Wings and beetles (~Draco~)

[Anonymous]

The passageways of Adela Castle were always busy, even as the sun sunk into a great orange mass shining the last of day's light through the treetops. Maids and servants gave wide berth to the party as they strode down the centre of a long stone corridor, exuding an air of important that the staff instinctively knew to avoid. The nobles and soldiers took a little longer before getting out of their way, having to take just enough time to recognise the rising sun emblazoned on silver and cobalt coats, marking them as a diplomatic delegation.

At the head of the three man group, wearing a bright, if some what determined, expression was Nage, the once-god of fear turned shape shifter. Everyone else saw Felicks Monroe, a well renowned Serendipitian diplomat. Nage has chosen Felicks as his mask because he had never actually been to Adela, so no one could possibly recognise him and ask any questions that might reveal the trickery.

The real Felicks was resting, for the moment, in a drug induced haze. In four days he would make his way back to Arca, unable to provide an explanation for his absence. The important thing was that he was seen leaving and re-entering the city, on his return taking with him a black and blue haired slave girl Nage had procured. The drug would compel him to take her, though she would die from a separate poison a day later. It was perfect, elegant. The Adelan's would send spies to question the public of Arca once they suspected Serendipity of foul play, and they would tell them they saw Felicks leave, then return with a black and blue haired girl. Perfect.

A grin touched his lips, a touch of malice showing through his veil before he could fix his face. Well, another man's face.

His smooth black hair, carefully cut and pushed out of his face, framed a handsome, likable face. This body was tall too, giving it an instant advantage in a room full of powerful men. His target today however, was not a man. The king had been considered, but he was known to be quite capable at defending himself, and magic proved difficult. Not to mention the king being much better guarded.

Instead, another had been chosen for this meeting. The good Commander Glockmoor, to be precise. He wouldn't be at all surprised if she came alone, thinking herself safe in this castle.

They stopped at a door, and after knocking twice entered, to find it empty. The delegates had arrived somewhat early, somewhere between when the servants had placed a decanter of Tokay in the centre of the rectangular table that filled half the room and when his target would appear.

The room was perfect. Jutting out of the eastern battlement, large windows overlooked the city, perfect for an airborne escape.

Nage took a seat on one of the long sides, his aide's remaining standing behind him. He didn't presume to take the head of the table, leaving that for their most honoured contact. They had, after all, specially requested the Commander for this meeting, to discuss a potential mutual defence agreement between the two kingdoms.

How could she resist?

[Anonymous]

Fingers pinched the bridge of her nose and she closed her eyes for a moment, leave it to diplomats to request a meeting at sunset. Sunset. Business was for daytime, when the sun was out and warm and she could see without the aid of fire. Unfortunately, this was a personal request for her to discus this with them. Him? Tarlaka couldn't really remember anymore. Rolling her shoulder, Tarlaka stood at a high window, listening to the maids wander around, her boots click against the stone floor as she paced. Waiting.

She waited until she heard a few knocks, from the floor below, before she began to walk the bottom of her maroon cape brushing at the ground. Wings were held tightly to her back, an obvious sign to anyone who knew her 'wing language' that she was fairly stressed out. Though Tarlaka was the commander, she'd never been requested for a talk about anything important. Give her opinion yes, but specifically requested? Not in so many words.

Tarlaka's own knock at the door echoed in the large stone hallway before she entered. Full armour, her sword at her hip and her hair down in it's black and blue waves. Large black wings held tight to her back, she could feel her shoulder cramp, but she gave a quick polite bow to the Serendipitian diplomat before moving to sit at the head, where she could see him. Moving the chair on an angle, she sat down awkwardly, wishing the man would stand so her wings wouldn't be so cramped in such a formal chair.

"Good evening, Sir. I'm Tarlaka Glockmoor, the Commander of the Military. I'm afraid that I'm not as experienced in the field of diplomat as you seem to have hoped but," The knight gave a smile and she leaned forward and clasped her hands on the table, moving a wing to curve over the side of the chair, resting it on the back like an extra feathery elbow. Blue eyes darted to the window before she turned towards the diplomat again. "So, what urgent business needs attending to at this hour?" A small smile, and she rose an eyebrow and moved her head to the side in a teasing manner.

"I'm afraid I won't be able to give you much information at this point, I've not had a chance to talk it over with King Akkiel and, while I'm the Commander of his armies, he still gets the final say. So, I'll listen to what you have to say here and relay it to my king, and get back to you as soon as possible." Her gaze never left the imposter diplomats, and her hands clasped in front of her, her complete attention on the person who she needed to give it to.

[Anonymous]

The exact details for the kidnap of Tarlaka Glockmoor had taken a significant amount of planning on Nage's part. It had been his idea and his plan alone, so he had to factor in every detail. The evidence pointing to Serendipity had to be compelling, but not so glaring that it be identified as a hoax. Of course, the diplomatic mission was one thing, but using Felicks to cement it was pure genius, if he did say so himself.

Nage had considered simply knocking her unconscious, but that might arouse some response if someone heard her struggle. The next plan had been to drug her, but there was no guarantee she would take food or drink, so a final plan had been prepared.

A knock at the door announced her arrival, and started the cogs of her demise turning. He almost laughed, thinking how that might just be the last door she ever knocked on. An odd thing to miss, a door knock, but it was the little things captivity made you yearn for.

Her bow was returned by his aides, and greeted with a nod of the head and a jovial smile. He gave off the air of a man who was not interested in her as a woman, only as a Commander, which Nage hoped was the best state to pacify her. Women in positions of power tended to want to be viewed for their status and not their gender.

Nage didn't bother with the exchange of pleasantries, his false name meaning little at this stage. Instead he ignored her question, leant forward, and replied, "Oh, I'm sure the good king will hear of our meeting."

Still with his boyish smile on, Nage said somewhat gravely, "Now, when you ask yourself later if you could have done anything, maybe this could have been avoided, I assure you. It could not." With that his tongue darted out, the tip momentarily turning back into two beetles, from between which came a tiny silver needle tipped in black liquid.

The dart buried itself in the little bit of her neck left unprotected by armour, his tongue already back to its human state. His aim was perfect, and the poison was swift, instantly cutting off her muscle control and within seconds rendering the powerful woman unconscious.

As Nage stood, sliding his chair back, one of the aides went to the door, sliding the deadbolt shut. Tonight was only just beginning.

[Anonymous]

Curved eyebrows drew upwards in mild confusion, the gentleman was a little... Touched in the head. He had to be.  So, Tarlaka just sat there and smiled at him politely, a little confused but polite. Of course she found the way he was acting odd, but it was late, perhaps they were tired. Or not who he seemed to be. She'd never really met a Serendipity Official to do business, there was lots of business going on while she was still raising through the ranks, or maybe someone else still took care of it, leaving her to help train the soldiers and the knights.

She trained some good knights if she said so herself. Pushing her hair behind her ear, Tarlaka leaned back and lift her head up to stare at him strangely when he mentioned something about avoiding the situation. Than he stuck out his tongue at her to show her some beetles he'd be carrying in his mouth. Well, that was just nasty. In a flurry of movement she was up and standing, glaring. "Very well then Sir, you know your way out and..." Tarlaka pressed a hand against the table and leaned heavily on it, her wings drooping and falling to the ground.

"Oh..." Was her last breathy word. The poison didn't act as instantly as the man probably would have wanted it to, Tarlaka was only half elf, the other half something much darker. Unfortunetly, that only held poisons and drugs at bay for a limited amount of time and because this poison was so strong, she had only been able to stand up before it took effect.  

Hooded eyelids, her head down to cover her face with her long wavy hair, and the hand that wasn't leaning heavily on the table groped at her neck for the needle, pulling it out and throwing it to the side before she crumpled into a heap of black feathers, maroon cape, and black and gold trimmed armour. The last thing to go was her conciousness and that went in a sigh and her eyes closing.  Her disturbed face smoothed out and she looked almost peaceful, like she was sleeping.

[Anonymous]

The poison should have worked faster than that. The fact that it took so long, that she could actually get out words before she lost control of her tongue was astounding.

Stepping over to her limp form her reached out a hand, pushing back waves of blue and black to look at her face. "What are you?" he muttered to himself, "Angel? Demon? Dragon in human shape?" All were possibilities. Ah well, he'd have fun later dragging it, and every dirty little secret, out of her later.

With a snap of his fingers the aides descended, flanking Tarlaka. Their hands went to the intricate clasps holding her armour together, unclipping her cuirass and pauldrons and removing them. Then came her gauntlets, gloves and cape, all of which were placed silently in a pile in the corner. Next they pulled her up, no mean feat with her lower body still encased in metal, and dumped her face down on the table. Her leggings were unclipped in a similar fashion, sliding off once her boots had been removed and set in the pile.

Nage gazed down at her hungrily, his new pet, emerged like pudding from a can, just waiting to be enjoyed. The black cloth she wore under her armour still covered her, but it was not the hard shell she was in minutes before, it was soft like the soft human that hid beneath.

He picked up her sword, drawing it out of the scabbard to look at it. The thing was pretty, and well made too. Nage, in human form, had the strength of ten men, the power of the swarm united, so the blade felt light in his hands.

A swing removed the head of one aide, sending blood shooting out of his neck as the head rolled onto the floor. The other turned to see the face of Felicks Monroe grinning like a madman back at him. Before he could scream Nage darted forward, his left hand clamping over the man's mouth while Tarlaka's sword pierced his heart.

There it stayed, lodged in his body as it fell. The aides hadn't been informed of that part of the plan, but it was necessary. Bodies had to be found, the good Commander had naturally put up a fight, but alas, she had been overpowered in the end.

It was time to go.

A sudden low buzzing filled the room as Nage stopped being a human and became his true form, a swarm of identical beetles, no more than a fingers breadth in length. His clothing fell away.

To account for this both aides were wearing another layer beneath their uniforms. The assumption of those investigating this would be that the plan had been to strip off their diplomat uniforms and escape in the black assassins garb beneath. Nage didn't have this layer, so they could assume he had followed the plan, and would be looking for a man in black

The swarm surrounded her body, tucking in her wings as the beetles, which as a whole were Nage, lifted her up. Flight while carrying a body was difficult at best, with armour impossible, thus why it had been removed. A tendril of beetles lashed out, shattering a large window and allowing the swarm, swathed around Tarlaka like a living blanket, to ascend into the approaching night and over the city.



(Continued here!!)

[Anonymous]

(And some time later)

A mass of beetles flew towards the castle, two great black wings beating as a part of them. They were not a part of them however, they were stolen wings.

At the outer walls, above the main gate they stopped, the guards not having noticed them. The wings were pushed up against the wall as if they were sprawled as the mass shifted, clutching the wall and forming an arm. The arm drove a metal spike through the elbow joint of each wing, pinning them to the wall.

Before an alarm could be sounded the mass moved, swooping on the lone guardsman above who noticed the off noise and breaking his neck.

The dark shape moved away again, back to the lair where his captive waited and away from the message the good king would discover by morning.