Ichor and Agony

3. A Brief Bout Of Mercy

Ina clung tight as she could onto the walls of the pit she was thrown in. She prayed to her god to be spared. The mandibles of a bull-sized ant clanked, hungrily eyeing the girl trapped with it. It was held in place by chains to a post in the middle of the pit, surrounded by skeletons of the long dead.

She cried. It was too early for her to go. Her own mother was quick to throw her in when the supposed voice of goddess Tel’Serken claimed that she was the witch responsible for her father, the mayor's, death. She wasn't a witch. She couldn't cast a cantrip if her life depended on it. Well, her life is depending on it now and if she could magically convince the ant to leave her alone, she would.

A blast sounded behind her as she braced herself to be devoured. Ina turned to see the shrieking ant blown apart. She was fine. She traced the source of the blast to the edge of the pit.

One woman remained though the crowd around the pit had dispersed, sitting on the edge of the pit.

“Hey, you don't happen to be Tomeric’s eldest daughter, do you?” she asked.

“I AM! RELEASE ME NOW!” Ina screamed, currently too frightened to hide her desperation.

“Not with that attitude. Let's start with a name first.”

"My name is Inaina wau iā ʻoe Johns! JUST LET ME OUT!”

“And you went around calling someone a witch.”

“It was a witch!” Ina cried. “She killed my father with witch magic!”

She paused.

“You’re the witch, aren't you?!” Ina clawed at the muddy walls, making no distance. She was hardly listening at this point.

“How does it feel, being on this end? Being… wrongly accused.”

“W-What?” Ina glared. Her fingers dug into the wet mud as she tried to climb.

“How. Does. It. Feel?”

Ina fell back, rocks and mud landing onto her face, arms and body. Exasperated, she screamed, "Helpless! Hopeless! Angry! Sad! Is that what you want to f*cking hear?!”

“Is that the truth?”

Ina’s eyes welled up again, tears threatened to roll down her face. She couldn't maintain her glare, looking down and nodding.

“Kill me if you wish,” the defeated girl said between tears. “I am robbed of my home and all of what was mine.”

Nephila thought for a moment, and eventually casted a rope down. Her smile widened to a grin. “Exactly.”

—*—*—

Days rolled by as Ina tagged along with Ichor and Agony. She had only one thing she wanted now and that is to learn magic. She wanted to defend herself. She had followed Neph in hopes of learning something, though no plans for that were made.

Ina was left with nothing but a second chance at life and a dagger from Neph. The dagger was nothing special. Neph had a dozen more to spare. But the thrill of holding onto a real weapon was enervating.

(I want to write more in this section but can't think of anything so far so this is a placeholder)

—*—*—

Ina hurled Ulthar's axe as she successfully struck a demigod right in the forehead. She stretched her hand out to call for the weapon back to her hand.

“Attagirl!” Ulthar proudly commented.

Amidst the confusion of battle, the demigod exploded, releasing crimson flames into the stale air of the tomb. Ina was sent flying back and tumbling down. What remains of her charred body was little more than a mass of black ash.