The full moon’s dull silver light burnished the swamp, reflecting off the shallow pools of brown water. Umbra was crouched low on a branch hesitating, she didn’t know what she would find on the inside of the fort, maybe 100s of lizard-people all ready to kill her, but Umbra’s hesitation was short-lived, she didn’t have the patience for it. She just smiled, drew Carn then shadow-jumped inside the fort, as close to the wall as she could.
She crouched low in the darkness and looked around warily, no 100s of lizard people, just a tidy looking town. Houses made of wood were extended above the muddy uneven ground of the swamp by stilts as were the walkways, and torches stood in regular intervals fending off the darkness. Umbra jumped through the city keeping her distance from the torches and sentries. She wasn’t too sure what she was looking for, but there was a two storey house lit from the inside in the centre of the fort-town and she headed for it instinctively.
She scaled the wall of the house with ease and poked her head up to look through the open window. Two lizards sat on the rough wood floor, the one furthest from her was larger than any lizard Umbra had seen, the other was not remarkable. They were speaking and Umbra focused on their hissing words. “Do you think the attackers were from the bleeding-heart tribe?” The large one asked.
“I do not know, but there was only one attacker, not attackers.” The smaller replied.
“How could one kill 13 of your fighters.” The large one asked whipping his tail in frustrating.
“It followed us back, it was a shadow we only ever got glimpses of it.”
“It could not be the bleeding-hearts; they do not practice darkness magic.” The large one said thoughtfully. “There is a rogue about, probably from one of the distant tribes, you shall find him he must be punished, and captain make sure you search for him during the day, the night is not a place you would want to be with a darkness mage about.”
“Yes, chieftain.” The smaller of the two said. The smaller one stood and Umbra ducked under the windowsill. She could hear his heavy footsteps and the opening of the door. She pushed off the wall and fell before shadow-jumping to the roof of an adjacent house. They are going to hunt me, I can’t fight them during the day, the swamp isn’t dark enough and they won't go in the night now that they know I am a darkness mage.
The captain lizard walked out the front door of the large house and Umbra saw an opportunity. She stalked him from the rooftops as he took a winding path around the boardwalk greeting sentries. Umbra was starting to feel less comfortable with killing the lizard people, they were obviously sentient, and had a civilization, but she had set herself down this path and it was easy to squish her old conscience.
The captain finally stopped at one of the houses. Umbra slipped in through the window as he entered at the front. It was Spartan, a single bed sat in the corner and a low table meant to be used without a chair was the only other piece of furniture in the room. It was depressing and Umbra couldn’t help but pity the obviously lonely lizard captain. It made what she was going to do harder.
Umbra rolled under his bed pushing herself up against the wall and with some concentration managed to release some magic and make the room darker than it was.
Umbra didn’t have to wait long before the captain entered the room, and not much longer before his breathing settled into the rhythms of sleep. She breathed a sigh of relief she was starting to cramp, curled up under his bed like she was. Umbra slid quietly out from under the captain's bed and stood up. She had never really tried anything like this and she was a bit nervous. She concentrated on her circlet forcing the spikes of darkness out of head wincing a bit at the pain, Umbra also pulled the veil of darkness over her face and started releasing magic. She made for an intimidating figure, darkness and death poring from her, so much that even non-mages could feel it, so she hoped. And a crown of jagged dark spikes sprouting from her head.
She drew Carn and pressed the tip of its black metal surface against the lizard captains face and dragged it down, leaving a shallow cut. The lizard shot up immediately, saw Umbra and scrambled backward hitting the wall, Umbra couldn’t help but smile a bit at his fearful eyes. That was the reaction she was going for and it was nice when things worked out. “Yell, and you will die,” Umbra snarled in her best scary voice. The lizard mastered himself.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“What do you want mage.” He said in his hissing accent. Time to channel some Nyx. Umbra let out her best crazy laugh.
“Mage, you think I am a mage,” Umbra laughed again. “I am the daughter of death.” Maybe I’m laying it on a bit thick, oh well. Umbra released some more magic, black mist started forming around her. She couldn’t tell if he was buying it, but he still looked scared, time to step things up a notch. She leaned over the bed and the lizard pressed himself further against the wall. “If you wish to live lizard, you will do something for me.”
“What… what do I have to do,” the lizard managed to say and Umbra had trouble understanding as it was so distorted by his fear it could barely be called Common.
“When you go hunting for me tomorrow you will search only the swamp directly in front of the gates when the sun starts to set you will send 5 men to search behind the fort. Only 5,” Umbra said dragging Carn across the paralyzed lizard’s neck, resisting the urge to sink it into his neck, Carn hummed at the thought. “If you do not do as I say, I will kill you and it will not be quick.” With that Umbra shadow-jumped onto the roof of the captain’s house and headed off to the back of the fort. She had released more magic than she’d wanted to and she was feeling a bit drowsy. She was confident that the captain would do as she said, he had seemed terrified, and he must know that Umbra could get to him easily wherever he was.
Umbra avoided shadow-jumping as much as possible, she didn’t feel comfortable sleeping, and any more magic use would make it really hard to stave off sleep.
Umbra shadow-jumped over the wall and onto a close tree. She headed deeper into the swamp. She was really starting to get tired now, I could sleep for an hour or two, the 5 lizards aren’t due until next evening. Now the difficulty of finding somewhere to sleep.
Umbra eventually found a tree the split in the middle providing her relative comfort and support so she wouldn’t fall if she rolled over, or moved in her sleep. She settled in with a sigh and fell asleep immediately.
Umbra woke to the sound of yelling and splashing. She wiped the sleep from her eyes, it was early morning and her magic was restored. She looked around for the source of the yelling and saw in dismay that lizards were everywhere splashing through the shallow pools and poking at bushes with their spears. Umbra gritted her teeth, they were poking at the trees as well, thankfully they were loud otherwise they might’ve gotten her.
Umbra scrambled up her tree as quickly as she could into the canopy where the branches rightfully shouldn’t support her. There had to be hundreds of lizards searching the back of that fort, and Umbra felt weirdly betrayed, she had truly thought the captain would do as she asked.
Umbra moved through the treetops heading further away from the searching lizards, and the sense of betrayal morphed into a cold rage that set Umbra’s face into a rigid mask.
Umbra kept ahead of the lizards quite easily, but she was forced to run and hide all day, fuelling her anger.
Carn could feel her emotions and trembled with excitement it knew someone was going to die. Umbra was starting to get quite good at reading Carn’s mood, the knife was alive in its own way.
The sun had almost set when the lizards started making their way back and Umbra couldn't help but let a savage grin split her face, breaking the mask. They wouldn’t make it back to the walls before it was dark enough for Umbra to shadow-jump, she could kill a few.
Umbra stalked them in the evening light, and as the sun passed below the horizon she struck, she was far faster than when she had first tried to fight a lizard, making it easy to slip Carn into their throat before they could hit her. She got 6 of the lizards that fell too far behind the main pack.
She resisted the urge to channel, it was starting to get easier to ignore it, in part because she had something extremely important to do.
The captain’s house had 2 guards in front of the door. They watched the night around them diligently. Umbra knew she should be cautious, but she was angry enough that she didn’t care for caution. She shadow-jumped from the roof appearing behind one of the guards and with lightning speed slid Carn into the lizards back, the other guard was reacting but Umbra was already behind him sinking Carn into his throat.
She flicked the blood off Carn and brought forth her crown of jagged darkness. She slowly opened the door to the captain's house, it wasn't locked. Do they even have locks? The inside was a room Umbra had not seen before it seemed to function as an eating and relaxing room, Umbra ignored it and headed for the door to the bedroom where she would find the traitorous Captain.
The captain stood in the middle of the bare room spear held in his hands when he caught sight of Umbra he readied himself. Umbra grinned this was better than cutting his throat in his sleep.
“I will not die easily daughter of death,” the captain said, snarling. “And neither will my people which you prey upon.” Umbra didn’t answer, just frowned, but she had something to do and in the blink of an eye, Umbra had sunk Carn hilt deep into his exposed throat. She had no stomach to kill him slowly, as she said she would.
In a moment of strength, Umbra didn’t channel him and instead left the house through the window. Just as the sound of the door slamming open broke the silence of the house. Someone saw the guards, I'm in trouble.
Umbra was spotted almost immediately by some lizards outside the door, and they yelled. Umbra expended a large amount of magic and shadow-jumped directly out of the fort and to the tree she had hesitated on that first time.
Umbra almost immediately jumped again when she landed on the tree because below her stood at least 200 lizards, the only reason she didn't was they didn't appear to be searching for her their eyes were on the fort.