Spectre in the Mist [M]

[Aidan]

@TheUnforgiving

Characters Involved: Rinpoche | Alera N'Rali



Rin was getting too old to be wandering through the jungles at night, and he had the scratch on his cheek to prove it.

The blemish annoyed him, though he suspected a few of his clients might think it made him look more rugged. He shuddered to think what his hair must look like. An ache in his left knee reminded him that, despite the youthful vigor he still felt in his mind, his body was now fully into middle age. The conclusion? Rin was too old for this shit.

In his early 20's, cult meetings in the middle of the Kunata rainforest had seemed fun and mysterious, and the magic they used felt more natural and more powerful than the usual divination crap most of the Maoin peddled. But that was 20 years ago now, and so much had changed.

In his youth, Rin had been unattached. His ambition and desire for power had driven him to service the wealthiest and most well-connected members of Thanati society. There were very few Council members he didn't know intimately. And the rush of forbidden magic and secret societies had felt like a drug to him.

Back then, if the high leaders of The Circle Undone had given him this order, he would have completed it with glee. He would have watched the world around him burn and reveled in the power of the flames.

But somewhere along the line, he had fucked up. He had started to care.

Now, the order he had received weighed on his heart like granite. And as leader of the Thanati chapter of the Circle, it was up to him to make sure it went off without a hitch. Definitely too old for this shit.

It wasn't the first time Rin had thought of getting out. He had once sent out feelers about options for walking away, but when you joined a cult of death mages, you typically weren't reading the part about the retirement plan.

Rin's mind flashed to the younglings of his House. The children he would never be allowed to have. How many of them would die at his hand?

Rin doubled over and retched into the damp undergrowth of the rainforest.

Fuck. He couldn't do this.

As he wiped the bile off his chin, Rin looked up at the trees pressing in on him. He didn't recognize this place. Surely he hadn't wandered off the path, not after decades of taking the same trail for every meeting. Something was off. The mist that was ever present here was thicker; Rin could barely see a few feet in front of him.

The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, prickling him with gooseflesh. Rin pretended to flick vomit off of his shoe as he crushed a large millipede under his heel. He absorbed what little power the creature had in it and prepped a ward spell.

"Pardon me for saying," he spoke aloud without turning around. "But in Thanatos, it is often considered rude to sneak up on someone." Rin nodded his head in a slight bow, an ingrained habit of deference.

[TheUnforgiving]

The woman smirked faintly behind her gauzy veil.  The little attempt at a subtle shield amused her, like a toybreed snarling a warning.  Futile, but almost respectable for the audacity.  It demonstrated Rin was observant, clever, and quick in thought.  She had heard his need and come to judge him for herself and, so far, he had proved worthy of her attentions.  He would need such qualities; her ancient enemy had many disciples, but few so discontented by serving them.  There had been many over the years, but the Circle Undone took its operational security seriously and any potential defectors were dealt with swiftly and quietly, with only the cleverest surviving long enough to contemplate the act.  It was one of the few things the woman recognized as common between them.  Almost.  Survivors weren't a concern for her.  But Rin would not know that. 

One by one the noises of the night faded as she floated inches off the ground, as if kept aloft by a moonbeam, smiling her amused, knowing smile.  Soon all was silent, save the lone heartbeat in the jungle.  Then she spoke, and when she spoke her voice was the whispering of the leaves in the breeze: "What is it you desire?"