Origins of the Fates

10: Rune Mockstorm

He wakes up in a new body. Rune blinks a few times before he focuses on the people who stand around his bed.

Lyre Ika, a gargoyle, is perched on a couch to the right of his bed. Her red eyes bore into him, and Rune smirks and salutes her. Lyre snorts and turns her serpentine head.

Ezuzi Noztorh, the Elder Witch, shuffles across the wood floor, approaching him slowly. Her white hair is messy, some wild strands stuck on the edges of her antlers. She wears bright red robes, which make a soft clink when she moves because of hundreds of tiny beads woven into the fabric in intricate patterns. Magick patterns.

"You are awake now? Good," she says, her gray eyes assessing him with a cool interest. She passes him a mirror.

Rune's new body is tall and strong, with tan skin that is a bit too smooth to be a warrior's. His black hair is somewhat short, but it curls on the ends. A pair of hazel eyes watch him back from the mirror, and Rune smiles, showing off fangs. His own wraith features poke through the human facade.

He feels his wings in the aether, ready to be summoned, along with his talons.

"Ach, well lookee here, we've got a live one," says Calder as he walks in the room. The older wraith smirks at Rune, saluting him with a glass of what smells like wraith's fire whiskey.

"Is now a good time?" asks a familiar male voice from behind Rune's bed.

He turns, watching in silence as Fang Jager walks in. The nephilim isn't born of a purely good force. In their world, a nephilim is a half-angel and half something else. And in Fang's case, he's half-angel, half-demon. A clandestine mix, indeed.

Behind Fang is Casimir Borias. The twisted fae man does not seem to care that Fang is here, despite their odd rivalry. But perhaps they know that this isn't the place for their petty disputes.

Ezuzi turns to Casimir, her cold expression enough to make the room's edges frost over. She and Casimir have a long and sordid past, neither of them truly liking the other after a messy breakup when the daughter they'd had together went missing.

"We have a bit of an issue," says Casimir.

Calder groans as he sits on a nearby chair, flinging one long leg over the arm of the chair. "Pfft. Of course we do."

Casimir ignores that. He looks at Ezuzi. The Elder Witch glares at him, but he either does not notice or care. Because he is talking right to her.

"They found her," he says.

Ezuzi's eyes widen just a bit. "What?"

"I've had my spies searching for her," he explains. "Rheta Ingram is currently trapped by Icarus Mercury in Ilyntalos. And she is being used by him for everything he can think of. If she isn't retrieved from him soon...."

Ezuzi is in front of him instantly.  "What? What will happen to my girl?"

Casimir looks at her. "He will use her until she is broken. Until she Fractures."

Rune feels a pang of shock at that.  Fracturing is one extreme way to kill someone with magick in their veins. But he's heard of Mercury. This awful way to kill someone would indeed be something that monster would do.

Ezuzi shakes her head. "I won't allow it. He will not have a single chance to hurt her anymore. I will kill him."

"You can't kill him," Fang says.

"Have you not been paying attention, boy?"

"I have," he says sternly. "I know something about Mercury myself. He's done a Blood Binding ritual. Something to ensure his most prized people don't kill him. A ritual that ensures that, if anyone kills him, those he's been using the most will be dead, too."

Rage flickers across the beautiful face of the Black Elder Witch. She looks at Casimir, who nods solemnly.

"I will make sure he screams.  That he begs for death," she hisses. She turns to the gathered people. "I will need everyone I can get. For this mission, we will be portaling close to Ilyntalos, because portals cannot breach the walls. But I will need at least Calder, Rune, Lyre, Morwen, and one of the sylph sisters. Maybe both."

Ezuzi turns to Casimir and Fang. "Will you two come, as well?"

"Of course I'm coming," says Fang, grinning at her. "I've always wanted to see the city."

"We won't be sightseeing, boy," says Ezuzi. "We will be there to —"

"Fuck some shit up?"

She glares at Fang. "I suppose so."

He laughs excitedly and claps. "Oh, yes. I would love to help with that endeavor."

"I will reach out to my contacts within the Glass City, the palace where Mercury rules from. But I will assist you all in the shadows, because there are things that must be done before we can make our move."

Ezuzi looks at Casimir. "You won't join us to save your daughter?"

"I will, but indirectly. Like I said, there are things that must be done. Also, there are ways of breaking the elf before things get too difficult." Casimir smiles. "I have my ways."