Scene: Return to the Tomb of Ascendant Flame
The jungle air is thick with humidity, the acrid smell of ash lingering from the Tomb of Ascendant Flame. As the ruins come into view, the jagged stones appear more ominous under the muted glow of a dying sun. Bloodpincer, a wiry gnoll with tattered fur matted with dried blood, trudges forward, his hands gripping a gnarled staff marked with the runes of Hadregash. Beside him, The Red Flux, a lithe figure cloaked in red, her scaled skin glinting faintly, strides with an air of detached authority.
Bloodpincer (snarling, glancing nervously at the tomb):
“I’m telling you, Red Flux, there’s no way they could’ve survived. The Maw of Hadregash... it was tearing reality itself apart. No mortal can face that and live. When I fled, the Sentinels were in the chamber, alone with the Maw. Hells, I barely got away with my own hide!”
Red Flux (voice calm but cutting):
“You ran, Bloodpincer. Abandoned Thraask Bloodtide and the others to their deaths. Now you scurry back like a rat sniffing for scraps.”
Bloodpincer (ears flattening, defensive):
“I ran because Thraask’s plan was madness! Summoning the Maw? He didn’t even tell us the full scope of it! And—and how did the Sentinels even get here? There was a summoning circle on the grass outside. Someone left it there. It almost felt... intentional.”
Red Flux (pausing mid-step, her crimson eyes narrowing):
“Intentional, you say?”
Bloodpincer (hesitant, wary of her reaction):
“Yes, I... thought it strange. Almost as if someone wanted them to come here. Who would...?”
Red Flux (turning her gaze on him, cold and piercing):
“I left the circle.”
Bloodpincer (stammering, eyes widening):
“You—what? Why?”
Red Flux (smirking, a hint of venom in her tone):
“Thraask Bloodtide was an upstart, a fool. He thought himself cunning, whispering to Van Droth behind my back. His ambition was growing tiresome. I knew the Sentinels of Seregon would come. I knew they would crush him. It was the perfect punishment for his insolence.”
Bloodpincer (blinking, struggling to process):
“So... you used the Sentinels as your pawns? But—but Thraask’s plan wasn’t just some petty power grab. He wanted to destroy Seregon’s food supply. He said it would starve the city into submission. He had the maw devour everything in its path, preparing for... I don’t even know the scope of it!”
Red Flux (tilting her head, genuinely impressed):
“Hm. So the brute had vision after all. I underestimated him. A shame his ambition exceeded his capacity for discretion.”
Bloodpincer (licking his lips nervously):
“And me? I was lucky I got away, I suppose. If I had stayed...”
Red Flux (stepping closer, her voice softening but with deadly undertones):
“Yes, Bloodpincer. You were very lucky indeed.”
Bloodpincer (ears perking slightly, a glimmer of hope):
“Well, I suppose that luck brought me to the right place now. I can help, yes? We’ll rebuild, Red Flux. Together, we’ll—”
Red Flux (with lightning speed, baring her fangs):
“You should have kept running.”
In a blur of motion, Red Flux’s fangs sink into Bloodpincer’s neck. His yelp is cut short as the venomous bite crackles with a faint charge of arcane energy. His body twitches and falls limp in moments, his lifeless form crumpling at her feet.
Red Flux (smirking, wiping her lips):
“Such loyalty, such cowardice. A poor combination. But perhaps your death will serve as an offering to Hadregash... or simply as entertainment.”
Behind her, the faint sound of oozing flesh begins to echo from the tomb. The Maw of Hadregash, near imperceptible, slides down the steps, its formless mass shifting almost curiously toward the fresh corpse.
Red Flux (turning toward the tomb, voice cold):
“And now, we begin again.”