How much time had passed was a mystery.

She felt as though she had slept for days, her body agonizing, a part of her wishing to tear out her own flesh, to split her own body open. A great illness had befallen her. Her head felt as though it were being bashed against a wall repeatedly, every little thing within the world immediately around her bringing her great discomfort.

Getting up from the bed, she wondered what happened. As best as Vyra could recall, she remembered speaking with the Lady of Thorns. Much of the conversation was still very fresh within her head; the reason why the Lady had been invited, the arrangement she had made, how she wanted to break it in favor of Vyra. She also remembered the heart.

A heart, if it could even be called that now. A diseased organ that had long since been considered anything close to human. A collection of disease, of carrion. An example of the most foul thing she could have ever considered a human becoming or having been.

She remembered the smell of it. The disgusting odor that left her sick even just thinking of it. The look of it, nightmare inducing if it were not for the nightmares that already plagued Vyra’s mind.

That the Lady of Thorns would even think that Vyra would have consumed something like, it was maddening.

Then why did she have that taste in her mouth?

She felt not her heart, but something within sinking. Had she eaten it? Had she accepted the deal with the Lady of Thorns? Why could she not remember any of this? Her thoughts were interrupted by the taste in her mouth, with each breath it being there, invading all of her senses, causing a sickly feeling to spread throughout and remain persistent as well.

She hoped to expel whatever were in her body. Two fingers, plunging to the back of her throat; a desperate measure, but one necessary. Nothing. No substances emerging from her mouth, no feeling within her body, the extent being a faint layer of wetness upon the two fingers as she pulled them out from her mouth.

Had she actually eaten the heart? Perhaps just the faint layer that remained from when the Lady had first presented it. Simply her mind playing tricks on her.

But her mind were not deceiving her upon the time, as a glance out the window showed the rare clear night sky, the stars high above providing a welcome, if not unusual illuminating canvas. Yet, for as lovely as it were, there were no signs of the moon, little more than an effective void that existed in its stead.

A truly ominous look to what had otherwise been a lovely backdrop.

She watched out, spending a few moments observing, her eyes fixating on the entire scene through the ornate glass window. It had felt like so long since she had seen the night sky, in reality only having been a brief period, maybe little more than a few days if that.

A sound came from beyond the room, turning Vyra’s attention there. For a briefest of moments, she had forgotten where she were, the situation at hand, the very real risk that she were within. In an instant moment of fright, her hand reached for her neck, the greatest sigh of relief coming escaping her lips as the presence of no such device were present.

She was still free. Free from the collar. Free from the demands of the Red Queen.

But free in that sense was not free. She would not be truly free while the Red Queen drew breath, and listening to the commotion through the other side of the door, she had a strong sense that she knew where to find her.

Fearful of whom may be patrolling through the halls of the upper levels, Vyra ventured with a great deal of apprehension, not sure what may have been lurking around any given corner. To her delight, it seemed everywhere were abandoned, whatever presence may have been there normally having instead been directed to the main area of the estate. Proceeding that way, she could hear the chanting getting louder and louder, the lack of illumination giving way a more and more occultic presence.

As she proceeded further, going against rational thought and wishing to further see what was going on, she caught glimpse upon an unexpected sight. Gathered within the main area, where only a short time before Vyra had put down the cruel handmaiden, there now stood a massive gathering of people, most of which concealed under hood, the only image that Vyra could see of them being those cast by the rudimentary torches amassed throughout in precise arrangement. In total it were a complete departure from the room that she had been used to. The red décor having been sacrificed for something far more ancient, unrefined, horrifying to some degree.

Only two figures amongst the large group seemed familiar to Vyra. The lone figure unadorned of any robes or ritualistic garments, the Lady of Thorns, whom seemed to be overseeing the ritual. And the Red Queen, adorned in much the same robes as the others, though her presence, center stage and all, was nothing short of what she would have expected out of her. Clearly, based on what the Lady of Thorns had said earlier, this were the ritual that she demanded the urgency out of Vyra from.

The Pact of the Dead God.

The Pact that the Lady of Thorns wanted Vyra to accept.

She watched on, keeping her presence hidden as much as able, preferring to watch as the ritual played out. As the Red Queen knelt down, the Lady of Thorns continued to chant some foreign language, one that even Vyra could not understand despite her having been a great deal travelled throughout the world. Whatever the language, it was no doubt ancient.

“Is it done? I do not feel any different,” the Red Queen barked out, clearly frustrated and tired of whatever difficulties there may have been. “I brought you here to conduct this Pact, why do I not feel anything? Why do I not hear the Dead God?”

Only one has conducted the ritual. Only one has proven their worth.

“Because only one has performed the Pact,” the Lady of Thorns spoke, her words harsh, cutting through the atmosphere with an intensity that even Vyra had not encountered out of her, “And that person was not you.”

To hear this left not only Vyra stunned, but also left the Red Queen utterly livid, whatever decorum there may have been throughout this ritual immediately being lost as the Red Queen’s composure erode away into a frenzy that Vyra had never imagined her capable of showing. “WHO!? Who have you chosen to betray with me!?”

Despite the fury of the Red Queen, the Lady of Thorns showed no fear, no cause for concern. “Do not act surprised. You present to me a power far beyond anything that you could amount to, and not expect me to side with the Nightmare?”

If there were doubts about the origins of the taste within her mouth, the illness that she still felt, the lost time since escaping the dungeons beneath the estate, to hear the Lady of Thorns speak erased that confusion. At some point, it seemed that she had carried out the Pact.

To the Red Queen, she did not seem to understand. Not at first. However, as the seconds passed, the reality began to make sense within her head, to the point that she nearly tossed the Lady of Thorns to the side, ordering the guards who were gathered around to span out and search for Vyra. The Demi-Human would not be hunted though.

After all she had gone through, it would be her hunting.

From the shadows, she stepped forward, revealing herself to the Red Queen, looking on with a level of hatred and seethe that Vyra struggled to recall seeing to that degree before. “YOU!” The Red Queen roared out, incensed beyond any sense of reason. “I DEMANDED THE DEAD GOD AND YOU STEAL HIM FROM ME!?” Her rage settled for a moment as an eerie calmness took over, “Fine. Then I will just kill you and then will take what you stole from me. And if you know what is good for you, you will not dare interfere again,” she looked at the Lady of Thorns, pure evil in her eyes.

So focused upon the Lady of Thorns, she failed to notice the Demi-Human as she lunged for her, the Nightmarish claw upon her body, the recognition of it failing until she looked down, seeing the appendage piercing through her chest, looking up to see the face of Vyra, a bloodlust within her eyes, unremorseful for neither the kill nor her betrayal.

Vyra pulled her arm closer, dragging the waning body of the Red Queen with her, with each second the life beginning to fade further and further out of her body. Feeling the life drain out of the woman’s body, Vyra could not help but smile, looking directly into the woman’s eyes, the rage not subsided. It was impossible not to appreciate the change in fates, the difference in how the women viewed each other. It was, almost tragic, if not ironic even. Vyra moved her arm closer, the space between their faces barely more than a foot now. “I’m only sorry that your death was quick. You deserve far worse for what you did to me, what you wanted to do…”

Putting a hand against the Red Queen’s chest, Vyra pulled her arm out, dislodging her arm and allowing for the Red Queen’s body to plummet to the floor, landing in a small pool of her own blood. As that happened, everyone simply watched on, not sure quite what to do, how to react.

“Quite a display,” the Lady of Thorns remarked as she made an intricate motion with her fingers entwined, spreading both arms outwards as a black cloud emerged from her body, spreading throughout the room, being inhaled by each and every individual, causing them to begin to choke, a cacophony of cries and pleas filling the silence that had persisted otherwise. Within seconds, each had fallen to the ground in a state of death, the only two remaining being Vyra and the Lady of Thorns. “They just tend to cause problems I’ve found. Surely you wouldn’t mind,” the Lady of Thorns casually stated.

Vyra could not help but nod, not sure whether to be more impressed or afraid of the Lady of Thorns. “So… so now what?”

The Lady of Thorns smiled. “My business here is done. The ritual is performed, the Pact was given. For me, I leave this place and return home. For you,” she paused, “For both of you, your fate remains to be played out. But I imagine we shall meet again Vyra.”

Beginning to venture out of the estate, the Lady of Thorns began on her way, dismissing the numerous corpses around her as though it were nothing at all. Just a few steps further, she turned back towards Vyra, a wicked smile on her face, “I look forward to seeing how you’ve grown.”

1885/1250 ( -50% | -20% Oración Seis Guild Level 2 Perk, -20% Explorer's Belt, -10% Companion)