Szesni leaned against the window frame and picked idly at some bit of her last meal still stuck in her teeth with a claw as she stared out over Ekluzagnu from her vantage point high in the fort's keep. The tower was one of the first to have been rebuilt and she had come here often to be alone for as long as she could remember. The repairs to the citadel were nearing completion. A decade long effort that her mother, Tluukt, started when Szesni was still but a cub. Even now, the effort was scheduled to take still another year yet to finish.

She watched on as laborers so far away they appeared no bigger than ants crawled across the massive scaffolding that criss-crossed the two giant slabs of hewn black rock that were to be lifted into position to serve as the main gates. Four hinges to the scale of several thousand tons and taller than three men each had been forged. Their holding pins had been sunk deep into the mountain sides as it curved inward, forming the natural choke point that would serve once more as the main entrance into the fortress city. The main gate alone was grand enough to make even the proudest dwarf blush and when coupled with the mountain's natural defenses would be nigh impenetrable. Szesni knew the boast was most likely true as well because Izz had forced her to come along during several inspections of the renovation progress and the dwarf Foreman they had hired to lead the project had said as much every time, claiming a point-blank blast from a dwaravor cannon wouldn't so much as leave a scratch once they were complete.

Szesni frowned at the memory. The dwarf had always seemed obsessed with the construction, claiming it was rival any of the current Holds or he'd shave his beard. She didn't care for the fanatical zeal the Foreman held, but she did have to admit that growing up while the long lost fortress had been rebuilt around her, it was more impressive now than ever before. And given the reactions from foreign dignitaries upon being received here they had the same impressions of grandeur. She cackled lowly, the laughter echoing down the empty stone stairwell curving up and down the tower on either side behind her as she imagined their faces upon seeing their way forward blocked by the wall of black stone shut tight and made to wait out in the sun's heat until she would be ready to give them audience. A petty insult, but one that she looked forward to none the less.

She was still laughing when the smell hit her nose. The laughter slowly died in her throat and she grimaced, recognizing the pungent aroma anywhere having lived most her life by his side. The musk was of her own clan's, underlain  with the sickly sweet hint of rotten meat. She knew he'd be here soon enough, he always seemed to know how to find her.

As the echoes of her laughter faded away, they were soon replaced with the soft sound of shuffling footsteps making their way steadily up the tower. Taking one more look out the window, Szesni sighed and turned around just as the old gnoll rounded the corner. Izz Mudpaw. He had been serving as Regent Council since her mother had died almost a decade prior, helping guide and teach her the ways of administrating to the needs of the Gnollpack.

He continued his slow shuffle forward until he reached the next step lower from where she stood by the window, the broad pave stones granting plenty of birth for them both to stand so near. He stood as he normally carried himself, hands clasped together close against his chest, his back bent over as the years took their toll.

He was the oldest gnoll she knew, already in his sixty-eighth summer. His fur, where once took the same white with black striping patterning as her own, had long faded to ivory under the scorching desert sun except for his right hand, still the same dull brown that gave him his namesake. One of his eyes was a blank milky white orb, buried beneath the evidence of the reason why. A tangled mess of scars ravaged one side of his skull and down his muzzle, leaving him blind in one eye and giving him the appearance of a constant lopsided grin where his lips had been bitten off to leave his teeth bared. Trophies of pride he received during the earliest days of helping her mother Tluukt in her campaign to conquer and unite the various tribes of Šad Sul into her Pack.

He dwarfed almost all the other gnolls she had met as well, the females included. While she wasn't the largest female she knew of, she had grown both taller and broader than most. Something that she took after her mother according to Izz. Even still, stooped over as he was and on a lower step, the sharp gaze in his single good eye was level with her own. Szesni stubbornly met back his gaze, crossing her arms in defiance of the lecture she knew would be coming.

A series of deep humorless giggles rumbled out out of Izz's throat. "Is little bird done fluttering away, or must this old dog keep chasing? Come now, there is a much important matter I would have you see done."

Szesni growled in response, ears flicking and eyes narrowing at his words. "Chase if you must, but I will not have you drag me about any longer. When the next moon cycles I will be recognized as leader of the Pack. Leave me and go enjoy your last few days in charge while you can."

Anger flashed through his singluar eye, causing Szesni to smirk. Izz kept his gaze locked as he took another shuffling step forward, now leaving the two gnolls directly abreast of each other.

"It was not a request young Mistress," Izz growled in return. "You will accompany me. Now."

Szesni lifted her head slightly to glare down her nose and challenge him. "No, I don't think I will. You forget yourself old man. You ruled after my mother's death only until I came of age to assume control of the Gnollpack. I am now of enough seasons I will be named her successor." She started giggling again, the short, sharp barks of laughter coming unbidden to her as she reveled in finally putting the old man in his place. "Hehehehe yes I think we shouldn't wait for the next moon should we? Let's get this over with now so-"

Her speech was cut short as Izz's hand shot forward, wrapping itself around her throat. Szesni's eyes widened in sudden alarm, her cheerful-turned-fearful giggling choked silent as she felt his claws digging in either side of her neck as he squeezed his paw shut. She beat uselessly against him arm unable to break his iron grip.

Slowly Izz stood, his spine cracking and popping loudly as he rolled his shoulders back to stand fully upright. Taking a final step forward, he brought himself onto the same step Szesni stood, towering a full head of height above her. The elderly gnoll bent over with age was gone, and before her once more stood the same warrior that had accompanied her mother for over fifty years as she slaughtered her way to leading the largest Gnollpack the world had seen since the Age of Monsters. With a small flex, he lifted the younger gnoll into the air with the single hand around her neck, her legs awkwardly starting to strike at him when her feet left the ground as he hoisted her above him. Ignoring her vain attempts to break free, he lowered her face to his until their muzzles were nearly touching.

His eye stared piercing into her, his breath washed over her face as he talked. The stink of rancid, decayed meat filling her airways would have caused her to gag if her throat wasn't already squeezed shut.

"I rule until you are *ready* to become Pack Mistress," he growled out. "Until *I* say you are ready. If I say you're not ready then you rule nothing. *Nothing*! You will heed me as Regent until then, do I make myself clear whelp?"

Vibrato from his underlying grunt laugh resonated in Szensi's chest, warning her he was ready to fight. Even now in his old age, Szesni knew she probably wouldn't be able to defeat Izz even if he didn't already have her suspended as he currently did. She met his gaze for a moment longer before making her decision. She stopped struggling to free herself from his grasp. Breaking eye contact she tilted her head to the side as much as his grip on her allowed, baring her throat in submission.

"Good," Izz rumbled before nipping her ear none too gently. Szesni let out an involuntary yip of pain at his bite, even as Izz released his hold on her, causing her to lose her footing as she fell back to the stairs. She gasped loudly, sucking in fresh air. Rubbing her neck, she shakily stood back up after taking a moment to catch her breath, keeping her eyes on Izz the whole while.

Izz's tongue flickered over his teeth, licking the light bit of blood he had drawn from her ear clean.

"You taste of your mother. Good. It benefits you greatly you inherited her blood." Izz gestured back down the stairwell in the direction he came. "Now, shall we be going?"

Szesni dipped her head and pushed past Izz to start back down the stairs. The older gnoll watched her round the corner, waiting until he was sure she was far enough ahead before coughing into the back of hand. Black blood stained his paw as he pulled it away from his mouth. With a grimace he cleared his mouth by spiting a wad of the filth out the window. Looking out the window he gazed over Ekluzagnu, his face impassive. With care, he wiped his hand clean on a handkerchief before stowing it away and finally following after Szesni, once more shuffling forward slowly, an old man bent over in age.

---

Szesni suspected Izz had come to fetch her to one of the study rooms where she been routinely forced to learn the intricacies of war magic and the finer points of administering to her Pack, or perhaps the Administration Offices themselves to pour over the last year's tax reports again. To her mind they were all useless wastes of her time. Unlike her mother Tluukt, she didn't seem to have the slightest inclination towards manifesting magic, and she already had a full court of people who tended to the ins and outs of the nation's micro managements. She was glad to see they continued past without stopping, though grew more curious to where they headed.

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Instead of turning towards Administrations, he lead her down to the first floor before they had to find a new set of stairs that led them even further into the lower levels of the fortress. After reaching what Szesni had thought was the bottom most level of the fortress, they continued deeper still after after Izz opened a locked door she hadn't known existed with a key hanging from a necklace he dug out from hiding under his shirt. The masonry and laid brick work soon gave way to raw stone. At first it too was worked by tools, but not much farther in it became obvious it was a natural tunnel system with crossing branches leading off into the darkness on either side. The air was stale and old, their path forward only lit by a torch Izz had pulled free from its mount before they had crossed the threshold of the locked door.

Curiosity finally got the better of her. "Where are we Izz?" she asked as he led her further and further, never faltering in his path as they followed the winding twists and turns and various tunnel changes seemingly at random.

"Ekluzagnu was old when it was built in the Age of Monsters young cub. The fortress everyone knows in stories nothing more than the same reconstruction we have been undertaking ourselves. Even before that, it was built over these tunnels." Izz paused, running a hand over the tunnel walls long made smooth over the passage of time. "This cave system served as one of the very first warrens for the oldest ancestors of the Šad Sul gnolls, when we first left the Salahad Desert behind us. It was their home...and it was their tomb."

Pulling his hand free from the wall he resumed walking forward, continuing his story before Szesni had a chance to ask more questions.

"When your mother started her conquest, I was by her side. She was the finest bitch I ever knew. We were the same age her and I, different litters but born in the same summer. She challenged the Matriarch for leadership by our twentieth season. By the time we marched on the pack that controlled the ruins of Ekluzagnu at the time, we had been campaigning for over two decades. It was after we defeated them and added their pack to our own that we had stumbled across this place by accident. Your mother was in a particularly good mood and wanted to...celebrate her victory with me privately."

He turned to face Szesni, the good side of his face twisting into a rare display of mirth. "Don't worry pup, the honor of being your sire is your father's alone. You mother stopped rutting other dogs when she took Zokka's boy as her consort."

Szesni scowled at the laughing dog as he turned back and continued onward but refrained from replying with a snide remark. The brown tufts of fur that hung off her mane to fall around her neck and across her shoulders had never left her paternity in doubt. While not as thick and full as a pure blooded from Zokka's former pack, it distinctly marked her different from the standard golden-white with black stripes only the gnolls of Šad Sul featured.

They continued on in silence for a while before Szesni realized she felt...something. It had been gentle at first, so soft she hadn't realized it was even there until it continued to grow in strength as they moved further down the tunnel-ways. A stirring in her soul, as though something had ensnared her very being and compelled her to come closer. A tug pulsed within her, beating as though a living thing with each thump sending a wave of desire through her. Closer. *Closer*

Izz noticed she had stopped moving, her breathing deepening as she stood panting in place trying to work out what was going on.

"Ahh you must have finally noticed its call. Its stronger now then it has been in years, it must feel the blood of its blood answering it."

Szesni looked questioningly at Izz, still trying to puzzle together what was going on. He appeared unfazed in the flickering torch light, and if she was being honest with herself she could feel no malice from whatever was happening. Instead she found...contentedness, a sense of belonging. As though the pull she felt was leading her to somewhere she belonged even if she had never before been here.

"Come now young pup, we're nearly there. Let me finish my story as we walk."

Izz continued down the tunnels and after a moments hesitation Szesni continued after. As they walked she found her heart start beating in rhythm to the pulses, both working in perfect synchronization. Izz again continued his tale, as the while Szesni could feel the pull growing in strength.

"When we found this place, your mother had no powers. All she had carved out of this land in making her Gnollpack grow we had done with spilt blood and the sweat of our brows."

This surprised Szesni to hear. Although she had always known her mother was one of the greatest mages any of the gnolls had seen in years, she had never bothered to stop to ask when she developed her magical talents. She had always known they were there, the thought of when or why never crossing her mind.

Izz didn't pause long enough in his story to let her think any more on the matter. "After we found this place, her talents immediately manifested. It was a great blessing upon her, and a curse. She was already past her prime and fought to contain her power every day lest it consume her. I can only imagine if we had stumbled our way here ten year prior," he looked sidelong at Szesni. "Or perhaps before she ever ascended to lead the Pack."

Up ahead of them Szesni realized the tunnel appeared to brighten slightly, though it was rather hard to tell what it might be from so far away. Izz took a moment to smother the torch's flame and their only source of light so far on the journey through the tunnels, leaving them in the darkness with only the dull vestiges of light in the distance.

"We continue like this," he said, stowing the extinguished torch through his waistband before reaching out and gently grabbing hold of Szesni's arm to continue onward. Szesni barely took notice as she was pulled along, the tugging stronger than ever before.

"When we broke the siege of Traz Buranun and the pompous elf king Varamzuir challenged your mother to a duel of mages, it was this weakness that kill her. Varamzuir contented himself to hiding behind his force shields in an attempt to outlast your mother's magic reserves. The knife-eared twat never realized she had no reserves. Her power was a bottomless well fed by demons themselves. In an attempt to overpower his shields with raw might, she drew too deeply from the well and the demonfire burned her alive from the inside out.

"Now your father, he was the second eldest son of Zokka yet he held no outward manifestation of magic. He was there as your mother was consumed by her own powers. In the short time they had been knotted he loved her more than any gnoll has right to, and her death broke him. Something inside him snapped at that moment and the powers laying dormant in his blood awakened in a blast of hellfire that nearly finished Varamzuir off before he was able to compose himself and finish your father off with a bolt of lightning."

Izz stopped and turned Szesni to face him. She focused on the old gnoll's face, his speech cutting through her brain's fogginess the powerful compulsion was causing. He raised his hand and prodded one clawed finger repeatedly into her chest to drive home his next few words.

"You are their legacy. This is your heritage. Your blood is the mixed twin-flames of demonfire and hellfire. You are both Devourer-of-Suns and Cleaver-of-Realms."

Szesni nodded numbly at his words, unsure how to feel at this revelation of information that had never been shared with her before. Izz patted her shoulder in an attempt of comfort, sensing her confusion over the matter. He once more took her arm in his and they began their slow trek forward again. The lights Szesni could barely make out before were drawing ever closer, and she was able to descern their dark green flames burning on either side of the tunnel from where they now were. The same cold flames that burned in the Xhazobkult. All too suddenly Szesni found they were already among them, passing through a threshold that opened into a small cavern that marked the end of their journey. It was perhaps wide enough to fit three or four gnolls with their arms stretched fingertips touching, and maybe twice as long. The top of the cave was only twice as tall or so as she stood.

For such a suspense, Szesni found it almost underwhelming if not for the brilliant flares of green demonfire pulsing over the room's walls and ceiling. The ebb and flow of flames perfectly in time with the pull of compulsion over her soul. Perfectly in time with the beating of her heart. The only other feature of note was a small altar placed against the far wall upon which sat a black stone box that the demonfire seemed crawl down the walls towards but failed to quite reach, instead swirling above like a twisted dark halo.

Izz pulled his arm free from Szesni's and made his way to a corner of the small cavern where there lay a small pile of bones complete with skull resting atop. They were blackened and burnt and Szesni knew who's they must have been even before Izz started talking again.

"Varamzuir soon fled off and I recovered your mother's body after we finished looting the city and brought her here," he said as he gently rest one hand on the skull, cradling it as though taking comfort in its presence much like she had once seen a human with a beloved pet laying in its lap. "I consumed what little flesh was left after the demonfire had its way with her. Though it was toxic from the flames, I still ate it to honor her memory. The poison killed me long ago, rotting my guts while still forcing me to continue my cursed existence...so long as the power beats from this place."

He turned to stare his single eye at Szesni. "The compulsion you feel is that power. In this place we discovered so long ago where the veil between worlds lays so thin that one is able to reach across to touch the other side."

His gaze turned from her to land on the box upon the altar. Szesni followed his gaze and could feel the pull to open it and see its contents greater than ever before.

"That power was your mother's, and now it is yours. Take it, and with it take her name. You will leave this place no longer Szesni, but Tluukt Cleaver-of-Realms. Her legacy will become your destiny."

Szesni's heart beat faster as she approached the altar. Her hands trembled as they reached out and lifted the lid, revealing what was contained within. As she did the rapid beating of her heart stilled, frozen in her chest.

At the bottom of the box rested a heart. Fresh blood still covered it even as it sat undisturbed for years. When her heart once more beat in her chest so too did the heart laying in the box. Perfectly in time.

The flickering flames of demonfire pulsed with each beat, illuminated the bloody heart as she pulled it free from its container. For a long moment, Szesni only stared at it, feeling it pulse in her hand.

"Izz," she said.

"Yes, little dog," he replied.

Szesni turned her head to him, not moving the heart from where she held it aloft. She dipped her head in respect towards him. "Thank you. For everything."

He returned the gesture and bowed. "Of course....Pack Mistress."

Szesni raised her head and turned back to face the heart, still held bleeding over the altar. Raising it to her muzzle, she bit deeply into the beating warm flesh and honored her mother.