Finn smoothed his robes and checked his hair in the shallow water one last time. If he came home looking like a mess, he would not hear the end of it from his sister for days, not to mention his adoptive mother. He was still an hour out, having to travel the last leg of the journey on foot as no carriages ran this far outside of Markarth. Well, not unless you were a rich family, which did not describe his.
The hour passed in peace, the friendly foxes darting across his path a few times, the deer staring at him from the thin woods. He neared his home, catching sight of his sister at the same time that she saw him. She came sprinting at him, her leaner, taller body allowing her to clear the distance between them before he had gotten a quarter of the way to her. He smiled, bracing for the impact that always came as his sister threw herself into him, but it never came.
Winds changed abruptly, his long hair flying in front of his face. His skin felt super heated as sun beamed down on his black robes. His surroundings had changed as well, sand crunching under his boots, tall grass coming up to his waist. He took a few steps forward, turning as he did.
“Marci?” He called out for his sister, but only his own echo answered.
“Marci? This isn’t funny! Did you get some kind of illusion charm?” It didn’t matter that it was beyond logic that she would have something like that, let alone one this powerful. His mind searched for other options, not wanting to believe any of the more likely ones.
He spent a good hour trying to cast clairvoyance, but the natural magic around him was low, and the spell was above his ability anyway. He gave up, rolling back onto the ground and stared at the darkening sky. It didn’t last long, as a second red sun quickly took the place of the first. The red sun didn’t bake him as much, but it was enough to be uncomfortable. If it wasn’t getting dark, he needed to find a place to rest. Being an exposed Orc in the daytime was dangerous.
He stood and looked around, hoping against all odds that something would change. Accepting the situation, unsure of where he was and how (though he wouldn’t be surprised if this was some test by the arch mage, and hence he needed to do well), he knew he needed to find a way back home.
In the distance, he heard wood splintering. Closing his eyes, he listened for the direction. Homing in on it, he set out. Where wood was being felled, there were people. And where there were people, he could find a way home.
Mayhem silently slunk towards the vessel, the first one to visit her planet for three years. She had waited, she had trained, she had raided every single house in this pathetic colony to keep herself alive. Now, all the work had paid off. She was going to space, going to the Chrysanthemum, and going to kill the ones responsible for her mistress’s death.
She saw the people come out of the vessel, probably the first to be starting a new colony. She had no regard for them. They were pests that didn’t matter. She moved towards the door, ducking behind rocks as she moved to try and keep herself hidden. She made it to the ramp. She grinned as she knocked the human pests out of her way, marching up and through the door. She was going to space.
Now safely aboard the vessel, she just needed somewhere to lay low for the trip. She headed to the windowless lower decks, careful to avoid any employees in her path. She located an empty cargo bay, probably unloaded on Lumina already. It was perfect. She smashed the control panel, causing the door to open, and stepped inside. As she moved to close the door behind her, she was surprised to find it gone. As if it had never existed to begin with. Instead, she was facing a tree, one of surprisingly thick diameter. In that moment, she knew she had failed.
They must have detected her, knocked her out. That was the only explanation. Then they dumped her on some planet to die. But why not just kill her there? They would be rewarded, not only for capturing a Diabolic, but for killing one too. Unless they had some enemy here they hoped she would eliminate for them. That didn’t make sense either. A Diabolic only had one mission after their bonded dies: Revenge. She had no interest in anyone but her mistress’s killers, so anyone on this planet was of no use to her. Besides, it was far too green, far too untouched by the greed of humans. They had left her here to die.
Having failed, she punched the tree in front of her, cracking the wood and bludgeoning the thing until it was a mass of pulp and stained with her blood. Idly she wiped the blood off her knuckles into the surrounding greenery. Her frustration beaten out of her, her resolve hardened. She hadn’t failed quite yet. If humans had brought her here, there would be more coming. And she would kill all of them for getting in her way. From this day forth, she vowed that anyone, anything, that stood between her and the Emperor would die.
She walked away from the tree, not even jumping as it hit the ground with a resounding thud. She had people to kill.