With Wretched Fangs

by Shadow Beast

Eye of the Storm

The call went out when the storm clouds grew thick. By the time it reached their ears, their own wings were too wet to fly. The changelings shed their forms to better embrace the weather, and galloped toward the tall spire that was the Hive. The climb was steep and treacherous even on a fair day, but now the dark and slippery rock hissed back at its parasitic occupants with water flowing over every hoof hold. Thunder crashed behind them, moving closer with each flash and streak of lightning. Those who were too scared of falling were pushed aside. Only a few changelings attempted the climb at first; most ended up back at the bottom more drenched and bruised than before. As more and more attempted the feat, one saw his opportunity. His bounds were strong and purposeful. Jumping from rock to rock, higher and higher, he was the fourth to reach the entrance at the top. Not looking back, the changeling could not have seen those he had pushed out of his way. Two of them fell too far, and their screams were drowned out by the downpour and thunder in the darkness.

A broken wing and a death sentence; one and the same in the Hive. Their leader checked their wounds while they sat in puddles of mostly shame. She was bigger than them, with a feminine voice. Her mane was slightly longer and a dark shade of blue, both features denoting the respect and power of a commanding officer.

"They weren't working anyways!" she screamed at the two fallen. "No assassins of mine are getting left behind!"

She pulled her allies up and helped them towards the start of the climb. Everyone else had made it by now, but she still felt eyes on her. The leader looked up toward the summit and met the eyes of another with power, the same eyes that guided a dangerous body through her own troops. She turned her focus back to getting the wailing changelings up the cliff, trying to ignore the eyes still fixed to her. Her methods had been frowned upon before, but this one's eyes were filled with something deeper than disappointment. They reached the top together, and the two broken ones caught their breath. The leader's eyes met again with those of the interloper.

"Who do you think you are?" she screamed. "Do you know who we are!?"

"I don't know." This changeling's voice was much deeper. His eyes stayed fixed on her without flinching from her voice or the weather. "What are you?" The changeling leader huffed and trotted to her cohorts, her gaze now the exact opposite direction of this stranger. "Useless, since you don't seem to know. Useless."

"It's just a wing... And it's still attached." She pulled her friends with her as she moved towards the dryer changelings inside. The stranger followed close behind.

"This way, Vertigo!" the guard said almost too happily. "You can meet your friends at the bottom!"

"They're FINE!" she screamed.

"That's the best part." The guard motioned. "They'll survive the fall."

The guards moved in, separating Vertigo from her whimpering changelings and throwing them down the main stairwell that spiraled down into the Hive. They pushed the stranger to the edge as well, his successful struggles kept them from throwing him. He turned his back, grumbling, and dove down into the pit. Vertigo was left wondering why she tried to help them, and how she didn't notice the stranger's complete lack of wings.

Vertigo ignored the screams of her assassins and the laughing of the soldiers as she made her way down the spiral staircase. As the steps grew dry, she wiped the last few stray drops from her mane and wondered more about what would become of her now. Team after team since her initiation had fallen in the trials set before her. To have just half a team survive but turn to mere workers at the last minute burned her up inside more than when her name was given. Workers were the lowest forms of life in the Hive. A ridiculous mortality rate followed every task with a complete lack of respect from fellow changelings. Those who were chosen had both wings ripped off. Those unfortunate enough to lose their wings would be treated no differently. Names and ranks are stripped and in time, even the workers can't distinguish one another apart. Her assassins were dead.

She sighed as her hooves, well accustomed to the route, stopped in front of the largest doors within the entire Hive. Two soldier elites smiled the same condescending smile that greeted all who would not expect the Queen's favor. The doors opened, and Vertigo stepped inside the throne room. The Queen, Chrysalis, sat upon a rocky throne adorned with the best crystals the workers and those who kill them could dig up.

"Ah, Vertigo, I see you finally got the message." Her voice echoed in the throne room with the ever familiar condescension. "Maybe you should keep your mane out of your ears more often."

Vertigo withheld the glare behind her eyes and the teeth behind her lips as she spoke. "Two died escaping the dragon's lair. The other two are now workers thanks to you."

"Blaming the nobility for a peasant's blunder is low even for you, Vertigo. I doubt more and more each time--"

"We would have been fine had you not summoned at least two squads back at once!" she burst out, startling the Queen at first. "The other executioner broke a wing each on my last two assassins!"

The Queen chuckled, but her gaze quickly darkened. "If you are serious, I have no idea what you're talking about. The recall addressed only the nearest patrols and a single hit squad, yours."

"He was an executioner! He was missing his wings and he took it out on my last two assassins!"

"What was his name, Vertigo?"

The executioner's voice hushed as her eyes now searched the ground. "Never seen him before." She looked back up at the Queen. "But he had no wings. He jumped into the workers den before the guards could throw him down."

The Queen looked up past the executioner. "GUARDS!" The two soldier elites trotted in. "Go down into the workers den and bring me anything that resembles an executioner." She turned back to Vertigo as the guards disappeared down the staircase. "You're not out of this yet..."

The soldiers returned, the stranger trotting in with them. He smiled at the Queen. "And here I started to wonder if--"

"Silence!" the Queen interrupted. "Who are you?"

"Midnight Masquerade, highness. I was made an executioner... about 900 years ago? Something like that."

"Lies." The Queen's voice was stern and her gaze was focused.

"I have been lost for almost a millennia and you deny me now?"

"Masquerade was one of our best. Anyone could have heard that name."

"I was never one of the best! The best don't get separated from the Hive!"

"Even if you are Masquerade, you hardly matter now." A grin creased her snout. "Give me a reason not to execute you right now."

The executioner did not flinch. "I don't need wings to be helpful to you; I have a lot of knowledge that could prove helpful." A grin creased his snout now as well. "Like the horrible defeats you will suffer around 100 years from now."

"Break his hinds."

Before he realized what had been said, two precise kicks from the guards splintered his hind legs. The cracked exoskeleton rendered the legs unusable and exerted great pain in response to weight. He found himself on the ground. He lifted up his upper body with his front legs to meet the eyes of the Queen again.

The Queen bared her fangs. "I'll ask again. How could a crippled, wingless, delusional little wretcher possibly be anything more than a pest to us?"

The pain choked his own throat, he could not speak. Yet a crooked smile creased the sides of his snout.

"Throw him back in the den. He'll be lucky to survive the former assassins in his condition."

Vertigo just watched as they dragged the broken changeling away. He made strange, almost rhythmic sounds; she couldn't tell if he was laughing or crying. She looked back at the Queen.

The Queen smiled at her. "Wait two days. If the bastard is still alive, kill him. In the meantime, I will trust you with another team."

Comments

[Lyi]

I didn't read the story, but, based on your title description, your grammar and sentence wordings needs a bit of work. I also think that most people wont know what an Interloper is until they read the story.

[Shadow Beast]

5805687
Thanks for the feedback. I'm honestly not a fan of the descriptions and plan on reworking them soon.

[Lyi]

Hmm.. This chapter is actually very good. I shall recant my unpleasant down vote and give the story a favourite.