Vivienne groaned again as her body trembled, the exertion of the battle catg up with her. She id on her back as much as her thick tail would allow. Her obsidian scales glinted in the dim light as her tail flicked weakly behind her, covered in patches of her own blood.

  Her tongue hung out to the side, long and bck as it twitched involuntarily with each heavy breath. She winced, clutg her side where the aether had torn through her during the fight, leaving a jagged gash that persisted eveween shape ging. The st of blood mixed with the acrid smell of the burned bodies, but even so, she couldn’t stop the sense of satisfa that simmered within her.

  A shadow loomed over her, blog out the flickering lights from the burning remnants of the room. Vivienne forced her gaze upward with her many eyes, finally meeting the sight of Renzia standing above her. The mannequin’s frame was stiff, as always, her expression unreadable. In her hand, the ste was held out, the words sloearing on its surface.

  Are you okay, mistress?

  Vivienne's lips twitched into a faint smile, her soft, bck lips curling into something close to warmth despite the pain. "Yes, sweetheart," she rasped, her voice strained but grateful. "Thank you for asking." She let her head fall back against the cold stone floor, her body sinking into the familiar ache. "I just need a breather, and I’ll be right as rain."

  Renzia stood silently, her head tilted slightly as if processing this new information. The mannequin shifted, her stiff movements like a marioe in a dance as she gnced across the wreckage, searg for survivors.

  Vivienne’s head turned zily toward the wreckage of their battlefield. She didn’t care much for the fallen soldiers—at least, not now—but her instincts prompted her to look for any remnants of those she might o deal with. Her gaze flicked to Renzia, the question hangiween them.

  "Any other survivors?" she asked, her voice low but firm, her eyes narrowing as she waited for the answer.

  Renzia paused, her head snapping to the side, her stiff movements almost uling in their precision. Then, with a slow, meical motion, she held up two fingers, a sign that was as close to a response as Vivienne would ever get from the mannequin.

  Vivie out a weak ugh, her lips still curled. "Two?" she muttered, rubbiemple with a bloodied hand. "Thank you dear. Could y them over to me, darling? I want to have a little chat with them." She shifted her weight slightly, trying to push herself up with the little strength she had left, her limbs trembling with the effort.

  Renzia tilted her head at Vivienne's request, the subtle creak of her frame filling the silence. Without hesitation, the mannequin turned on her heel and moved toward the far side of the room. Her stiff yet purposeful movements carried her across the wreckage, her crimson drills boung lightly with each step.

  Vivienne mao prop herself up on one elbow, her long tail coiling behind her in a sluggish, protective arc. Her bck tongue flicked out to wet her parched lips, and she let out a low sigh. Her eyes, all six of them, flickered toward the shattered remains of the library. Blood, ash, and rubble painted a grim picture of their victory.

  "I miss Rava." she murmured to herself, flexing her cwed fingers. "Let’s see if they’re useful or just another waste of effort."

  Renzia soourned, her tall frame t over the two survivors she carried, one slung over each shoulder. She lowered them to the ground before Vivieh care, the mannequin’s meical strength making the a look effortless despite the battered state of the prisoners.

  Vivienne’s many eyes sed the pair with idle curiosity, her lips curling into a sly grin as she took in their broken forms. The first was a goblin—small, wiry, and trembling from head to toe. Her green skin was marred with cuts and bruises, and one of her pointed ears had been si the tip. A makeshift splint had been tied hastily around her left arm, which hung limply at her side. Despite her injuries, she gred up at Vivieh defiant, beady eyes.

  The sed was one of the priests. His pristine robes were now scorched and bloodied, and his right leg ended abruptly at the khe wound had been sealed with a crude burn, the flesh charred bck. A faint shimmer of dawher lingered around the injury, indig that he had mao cauterize it himself. His face ale and drawn, but his expression remained grim aermined as he met Vivienne’s gaze.

  “Still kig, are we?” Vivienne mused, leaning back slightly as her ced rhythmically on the floor. “Well, one of you is, anyway.” Her grin widened, sharp teeth glinting in the dim light. “I have to say, I’m impressed. That kind of determination is rare these days.”

  The goblin bared her teeth, her wiry frame trembling with both fear and defiance. Her small fists curled tightly at her sides. “Don’t think for a sed I’ll grovel before you, monster,” she spat, her raspy voice brimming with unyielding resolve.

  Vivieilted her head, her grin widening as her cws flexed zily at her sides. “Oh, you’re feisty. I like that. But let’s be clear, little one—groveling isn’t what I want from you. Not yet, anyway.”

  The priest shifted slightly, drawing Vivienne’s attention. He held his gaze steady despite the obvious strain in his jaw. When he finally spoke, it was in a harsh, guttural tongue unfamiliar to Viviehe thick at carried pt as clear as the venom in his tone.

  Vivienne arched a brow, her cing against her in mock sideration. “Oh, dear. A nguage barrier. How terribly inve.” Her grin sharpened into something more sinister. “Well, if I ’t uand you, that means you’re of no use to me, doesn’t it?”

  Without hesitation, she drove a talon into his unihigh, twisting it slightly as the priest cried out in pain. His shout echoed in the cavern, mingling with the low hum of dread that permeated the air. Vivienne’s eyes glimmered as she ihe fear aether radiating from him, the energy crag in her veins like a cruel symphony.

  “Begone, foul creature!” the priest suddenly shouted, his voice trembling with both pain and hatred.

  Vivienne froze for a moment, her grin turning curious. “Oh! I uand you now.” Her eyes narrowed, flickering with intrigue. “Wait, what? How? All I did was... taste your fear. Could that be it?”

  She clicked her tongue, sidering the revetion. The fvor of his terror was rich, almost intoxig, but its ued side effetrigued her far more. A slow, predatory smile crept across her face as she leaned closer to him.

  “Fasating,” she murmured, her voice ced with mock delight. “Your fear speaks volumes. Maybe it’s fear itself that’s the universal transtor. How poetic.”

  The priest gred at her, his breathing ragged but defiant. The goblin shifted uneasily, her eyes dartiween Vivienne and the priest as if weighing her ces of escape. Vivienne paid her much mind, her focus pinirely orembling man before her.

  “I wonder,” she tinued, her tone musing, almost thoughtful, “just how much more I could learn by sav every ounce of your terror. Do you think your deepest secrets would taste as sweet as your panic?”

  The priest swallowed hard, his lips trembling as if weighing the risks of defiance. Vivienne leaned closer, her grin widening to reveal a glint of sharp teeth. “I will not give you the satisfa, creature.” He said in his thick at.

  Vivie out a soft ugh, the sound low and dangerous. “Satisfa? Darling, you uimate me.” She leaned forward, her many eyes narrowing. “I don’t need satisfa. I need answers. And whether you offer them willingly or not... well, that’s entirely up to you.”

  The goblin growled, her small frame tensing as if preparing to strike, but Renzia stepped closer, her t form casting an imposing shadow over the pair. The gobliated, her defiance flickering for a moment as she gnervously at the mannequin.

  Vivieail shed zily behind her as she watched the exge, amusement dang in her gaze. “Tell me, priest,” she purred, fixing her eyes on the man. “What’s your name?”

  He hesitated, his jaw tightening. “Father Darnath,” he finally said, his voice clipped.

  “Darnath,” Viviened, sav the name as if tasting it. “And you, little goblin?”

  The goblin scowled but said nothing.

  “Ah, pying the silent type,” Vivienne said, her grin never wavering. “That’s fine. I’ll just call you... hmm...” She tapped a cw against her , pretending to ponder. “Ah! Let’s go with ‘Snarl.’ It suits you.”

  The goblin growled again, her fists g tighter.

  “Perfect,” Vivienne said, g her hands together. “Now, my dears, let’s get to the important part. What was that little stunt your friend pulled with the portal and the robed figure? Who was that, and where did they take the others?”

  Father Darnath’s expression darkened, but he said nothing, his silence speaking volumes.

  Vivienne sighed theatrically. “Oh, e now. You’ve already seen what I’m capable of. Do you really think your stubbornness will protect you?” She leaned in closer, her many eyes gleaming with malice. “Talk, and I might let you limp out of here alive.”

  Her grin widened further, revealing the jagged edges of her hidden maw. “Or don’t. I’m happy to make you scream if that’s more your style.”

  The goblin, visibly shaking, raised her hands defensively. "W-wait, wait!" she stammered, her defiance crumbling under Vivienne's predataze. "I’ll talk! Just… do me or whatever it is you’re pnning!"

  Vivienne’s many eyes shifted to her, amusement flickering in the depths of her bck orbs. “Ah, now that’s more like it,” she purred. “See, Father Darnath? Your little friend here has some sense.” She leaned back slightly, her tail flig with a zy rhythm. “Go on, ‘Snarl.’ Enlighten me.”

  The goblin wi the niame but plied, her voice trembling as she spoke. “That figure wasn’t with us. I don’t know who they were, but they weren’t part of the Snty. They just… showed up and started barking orders, told the priests to gather who they could a out.”

  “And you went along with it?” Vivienne asked, her tone ced with mockery.

  “Are you kiddihe goblin shot back, a spark of her earlier defiaurning. “Do you know what they do to people like me in the Snty? I was just here fixing their junk, and the hing I know, everything’s on fire, and you’re tearing people apart!” She gestured wildly, her voice rising. “I wasn’t stig around to ask questions!”

  Vivieilted her head, intrigued. “People like you?”

  The gobliated, her gaze dropping. “Goblins,” she muttered. “We’re artificers, yeah, but we’re not ‘real’ to them. They treat us like tools, not people.” Her voice grew quieter. “They treat us like dirt, so we aren’t loyal. We just go where they tell us and fix what they tell us.”

  Vivienne’s grin softened slightly, though her sharp teeth remained in view. “Ah, so you’re a survivor, not a zealot. How refreshing.” She turned her attention to Father Darnath, her tone sharpening again. “And you, Father? What’s your excuse for not bowing to my obviously superior charm and intimidation?”

  Darnath met her gaze, his jaw ched. “I serve the Snty, creature. My duty is to protect its people from threats like you.”

  Vivie out a dry ugh, her cing against the stone floor. “Even the ones who would abandon you in a heartbeat? How noble.” Her grin twisted into something cruel. “Tell me about the figure. Who are they, and what did they want?”

  The priest’s silence was answer enough.

  Vivienne sighed, the sound exaggerated and theatrical. “You really do like making this difficult, don’t you?” Her cws twitched, the bck talons catg the dim light. She began to rise, her movements deliberate and predatory. “Fine. Let’s see how long that stoicism sts when—”

  “Wait!” the goblin interrupted, holding up her good hand. “I’ll tell you what I saw!”

  Vivienne paused, her griurning. “Oh, Snarl, you’re quickly being my favorite. Do go on.”

  The goblin swallowed hard. “I, umm, I heard some chatter from the higher ups that they were from the triumvirate or something.”

  Vivienne's grin widened, and her sharp teeth glinted in the dim light. “The Triumvirate, you say?” she purred, cirg the goblin like a predator sav its prey. “Now that is an iing tidbit. Care to eborate?”

  The gobliated, her small hands trembling as she clutched at her injured arm. “I—I don’t know much! Ho! They just mentio in passing when that… figure gave the orders. Said something about the Triumvirate watg the Snty’s moves closely, especially in pces like this.”

  “Pces like this?” Vivienne leaned closer, her many eyes narrowing.

  “A-ah,” the goblin stammered. “They said something about Serkoth being a… a key pyer in some pn. Something big. But that’s all I know, I swear!”

  Vivieilted her head, her long tongue flig out briefly as if tasting the tension in the air. “Fasating,” she mused, her tone almost light. “You’ve been quite the fountain of information, Snarl. Far more cooperative than our stubborn priest here.”

  She turned her gaze to Father Darnath, who gred at her with unwavering defiance. “Do you want to firm or deny any of this, Father?” she asked, her voice mogly sweet. “Or should I keep squeezing your little friend here for more?”

  The priest’s jaw tightened, his silence remaining firm.

  “Suit yourself,” Vivienne said with a shrug, turnitention back to the goblin. “O question, Snarl. This figure—what did they look like? Any distinguishiures?”

  The goblin’s brow furrowed in tration. “They were covered in robes—like, pletely. Couldn’t see a face or anything. Their voice was… weird. Like it echoed eve shouldn’t. And their movements…” She shuddered. “They didn’t move like a person. It was like they were floating more than walking. And their prese was heavy. Like you couldn’t breathe properly when they were near.”

  Vivienne’s grin faded slightly, repced by a thoughtful expression. “Hmm. That does sound… peculiar. And potentially troublesome.”

  The goblin nodded vigorously. “Yeah! Trouble! Big trouble!”

  “Smart,” Vivienne said with a small chuckle, stepping back from the goblin. “Well, Snarl, gratutions. You’ve bought yourself a little more time.”

  She looked down at Father Darnath, her expression darkening once again. “As for you, Father… I’m not quite do.”

  Father Darnath’s defiance didn’t waver as Vivienne k down, her cws idly trag the stone floor beside him. Her bck eyes gleamed with malicious i, her voice dripping with mockery. “Oh, Father, it’s admirable—how loyal you are to your precious Snty. But loyalty is such a fragile thing, isn’t it?”

  He spat at her, blood and saliva spttering against her obsidian scales. “Do your worst, monster. I won’t betray my faith.”

  Vivieilted her head, unimpressed. “Faith, is it?.” Her cws reached out, gently brushing the edge of his burump where his leg had been. “Does your faith soothe the pain, Father? Does it whisper sweet nothings in your ear as you bleed?”

  Darnath gritted his teeth, but the flicker of fear in his eyes betrayed him.

  “Let me ask you something,” Vivienne tinued, leaning closer. “The person that came for you—were they Snty, or something else entirely? Where were they in the hierarchy? What are they up to, Father? And don’t make me pry it from your broken body. That gets… messy.”

  The priest said nothing, his silence a final, stubborn stand.

  Vivienne’s patienapped. “Fine,” she hissed, her maw splitting open with a grotesque grin. “Let’s see how devout you really are.”

  Before she could act, Snarl spoke up again, her voice trembling. “H-he’s useless! They don’t tell grunts like him anything important! Please, just—just let him go and I’ll tell you what little else I know!”

  Vivienne froze, her many eyes swiveling toward the goblin. “Snarl, Snarl, Snarl,” she murmured, her voice a mixture of amusement and warning. “You’re really stepping up, aren’t you? Alright then. What’s this ‘little else’ you know?”

  Snarl swallowed hard, her wide, golden eyes dartiween Vivienne’s many gazes. “W-well,” she stammered, wringing her hands nervously, “they don’t really tell people like me much, you know? But I, uh, I’ve overheard stuff! Like… whispers about the Snty making deals, but I don’t know the details.”

  Vivieilted her head, her lips curling into a sharp grin. “Deals, you say? With whom?”

  “W-well, I, um… maybe the triumvirate? Or someone ected to them?” Snarl ventured, her voice rising in pitch. “I swear I don’t know specifics, but I figured someone like you would… uh… ect the dots?” She winced, as if expeg a blow to nd.

  Vivieudied her, the predatleam never leaving her eyes. “You’re bluffing, aren’t you?”

  The goblin froze, her shoulders stiffening. “W-what? No! I mean—okay, maybe I don’t know everything, but… I just didn’t want to see more bloodshed, alright?” She gestured at the age around them, her voice crag. “We’ve all lost enough today. I thought if I said something useful, maybe… maybe we could all just walk away.”

  Vivienne blinked ohen threw her head bad ughed—a rich, throaty sound that echoed through the blood-soaked chamber. It was a ugh filled with amusement, mockery, and just a touenace. “Oh, Snarl,” she drawled, her grin widening to reveal the fai glimpse of her jagged sedary maw. “You’re trying so hard. I almost admire it.”

  The goblin swallowed hard, her wide eyes darting nervously. “D-does that mean I stay alive?”

  Vivienne crouched before her, her cwed fingers idly trag lines in the dust and blood on the floor. Her many eyes focused on the goblin, narrowing like a predator sidering its prey. “For now,” she purred, her voice dripping with honeyed malice. “But don’t mistake mercy for trust. You’re here because you amuse me.”

  Vivienne’s grin faded as she turned her attention to Father Darnath, her expression hardening into something cold and predatory. “You, oher hand,” she said, her voice turning sharp as a bde, “have beehan amusing. And after cutting through priests, traitors, and sycophants all evening, I find myself running a bit… empty.”

  She tilted her head toward Renzia, who stood silently nearby, ste in hand. “Sweetheart,” Vivienne said lightly, her tone almost casual, “please esy little green friend out of the room. I wouldn’t want her delicate sensibilities offended.”

  Renzia nodded without hesitation, her meical movements smooth yet unnervingly precise. She hoisted Snarl onto her shoulder with a strength that defied her slender frame. The goblin yelped but didn’t resist, clutg tightly to Renzia’s shoulder as she was carried toward the exit.

  “W-wait!” Snarl called over her shoulder. “You don’t have to eat him! Maybe he’s not that bad!”

  Vivienne’s eyes followed them for a moment before her gaze flicked back to the priest, her grin curling once again. “Adorable,” she murmured. Theepped closer to Darnath, her cwed feet clig against the stone floor. She crouched down to his level, her many eyes b into his own. “Now, Father,” she said sweetly, almost gently, “this is your st ce to tell me something useful.”

  Darnath’s lips pressed into a thin line, his gaze unfling. The faint smell of burnt flesh still lingered from where he had sealed his leg, and he radiated defiance despite his injuries.

  Vivienne’s grin twisted into something darker, her cws twitg with anticipation. “Let me be perfectly ho with you,” she said, her voice dipping into a low growl. “I don’t care if you’re helpful. In fact, I’m ting on you being as stubborn and stoic as possible. It’ll make the ensuihat much more… satisfying.”

  She leaned in closer, her lips brushing the edge of his ear as she whispered, “But if you want to scream first, I won’t mind. In fact, I’d prefer it.”

  SupernovaSymphony

  Nice

  [colpse]