At An End - Tumblr Posts

Her hands were red and she was angry. So very, very angry. Aerie’s pale skin, beautiful and freckled, was even paler now, nearly translucent. The woman’s hands, chopped off raggedly at the wrists, were in the corner. A wound in her upper abdomen kept her from speaking clearly or for long. 

 Long ago, Suzie’s father had taught her how to deal with their foes. Disable the hands. Cut out the tongue if you can, otherwise fill their chest with blood, make them gasp out their words. Don’t let them cast their spells, summon their demons. 

“You lied to me.” The words Suzie ground out felt like broken glass on her tongue. This woman had cared for her, laid with her, laughed with her. All while secretly being the thing Suzie hated most. 

 “I…didn’t…know,” Aerie gasped, her lips stained red as her blood bubbled back up her throat. “P-please. You don’t have to do this. Please Suzie–” 

“That’s not my name,” she said, each word low and deliberate. “And I won’t be deceived by your lies. You act so sweet, like you want to do good.” In a flash of movement, Suzie was kneeling at Aerie’s side again, knife pressed to her throat. Watching the girl tremble and arch to get away was almost satisfying. “But I know about necromancy. It corrupts even the purest heart.” She shook her head. “This was always how it was going to end. But if you’d been honest about it, I would have made it quick.” 

 “No…” Aerie moaned, but Suzie was already striding around the room, cleaning her hands and blades. She pulled a small device from her pack and wound it, setting it near the fireplace. 

“It shouldn’t take you more than 10 minutes to bleed to death.” She told Aerie. “If you live longer than that, consider the bomb my mercy.” 

Suzie walked out of the small cabin at the top of the hill. Someone would come from the camp at the bottom when the explosion happened, but likely not before. She set out east. 

 Her abdomen ached still. The necromancer’s traitorous magic had not left her fully recovered. She couldn’t return to Maguuma, where the easiest hunting lay, at least not yet. And if she could find the group who shared her views in Kryta, the people her father had told her were trustworthy, then that would be enough. 

There was another ache, this one in her heart. Betrayal. It would be hard to get over.