Devoted Tails, Chapter 2: Enter Scry...
#2 of Devoted Tails
Little to Felicity and Myxxi's knowledge, something was brewing on the distant continent of Demascuria, a land of war-torn and violent people. Having a long history of murder and betrayal, the current state of this land was in shambles, stricken with much poverty and sickness, at least to the peasants. The Nobles themselves tended to live even more decadently than in the richest countries in the world, although precisely why was a mystery to even their highest government officials. The land itself was strewn with whispers of a life long-past; ruins and old artifacts, which screamed of a mystery just waiting to be unfolded, filled all parts of this place. It was a heaven for archaeologists. Whatever was currently taking place was happening in a long-abandoned stone building in the middle of one of the continent's lush jungles. Devoid of civilization because of an odd lack of edible vegetation, this building, which appeared to have been a place of worship or some such, would be an obvious choice for any kind of shady activity one might wish to perform. Suddenly, a dark figure threw open the doors, and was faced by a large wolf wearing a dark-brown robe, which covered all of his body besides his face. A long scar trailing down his right cheek told all that laid their eyes on him that his lifestyle was less than desirable. "You're late, Scry." The wolf said. "I do not appreciate lateness." "Get over it. I'm not your servant. I'm only here to do what you want and get paid." The wolf grumbled to himself as he led Scry inside, barring the huge doors now behind them. "I don't like working with mercs. You are a fairly good example of why not." "Perhaps so, but I'm the best you're going to find, inside or outside of your little 'circles', so you'll just have to suck it up." Scry said. "I, myself, do not like working with angry cults. The only reason I'm on this job is because of the ridiculous amounts of money I happen to have my mind set on." "That much is promised as long as you carry out your assignment well enough. I'm sure you know what happens if you don't." The wolf said as he picked up a lantern hanging on one of the hooks bored into the wall. "And we won't make it painless, either." "Whatever" Scry said, making an ugly face at the wolf. "I don't fail. The fact that I'm here is proof enough. Hurry up and show me whatever it is I need to see so that I can get on with it and waste all of my reward on vodka." The wolf sighed. "You're such a fool." Walking down on of the corridors, he stopped abruptly in front of a great mural depicting a rather large doberman being flayed by a reptile of some kind. Searching for something, apparently, the wolf bent down and ran his eyes across the wall. "Ah, here it is." He said, pressing in a small brick. Suddenly, the mural on the wall seemed to sink in; the wolf pushed it aside, revealing a pitch black hallway with a stairwell at the end. He could see Scry tense a bit. "Follow." The wolf said haltingly, leading hom towards the stairs. "What you're about to see can be told to no one." Unsure, but ever-greedy, Scry followed the wolf down the ancient stairwell, looking up at the cobwebs adorning the ceiling. Something wasn't quite right about this place. "Exactly how do you know about this?" Scry asked. "Are you some kind of archaeologist?" "Some kind." The wolf said, cracking a smile. "We know quite a lot of things. Ah, here we are." The wolf walked off of the last step and into a small room; he began to light the torches on the wall, revealing slowly in the light a table adorned with ancient artifacts and totems, as well as feather-pens and papers, many of them with beautifully drawn maps depicted on the front. The walls had many murals and paintings, mostly depicting violent scenes which contained hints of powerful magics and strange creatures Scry had never seen. Chills were visibly being sent down his spine. He walked towards the table, keeping all of his questions in. "So what's the idea, oh creepy one?" He asked, not completely joking. The wolf pointed to a small envelope on the table. "Read the contents. You will carry out the instructions inside cleanly and quickly. As such, they are non-negotiable." Scry picked them up, and studied the envelope. A small wax seal with a royal-looking letter "R" covered the flap. "Thanks, sir!" He said, eager to leave the strange ruins. "I'll be on my way and get back to you when..." He walked forward as the words left his mouth, when suddenly a hand was placed on his shoulder quite forcefully. "No, you will not get back to me 'when'. You will stay here and read these instructions. We cannot risk you telling anyone about this or you losing the envelope." Scry winced. He hated these kind of deals. "And if I refuse?" He said maliciously. The wolf laughed. "Oh, you won't." He said, when suddenly five other cloaked figures emerged from the shadows. "Trust us, you won't."
"You want me to KILL the fucking emperor?!" Scry exclaimed, jumping from his chair. "What kind of shit is this?!" The wolf looked down at him and smiled. "The kind you're going to do, Scry, if you value your life." "You bastards!" He yelled. "You didn't say anything about KILLING me if I disagreed!" He yelled. "that wasn't in the deal!" The wolf laughed. "Of course it was. You simply didn't ask. The only deal we made was you carrying out our instructions and you getting your compensation. You never said anything about 'refusal'. Of course you will still be paid in full...assuming you do your duty to the order. Otherwise, unfortunately, you won't ever get paid again." Scry sighed. He knew he'd gotten himself into a mess. The only option, besides killing his captors, was to finish the job, and killing them was out of the question...he was far too outnumbered, and he had the odd feeling that somehow they weren't exactly unskilled. Discouraged, he rose from his seat. "Fine." He said. "I'll do your damn dirty work, but so help me god, if for some reason you 'forget' to pay me..." The wolf sighed. "We have far more than enough money for that. Leave it to us. We are honourable people." He said. "We do not break deals lightly." Scry grumbled and walked towards the stairs, more uneasy than ever before in his life. "May I go now, mother?" He said spitefully. The wolf grinned. "Yes, of course." Motioning to one of his comrades, he fixed his gaze on Scry. "This is one of our brothers. She will follow you and make sure that you don't compromise us. You are to perform your duty as soon as possible, and then return here. We will be waiting. If aid is needed in any...negotiation...she will assist you. Attempting to kill her or run, however, will be more than fatal. We do not reccomend it." Scry's new "ally" walked up beside him, and smiled. "I am Anastasia. I have no doubt you will be needing my assistance, eventually." She said. Scry felt a bit more relieved; she seemed to be more friendly than the wolf which had led him to this place. "Thanks, but I doubt it. I always work alone." She nodded knowingly, but obviously didn't take his words to heart. This was quite a big job, after all. Scry walked up the first step and sighed at the now-trailing cloaked feline. "Never trust a wolf." He said, under his breath. "Never...." As Scry left the tiny room behind and traversed the long starway to the surface level of the ruins, the mysterious cloaked wolf turned to face his brothers, slowly breaking into a toothy, malicious grin. "The first step of action has been initiated, friends. Soon...very soon." He smiled from ear to ear and stepped into the shadows, trailing off down one of the many corridors, the other wolves following close behind. Meanwhile, in a small dorm across the world, Felicity and Myxxi were discovering more about each other than they ever would have imagined they had in common. As their closeness to each other grew tremendously in a single moment, anyone could tell that it was only a matter of time before they became lovers...but little did they know, this would only last so long.