Senk Ini’Tar could only watch as the land around her burned, towers of flame ripping through her armies, tearing her world asunder. Mere hours ago, she had been marching through the streets of this freshly captured city, having proudly taken it over in the name of the Serpentine Lord. The heretics living here didn’t understand what they were doing with their crude summons and illogical beliefs. But somewhere, within the city centre, something had happened. The ground had erupted and…
Well, Senk Ini’Tar was not sure now. She was certain that she had been victorious. The city’s leaders had been beheaded. The city’s temples had been destroyed. They were in the process of rounding up civilians so they could be sent to other cities for re-education and retraining. Once the city was clear of civilians, they were to begin stripping the city of all its valuables. But now there was nothing to strip. The city was collapsing in on itself.
Worse, Senk had found herself on her own. An explosion underneath her feet had killed most of her royal guard and had very nearly trapped her in rubble. While she had managed to wriggle free, her fellow soldiers were not so lucky, as a second explosion brought an entire temple down on their heads, incinerating all within. Now, Senk was in the middle of what had once been a market square. Maybe. Through the flames and smoke, it was impossible to tell what anything truly was.
But Senk felt that there was something else going on. She had seen it, moving in the shadows above her. A large, winged being had been swooping across the city, burning everything in its wake. That thing though, it had… slowed down. It was circling above. It was getting closer to Senk’s position. And then it was right on top of her.
The being landed with a thud on one of the nearby, only slightly collapsed buildings. Its wings were colossal, but the rest of its body actually seemed quite small, perhaps only a couple of times bigger than Senk herself. Hideous golden eyes pierced the smoky gloom, staring directly at her.
“I am not in a good mood today.”
Senk didn’t expect that. She didn’t expect a voice. It wasn’t even a booming voice. Just a calm, rather stern voice that only echoed slightly across the sky. Not the voice of a deity, at least. It did however speak her language.
“I am not in a good mood at all today. Things are not going my way. Lots of stupid little things. Your stupid army being one of them.”
It suddenly occurred to Senk that this being was talking to them. She got down on the ground in a praying position.
“Oh for fuck’s sake, get up.”
Senk did as she was told. “What are you, great dragon? Why do you tear my armies asunder?”
“Why do you tear cities asunder? What did the people of this little shithole ever do against you?”
Senk hesitated, not sure what to say. She had never met a being like this before, especially not such a crass one. She picked herself up and stood proud. She may have been facing a monster but she would not go down swinging.
“They are hereti-”
“No they aren’t.”
“They are! They worship the Death Serpent!”
“There’s no such thing as a Death Serpent…” the being tutted. “You literally destroyed a town for believing in an offshoot fake god that was doing literally no harm to you and your stupid cult.”
Buildings began to crumble around Senk. She was only a little bit scared, but she had to stand strong. The creature though, it seemed unimpressed.
“You can puff your chest out or whatever you want, it’s all pointless. Your army is dead. This city is dead. Your Goddess will not save you because Yisini frankly doesn’t care, she doesn’t want things killed, she wants things to reproduce. The constant creation of life, the slow crawl of evolution and natural selection, that’s all the Life Serpent cares about.”
Senk tried to remain calm, but inside, she was… broken. All this time, she had been warring, when that was not her Goddess’s wishes. How many had Senk killed in Her name, only for that to have been… against the Life Serpent’s way?
“I… I was wrong?”
The being grunted, then nodded its head. “Yes. You were wrong.”
With a sigh, Senk fell down to her knees. “I… I did not… I was wrong. I should not have done… so much…”
The creature stared at Senk, tutting. “Do you mean those words?”
“I do. I was wrong. I… I… I deserve to be punished.”
“You do. And frankly I could torture you and kill you where you stand. But…” The being trailed off. Was that… a smile Senk spotted? “I am going to send you home. And you are going to tell them everything. You will change your kind’s ways and you will make them peaceful.”
Senk bowed, almost grovelling. “I… I do not know what to say.”
“Say that you won’t fail me. Because if you do, I will light your entire fucking species ablaze. Alright?”
“I… I will not fail you… oh great… uh…”
The creature smiled again. “You can thank the Thantophor later. I have things to burn.”
And just like that, the being flapped its colossal wings, soaring high into the sky, before circling the burning city. Knowing not to push her luck, Senk immediately started making her way out of the city, knowing she had a new job to do.