Work Text:
Another day had passed. Another battle lost by the gruenaks. Another village full of civilians reduced to ashes. It’s once vibrant streets filled to the brim of life, it’s libraries with all it’s precious culture, it’s memories… All gone. In the span of a few hours. Nothing was left but charred houses and death’s silence.
In the corner of a basement, a couple of gruenak lovers held each other tight. Sobbing silently for the loss of their friends of families, and their entire lives as they knew it. Yet they knew it was all far from over… In fact, it was only the beginning of their ordeal.
During the war, there was a saying. If the four skeksis warriors were to strike, one would only meet death itself. However if one was to survive, they would be met by a fate worse than death. It was a well known fact, yet the rare survivors of such fate wouldn’t elaborate. In fact, they were rarely able to, as they had lost most of their body parts.
The young couple felt it in the depth of their soul, their very essence, that something rotten was in the air, and nobody would save them now. From the corner of the basement, they gripped onto each other, shaking in fear, staring at the small broken window dimly lighting up the room.
And then they heard it. A noise from the outside. As if someone was rummaging through the ruins. Looking for something. Then, they heard a mixture of grunting, snarling, and cackling. They knew these unholy noises weren’t coming from gruenaks. Much less so from gelflings or podling.
It sounded like the creatures spreading death like the plague. Those who wanted nothing but all the pleasure and worship for themselves and all the pain they could inflict on others. Those they would never submit to, no matter the cost. No matter the pain.
They were in the village, not too far away. Though it was hard to judge, the skeksis were always so noisy. The cruel monsters were so confident they were above everything and everyone else on Thra that they rarely bothered being stealthy. They always had to noisily announce themselves somehow.
The gruenak couple gripped onto each other tighter, holding their breath. Listening. There were at the very least two skeksis rummaging around. A few hours before, the gruenaks had to listen to the massacre taking place in the village, and they had sadly gotten a bit familiar with the warriors’ voices.
And these voices… They were different. These skeksis were no warriors, or if they were then they weren’t implicated in the pillaging that took place earlier. But it didn’t matter. They were here, and it didn’t bode well. It never did.
And the two lovers waited. For death or a miracle, they did not know yet.
***
Somewhere in the village, skekAn the Blade Master and skekKy the Tracker were looking around, searching for gruenak survivors of the recent pillaging. And certainly not with good intentions. These two had been tasked with culling survivors, so the warriors could move on to continue their conquest faster. It had been a great strategy for the skeksis empire so far.
SkekAn was on the shorter side compared to most of the warriors, but like all skeksis she towered over all of Thra’s races like a tree of death. Her skin was pale as a wraith, covered with black sigils as tattoos. Her eyes were of a light gray-blue, devoid of all warmth and empathy for her victims. Her head was adorned with a raven mane, and a ponytail splitting in two. She could be mistaken for Death itself, if Death had a cruel sense of humor.
Her task could be summarized to the two huge blades she always carried on her belt. Nobody could survive being spotted by her. And it was better this way. She liked making the pain last as long as possible. If she could turn one of her victims immortal to torment them over and over, she would in a heartbeat.
Her accomplice skekKy, despite being even shorter and meeker, was no less intimidating. His skin had more of a pinkish hue, with darker splotches of dark marking from his beak to the tip of his tail. He also had gray-blue eyes, though darker than those of the Blade Master. His most chilling feature were without a doubt his saber-tooth canines protruding from his maw. Sharp and always hungry for action. He also suffered from a deformity on his feet, which were stuck in a toe walking stance and hindering his running and climbing abilities. His outfit was composed of some red and white pompous abomination, letting everyone know about his overinflated ego.
The Tracker was gifted with an incredible sense of smell. He could sniff out anyone and anything from miles away, and when he was around no one was safe from being detected. Despite him being on the weaker side he was a crucial part of their team, leading skekAn to the victims and allowing her to finish them off without a hassle… And of course, he often participated to the massacres.
Just like the warriors among each other, the two of them usually got along well. At least until the usual skeksis drama ensued or food was scarce. Though they rarely ever scuffled. Not that skekKy could do anything about it if his teammate decided on something. Today, they both were in a rather good mood.
“So, Tracker… You told me you caught on a scent. We’ve been looking for a while now, is your sniffer broken?” she jested as she looked through a broken window. SkekKy perked up at the statement. “Gotta ask the Scientist to come up with pills.”
“I… I swear this never happened before, give it a minute! J-Just give it a minute! I gotta get in the mood.” he said, acting half offended and embarrassed and chuckled. “It’s just like the Spy-Master’s dicks.”
They both cackled horribly. The Blade Master stopped and looked around.
“Jokes asides… I think he’s up to something.” she said quietly while pushing debris with one of her swords. “Always hanging out with that disgusting Chamberlain…”
SkekKy nodded.
“I hear you. Nobody would hang out with the Chamberlain unless they had something in mind. But what can we do about it? It’s not like the Emperor would care.”
He shook his head and continued huffing different spots and all the broken objects he could find. He knew there were survivors, but the charred ground and smell of death were blurring their trail. But he knew he’ll find them no matter what.
“I’ll make him care.” she said confidently. “Trust me.”
The Tracker, whom was looking at a half burned doll, dropped it on the spot and his eyes bulged out. In the skeksis society, one was not to talk about the Emperor that way. It could easily be seen a blasphemous. Yet, skekAn had been acting quite… Comfortable lately.
“You’re playing with fire, Blade Master. Be careful, you might get burned.” he shot her a disapproving look. “You have a lot of privilege, but I wouldn’t take it for granted if I were you.”
SkekAn gave him a caustic grin, then grabbed his beak firmly. He didn’t try to get away.
“SkekKy. Tracker. I need to remind you, I am the fire. I burn others.” She whispered with fake sweetness in his ear holes. “Are you questioning my agenda?”
He closed his eyes, trying to keep a straight face but yet his breathing betrayed him. He knew that she liked to jest and had a messed up sense of humor but he could never be too sure of how far she could go when angered. He’d seen what she’s capable of, after all.
“Your problems are my problems, skekAn. That’s what I’m trying to tell you. I know I can’t stop you but… Try to think about it for a second, okay? You’re going to drag me into another one of your schemes, and we’ve been lucky so far but-”
She immediately cut him off, squeezing his beak harder and pulling on it a little.
“Yes. And we will always be. I’m both of the brawl and brains here, and I make the rules. Besides, my privileges are also your privileges. Now, quit worrying and listen to me.” at this moment, the Tracker let out a loud muffled sound under her grip. She rolled her eyes and let him go free. “What now?”
“Found them.”
“Uh?”
SkekAn raised an eyebrow, forgetting where she was for a second.
“The gruenaks, found them. Somewhere in that house over here.”he pointed towards an especially damaged ruin. “In the basement, for sure. I can smell their sweat from here.”
“Ah.” a sadistic sneer drew on her face. “I guess it wasn’t so broken after all.”
“You just had to stroke it a little to make it work.” he chuckled and pointed at it. “Just like skekUng’s dicks, I’m telling you!”
“Ew, that’s disgusting. Don’t be so harsh on yourself, your beak isn’t disease ridden!” they both laughed good-heartedly before falling silent again. “I’ve been mean to you, Tracker. I bet you really want to blow up some steam, right?”
“Always.”
He nodded, licking his lips at the thought of the bloodbath about to take place. He didn’t hold a grudge for what she had said before. He knew how she was when she was plotting. In fact, he was happy to have found a distraction.
“Let’s have some fun with the gruenaks, then! You go first.”
She then followed the Tracker’s way to their prey. There would be no mercy for them now.
***
Meanwhile, a group of gelfling pilgrim were passing through the area as it was their custom for many trines. Despite being aware of the war their Lords had declared against the gruenaks, they still choose to stop in that village for a night as they traditionally did. But today would be different.
As they arrived to the village, they realized with horror that there was nothing left but ashen ruins. They did not understand. Why this village? There were only civilians living there. Farmers. Families. There were no reason for the skeksis to ransack it like this. But the Lords were always right… They must have had a reason, right?
The group walked through the ruins, looking for survivors. There was no way the skeksis would destroy entire families like this, they thought. The army must have lured the warriors there to deter them from fighting. But they must have had no choice…
After a while of looking, they heard a distant moan coming from one of the houses. They rushed to it’s source and as they got closer, the moan slowly turned into a shriek. A loud, sound crushing scream from a woman. The gelflings hesitated and looked at each other. It came from a gruenak lady. From the sounds, she was in dire pain and it sounded like she was begging between whimpers. But they couldn’t leave her like this, that’s for sure.
They gathered their resolve and walked towards the house. It seemed like the screams came from the basement. One of the gelfling, too scared to move, asked the others to wait outside. The rest of the group agreed.
The gelflings cautiously made their way into the ruined building, gripping their staves tight and doing their best to not make a noise as they climbed down the stairs. And through the half open door of the basement, the most disgusting spectacle awaited them.
The male gruenak’s limbs had been severed, his face repeatedly lacerated. His eyes were missing, and he was impaled on the wall through two swords. Hanging there. Dead. The woman, who was still weakly screaming was currently being clawed at and skinned alive by… No. No no no! It couldn’t be! A Lord of the crystal would NEVER do something so vile. It must have been a mistake. A trick maybe? It was impossible.
SkekKy grabbed the gruenak’s head in his jaws, piercing though her skull with his saber-teeth then slowly tearing her head off. He grunted then dropped it on the ground. SkekAn, who was pulling on the gruenak’s legs with her own jaws, cackled with an insane mirth in her eyes. The Tracker licked his lips then expelled a large amount of blood from his nostrils. Then he froze. His eyes stopped at the door, then he let out a quiet rumble with his throat.
The gelflings, realizing their presence was acknowledged, quietly backed away… But it was too late. The Blade Master slammed the door open and towered over the group of gelflings.
“Well… That’s unfortunate.” she said in skeksis language, with mild annoyance in her voice. “Tracker, do you ever do your job anymore!? There’s a horde of gelflings watching!”
“Hey, I’d like to see you sniffing things out with your snout full of gore!” he responded, blowing some more blood from his snout. “Oh Thra… We’re in trouble.”
“No we’re not. They are.” she grabbed the gelflings, ignoring their pleas for mercy, and dragged them in the room. “You know what we have to do now.”
“You’re insane! They’re gelflings! We’re not supposed to hurt them!”
She interrupted him again, throwing them all at once to a corner. She had no difficulty overpowering them, as the skeksis were some of the strongest beings on Thra.
“I know, but they saw us. If we let them go, they will dreamfast what they saw and then we will be in trouble.” her formerly annoyed tone turned more giddy, the one she took when she was excited to brutalize someone. “Besides… Don’t tell me you’ve never wanted to tear a gelfling apart before.”
SkekKy wanted to refute this but… Thra, he knew she was right. He wanted it and a lot of the other skeksis wanted it as well. It was a well known fact.
“Oh skekAn… Let it be our little secret war crime. Just this once.” he licked the blood from his lips, then walked closer to their future victims. “After all… War is cruel and unfair, no?”
SkekAn nodded, large dribbles of saliva gushing from in-between her teeth. The gelflings froze in fear.
“War may be cruel… But we’re worse.” she whispered, panting. “This will be fun.”
***
The gelfling man who had decided to stay on the outside of the house shuddered. The screams had stopped, and yet he had a bad feeling about this. His sensitive ears perceived a bunch of odd noises coming from the inside. As if people were crying and talking… As well as a bunch of odd rumbles.
No way he was going inside to check. Maybe there was a way to see what was going on in there? From what he remembered, the gruenaks often had little windows in their basement. Perhaps he could get a glimpse of the situation? Maybe his friend were helping out the lady from whatever attacked her. Or maybe she was trapped under a heavy piece of debris and they were cleaning her wounds? The thought comforted him for a second.
He walked around the house when suddenly he heard another soul shattering shriek. But this time, it didn’t come from a gruenak. No… It was from one of his friends. He ran around a bit, his heart racing, then spotted the window. He quietly looked through it and…
No. No it couldn’t be. He didn’t even last a few seconds. A single glimpse of a skeksis snout covered with blood was enough. His survival instincts got the better of him and he ran. He ran as fast as he could. In no time he was out of the village.
His mind came back to him as he continued running. The skeksis did this. They ransacked the village for no reason then tortured the civilians. And now they were murdering gelfling witnesses. He didn’t know what to think, but all he knew was that the clans must know about this monstrous crime. His friends were lost, he knew it. But he needed to tell someone. Dreamfast what he saw. With someone, anyone. Because if the skeksis were capable of such thing… This meant they weren’t the benevolent Lords they claimed to be. And maybe the gruenaks weren’t the aggressors after all.
He ran through the woods with his eyes filled with tears. His friends. He left them there. He will never see them again. But they will be avenged. The Emperor will have to explain himself. And maybe… This alliance wasn’t worth it.
His thought were interrupted by him violently running into something. The gelfling fell on his back and stood there, a bit dizzy for a second. When he looked up, he saw a giant figure. To his horror, it was a skeksis warrior. The Ambassador to be precise. He stared right into his soul with his orange eyes of fire.
“What are you doing here, gelfling!? This is enemy territory, you will get yourself killed!”
The giant skeksis roared, his shouts punctuated by grunts and snorts. The gelfling opened his mouth but was interrupted by the other warriors, whom all got alerted by skekVar’s yells.
“What’s going on here?” skekUng ran towards the scene. “Wait, a gelfling!? Here!?”
At this moment another warrior appeared from behind the gelfling, this one was covered with red tattoos. The Conqueror, whom spoke in an insufferable honeyed voice.
“Aw! Did the little gelfling get lost? Wait till the Collector sees this!”
But at this moment, another voice was heard, from his other side. The gelfling was now completely surrounded by the four warriors.
“I’m heeeere, skekGra. I see it, aaaaaand I don’t like it. Whaaaat is it doing here!?”
She shouted, clearly just as pissed about the situation as the Ambassador was. The gelfling froze in fear, the memory of his friends getting mauled by Lords of the Crystal still fresh in his mind. Maybe it was just the two skeksis he saw? Surely, the warriors weren’t so rotten… Right?
“Now, now, comrades. Let the little gelfling speak, I’m sure there’s a perfectly rational explanation for it’s presence.” skekGra said, still trying to keep on a friendly facade. “Now, gelfling. Will you explain yourself? What happened? Were you held hostage by the enemy? We’re all ears!”
There was no choice, now… And even thought the warriors were staring daggers at him… The Conqueror sounded oddly comforting, if not a little condescending. And after all… He had nothing to lose now.
“M-My Lords… I’m deeply sorry for my intrusion. Please forgive me! Me and the rest of the pilgrims were simply passing through when we came across the village and heard screams coming from-”
He was then rudely interrupted by an angry and bored Collector.
“Blah blah blah. Proceeeeeed.”
SkekUng then opened his beak to add his own two cents and shouted at the gelfling. Though he wasn’t sure if the Spy-Master was really screaming or if it was just his normal voice.
“Yeah, nobody cares about your life story. Tell us about why you’re here, now!!!”
The terrified gelfling whimpered and gathered his resolve, looking for the right words for a few seconds. At this point, he might as well be straight forward.
“I-I saw two Lords murdering my group of friends in the village. Torturing a-and murdering them… I was looking for help.”
He sobbed. He knew this wasn’t the full story but what else could he say? The warriors weren’t patient. Now hopefully they would punish the murderer. At this moment, the Ambassador grabbed him by the collar and shouted at him.
“Landstridershit! Liar! You’re accusing the Lords of the Crystal of betrayal! You’re a blasphemer, a heretic!”
SkekVar was about to snap the gelfling’s neck when the Collector interrupted him. The warriors looked at each other and frowned. As if they were considering it.
“Do you think they would…” skekGra spoke again, looking in the distance and frowning. “I mean we know them but…”
SkekVar growled at him in anger. Though, it seemed like he always stared daggers at the Conqueror, this time he looked furious. He didn’t have time to speak again that the Spy-Master responded to skekGra.
“No no, I can definitely see them doing this. There’s no way the gelfling’s making it up.”
The Collector nodded.
“Let’s have a taaaalk with them.” she said angrily. “They have some explaining to do.”
SkekVar objected to this. He seemed to be personally against it.
“There’s no way my lovely Blade Master would do such a thing! I’ve trained her, taught her about everything she needed to know like my own nestling.” He growled menacingly at his comrades. “If she messed up, it means I messed up. Are you saying I failed!?”
But the warriors didn’t even give him the time of the day. They turned around and made their way towards the village, despite skekVar’s protests.
“We’ll see about that soon enough, Ambassador.” skekUng hissed. “It’s about time your ‘lovely’ nestling realizes her actions have consequencess.”
And skekVar followed them all angrily, still holding the gelfling by the collar.
***
“Blade Master! Tracker! What in Thra’s name is wrong with you both!?”
SkekUng shouted in pure untethered rage. He knew the two of them were guilty for murdering gelflings, but that… That was next level. It was hard to believe the remains splattered all across the basement were gelflings once.
SkekVar’s captive closed his eyes. He couldn’t get himself to watch what had become of his friends. That smell… That smell was unbearable. It was unbearable. How could anybody do such a thing? How couldn’t anybody be so cruel?
“Oh, relax skekUng.” the Blade Master said nonchalantly. “Look, we had no other choice. They saw us.”
SkekKy, who was relaxing at the corner of the room and using a broken bone as a toothpick, continued.
“Yep. What else were we supposed to do? Let them go and allow them to dreamfast the news to the whole empire? Nonsense.”
SkekLach ripped the gelfling from the Ambassador’s hands and shoved him in the two guilty skeksis’ faces.
“Then whaaaaat is this, uh!? That one managed to run away! Saaaaaw everything!!!”
SkekGra also stepped in, unusually stern. There was no laughter in his eyes. That’s how one knew the situation was no joke.
“This is serious, you two. Can you even imagine what would have happened if it had managed to, Thra forbid, dreamfast what you two did with members of it’s kind? This could have led us to a rebellion! We do not need to lose our most faithful servants!
Faithful servants…? Did this mean… That the skeksis were truly malevolent? That they were using the gelfling as servants for their selfish needs? SkekVar spoke, his tone a tad bit softer than usual.
“You two are lucky we caught it after you foolishly let it escape.” he said half hardheartedly, though there was sill disappointment in his voice. “I hope you learned your lesson!”
SkekAn side eyed her friend and both sneered. Oh with skekVar as their support, they would for sure get away with this. The warriors, however, turned to him with annoyance.
“Lesson? Whaaaat lesson?” skekLach grunted, crossing her arms. “They need to explaaaain themselves to the Emperor!”
The two other skeksis nodded. SkekKy felt his heart dropping. No way this was happening. The Blade Master snarled, a nasty smile and quiet anger in her eyes.
“Snitches get stitches.” She said quietly, pulling her blades off the gruenak corpse. She was confident she could intimidate the warriors. “Trust me, you don’t want this to happen.”
The three other warriors drew their swords and pointed it at her throat. She didn’t expect them to actually be serious about it.
“SkekAn…” The Ambassador said weakly, with sadness in his voice. “...Don’t.”
The look in his face… So this was really happening. Oh well, she’ll figure it out with the Emperor.
“...Fine.” she dropped her two swords. “Have it your way. Enjoy wasting the Emperor’s time.”
The Tracker slid behind her staring at the two swords from behind her shoulder. He was clearly terrified of what the near future had in store. He trusted the Blade Master with his life, but… The two of them had never been caught like this. He wasn’t sure they would be able to get away with their foolishness this time around.
“We’ll see about that.” skekUng growled, getting very close to the Blade Master’s face. “Go on and be the insolent brat you’ve been ten seconds ago to the Emperor, let’s see how it serves you in the end.”
She kept a straight face, but it was obvious she wanted to turn the Spy-Master to mush like her previous victims at this very moment.
“She’s right!” skekVar interjected again. “The Emperor won’t care about this. We caught the runaway! He’ll punish us all if we halt the campaign for petty drama.”
SkekGra turned to him, unwilling to be friendly to the gormless warrior this time around.
“You’re not the Emperor, skekVar. These two have committed a capital crime and it’s our duty to inform him of their misdeeds.”
SkekVar looked down again, it looked like he was trying to think about something. The Blade Master wasn’t scared. She knew he was on her side and would always be but… He seemed unusually worried. Oh well, getting out of that one will be interesting.
“We will leave at dawn.” SkekGra concluded. The other warriors nodded. “Oh, and skekLach? Dispose of the witness.”
The gelfling opened wide eyes of terror, seconds before he felt the dull pain of a blade piercing through his stomach.
Then everything went dark.
***
In the carriage, the two friends were sharing a drink in silence. However, the Tracker kept spilling his drink all over the place. Not from the bumpy road, but from his trembling. SkekAn grabbed his hands and sighed.
“Will you quit quivering like a locksnake? I can’t hear myself think here!”
SkekKy frowned. He wasn’t in the mood for banter.
“Don’t you realize the trouble we’re in!? How are we supposed to get away with this!?” He pushed her talons away, spilling his drink all over both of their clothes in the process. “And quit restraining me, I’d like to enjoy my limbs while I still can!”
“Ugh. Don’t be such a nestling. You won’t lose anything. I’ve got this.” she said, wiping the drink off her robes. “We’ll be back on the road tonight.”
But skekKy wasn’t convinced. He crossed his arms and looked at her dead in the eyes.
“Do I need to remind you who’s fault it is?”
He said that quietly. The Blade Master paused, confused and angry.
“Are you saying this is my fault!?”
But he interrupted her before she could get on a tangent.
“No! It’s my fault! I didn’t sniff out that one critter! You were right, my snout is broken. The Emperor will probably chew it off.” skekAn groaned in annoyance at his words but he didn’t let her speak. “Look, you have privileges, but I have none. What I know is, one of us won’t get away with this.”
Once more, she grabbed his snout tightly with her talons, as she always did when she wanted to shut him up. And squeezed unusually hard.
“I will not let this happen. You hear!? We are both getting away Scot-free. All you need to do is shut up and play along. Let me handle this.”
He grabbed at her talons and squirmed out of her grip, holding her wrists tightly. He was a lot weaker than her but she simply stared, surprised and amused by his boldness. She could tell he was worried and angry, but to her his sudden show of strength reminded her more of a fizzgig desperately trying to defend it’s puppies than anything else.
“Look, skekAn. I know the Emperor and the Ambassador favor you a lot. But do you seriously believe being their adopted nestling will save your butt every time we mess things up? You’re getting way too confident, and the Emperor won’t like that one bit in the long run. We are all his servants, and this includes both of you and skekVar.” again, he stared at her right in the eyes. “The day you fall, it will be unbearable. And I’ll be falling alongside you. So maybe… Quit being so nonchalant about it.”
She paused for a second before freeing herself from his talons effortlessly. He rolled his eyes and buried his face in his hands. She sighed and sat next to him, patting his shoulder in silence. She didn’t quite understand his fear but… There was no point in letting him stress out like this. She knew nothing wrong would happen to him regardless. She had it all under control.
***
“...Excuse me!?” The Emperor gripped at the handles of his throne, eyes wide open, drooling and panting in pure rage, staring daggers at the two guilty skeksis.
The warriors had told just their tale, and the Emperor was certainly not pleased of what he had just heard. In fact, he was so furious his face almost turned red… Which was something that had never occured before. The whole court knew better than open their beak at this moment, even the Chamberlain.
“You… You two... Incapable… Worthless…” He rambled quietly, his voice getting increasingly more manic as he went on. “Stupid scum! You two… You almost destroyed everything I worked so hard for… My empire… Our comfort…”
At this moment, skekVar timidly interjected. He ignored the potent rage seemingly steaming from his one and only and defended skekAn just like expected.
“Sire… The Blade Master had no other choice. The gelfling had seen them disposing of the survivors and she couldn’t let them go. They had to die.”
SkekAn kept her head low but smirked slightly. Just as planned. SkekVar would get her out of this, like he always did. Though she had never seen the Emperor get so angry before. But if anything, it was exciting.
“Ambassador.” the Emperor turned to him slowly. “Shut up. Unless you want to spend the next few days in the oubliettes.”
SkekVar closed his eyes tightly and stepped back. The Blade Master’s head jolted up and her jaw dropped. The look in the Ambassador eyes told her everything she needed to know. She quickly bowed again, thinking and panicking. This was bad.
“Disposing of the witnesses is not the problem.” skekSo said, slightly calming down. “It’s their inability to be discreet and their willingness to let one run away that is unacceptable. They must be punished!”
Cheers were heard thought the room. skekAn couldn’t believe her ear holes. No way this was happening. She needed to think fast, certainly skekSo could be convinced…
“No.”
The entire room got quiet. The Blade Master looked up. It was the Tracker. Standing up to the Emperor. What was that buffoon doing!? He was dooming both of them! He repeated himself.
“No. I will be punished. I’m the one in charge of detecting enemies. I failed to notice the group and the runaway. I’m the one who should take the punishment.”
SkekAn stared at him horrified, then at the Emperor. His face remained unreadable, but yet she could feel some slight amusement in his eyes.
“Tracker, I don’t believe anybody asked for your opinion. Everything has been decided, you will both be punished.”
But skekKy didn’t falter. There was no way he would let this happen to his friend.
“So that’s it then? You’re just going to punish the Blade Master for my failures? You’re supposed to be fair and punish us accordingly. If not… Then you’re just a butcher who abuses his power. I will take the punishment for both of us, and that’s final.”
Oh no. She knew what game he was playing. And she knew he was going to win that one. She attempted to grab his snout once more but he got up and avoided her grip just in time.
“You pathetic renegade. Taking after skekNa, I see? No. You don’t even know what you’re talking about.” The both of them shot daggers at each other through stares. “But if you want it so badly… You shall be sentenced to the peeper beetle. Tomorrow morning. Ritual Master, go and prepare him, I don’t want to see his face until he’s caged up and begging.”
SkekZok stepped in, all happy and giddy about the thought of finally using one of the most interesting torture objects in his arsenal. He purred in the Tracker’s ear hole and sweetly told him to follow him, which skekKy did without question.
The Blade Master was still sitting down, frozen. It all went so wrong, and she didn’t do anything. Why didn’t she do anything!? She couldn’t let her friend go through this horror, no. She had to get him out of this ordeal.
***
The Emperor strutted gracefully through the corridors, ignoring the quick footsteps echoing from behind him. He stopped, waiting for the person trying to catch up to him. Despite being in a foul mood, he was willing to listen.
“Emperor!” skekAn shouted, rushing towards him. “Emperor, please! Could I have a moment of your time?”
“Bow to me first.” he hissed monotonously. And she did, quickly and shyly. The Emperor knew how much she hated being forced into submission but he also knew she would be ready to do anything to save her friend’s butt. “You may talk.”
“Sire…” she started cautiously. “Please, all of this is a big mistake. The warriors have been slandering us! We played a prank on the Conqueror one day and they’ve been holding a grudge against us ever since! They made it all up, please believe me…”
The Emperor didn’t even look in her eyes. He simply continued walking while talking.
“Don’t waste your time, skekAn. My will is law and the Tracker’s fate has been decided. He choose this too. There’s no going back.”
She panicked. He was sticking to his guns… Well, time to pull out her secret weapon. After that, skekSo could only say yes. She knew how much she meant to him. She caught up to him and grabbed him in a hug sobbing uncontrollably against his chest.
“Please… Father… Anything but that… I’ve made a mistake, this won’t happen again! But please, just this time… Be indulgent to my friend! I’ll be good, I promise…”
SkekSo stopped in his tracks, flabbergasted. Behind her tears, the Blade Master was smiling. She wasn’t used to cry but she could pull out a perfect act when needed. She pulled out this little trick a couple of times with the Ambassador, and she was confident it would work on the Emperor too.
After a short moment of her crying, the Emperor succumbed to it and embraced her, slowly running his talons through her hair and nuzzling her beak with his own. Bingo.
“There, there… My little one… It’s okay… You will be okay.”
Then the purring started. Oh, he was so predictable. There were nothing easier than manipulating a sterile yet broody skeksis… And she certainly wasn’t going to hold back.
“Please… Let him go… He’ll be good, he’ll never say anything ever again… But don’t do this to him… Father…”
She ruthlessly continued her act, skekSo gripping at him tighter. He seemed to be thinking about it for a moment… Then he finally spoke.
“You know I can’t refuse you anything, my moonlight. However, I cannot go back on my word. The punishment will still take place tomorrow. But… I’m hearing your pleas and said punishment shall be altered accordingly.”
The Emperor whispered in the sweetest voice skekAn has ever heard coming from him. She looked up to him and jumped up at his neck, not dropping her mask. She knew she looked silly as hell acting like a little girl like this but… It was working, so she might as well go all the way.
“Oh, thank you father! Thank you! You’re the best!” she said, purring in his neck. “I’m so happy!”
SkekSo nodded and pinched her cheek softly, watching her tail wag. She had never seen such a warm smile on the Emperor’s face and almost felt bad for playing with his weakness like this.
“I’m glad you are.” he said, then gently pushed her away by the shoulders. Now, go. I have… Important matters to attend.”
“Sure thing! Thanks, father!” she said, walking away, a smug grin of victory on her face. “See you tomorrow!”
“Oh, I’m counting on it…” skekSo whispered to himself slyly. “Moonlight.”
***
The next morning, all of the skeksis gathered to witness the Tracker’s punishment. Everyone was excited as they always were for such event, and this included skekAn… But for different reasons.
The Blade Master was confident that her little trick had saved skekKy’s bum, and despite the fact it was still happening… The Emperor had decreed that his punishment shall be altered. It was a victory. Now her friend would simply have to go through a mildly painful or humiliating experience.
SkekAn was not able to see skekKy since he was taken away by the Ritual Master. It was to be expected, as guilty skeksis would be forced through a period of prayer as a mean to purge them from their sins. For a renegade, it would usually take an entire night. She wished she could have seen him so she could have comforted him, that she set everything right and he wasn’t going to lose his eye after all. But oh well, the two of them would have all the time on Thra to celebrate later.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of squeaky wheels and podling slaves grunting as they were pulling a large torture table with a frightened Tracker tied up on it. Stupid Ritual Master, a chair would have been much more practical. Probably wanted to show off. Not surprising.
The Tracker was looking around the room, terrified. His eyes stopped at skekAn’s face, and he gave her a sad look. She smiled smugly, letting him know with her body language that she got things taken care of. SkekKy slow blinked at her, looking at little bit less tense, letting her know he got the message.
The Emperor silently slid across the room and made his way near the Ritual Master. As planned, he whispered something in skekZok’s ear. To skekAn’s delight, the Ritual Master looked increasingly disappointed and frustrated as the Emperor spoke, but then he perked up and opened wide eyes.
“Oh my… Emperor. You spoil me today. Thank you for this blessing.”
SkekZok said, almost drooling from the anticipation. The Blade Master frowned. What was he so happy about? Something was wrong. The Emperor nodded.
“Mhh. Don’t say I never do anything for you. The Scientist is waiting for you in the corridors, but be quick. I have more important things to do.”
The Ritual Master bowed slightly to his Lord and disappeared in the dark arteries of the corridor. But obviously not for so long… SkekKy noticed the look on his friend’s face. He knew things weren’t going as planned. Although he spent the entire night accepting that things went wrong the moment they got busted by the gelflings.
The Emperor did a short speech, explaining to the skeksis that he had changed his mind about the punishment, that the peeper beetle was reserved for a different type of offense. SkekAn didn’t really listen to any of it, she was too scared to know what was going to happen.
As he finished, skekZok appeared again, holding a strange contraption in his talons. He waited here, all holy and proud of himself. The skeksis all took the hint and set each other in the ritual line for the punishment, which the priest was going to walk through. The Blade Master placed herself on the nearest spot to skekKy, and the Emperor choose to settle right in front of her with a blank expression. She gave him a begging glance but his face remained stern.
Then, the ritual started. SkekZok walked through the path chanting the words, while skekKy got increasingly more distressed. He was hyperventilating. Always did when he was frightened… SkekAn would poke fun at him for it, sometimes imitating him and it ironically enough always calmed him down. But this time… This time she was hyperventilating too, and for real. It was unbearable to watch.
“When we fail ourselves…” skekZok started, as expected, strutting proudly through the file.
“We must be punished.” all the skeksis echoed, slamming their respective scepters on the ground. The Blade Master though, said it quite weakly and had to straighten herself under the Emperor’s gaze.
“When we fail each other…” the Ritual Master continued, struggling to stay professional though his excitement.
“We must be punished!” the skeksis responded again, as always with more excitement in their voices and in the slam of their scepters. SkekAn felt a surge of anger at the moment. Why were they so happy to see the Tracker suffer? He hadn’t done anything to them! A second too late, she realized she hadn’t slammed her scepter, so she did it way off tune. The Emperor tilted his head slightly but didn’t speak.
“When we fail our Emperor…” the priest said with delight in his voice, enjoying all the looks on him. Oh, how big and strong he felt… How good it was to inflict those punishments, he thought to himself.
“We must be punished!!!” the court roared, slamming their staves a final time on the ground. But the usually sadistic Blade Master barely did, too scared and dizzy to continue playing along. She saw her friend’s tail tremble a little… It was too much for her.
As the Ritual Master passed her by, she set her eyes on the torture object he had been holding. From the distance, she couldn’t quite make out what it was supposed to be, but from up close… It looked like a pair of peculiar socks with straps. Made of wood. What were they called… Shoes? What was it supposed to do? Torture skekKy with questionable fashion?
The Ritual Master secured the Tracker’s legs while taking off the restraints from his ankles. She watched her friend’s expression change. She still didn’t get what was happening but apparently he did.
“Mercy! Emperor! Please, I beg of you! Mercy!!! I’ll do anything! But please not that!” he cried out repeatedly, in an increasingly panicked tone as he struggled against his shackles.
The priest gabbed one of the Tracker’s legs and one of the shoes, trying to force his foot into it. SkekKy groaned at the pressure of the Ritual Master pushing on the top of his foot. There was no way they’d fit in there, skekAn thought. She knew his feet were way too deformed for him to even be able of thinking wearing something like this.
The priest, who had seemingly anticipated the issue, called for skekTek to help.
“Scientist. Hammer.” the usually shy skekTek pulled out a large metallic hammer out of one of his pockets, looking all giddy. Probably excited to see his new invention being put to use in such a public way.
Both skekAn and skekKy opened wide eyes. There was no way this was happening. She turned to the Emperor quickly, and this time… He was smiling at her. He was dead serious. Oh Thra…
The Ritual Master angled the hammer towards the top of skekKy’s foot, ignoring his screams and demands for mercy. Then… He smashed it against the top of the foot repetitively, over and over. The cracking sounds were almost as horrible as the Tracker’s agonizing cries of pain. He was swearing and crying at first, then it all turned into non-stop screaming. SkekZok pushed on his foot with all his strength and with an ignominious snapping sound, finally managed to force the broken foot into the shoe.
The process was then repeated for the other foot while the Scientist proudly explained to the court what he had just created. Orthoses or whatever he called them. Originally created to help the healing of ankles and feet, but were a fitting device of torture for the Tracker. To add insult to the injury, the Emperor nodded at the Scientist’s explanation, something he never did before.
Once the priest had finished, the Emperor ordered that the Tracker was to be locked in a very tight cage in a standing position, and said cage hanged up in the ceiling for a few days.
This was done on purpose. SkekAn realized, she had made his punishment worse. He might still have both of his eyes but his agony was going to take so much longer and affect him horribly forever. With the peeper beetle… It would already be over. This was next level cruelty. She couldn’t wrap her head around it. Why was this happening? Did the Emperor… Figure it all out? Seemed like he did.
Needless to say, the Blade Master ran out as soon as the punishment was over. She couldn’t bear to see the Tracker like this, and it was pointless to visit him anyway. He was screaming so much and was in such dire pain he couldn’t notice she was there. It was enough that she could hear him from her chambers… She felt so much guilt and anger that night, and at some point couldn’t contain the tears from flowing on her cheeks.
***
The next day, she was summoned to the throne room by the Emperor. SkekKy’s cage had been moved somewhere else, probably because his constant screams were irritating to skekSo. The Blade Master immediately fell to her knees as soon as she arrived in the center of the room. Thank Thra they were alone.
The Emperor observed her for a bit then got up, circling her. He then ran a talon on her cheek, and rubbed it against his thumb.
“Ah. So you can cry real tears after all.” he said mockingly. She looked down, trying her best to keep a straight face. “Why so glum, my little one? Is that not what you wanted? I changed the punishment as you requested.”
She didn’t reply. There was no point. She knew she shouldn’t beg for anything either. The Tracker had been through enough.
“Do you know why I picked this punishment for your friend?” the Emperor continued quietly, circling her once more. “I’m waiting.”
“Because we murdered gelflings. And then he disrespected you, sire. He… He blasphemed.” she replied blankly.
“No.” the Emperor said flatly, slowly walking back to his throne and sitting on it. “Your first mistake wasn’t the murder, but letting one of the witnesses escape. But that is not the point. SkekKy would have been sentenced to the peeper beetle for his disrespect… If it wasn’t for you. But… I think you’ve already figured it all out.”
She looked up at him weakly, only to see him sitting sideways on his throne. He seemed in a rather playful mood but there was still a lot of anger in his eyes.
“Blade Master, I’ll be frank with you. I’m disappointed. You really thought I wouldn’t notice the little game you’ve been playing lately? I see you as a daughter, skekAn, but in the end… You’re still my servant, just like the Ambassador. You must remember your place.” He got up again and slowly walked towards her, then tightly grabbed her snout in his talons… The same way she would do it with skekKy. “And if there’s one thing I will not tolerate from you, moonlight, it’s your pathetic attempts to use my longing for a biological legacy for your own personal agenda.”
He gripped her snout tighter, and she groaned as she felt the talons sink slightly under her skin. After a moment, he let her go and turned his back on her. He then resumed his speech.
“I believe I should also let you know of something else. I had originally planned on punishing both of you through a couple of quill extraction and a few weeks in the oubliettes. Doesn’t sound as bad, right? Right. So next time, you two will think twice before opening your beaks.”
He turned around slightly to glance at her over his shoulder. She nodded, and from her expressionless face it seemed like she felt nothing anymore… But the Emperor knew he broke her.
“Anything else?” he said mockingly. “I’m all ears.”
SkekAn hesitated for a moment, not wanting to make the situation worse, but she still had something to say.
“After what happened to him, it will be very hard for the Tracker to follow me on the field. He already struggled with walking… We’ll be slowed down greatly.”
She hoped it didn’t sound too much as an attack to skekSo, but she felt like he still had to know. He snorted in a mean laughter.
“Ahhh. But that is part of your punishment, Blade Master. It’s all up to you to figure this out. I’m still expecting a flawless performance from the both of you. Don’t disappoint me again, and I’ll be willing to be lenient.”
“I understand, Emperor. Thank you.” the Blade Master nodded, fake motivation in her eyes. This would be hard, too hard…
“Right. Dismissed.” skekSo waved her away, as if she was an annoying z’nid bird buzzing in his ear holes.
SkekAn quietly walked out of the throne room, deep into the darkest corridors. Once she was alone, she drew both of her swords and manically slashed at the walls, screeching with rage, more of her sanity vanishing with each indent she created each times she blindly bashed at the stone.
***
A few weeks had passed since the Tracker’s punishment. His cage had finally been taken down from the ceiling and he had been heavily operated onto by the Scientist. Thankfully, skekTek was able to completely restore the bones of his feet, though he couldn’t take away his deformity because of the way they were shaped. He explained something about artificial bones and tendons.
SkekAn didn’t care much, as long as the Tracker wasn’t in pain and forever mutilated. She knew that after what happened, he’d probably never be the same. And she knew she wouldn’t be either. All she wanted was to comfort him. But it wasn’t time for that, he was still heavily drugged up, and he would be for the next couple days.
As the Blade Master walked through the corridors like a lost soul, she heard a familiar booming voice coming from behind her.
“Moonlight!” He shouted. She felt all her muscles tense from hearing that nickname. The Ambassador caught up to her. “My little one! How are you doing?”
She turned around to face him, her face blank. SkekVar stared at her with his soft smile and his warm eyes. She usually would be infuriated by his presence but… He defended them. He didn’t rat them out to the Emperor unlike those other traitor warriors. She felt grateful, but she also felt something else…
She didn’t say a word and collapsed in his arms. Not even crying, just… Needing comfort. SkekVar had been told about it all by Emperor but he still choose to comfort her despite his better judgment. He held her tight and just like skekSo before, ran his talons through her hair. And for the first time in her life… She appreciated it.
No other words were exchanged between them. Once he was done comforting her, both smiled weakly and parted ways.
This was the moment where skekAn realized… She appreciated the relationship she had with her adoptive parents. And even after what skekSo had done, part of her pain was in fear of losing him. And she thought, maybe this lesson was needed for her to realize that.
The mentally broken Blade Master straightened her back, promising to herself she would never let something like this happen again. She would never take the Emperor for granted. She’ll show him love and devotion, like a biological nestling would.
Yes, she’ll serve the Emperor and him only. No more putting herself first.
***
SkekAn nervously stood in front of the Tracker’s bedchambers’ door. Here it was, closed, quiet, and with her friend waiting for her on the inside. She couldn’t let him hanging any longer, as she had already heard the Scientist’s complaints of his endless requests to see her.
She gently knocked at the door and invited herself in, putting on her best smile even though he would definitely be able to tell she wasn’t doing good. But it wouldn’t be a surprise to him, naturally.
SkekKy was laying down inside a mountain of covers, like he always did. The oaf refused to sleep in anything that wasn’t drowning him in warmth, even during boiling summers. He perked up and immediately got excited to see his friend.
“Blade Master!” he said weakly, huge bags under his eyes. Clearly still woozy from all the drugs and surgeries he went through. As well as all the trauma. “I missed you a lot. Please come!”
SkekAn walked up to him and sat on the edge of the bed, making sure she wouldn’t be sitting on his tail by accident.
“SkekKy… How… How are you doing?” she asked almost as weakly. “Do you need anything? Oh Thra… I’m so sorry I couldn’t help you…”
At this moment, the guilt felt heavier. The Emperor’s words were still within her, and would always be. Her fault. It was her fault. She convinced herself.
“Hey now… It’s all in the past now. I don’t want to talk about it. Or think of it. All I want now, is to murder some more gruenaks to blow up some steam.” he interrupted himself for a second. “But, um… Maybe we’ll skip the gelfling next time.”
She nodded and laughed weakly. At least he was still himself. Sorta. He continued speaking.
“The warriors… They snitched on us. I’m not going to forgive them.” he growled angrily. “We need to teach them a lesson one day.”
“I agree.” she responded. “They shouldn’t be able to get away with this. But not skekVar, he tried to defend us. He asked me to tell you that you’re not that bad… For a weakling.”
The Tracker rumbled weakly and smiled at her words.
“Just for that one… I won’t hold a grudge on him. He’s fine.” he shifted a bit in his massive sea of blankets. “Are you okay, on your side? I wish you didn’t have to see this.”
“I’m okay.” She nodded. He raised an eyebrow.
“Are you? You didn’t do the thing.”
“What thing?” she asked, genuinely confused.
“You know…” He weakly grabbed her hand and set it around his snout. “The thing we do!”
She remembered how it felt when the Emperor grabbed her snout and talked down to her. How humiliating it felt. She immediately pulled her hand off his face.
“No, skekKy. I will not do that to you anymore. It’s disrespectful.” she paused for a moment. “I’m sorry I ever treated you that way.”
He rolled his eyes and huffed.
“It’s not disrespectful! It’s our thing, we’ve always done that. I find it comforting when you do it.” he thought about it for a bit and spoke again playfully. “Okay maybe do not squeeze so hard in the future.”
SkekAn smiled and gently grabbed his beak, holding it shut. Now that she thought about it… She had never truly done it with the intent to hurt or humiliate him. It felt oddly comforting to think about.
After a moment, skekKy spoke again through her talons.
“Thank you for being here, my friend. You make being a Lord of the Crystal more bearable.”
She smiled, looking down. Both weren’t the best with words but she felt deeply touched that the person who suffered for no reason was still willing to be her friend. She couldn’t tell him she caused the punishment to be so bad… But she could at least say one thing.
“Thank you for being my friend, even though I’m a fire that keeps on burning you.”
And with these words, they simply exchanged a weak yet sincere laugh.