“Hrnnh.” Derleth made a low grumbling sound as he stood at the entrance to the forest beyond his home. The eldritch man looked sternly past the maze of trees at nothing in particular. “It appears you've finally arrived, Dancer. As I knew you would.”
Behind him, the once devoted priestess glided across the snow with her glacial scythe swung in hand. She was dodging two bipedal creatures with ease. They appeared to be large humanoid wulfeites constructed by Derleth. Lycans, he called them. Not a beast native to her world, but formidable challenges nonetheless. They bore swift, enormous claws that just barely grazed her skin as she spun around them. If there was one thing Zulema was good at, it was dancing around her enemies as she sliced them to bits with a speed that was almost inhuman.
“Having another discussion with yourself, dear Derleth?” asked the priestess. There was a sound of derision in her voice that she had grown accustomed to using around him. She twirled, successfully dodging an incoming slash. “You've had more words with yourself than with me ever since you kidnapped me here.”
The eldritch man remained silent, seemingly unaffected by her taunting. After a moment, he turned to look at her just as she made a swift downward arc of her scythe, bisecting the fiendish construct down the middle. With a flourish, she spun the weapon in hand and before thrusting the bottom of the snath outward to her right just as the second lycan leaped at her. The sharpened, pointed base of her weapon had pierced through its face, causing its entire form to dissolve beautifully into snowflakes flowing past before it could reach her.
Zulema brought her hand, still clutching her weapon, before her face as she closed her eyes. She made a small, silent prayer before releasing the scythe from her grip and letting it dissolve as it kissed the ground.
“You've markedly improved,” noted Derleth. “At the very least, your prior hesitance has abated, revealing your true skill.”
“Well. It’s like you said, I should survive rather than focus on revenge.” The glacial priestess clicked her teeth. “At least for now.”
“That's enough for today. Something is to happen soon. One of my kind has finally deigned to pay me a visit and it appears there are certain elements at play that proved… unexpected. Until I fully understand the purpose of her return, I need you to stay hidden within my chambers.” His gaze trailed to the invisible entrance between the tree's enormous frozen roots.
“Pardon me? You wish to lock me up once again?” Zulema sneered. “I am not some sort of untamed beast yet to be housebroken! Is the company you keep so distrustful that they don't allow pets in their presence?! That's all I am to you, aren't I?”
“You anger much too easily, Orphan of Macha. Anger has its uses but you always seem to spout such meaningless drivel at me in that menacing tone as if I am to understand the reason for your ire. If I order you to do something, then it is highly probable that it is for a good reason.”
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“You—!!” Zulema bared her teeth in exasperation. “Just because you saved my life, kidnapped me, then trapped me here does not mean you can have any which way you desire with me!”
“For the moment, our mission must remain a secret. The Elder One on her way here is the guardian who took over my role. She is not to know of my machinations here, lest she attempt to put a stop to them. Her purpose is to keep a status quo, and my meddling into this planet’s affairs goes against that. It would be highly dangerous especially for you if she learned I had involved a mortal.”
“I still haven’t agreed to any mission, you brooding brute…” Zulema mumbled as she trudged defeatedly back toward the base. Her silky, white dress billowed in the wind behind her. As she made it to the base of the large tree, she looked back one more time and noticed Derleth had returned to gazing at the empty forest of trees beyond his home. She imagined he probably spent half his time doing that and the other half staring off through the windowed walls of his throne room. Stepping through the illusory wall—that still oddly felt cold to her, despite her newfound powers—she found herself once again inside the large glacial chamber. She took a few steps then stopped when she noticed a miniature army at her feet. Small shards of ice were slowly trudging around on even smaller stubby pegs meant to act as legs, providing them a limited bit of momentum. The cleric crouched down, smiling gently at the tiny glacial automatons. She tapped the head of one with her finger. “Well, aren’t you cute? It’s a shame, I’m almost completely sure he can see me through you.”
The shard under her finger motioned its body up towards her face, as if looking at her. It raised the tiny arm at its side—a nub made up of a smaller glacial shard—and touched the digit of the priestess pressing down on it. To anyone else, it would almost seem alive.
Zulema rose to her feet and walked off toward the book section in the back, casually avoiding the other little familiars in her path. She retrieved a medium length book off the shelf and examined it, noting the meticulous spotlessness on an otherwise uninteresting, blank cover. Looking around, she thought it odd that all the other books on the bookshelf were just as devoid of dust particles. Was the room so completely sterile? To her right sat the large, indecipherable tome she had taken out the other day—still undisturbed. She remembered the way it had made her feel and it sent a shiver down her spine. She picked it up and placed it back where she had originally found it. She considered doing the same to the other book she had just taken out, weighing it in her hand, deciding if another possible headache could possibly be worth the ease of boredom. She sighed, desperately wishing she had a glass of wine in her hand instead. A sweet sherry, perhaps. She glanced back at the book before opening it and was relieved to find it was actually in a language she could understand—albeit only moderately. It seemed to be a narrative of some kind. Despite the ancient writing within, the book appeared like new. For the first time since she arrived, Zulema felt at ease.
Back outside, Derleth walked a ways into the forest until he could finally see some movement in the trees beyond. He had felt a disruption in his barrier earlier, which had alerted him to The Dancer’s presence. It seemed she wasn’t alone. The eldritch man watched as the platinum-haired woman walked indifferently through the snow—the surrounding blizzard avoiding her seemingly of its own accord. Accompanying her had been a mortal Hecatian he did not recognize, along with another mortal woman whose scent he had once detected before—a relative of the Orphan. She was the real reason he had hidden her away. He could not let the priestess be swayed further from his plans. Not when she had finally begun to acquiesce.