Like a Thorn to the Holy Ones
Here,... this Offspring. Let me take control, just for now. We’ll go visit him. See if he wants to come with us. It could be glorious again, Nymph. You could be glorious again. Let me show you.
The words bounced around filling the stallion with comfort and hope, but it wasn’t really his decision; the suggestion was more like a command. His slender head dipped in approval of the plan. His actions were no longer his own, and no one was the wiser-- save his puppeteer Violence. Would the consequences be his own too? He turned away from the black mare, his lean frame oriented towards Tephra and the volcano that (most likely) hid his dear friend. He moved naturally, he didn’t resemble one that was not in control of himself. His mind was a cloud of echoed promises but his eyes showed hope and a brightness that hadn’t been there in recent years. Perhaps it was the hope in his heart that Offspring would want to join him on this journey. They could have their hearts back, those that were lost with the Reckoning.
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Nymphetamine found himself standing at the border of the lands he called home since the Reckoning. The place that had seen Killdare’s last days, the short reunion of himself and Kimber before she went off to continue whatever adventures she had and had given him hope for a new life many times over. The ash-strewn land was as much of a home as he could have but it wasn’t his heart’s home. His heart was elsewhere--in a different place, another time. It was that that had allowed the black necromancer to use him--- take his mind from him on a subconscious level. Made him believe these actions were his own- but they were not. Violence was a crafted mistress-- unfeeling of any and all trouble she caused. She only did what amused her in the moment- and Nymph had offered up a chance to play so she took it. Sending him down a path that would not be able to undone.
The sulfuric air burned his lungs as he took in the scent for the first time in some months. He walked in, not worried about being stopped- he hadn’t revoked his residence and he had no reason to believe he would be unwelcome. Besides, no one knew that he was not in control of himself. The blood bay moved over the tropic land with some haste, for to him there was great news to share--- news of a fresh start, of a renewal. One that he thought Offspring would like to take part in. Tephra moved below him, his desert racing heritage causing him to easily cover the distance to the volcano in a few hours. His darkened hooves slowed at the rocky mount that rose before him. It took more precise movements to maneuver the rise and not slip or fall. The cliff face rose and as it did the air grew more smokey, and visibility was less. Offspring could be anywhere, but this was his best bet. Eventually, the blood bay came to the clearance where he last saw the previous overseer. They had shared a rare bonding over fire target practice with corpses Nymph had risen from their resting places. It had been a moment of lightheartedness for the red eyes ruler who had seemed so haunted at the time. Offspring was often stoic- but to see him relax was a rare thing for the necromancer to witness. Nymphetamine stopped and allowed the memory to fade away, leaving nothing but smoke and emptiness. If Offspring was on the volcano, surely he would come. ”Offspring, my friend-- I have news!” His voice fell in excited baritone notes and floated across the smoky wind until it dissipated out in the distance.
All the while, Violence held a place in his subconscious. Her control sunk deep into his mind. Leaving his conscious thought mostly unaltered but strongly manipulating his subconscious and his ability to logically reason with the information she planted within his mind. There, coiled deep within the darkest corner of Nymph's mind she cooed silently to get Offspring to come with him at all cost-- to convince him --they must go together or not at all. He was key. The once diplomat was blind to the lack of logic-- it made perfect sense to him. While he waited for the drafty build of Offspring to appear he thought back to everything they had lost, everything he missed and was sure his companion did as well, everything that had been taken from them. The tundra--Chamber, lovers, and friends that disappeared with the shifting rocks and the mountain that grew from the flatlands. If he could convince Offspring to help him, to accompany him Violence would bring it all back. No longer was the bay stallion tormented over the deeply embedded feeling of missing what once was. It was replaced with a hope--and a need to complete this one task to take him back. He had an actionable step. It changed everything, brought hope and life back into his long haunted eyes. Hope brought and stoked by Violence and a lie seeded deep within his mind, deeper than his consciousness, deeper than his thoughts and memories, beyond knowledge.
The Chamber’s final and forever governor was lead to the river of hope as if it were midsummer and all was full of life… and he was to move on...on with hope to the grave.
NYMPHETAMINE
A rose in the rain