Notes:
While I try to keep revising my work to avoid annoying typos, I tend to miss some. If you spot any, please let me know!
And please don't be shy about leaving a comment!
Enjoy.
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How long had she been floating inside her own mind? thought the matriarch as she again tried to muster any strength or magic to break herself free from wherever she was.
Whatever had been done to her, it made her mind move at the speed of a glacier, making the mustering of her will or her magic impossible.
She even found it hard to feel despair or anxiety, despite her dire position.
The matriarch knew she was done for, betrayed by her troops, ambushed at her very throne room, and hit with a spell from that odious ophidian.
But she didn't want to give them the chance to humiliate her before they surely executed her for her so-called "crimes." Surface dwellers were weak, and having lost to them was humiliation enough, better to face the fires of the abyss now and be done with it.
She tried again to pull her mind out from the dark morass it was currently trapped in, but to no avail. Whatever magic had been used to subdue her, was cast with the knowledge of the power of the one it was to hold, and no crack or weakness had been allowed.
At least whatever was causing her dulled will, was also keeping anxiety and fear at bay, making the experience less infuriating than it should have been.
Cold comfort knowing her fate, however.
Another eternity passed in an instant inside her odd mind bubble, before something started pulling her senses back into the world of the living.
Not wanting to be at the mercy of her captors, the matriarch, ironically, tried to claw at her mind-cell, refusing to be summoned like a mere imp to surely have to take the gloating of her captors.
But it was for nothing, and her being was unceremoniously dumped back into her body, which was sore from the heavy chains and shackles that kept her in place.
She slowly opened her eyes and looked around; her head still fuzzy from the spell that had her unconscious until now.
What she saw infuriated her, she was prostrated on her knees in an otherwise beautiful, gilded room, with walls of polished stone and a myriad of small high windows that flooded it with resplendent light that hurt her sensitive eyes.
The room had plenty of cushions, small tables and trays, as some kind of private parlour or ballroom, though much smaller, perhaps for small private gatherings.
Right in front of the dark elf's very own eyes was her hated rival, Karim the sorcerer.
He was a naga, a snake-like humanoid from some remote lands in the surface that had made his fortune offering his arcane services to the local realms. His magic was powerful, especially his illusions and mind tricks, capable of reducing even the most battle-hardened soldiers into weeping whelps.
The matriarch had faced him on multiple occasions, and they had developed quite a rivalry, it had even reached her that he offered his services almost for free for the chance of facing her.
As much as she hated to admit it, he was beautiful, his torso was like that of any man, but covered in gorgeous and shiny dark green scales with an emerald hue. Below his waist, his body was like that of a slithering snake, sinuous and muscular, capable of coiling around an enemy and crushing the life out of them.
Finally, his head was like that of a cobra, with a magnificent hood that looked like an imposing crown. While reptilian, his face was surprisingly expressive, and it was rumoured he could tear out your soul with just the stare of his golden reptilian eyes, that shone from the depths of his oddly handsome face.
She had fantasized about capturing him and turning him into a priced toy in her harem, but it seemed fortune had favoured him and now this was her destiny.
But she would not tolerate it, better to die than become an inferior creature's toy.
"You," she said with a tone that dripped with contempt and poison.
He smiled as he slithered on his cushion, slowly raising over her.
"My beautiful matriarch, it's so delightful that you're finally awake," he said, his voice having obvious hints of the pride having her like this was giving him.
She almost growled like an animal, stabbing him with her hateful stare.
"Just kill me, you surface filth," she said, fury and shame boiling in her heart, "whatever you have planned I refuse to be part of it."
He smiled, his hood even vibrating a little in excitement.
"My dearest matriarch," he said, leaning close to her face, "you don't have a choice."
She tried to lunge at him, but the magical shackles keeping her prisoner barely allowed her to budge.
"Besides," he said, retreating to his cushion, "I have the distinct feeling that I will have changed your mind by the end of it."
The matriarch growled at him like a feral beast, her usual calm demeanour completely gone.
"Your magic won't work on me!" she said, "my mind has been blessed by the goddess herself, you can't break me."
He chuckled as he flicked his serpentine tongue.
"My dearest Vektra, you seem confused about my magic," he said leaning closer to her face again, "I do not break minds or modify them directly... I see what's deep within and pull it out."
He caressed her long white hair with his surprisingly warm hand, looking into her eyes.
"And what I saw inside... well, it made me decide to keep you alive," he said with utter delight in his voice.
Vektra scowled at him, baring her teeth like an animal.
"You will regret not killing me, for one day I will end you," she said, defiant to the end.
He gave her a cocky smile and made a gesture with his hand, as if beaconing someone to come to him.
To her shock, two women approached him, having been behind her this whole time.
They placed themselves to his sides, pressing their bodies against his, their ebony skin a shocking contrast against his green scales.
Vektra's jaw almost fell to the floor, for the two women were her daughters.
