Earth Quarter, Netzach's home
Dreams were vivid for Netzach these days.
Often they involved sitting on an Ivory throne, laying waste to his enemies, and eating and drinking whatever he wanted in a palace of pure gold.
All the women desired him, all the men desired to be him, and for once he was the object of envy, and not the one who was envious of someone else's grand story.
And he felt in control. The kingdom ran on the dead. And the living bowed to his thralls. There was no army but the army he controlled, his army of the dead. An army of absolute loyalty, and one that assured him that he could never be dethroned, for he alone held the absolute force of war in his kingdom. All the living were relegated to servants and slaves. And-
Plink. Plink. Plink.
The sound of tapping on glass broke through the murky sea of sleep. For a trill, he was aware of his body, in a cheap home rented out in the Earth Quarter.
His body groaned with tiredness, hugging the comparatively warm and inviting bed for comfort. As the trill passed, he felt himself sinking back into the sweet embrace of sleep.
Must be some kid throwing rocks at the window or something. He thought.
He returned to his palace of gold, the feeling of a crown on his head, and a regal scepter in his hand, he reclined in an Ivory throne as all his courtiers kneeled before him. The majesty. The power. The-
Plink. Plink. Plink. PLINK.
The tapping broke through the fog of sleep again, this time more urgentlly.
He made some sort of incomprehensible noise and dragged himself out of bed with a groan.
"Ughh... Damn it, what the blazes is that noise?"
He stumbled over to the window, where the noise seemed to be coming from, his heavy head cradled in one hand, rubbing his eyes that still saw the dream world.
As he blinked and let his eyes focus to the bright sunshine outside the window, he saw sitting on the windowsill... a crow.
A crow with a rolled up note tied to its neck, looking at Netzach intently in the eyes.
The two of them stared at each other silently for a trill.
And then a Bit.
"Uhh..." Netzach started, startled by the strange... intensity he saw in the crow's gaze. A purposefulness, like he knew exactly where he was, where he had to be. Here, in front of Netzach.
"Hello...?"
"Caw." Came the reply. Great, now he was talking to a crow.
He opened the window, finding the Crow standing its ground patiently, instead of flying away with the same skittish demeanor that birds are known for.
"Caw." It said again.
Netzach took it to mean 'Take the note', and so reached out to unbind it from its neck.
He read the note, that was incredibly brief, and unsigned by its sender.
"Netzach. Get to the Dust Quarter. Kill one of the flying pigs, then gut it. You'll find something very special inside. Bring it back to me."
This arrogant, commanding tone of speech. And the way he asked Netzach to do something ridiculous like killing and gutting a pig like it was nothing...
There was only one person Netzach knew who could have sent him this letter.
He looked up from the note and at the crow, who was staring at him. No, not staring.
He waved his hand infront of the crow's eyes. It did not move, nor blink. It wasn't even breathing.
Netzach poked it, and it fell over stiffly, like a wood carving. Dead.
A Thrall Netzach noted.
Hod, his mentor, had been the one to send him the letter.
But what did he mean by flying pigs? And why now? What was happening at the Dust Quarter?
"Damn it, master..." Netzach said, gingerly picking up the corpse of the crow, completely unsure what to do with it. "Couldn't you at least not leave a dead bird at my windowsill?!?"
He could almost imagine his mentor's laughter. Another practical joke, no doubt. He was far too fond of making things a nuisance for his apprentice.
Often they involved sitting on an Ivory throne, laying waste to his enemies, and eating and drinking whatever he wanted in a palace of pure gold.
All the women desired him, all the men desired to be him, and for once he was the object of envy, and not the one who was envious of someone else's grand story.
And he felt in control. The kingdom ran on the dead. And the living bowed to his thralls. There was no army but the army he controlled, his army of the dead. An army of absolute loyalty, and one that assured him that he could never be dethroned, for he alone held the absolute force of war in his kingdom. All the living were relegated to servants and slaves. And-
Plink. Plink. Plink.
The sound of tapping on glass broke through the murky sea of sleep. For a trill, he was aware of his body, in a cheap home rented out in the Earth Quarter.
His body groaned with tiredness, hugging the comparatively warm and inviting bed for comfort. As the trill passed, he felt himself sinking back into the sweet embrace of sleep.
Must be some kid throwing rocks at the window or something. He thought.
He returned to his palace of gold, the feeling of a crown on his head, and a regal scepter in his hand, he reclined in an Ivory throne as all his courtiers kneeled before him. The majesty. The power. The-
Plink. Plink. Plink. PLINK.
The tapping broke through the fog of sleep again, this time more urgentlly.
He made some sort of incomprehensible noise and dragged himself out of bed with a groan.
"Ughh... Damn it, what the blazes is that noise?"
He stumbled over to the window, where the noise seemed to be coming from, his heavy head cradled in one hand, rubbing his eyes that still saw the dream world.
As he blinked and let his eyes focus to the bright sunshine outside the window, he saw sitting on the windowsill... a crow.
A crow with a rolled up note tied to its neck, looking at Netzach intently in the eyes.
The two of them stared at each other silently for a trill.
And then a Bit.
"Uhh..." Netzach started, startled by the strange... intensity he saw in the crow's gaze. A purposefulness, like he knew exactly where he was, where he had to be. Here, in front of Netzach.
"Hello...?"
"Caw." Came the reply. Great, now he was talking to a crow.
He opened the window, finding the Crow standing its ground patiently, instead of flying away with the same skittish demeanor that birds are known for.
"Caw." It said again.
Netzach took it to mean 'Take the note', and so reached out to unbind it from its neck.
He read the note, that was incredibly brief, and unsigned by its sender.
"Netzach. Get to the Dust Quarter. Kill one of the flying pigs, then gut it. You'll find something very special inside. Bring it back to me."
This arrogant, commanding tone of speech. And the way he asked Netzach to do something ridiculous like killing and gutting a pig like it was nothing...
There was only one person Netzach knew who could have sent him this letter.
He looked up from the note and at the crow, who was staring at him. No, not staring.
He waved his hand infront of the crow's eyes. It did not move, nor blink. It wasn't even breathing.
Netzach poked it, and it fell over stiffly, like a wood carving. Dead.
A Thrall Netzach noted.
Hod, his mentor, had been the one to send him the letter.
But what did he mean by flying pigs? And why now? What was happening at the Dust Quarter?
"Damn it, master..." Netzach said, gingerly picking up the corpse of the crow, completely unsure what to do with it. "Couldn't you at least not leave a dead bird at my windowsill?!?"
He could almost imagine his mentor's laughter. Another practical joke, no doubt. He was far too fond of making things a nuisance for his apprentice.
