Moira walked up behind McKayla. The small cleric still hadn’t moved from her silent vigil. Moira reached out, hesitantly, and gently laid a hand on McKayla’s shoulder. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry,” Moira said.
McKayla didn’t respond. After a while, Moira gave the cleric’s shoulder a slight squeeze and departed, setting out into the streets of Azelea. For some reason, the dark mage had a powerful and growing urge to kill something.
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Cernya burst out of the house she had finished looting and nearly ran straight into Elendra. “Shit,” Cernya exclaimed, “the hell are you doing, just standing there? Nearly gave me a heart attack!”
Elendra ignored her and grabbed Cernya by the hand. “Come with me. I have a gift prepared for you.” At that, Cernya’s ears pricked up, and she allowed her teacher to lead her through Azelea’s streets, to a residential building not far from where the battalion had emerged from the sewers. Elendra led the way up the stairs to the master bedroom, and opened the door.
Two elves were in the room. One, an athletic blonde with a pixie cut, was tied spread-eagle to the bed. The other, slim with black hair done in ringlets, was hogtied on the floor. Both of them were blindfolded, gagged, and stark naked. Cernya gave her teacher a wary look. “Sooo… what kind of present is this, again?”
“Not that kind, I assure you,” Elendra said as she moved to the bedside. She motioned for Cernya to stand opposite her. Both of them loomed over the blonde elf, who had ceased struggling against her bonds and now lay still, breathing heavily. “Pay close attention to what happens next,” Elendra instructed as she drew a scalpel, crafted from obsidian, from the pocket of her robe. “Nergal has given us many blessings, and by his grace we both survived the horror that dwells beneath this accursed city. Today, we honor our god with a fitting tribute.” Elendra cut open her thumb and used it to smear blood over the elf’s bare chest, just over her heart. “A worthy sacrifice.”
Holding her bloody fist over the elf’s heaving chest, Elendra began to chant. “Russ-kalum talos, Nergal. Russ-kalum talos, deser-ma. Russ-kalum talos, Nergal. Russ-kalum talos, deser-ma.” Elendra spread her fingers, and suddenly the elf began to struggle frantically against her bonds. “Kali-ma. Kali-ma. Kali-ma.” Elendra formed her hand into a spade, the tip aimed at the elf’s heart. Part of Cernya wanted to back out and flee from the room, and yet she stood transfixed, unable to tear her gaze away. “Kali-ma. Kali-ma. Kali-ma!” Like a striking viper Elendra drove her hand into the captive's body. The young woman seized, her hands curled into fists and her toes stretched out. “Kali-ma! Kali-ma! Kali-ma!” Slowly, Elendra drew the elf’s still-beating heart from her chest. For a long moment Elendra simply held it in her palm. Then, as she began to squeeze, the heart shriveled, the skin blackening even as the organ continued pumping, as if some unholy force were draining the vitality out of it.
The heart continued to beat until it had shrunk to half its previous size, the tissue black as coal. Then it stopped. The blonde elf released a slow, shuddering breath as her body went limp, her breathing stilled. Cernya stared at the shriveled heart in Elendra’s hand and reached out to take it, but Elendra drew it back and slipped it into a pocket of her robes. Cernya looked up at her teacher. “I’m sorry dear,” Elendra spoke, business-like, “I’m afraid this one is mine.”
Cernya shook her head in an attempt to clear it. “You, uh… you said you had a present for me?”
“And so I do.” Elendra gestured toward the dark-haired elf where she lay, bound and vulnerable, upon the wooden floor. “Help me move the remains, and then we’ll see about getting this one up on the bed, shall we?”
(Elendra and Cernya each receive a Shriveled Heart of Nergal, which increases their defense)
