Bred For Extinction

The Queen Escapes

She sits in the throne Penduran has always provided for her, his so-called queen, cheek still stinging from his earlier blow. Her betrayal has surely been realized, but it makes little difference now as the pain has languished too long in her bosom. Time and existence here has ended for her, of this she is sure. It has been too many years of so much remorse, but not this time. No, this time Liadan will not allow her true child to fall prey to Penduran because of her own undoing. This child had come too far, too fast, and without her betrayal, he actually stands a chance.

Her fingers slide up to reddened cheek and slowly does her pulsating mind burn. Standing, she glances around at the continuing feast, disgust showing in eyes as they scroll the surroundings, weary of spies that eventually will report all of her activities to the king. Words are spoken harsh to the guards that surround the twin thrones; "I will be retiring for the night to my chamber." Simple nods acknowledge and her escorts lead a path out of the feast, in front and behind her for safety. Yet, all the while her own footsteps are spent in worried haste as quick glances keep checking over her shoulder.

Here, in her chamber kept separately from Penduran's own room, has she set up what she hopes to be Penduran's last battle. Waiting for the sentries to move away from her door, she halts calm and weary, pondering this night's next movements. The guards slip back to the feast and so deep does her heart burn with such hatred that she knows it is time for action. Garments are swapped with speed, changing into the gray-cloaked apparition that she knows her child will recognize.

Hidden to all eyes, buried deep in the rocky walls, lays a passageway. A passage Liadan has known for all her existence, for she has lived within this mountainous home long before Penduran and his army of servants vanquished the original owners. Her clothes changed, it is time to slip down the passage, thru crevices and catacombs that will lead to the outside world. The journey will be cumbersome, still she knows it is up to her to even the odds now and turn the tables for her true family that will undoubtedly be coming this night. It will be up to her to make the sacrifice that will make up for her long years of servitude to the second family, and the betrayal to her first.

Time speeds along, as her trip is much faster than she had imagined. Her form shifts from human, to bat, to mist...whatever is appropriate for each stage of the expedition. The journey is dark, full of moments of solitude and remorse as she twists through her migration of remembrance. But, within less than an hour, does the night's sky finally appear and her toes dig into the soft soil of the outside world once again.

Liadan holds here, just outside of the mountain, questioning whether to fly on in search of her child. Moments are spent glancing about in wonderment before the decision to wait is reached. The child has been pushed hard and surely will be on his way to meet whatever fate is to await him this night. Still, the great mother wonders if he will be enough to vanquish at least this stage of the retribution. Her other descendants had tried so valiantly before, with no avail. Hopefully this time, with perhaps the ultimate sacrifice, would the world spin and change be close at hand.

Her vow is made, and slowly does she creep forward to watch the surroundings for a sign of his arrival. Yes, the arrival of the gray child, the last of her original legacy and the last that she will hopefully ever behold in her own sorrowful eyes.