The Girl of Ossetia

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen

"Beg for mercy!" 

A voice bellowed out in a cacophony of noise, it echoed all about the stone threshhold, which was dankly lit with candles. 

"Please, I beg of you Zintrina, please!" Another, much weaker, frailer voice screamed back. A pitiful noise, really. A low chime of a cackle came from Zintrina, blotting out the other's whimpering and crying.

Duager.

A kingdom of filth and darkness, barely mucking about in the boarders of life anymore. It's Queen, Zintrina, the most putrid living thing to possibly graze the lands of Corrigun. 

"Beg me not to consume you!" She said on the hinges of mockery, her voice a ravaging roar, even at a whisper. The Queen's skin radiated death, a pale white that only corpses belonged in. Her elegant frame was hunched predatorily over the lesser, her long, dark violet hair cascaded across her prey like oil slicks. Her mouth turned up in a coy smile, her lips a deep plum, stained with blood, and her eyes; black.

The prey, who quivered helplessly beneath Zintrina's firm hold, was a mere young girl. She gargled out a meaningless reply to the Queen, who again threw her head back with a loud cackle, before violently grabbing a fistful of the girl's moussy blonde hair and threw her aside. 

The girl landed onto the stone with a sickening slap, her boney fingers clawing at the cracks to pull her trembling self up. She wailed, placing her hands on a ledge to balance herself. 

"Bathe yourself! I only feast on clean creatures." Zintrina spat, pointing one long, corpse-like finger at the pit filled with water, which winked half-heartedly in the dim light. The girl wailed even louder at this command, her head lowering to the stone, whispering in a different tongue. A muscle twitched in the Queen's jaw, a sharp exhale out of her nose, before she swiftly stood from her throne, her black cloak billowing out behind her like the buffeting of raven's wings. 

"I said BATHE! You obey your Queen, you filthy harlet. " She roared again, as her leather bound foot met the girl's back with much force and she was violently shoved into the water with a loud splash. The prey clambered to the surface, wailing again, hyperventalating. Her shaking hands found a sponge and she quickly began to wash herself down. The color from her cheeks drained, and her lips clamped shut, before she pushed to the side and vomited onto the stone with a pitiful noise. 

Zintrina made a face. "You sicken me. Wash faster, I'm growing impatient." Her voice had softened, but was clipped and poisoned. Most of her prey had the same reactions. She rolled her eyes at the thought, before focusing on the girl's now sluggish movements to bathe herself. 

Once she had reached a state of cleanliness Zintrina could withstand, the Queen stooped down, grabbed another fistful of hair and hauled her out of the water like a cat with a fish. The girl spluttered and shrieked and writhed, knowing her demise was soon. The Queen dragged a claw like fingernail across the prey's cheek, down her jaw and to her throat. 

"You should be honored to have fed and kept healthy your Queen." She whispered into the girl's ear, who squirmed, tears rolling down her cheeks. A terrified look gleamed in her pale eyes, before she muttered out her last words.

"I will never be honored to have fallen at the hand of such a swine." She spat into the Queen's marble face, which twitched momentarily, before she violently bowed her head and ripped the girl apart, sinew from muscle, muscle from tissue, and down to the bone she went with horrifying cries which echoed in the chamber, until they gargled out and Zintrina sat back on her calves, blinking slowly, licking her bloodied lips, and wiping her face free of crimson. 

"Swine." She muttered, snapping her teeth together, tilting her chin up as she felt her skin grow taught and heart thrum slightly faster. She cackled softly, shaking her head, those long, violet tendrils swayed down her spine, before she gracefully stood, and walked out of her chamber.

Up the stairs she swayed, her corpse-fingers raking over her collarbones, and up over the gigantic black diamond necklace which perched on her chest like a decaying heart. Her boot's heels clapped loudly onto the stone as she wound up the spiral staircase and up into the Watch Tower. She inhaled deeply, leaning her palms onto the ledge, her eyes trailing over the rather barren valley, which was dotted with fallen stone structures, black and gnarled trees, and a few life forms. Her Kingdom was in dire need of a Renaissance. 

She frowned, remembering the girl; or the promise of the girl, who still had not arrived. She was putting up quite a battle. Zintrina smiled wickedly, running her tongue over her teeth. She whipped her head around, glaring at one of the guards, who silently stood at one of the pillars. 

"Bring me her." She said softly at first. The guard, whose black and knotted skin of his orc heritage welled up in a confused manner. 

"Excuse me, Queen?" The guard asked sheepishly. 

"Bring me her! Do whatever it takes! Do not return until you have her." She screamed, her body turning to clip the futile demand. The guard nodded, stunned, before sauntering out and down the stairs. 

Zintrina exhaled heatedly, relaxing her tensed shoulders, returning her gaze out at her Land. A sick feeling welled in the pit of her stomach before she shook her head, grit her teeth and swiftly strode back to the entrance of the stairs.