talked. "He always regretted not getting the last one, though. Some fox b***h that used to be the pride of the the mythic races, or so they say. Apparently she just ran aw-" He stopped mid sentence as he took in her form. A woman with fox ears and a long silky tail. He tried to take up his story again but found his mouth dry and was unable to form the words. Demon hunters told stories about Scytheress to scare their kids into making their beds and behaving, and now, three generation later, most believed it to be an old wives tale. Humans didn't talk with demons anymore other wise they would have known the tales were true. Now that the creature of their nightmares was standing before them, not a soul in the room could move.
The tears now freely streamed down her face as her twelve wings materialized on her back. They fanned out, making her appear larger than she was and much more imposing. Not that she needed the help, they were already terrified. "Scum..." Scytheress was too upset to offer words above a whisper, and grief clouded her mind otherwise she might have thought rationally but instead she suddenly let out a scream. It was filled with all her anger, all her sadness, her pain. At the same time, the bar exploded in black flames. In an instant everything was consumed, every person was obliterated, every board and bottle destroyed. The fires raged for several minutes before being instantly extinguished. The earth was charred and a crater dug where Tigonochi once sat. In the new depression was Scytheress, wingless and sobbing. She clutched at one of the horns as the other toppled over. Baikou was dead. She was too late. She was always too late! Akira and Kenji were probably dead too, and Rio, everyone she loved was gone.
Her grief consumed her and she sat huddled in the wreckage for days. She replayed every memory of her husband she had and always cursed herself for allowing her vixen nature to take control of her. It drove him away, it made him hate her. She couldn't bare the thought that Baikou left this world not knowing how much she really loved him.
Scytheress slowly got herself together, but she couldn't leave the site like this. She stepped back and began to shape the earth. Out of the ashes rose a dragon and the two black horns affixed themselves to the head. It posed roaring at the heavens in defiance, wings tucked close for protection, and a bright red jewel surfaced on the face. Scytheress took a bit of solace in knowing Baikou now had a proper memorial to his valiant stand. She took one last glance around and departed, not able to stand the sight of her husband's resting place any longer.
Scytheress had no place to go now. Her home was gone, her bar gone, her friends and family gone. She had wandered for years before and it seemed she would again. Perhaps she could find Siloh. She hadn't spared the man a thought since she'd become a slave to the fox tribe. She searched for his home but found his clan wiped out by hunters. The few survivors had never heard of Siloh. This would have crushed Scytheress even further but she was beginning to feel nothing at all. There was always Ceron... Despite breaking her will, he'd actually been very good to her. Scytheress headed back for the coast.
The trip overseas was a disappointment too. The castle she had resided in was rubble. Ceron had been over thrown and sent into exile. At least that meant he was still alive. These were new lands, too, for her to explore. Maybe, somewhere, she might find her old master. She set off across the rolling plains for no where in particular.
When she found herself in various towns, she did menial labor to scrape up some money for food and lodging. This kind of nomadic lifestyle did her well. It kept her mind off the more painful thoughts and focused on the tasks at hand. She struck gold when she entered one large town and happened across a little restaurant. Sitting at the counter was Ceron. He was in a heavy cloak to shield himself from passersby but she was certain it was him. She'd never forget that scent. Scytheress didn't say anything but just sat next to him. He didn't say anything to her either or even look at her. Ceron just stood and walked away. Scytheress followed him, of course. She slept outside his hotel room, and then followed him out of town. Not once did he acknowledge her existence.
After weeks of this, Ceron finally turned to her and told her to leave him alone. Scytheress didn't care. She wasn't his pet anymore and could do what she wanted and that happened to be stay near him. He was the only person she knew that was still alive. Ceron went back to ignoring her for another week before vanishing. She had no idea where he'd gone, all she knew was she was alone once again.
By then she'd had enough. Times had progressed beyond her and she had no interest reintegrating with society. Scy hunted down the scroll that would release her from this life and took it back to the ground where Tigonochi once stood and began digging her tomb. Molding the earth, she created a shaft that shot straight down so anyone who entered would be hard pressed to make it back out. It landed in a cavernous room with twelve passages leading away. Each one was lined with runes and she set up various traps as she walked about. She did this aimlessly but left traces of her energy along each path so she knew where she was. Any person who came down would get hopelessly lost and likely die from hunger and hypothermia long before they saw daylight again.
Finally, Scytheress created her resting place. She crafted a hole in the wall where she inserted the scroll. She wouldn't be able to use it, but she could put herself in a stasis which was close enough. She raised a platform and laid down on it. She rolled on her side and as she did, she molded a figure behind her, Baikou, and had one arm wrap around her and hold her tight. She then formed a pair of leathery wings that covered them and sealed her inside. Slowly, she was deprived of oxygen and slipped into a coma.
Scytheress would rest there for eternity... or until someone disturbed her.
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