In the brood, worth was determined at birth.

If you were born without the ability to reproduce, then your fate was to labor for the brood. How you served was dependent on your talents but there was no choice in the matter. No notion of self-determination, not even when to eat or rest.

The daughters of Great Mother had a little more freedom, but not much. After all, not every estrazi female was born with the same potential. Only the best would be considered for the honor of one day leading the brood. Those with powerful affinities or great talent in wielding them.

The mediocre received none of the luxuries given to their better sisters, suffering banal existences despite having a heart that ached for more and a mind capable of imagining it. The lackluster were treated no better than the males.

Other intelligent races would see thier ways as cruel, utilitarian to the extreme, but it was how they had always been. And they would never change, for they had been raised and guided by the greatest beings in the world. Who would dare question the wisdom of the majesties, creatures born to reign above all? They had been created with purpose, to enact the will of the greatest beings. That purpose demanded the best and the best only rose to prominence when properly supported by the less talented.

One estrazi did not a brood make. It was practically heretical for an estrazi to go against their fate, no matter how terrible.

Yet, that was exactly what Little Water had done by running from the north in search of her human. Worse, she'd taken resources from the brood. If she didn't return with results to justify her actions, she would face a swift death, if not worse.

Little Water was confident in her vision. The estrazi spent generations locked in the icy north, building their forces and waiting for a threat to justify their presence. All of it, meaningless. The words of her father suggested that all their preparations would have failed against the first true threat to the estrazi and their mission. A human threat. One that they might have foreseen if they had any connections to their neighbors.

There was a time when the estrazi had warrens all over the world and were recognized as the dragons' heralds by every civilization, given the respect owed to them as the chosen of the chosen. The Great War had devastated their numbers. Her people were driven away, blamed for the damage done by the warring sovereigns of the sky or mistaken for threats like the other rampaging draconids that did untold damage across the globe. Those that were left were gathered in one large brood and tasked with guarding the prison of the Defiler, the cause of the world's upheaval.

The sovereigns who did so likely didn't suspect that a second Defiler would appear in the world. Why would they? The Outsider's influence was usually a subtle thing. It had tempted Ezossoa, but their records claimed that she was already disgruntled with the ways of her kin. In other words, she was already a rebel. The war would have happened no matter what. The Outsider's blessing simply meant that the consequences were much worse and that the Defiler would continue to remain a threat.

Normally, a single human would never be a threat. Little Water struggled to understand how they ever could be one, even if the Outsider's blessing made them immortal. It certainly wouldn't take the combined power of seven sovereigns to imprison them. Yet, her father said they would lose and his predictions were never wrong. Sometimes annoyingly vague, but never inaccurate.

If they couldn't win with might, then they would have to negotiate with the second agent of chaos. Little Water was no stranger to bargaining for what she needed. In the brood, negotiation was based off an exchange of benefits. Between equals or lessers, nothing was done for free, even if it was for the greater good.

She had to find something the agent, Lou, wanted to exchange for her human. Hardly a simple task. The human shelter was too small to host her servants so Little Water found dwelling in the colorful part of the city. The agent trusted them to do so, as she knew the estrazi had nowhere else to go and Little Water wouldn't leave without her human. She even recommended where to stay.

Amusingly, the humans that caught glimpses of their scales and tails assumed they were wearing costumes and treated them without bias. It was also a good sign that they were directed to a place that would be sheltered from the agent's wrath. One of the greatest obstacles to Little Water's plans was the enmity between the estrazi and humanity, forged from generations of conflict. It was relieving that said hatred hadn't seeped into the whole of the kingdom, especially the agent. Finding herself in a place of neutrality after expecting to climb her way out of a horrible reputation, Little Water thought the sovereigns were watching over her, blessing her mission.

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She tried to keep that certainty alive as she scoured the shattered city in search of riches. She felt that estrazi and humans were more alike than different. It stood to reason that they would want the same things: shelter, riches, mates, and the power to protect them. Of those, the agent had plenty or plenty of opportunity to find them herself. That left Little Water with one avenue, curios.

Not even the females of the brood could resist the allure of the unknown. Great Mother encouraged their curiosity, as from exploration came discovery and discovery promoted growth. If Lou had everything she could need or want, then Little Water would have to find something she didn't know she needed or wanted.

If it were the north, she wouldn't rate her chances of success highly. After all, the land of ice was forever unchanging, as the sovereigns intended. No variable could be allowed, as not even the sovereigns of the world could tell what was the design of the Outsider and what was harmless happenstance.

However, here in the south, everything was new. The humans knew more of their kingdom than she did, but her human had told her that their land, and the world, was still very much a mystery to them. There were even places they refused to spread as the terrain proved too troublesome. Simply giving up in the face of adversity. Little Water couldn't imagine it. But that boded well. Perhaps nothing in the kingdom could impress her elder sisters but for the weak-willed humans, there was hope.

Especially if she used some of the brood's secrets. The secret themselves she would die before surrendering, she was no traitor despite how her actions could be taken, but so long as they were a tool under her control, she wouldn't hesitate to use them.

Every night, under the cover of darkness, Little Water scoured the city in search of opportunity. Mostly, she found trouble. Sometimes, they had to evacuate a part of the warren if the Defiler's flaring temperature melted the ice and flooded a section. Estrazi would pour out of the tunnels and mill around aimlessly until the section was repaired. The humans had done the same thing, but no one had come forward to restore their homes. They hung around the ruins, frozen in indecision, unsure how to move forward.

The brood had a saying; idle hands make for misery. Those without purpose were doomed to fall, whether it be by their own hands or circumstances. It was no surprise that the people of the city found their way into trouble. That trouble ended abruptly when it found Little Water.

She was rather glad for the recent destruction. The ruined buildings provided ample cover and the lack of enforcers meant she didn't need to be careful how she handled annoyances. Countless poor souls had been crushed by the agent's rampage, but more were hidden amongst the debris every day. She didn't envy the one who would be called on to restore order but thanked the sovereigns for the convenience.

It was a slow night, her group of five had only been ambushed once, when she finally spotted something interesting. A creature unlike anything she'd ever seen. It was vaguely recognizable as some kind of canid, with its tall ears, long muzzle, and longer tail, but that was where all familiarity ended.

The creature was flesh. Nothing but flesh. She could see its pink muscles contracting and expanding with each movement, slick with constantly dripping blood. Where its eyes should have been, the flesh was sewn shut with something black. It carefully moved through the rubble on paws with distinct digits, something close to fingers but crooked, its wide nostrils flaring with each step.

It was disgusting...but it was unique. Something new. Possibly something valuable. So Little Water shadowed the creature. The first time, she lost it, the thing craning its head at an impossible angle and staring at her when she got too close. Thankfully, it left a helpful trail of viscera that was easy to track. She examined what she took as blood more closely and found it was anything but. Not only was it a deep purple instead of the usual scarlet, it didn't smell of blood. Strangely, it smelled of nothing at all.

Despite its strange and eye-catching nature, its actions spoke of a stealthy creature. It didn't make a sound as it moved, sticking to the shadows and going still whenever it approached an area filled with people. Suspiciously, its measures worked. No one othered than the estrazi seemed capable of noticing its presence, or the obvious trail it left behind.

Little Water watched it with growing confusion as it circled the city, changing directions seemingly on a whim. She'd think it was movingly blindly, not an unreasonable assumption given its lack of eyes, but there was too much purpose behind it. Whenever it paused, it was after coming to a complete stop and flaring its nostrils wide. Little Water couldn't perceive what, but it was tracking something.

Her idle curiosity became something more intense after the creature eventually found its way to the Teppin estate. It stopped at the edge of the property, nostrils flaring and strange purple goop dripping off it. Then it, very deliberately, turned away, moving in a straight line at a fairly quick place. Far too interesting.

Little Water let it travel a bit to be sure it was retreating before she captured it in a ball of water. Her minions left and returned with a sturdy barrel that she transferred the creature to. She observed it for a while, but it didn't try to escape. It did nothing at all. With a few flicks of her tail, she sent her servants away with the creature, leaving it to their discretion. If she didn't know where it was, then she couldn't be coerced into giving away its location.

It was time to negotiate.