Blazing Glory Ch. 14

"Lily."

Rae's red eyes blinked as she heard this name. Simple, yet pretty like the humans favored in naming their offspring. Often times there was special meaning behind each name. She did not know of many, but had come across this name in one of her prior targets. It meant innocence. Rae's breath froze in her lungs as her mind raced through the various reports of happenings in Liosis that the governor was suspected of being tied to. One of those was the disappearances of many families, including those with children.

"Please be quiet, Lily," Rae hushed her reassuringly as her hand gently slid down the girl's dress. Red eyes carefully observed with her tilted head as the hem was softly raised and pulled back a bit. Her breath left her in a rush as she trembled. That filthy, vithing son of a bitch! She violently fought uprising in her stomach as her eyes, wild with rage, she glared towards the door that would lead to her target. She would skin him alive for this!

"The bad man had me and my mama taken from our home today. He hurt me so much," Lily cried, tears streaking her bruised face. Rae's whole body trembled as she tried to reign in her emotions. Why was it bothering her to this extent? Rae pressed her hands to the girl's body. Furthermore, where was this desire to help the girl suddenly coming from? Her magic flood forth, easing the girl's pain as far as her talent would allow. Closing her eyes, she focused on trying to heal her injuries. She gasped as she found the girl was far worse internally than she appeared on the outside. This was beyond her current abilities. She cursed herself mentally. Given a few more decades of experience, she could have handled this.

"Lily... I... I... can't save you," Rae spoke, finding herself surprised at the emotion breaking in her tone. She couldn't let such a life end like this. To the Abyss if she didn't understand why she felt all this turmoil within her. It was just how it was. She was always prideful in her successes and knowing how to accept failures. But she couldn't forgive herself in failing in this moment.

"What is your name, miss?" Lily asked, before a fit of coughing seized her. Rae dropped her dagger and reached out with her arms to pull Lily into her body comfortingly.

"Rae. Rae Nitara," she answered as she continued to flood her magic into Lily's body to ease the pain. "Easy now, little one."

The human girl looks up to her and sniffed, knowing what her fate was coming to in its finality. "Miss Rae... I'm scared..."

The assassin looked up to the ceiling, eyes wildly searching for something to say or do to comfort the girl in her final moments. Her kind was not known for such preposterous notions as giving such kindness to the dying. The dying were simply not good enough to survive in this world and only had themselves to blame in the end. Only the strong find the will to continue down the path of the living.

"Mama always said an angel would come for us when our time came," Lily whispered, shivering in more in fear at the moment than from her pain. "But.. I am scared of going on without my mama. I don't want to go on alone."

A lone memory sparked in Rae's mind as the girl mentioned her mother. It had been long forgotten, buried underneath to brutality of the physical and mental conditioning of serving Lloth. She had once been afraid of going on alone into the underworld without her mother. She was a weak, needy child. Weakness that would surely get her killed unless she found some kind of strength to push through what was merely days away.

There was no secret about the harshness that awaited her. The thought of being led out into the underworld and abandoned for survival training to make it back terrified her. Many drow children were killed or consumed by the horrors out there. She had hid in their manor for a long time until her mother found her. Rather than beat Rae for her stubbornness, her mother had taken her into her arms and surprised her with what she did.

Rae wasn't sure she would be any good at this, but closed her eyes as she hummed softly while her fingers caressed Lily's cheek. Slowly, softly her voice came out as she sang her mother's words as best she could from Drow to Common.

"Just let yours fears go,

You will find your way back home.

Let your fears go,

You will find you are not lost.

No, little child of mine,

You're not alone.

You're not alone.

For we're tied together forever.

Just let your fears go,

You will find your way through the dark.

Just let your fears go,

You will find your path leading to light.

And you will come back to me,

Where I will always be for you."

Her voice softly trailed off as she blinked her wet eyes, remembering the smell and softness of her mother's embrace as she was sung to. It was a surreal experience to witness her mother expressing such love for her. Rae looked down and was surprised to see Lily smiling, fresh tears leaking from her eyes. Lily closed her eyes and turned her head into Rae's chest.

"You're so warm," the girl whispered before she stilled, with that smile on her face. Rae's heart leapt into her throat as she felt the body go limp in her arms.

The drow gently placed the girl's body back on the floor before her arms wrapped about her stomach. The normally cold assassin hunched over, long silvery hair spilling over her shoulders as her mouth opened in a silent scream. Her body shuddered as her sobs wracked her entire body, tears falling down to splash upon the Lily's face.

Why? Why was this tearing her apart inside? The girl was simply not strong enough to survive! There was no warrant for sympathy, let alone grief. Only the strong survive. The weak perished as they deserved! Her mind screamed the mantra that had been drilled into her. This world was a cruel place where children died all the time. It was ridiculous that one death would affect her when she had killed so many people. Yet here she was, silently writhing in agonizing grief over a girl she had just met. Nothing she had said or done so far made any sense. Was she a failure as a drow then? Why did she care when all others would not?

"Because you are different than them, Rae Nitara."

Rae froze as the words were spoken. She had left herself completely exposed. Her hand swiftly found her dagger on the floor and spun about the face the source of the voice. The blade nearly dropped from her hand as she saw the other presence in the room. Fear nearly caused her to scream out loud.

Standing in the light of the window was a tall figure covered by a large black cloak. The hood was pulled up to where only the glow of yellow eyes could be seen. The very air seemed to chill so that she could see the minimal breath that escaped from her as she observed the black wings protruding from the figure's back. What gave this dark figure's identity away was the unmistakable skeletal hand holding the large, blood stained scythe.

"Death," she whispered, her body trembling. The presence of Death could only mean one thing. Her hand tightened on her dagger. She leapt over Lily's body protectively, dagger risen to the specter and hissing viciously. Rae gasped as she had meant to defend herself by leaping away.

"Case in point," came the hollow, cold voice as Death tilted his head. "It is futile though. I have already taken her spirit away." The shift in cowl slightly revealed the skeletal facial features. It was disconcerting hearing the voice in her mind but it still sounded like he had spoken aloud. Her heart sank as she knew his words to be true. Her actions had been foolish.

"Then you are here for me?" she asked, body tensed as she would not go down without a fight. Yet it seemed insane to think she could hope to win against Death. His head shook slightly as Rae backed away from him.

"No. It is not your time yet, dark elf," he looked down to the body of Lily before shifting his cold gaze back to Rae. The drowess felt her blood run cold from those undead eyes. "You Nitaras are a rare breed of drow. To observe a drow showing compassion and kindness is an unusual sight."

Rae stiffened and hissed at him. "I did no such thing! I am not weak like surface dwellers!"

"Try to deny it as much as you wish to," he stated coldly. His eyes looked to her as if piercing her very soul and laying it open to read like a book. She shifted uncomfortably and averted her eyes slightly. "But I witnessed tonight what I have seen in your soul many times, even during your assassinations. There is good in you, despite being a child of Lloth." Rae stiffened and nearly hurled the dagger into his form, but knew it would do nothing.

"I do not have any 'good' inside me, specter. I enjoy the thrill of the kill. I dispatch my victims without mercy. I am a drow through and through!" she hissed, trying to keep her voice from rising too much in her growing anger.

"Yet you are very selective in your missions, are you not?" Death replied. Upon seeing the drowess flinch at his words. As he pushed her closer toward the truth of his words, he moved forward slowly to stand over the small form of Lily before pointing down to the body. "I have yet to witness such cruelty from you. That is because you only accept missions to kill those whom you deem deserving of their life being snuffed out. Often times, if they cannot afford your services, you will perform the job for little or no pay. A charitable venture uncommon for an assassin."

"Enough! Not another word..." Rae shook her head as she backed further away from Death, the specter was tearing down the walls within her that she had built up over the years. She was a drow! A ruthless murderer!

"Murderer?" Death's shifted slightly in what seemed almost like an amused posture. "Your hands are drenched in blood true enough. Dripping heavily in the lives you have taken, but not one drop of innocent blood stains your soul."

Trembling, Rae leaned wearily back against the wall as she was cornered by his words. They were true. Trying to deny it under the façade of a heartless drow assassin; she could not bring herself to assassinate those she felt did not deserve death. Only those she researched in depth to discover lavishing in the suffering of others with their depravity and greed were the ones she accepted contracts for.

"Is this what you are here for then? To mock me for being a lie? A living mockery to my people and goddess?" She spat in tearful vehemence.

"No. I simply wish to assist you," Death answered simply.

"Vel'bol?" Rae responded in shock. "Is this more mockery? What do you mean by this?" Death quietly moved over the windows, almost gliding in a way that gave her the chills once more. Glancing outside as if seeing the whole world for what it was in that moment, the shoulders of the specter seemed to lower slightly in fatigue.

"I am a being that has existed since the beginning when life first began. I have always been a shepherd of souls to the afterlife they deserve. Yet millennia after millennia passes and I continue to see the same suffering of many innocent people before I come for their souls. All the while corrupt souls live on without consequence. Over time, you could say that I have become sympathetic to their plight despite my nature to remain impartial. Like you, I could no longer deny the feelings these experiences have impressed on me. What you observed tonight, I have seen over a thousand fold," Death whispered. His scythe rattled slightly, causing Rae to observe the dark figure's skeletal hand shake momentarily. Was he angry?

"Why not end the lives of these scumbags yourself then?" Rae asked as the implications of his words began to sink in.

"Because I cannot. When a life has reached its fated endpoint, I merely come to shepherd the soul to its proper eternal resting place. Be it paradise or inferno, I simply guide them there. I am unable to take personal action myself," the hooded spirit stated simply before turning to point one, long bony finger at her, "Which is where you come in... Nitara..."

Rae couldn't suppress the cold shiver than ran down her spine in that moment. What could he want with her? How could she possibly be of any use to an immortal being like Death?

"I am not here to use you, but aide your endeavors," Death said chillingly as he glided over to her. His one hand motioned her to rise reassuringly. She only did so begrudgingly. "The gift I will give you will earn you renowned fame as an assassin more so than you already enjoy. All I ask in return is you use this gift when sensing I draw near, indicating your target is one whose time has come. To meet a fate befitting one so twisted in life."

Rae swallowed slightly as she thought this offer over. Death did not give her a consequence should she refuse. It was an honest request as she had ever been given. Her anger still simmered beneath the surface as she hungered for the blood of her target tonight more than ever. Would this gift truly make the filthy human suffer for what he did to Lily? She remembered the girl's words that both she and her mother had been taken. It would be a deviation from her initial route to her kill, but a worthy one.

"Very well, then" she responded with measured words, "On the condition that I first get the girl's mother out of this rathole."

"That is not possible," Death spoke calmly as he shook his head, "The guards raped and killed her mother hours ago."

Rae stood there silently in shock from those words before her fists clenched. Her teeth bit into her lower lip as she threw her head back and stifled her furious scream as best could. Panting in her fury as the blood leaked down her chin from her lips, she fixed the skeletal face with red eyes glowing brightly. Death stood there quietly to allow the trembling drow time to recover and speak.

"You have a deal only so long as your gift allows me the fond memory of hearing their screams," she hissed.

"Indeed it shall," Death said as he moved towards her, "Now that our pact is made, Rae Nitara..."

Rae no longer shuddered in fear as the embodiment of life's end approached. She only smirked darkly at the wonderful thoughts of how she was going to kill every corrupt soul in this house in the cruelest fashion possible.

That night would become legend in Liosis to be told in hushed tones over the gloom of hearth fires or mugs of ale. A night where the townspeople heard the ungodly screams of what must have been the underworld coming from the governor's house. Too terrified to see what was going on, they only checked the following day. Those brave enough to enter came outside retching and vomiting, telling of blood soaked walls and viscera everywhere. When asked of the governor, every soul blanched and shook their head vehemently in fear the same fate would visit them in the night.

Even though none knew of the pact made, it was ironic and fitting that the culprit was given the name Death's Mistress as it was only known to be a woman who took the contract. The townspeople were surprised when this terrifying assassin had all their money for the job returned without a word as to why...

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"Nariko Miakoda," Death spoke with chilling finality, "It is time for your existence in this world to come to an end in a death only fitting one so corrupt."

Nariko stood there shivering in her fear as her mind continued trying to grasp how this was possible. She had devoted her whole life to being a ruthless ninja. She always envied her sister. Everything Nariko excelled at, Kalei only did better. She did not hate her sister for it, but why could she not catch up to Kalei? Nariko was furious at first when she learned that Koas had approached her older sibling first on becoming a servant. It surprised her when Kalei graciously declined and announced her intentions to start her own ninja clan. It was then that Koas had sensed Nariko's jealousy before the goddess turned to ask her. What had been a day of bitter disappointment quickly became one of profound joy.

Nariko proudly served, killing hundreds in the name of her goddess. Men, women, children... It didn't matter so long as she returned to a pleased Mistress of Chaos. And now she was witnessing the embodiment of the world she had chosen to live in standing at the side of the drow instead of her's. Why the damned drow? Why recognize HER?

'Why that filthy black rat!?" Nariko screamed in rage at the cloaked figure. "She doesn't deserve the honor!"

"Don't you ever shut up," Rae yelled back in annoyance with the ninja's tantrum. Her derision for this woman grew with every passing moment. "It is no honor, but heavy responsibility I willingly took on to remove filthy stains like you from this world. Come now and accept your fate with what little dignity you have left. Or do I already see all that remained tricking down your legs?" Nariko's eyes grew wide as her face went red with a mixture of intense shame and fury. Rae simply smirked as her as Death moved behind the drowess.

The ninja gasped as she watched the skeletal hands rest upon the dark elf's shoulders. Instead of falling lifeless to the ground as the legends tell, Rae's expression changed to pleasure before shivering while the figure behind her began to waiver. Rae wrapped her arms about herself as her shivering increased. As Death's figure faded, a visible change was occurring in the dark elf. What was happening to them? Like ink spilt across a fresh leaflet of white paper, Rae's silvery white hair was turning black. The obsidian black skin recognizable of all drow was now becoming white as the freshest fallen mountain snow. Death's figure had vanished before the dark elf cried out as the clothing on her back ripped, large black feathery wings bursting forth the fan out in their newfound freedom.

Rae's hunched body righted itself and arched her back as her body now shivered with what looked to be something else. Tilting her head slightly, the changed elf pulled some dark strands from her white face so that her glowing red eyes fell upon the stunned Shoushan ninja. Pale lips tugged upwards at one corner in a smirk only befitting a dark goddess. Hot pain suddenly burst through Nariko's chest before flooding her entire being. Her body lurched forward from the shock as she clutched her chest. Drawing her hands back in panic to confirm what she feared, her orange eyes saw nothing. No blood soaked her hand nor did she feel its warm wetness flooding from her body. How was that possible? She had certainly felt the searing pain of being run through with a blade. Looking back to Rae, Nariko could see the hunger in those red eyes. How was it possible? That sensation had been from the drow's bloodlust alone?

"Oh goddess, you can't be her!" Nariko said, stepping backward as the realization began to fully set in. It was worse than Death merely recognizing an assassin's worth. She had heard the stories of the rare instances of violent deaths over so many decades. The circumstances in which these victims had died frightened many with the grotesque savagery in which they occurred, causing the birth of a legend whispered in corners. Many had claimed to be her over the years. In fact, so many claimed the title that others never thought more of it than boastful behavior and the true existence no more than a silly myth created to scare youngsters. "Y-you... You are Death's Mistress?"

The winged wraith before her merely chuckled, "That I am. Many other assassin's claim the title falsely. But as you see, I am the true bringer of oblivion."

Rae was inwardly thankful that the others were far away from her by now. She had found that in this state, her bloodlust was almost uncontrollable and she killed everything about her to get to Death's target. To her relief, there had not been any innocents around in the past instances of this change in form.