Lilies and Bones

They found the body of Raye Tamar in an alleyway near a brothel. Her eyes were torn from her sockets, bones protruding from her skin. Her mouth, often found in a smile, was found cut open in a grotesque way. She seemed to be missing a finger or two and her legs were bent at unnatural angles, though really, nothing about the scene was natural. They found that her skin bore a mark.

V.K.

An omen of death that would terrorise the lands for years. The seven deadly sins sat on thrones and tormented the living for what had been done to them before they joined the dead. You must beware of getting too close to them, they said, you must be strong and cautious and good. For that will keep you safe from the grasp of the sins that plagued the streets.

Though Valerian liked to believe those who cave into their wiles and notions were weak-willed and incompetent, she did not understand how people could be so gullible. James Valerian Sorin had always been told stories similar to this before she went to bed, her mother narrated in an animated voice, speaking of ghouls and murderers. Tales of tragedy, love, and pain. Yet always, she had circled back to the story of V.K and her victims. A story told of monsters meant to persuade children into obedience.

She had been a fairytale. V.K was not a real threat to the realms, that person was fictional, but Sorin? The dark seemed to cling to her, coddle her, consume her. The girl was long past the point of sanity. She was a black hole and no one would escape her, she was very much real.

And she was their doom.