Rainbow Dash
Rainbow looked down onto the arena floor, a lump rising in her throat as she saw its floor for the first time since arriving at the arena of the Lightning Fang. It was huge, easily big enough to fit the Canterlot derby stadium within it four times over. Blades were dotted along every surface of the surrounding walls and much of the floor, so static, while others looked like they would be able to spring to life at a moment’s notice, allowing blood from any unlucky enough to be caught on them to spray directly on the crowd.
“Splash zone,” Rainbow muttered sullenly, walking down towards the front rows of seats.
As she walked, her hooves made soft clicking noises on the floor, and instantly her ears picked up as she heard a fifth footfall. Whirling around, she was just in time to see a Dark Eldar slashing down at her with a knife.
Rainbow let out a cry of surprise as she turned her body, shielding herself with her bionic wing. The small knife cut deep into the wing, before sticking, allowing Rainbow to rip it from the Dark Eldar’s grasp, the sudden movement unsticking it and sending it flying onto the arena floor.
Undaunted, the Dark Eldar lunged forward, catching Rainbow off guard as the pair tumbled towards the arena floor. The impact of hitting the sand sent them bouncing away from each other, both of them winded, and allowing Rainbow to get a better look at her adversary.
Like her, he was wearing a form fitting bodysuit, one that looked like it was supplied by the cult rather than being his own, marking this as one of the younger applicants, rather than one of the more experienced riders. She didn’t have much time to look at him however, as he was quickly on his feet as Rainbow got to her own hooves. Years of hoof to hand combat flooded back into her mind as she strengthened her stance, preparing for the charge.
The Dark Eldar lashed out with a speed Rainbow had rarely seen, only for the blow to be blocked by her forehoof, allowing her to propel herself forward with her wings, slamming into the Dark Eldar’s chest and pushing him backwards.
Before he could recover, Rainbow turned and bucked hard, her bionic leg slamming into his knee and snapping it back with a sickening crunch.
Rather than a scream though, the Dark Eldar let out a guttural chuckle. Confused by the Dark Eldar’s apparent lack of pain, Rainbow was unprepared for the sudden barrage of attacks, harder and faster than before, forcing her to go on the defensive, some of the blows still getting through. Every time she got hit, it seemed to reinvigorate the Dark Eldar, making her getting return blows in even harder.
Flapping her wings backwards, Rainbow opened the gap between the pair again, panting hard as they began to circle, Rainbow using the time to analyse her opponent. While he may not have been reacting to the pain of his knee, the injury was certainly still there, and he was limping with every step he took. His face was bruised from the few blows she had got in there, making one of his eyes swell up, hopefully obscuring his vision on that side.
In an instant, Rainbow formulated a plan and dived forward, breaking into a gallop almost instantly, using her wings to give her extra propulsion power. The Dark Eldar also began to sprint at her, running with an odd gait, but more than ready to receive the charge. The instant before they clashed, Rainbow dropped to the floor, rolling so she slid on her bionics and didn’t strip the skin from her back, before lashing out underneath her opponent.
Usually she would have aimed for the crotch of an opponent in this situation, and for most that would have been enough, but she felt that here it would only help her opponent. Instead, she slammed a hoof into his already damaged knee, snapping it to the side, shattering yet more bones.
Her slide took her out of reach of an instant reprisal, and she quickly turned to face her hobbled opponent. The Dark Eldar snarled as he turned round, every step making him stumble.
“Come on,” Rainbow taunted, using her wings to help her stand on her hind legs, beckoning for him to try again with a forehoof.
The Dark Eldar let out a bestial roar, running at her in a blind rage. Just before he hit, Rainbow jinked to the side, slamming a hoof into the back of the Dark Eldar’s head, propelling him forward faster onto the spike her body had been shielding from view.
The barbed metal slid through the Dark Eldar’s shoulder, impaling him and sticking him there as he let out his first cry of real pain. He tried to pull himself off, but it was useless, every time he moved the barbs ripping more of his flesh apart, as Rainbow slowly trotted over to the knife that had been dropped at the beginning of the flight, before heading back to the Dark Eldar, twirling the blade.
“This is what you wanted to kill me with?” Rainbow scoffed, moving in front of his good eye. “I’ve trained to fight against bigger than this toothpick. If you’re going to pick the wrong fight, at least pick the right weapon.”
The Dark Eldar began to say something, but Rainbow cut him off, ripping the knife through his throat, allowing the arterial spray to cover her face. A roar filled her mind as she drew the knife back to strike again. Before she struck however, she faltered, memories of the war mask flooding back. The knife quickly fell from her hoof as she dropped back to the floor, panting hard.
“Well done,” an icy voice rolled around the arena, accompanied by a slow clap.
Looking up, Rainbow quickly caught sight of the Succubus in charge of the Cult, surrounded by who Rainbow guessed were her Bloodbrides. Each of them were armed with a variety of knives, spears and nets, and Rainbow slowly bent down, picking the knife back up again.
“He attacked me first,” Rainbow called back.
“It was…an interesting kill,” the Succubus nodded slowly, before turning and walking away, the Bloodbrides following after her, leaving Rainbow alone in the arena.
She stood there for a long time, panting as she looked between the knife and the dead body, before starring up at where the Succubus had been standing. It wasn’t the fact she had killed the Dark Eldar, she had no qualms about killing their kind, it was the fact that he had attacked her out of the blue, and worse, she had almost given back into the war mask.
She hadn’t thought about that for a long time, her fragmented mind barely troubling her when she knew she was entering a place where a fight could happen at any moment. Stupidly she had lulled herself into a false sense of security now she was getting ready for the race, believing that the Cult would keep them from fighting, not critique it. Now she knew she recognised her mistake, she was going to have to be on guard at all times, and would have to work even harder at suppressing the madness of the war mask.
The sound of a foot on the sand broke her out of her deep thoughts, and she sprung back, the knife in her hoof as she pressed it against the throat of her perceived aggressor.
This time however, it was not a Dark Eldar, but a human, although to call the gaunt, chained figure before her a human would be pushing the word to its very limit. Bones pressed against the flesh that was stretched tight around his body, as scars criss-crossed almost every inch of him, some still fresh and bleeding. The chains on his wrists and ankles were attached by manacles, the metal cuffs clearly being too tight as they cut into the skin, and the massive collar seemed like at any moment it would crush him under his weight.
Rainbow couldn’t help but gasp as she saw a Dark Eldar slave up close for the first time, not on a reconnaissance mission or through stories. She had seen, and killed, desperate slaves who had escaped when they had tried to swarm their ad-hoc base, and each time she had felt guilty, but after looking at the dead look in the human’s eyes, she knew that death would be a kindness.
For a moment she considered putting the human out of his misery, before sighing and putting the knife in her belt. If she was going to fit in, she would have to harden herself to these sights. She would never like them, but she didn’t have the luxury of helping them. As she turned to walk away, she saw the slave pull a heavy meat hook from his belt, sticking it into the dead Dark Eldar, before attaching a chain to it and beginning to drag it out of the arena. He was clearly struggling under the weight, but Rainbow couldn’t afford to look for much longer, and took to the air, heading back towards the cells where the rest of the team was being held.
***
Rainbow had regained her composure as she approached the cells, walking with an arrogant strut she had adopted recently to throw off some suspicion, the few slaves that she passed scattering and cowering as she walked past. As she got closer to the cells, the number of slaves lessened, before disappearing completely.
“You look like you had fun,” Gilda noted wryly as Rainbow came into sight, making sure to stay away from the bars.
“Yeah,” Rainbow scowled as she touched a hoof to the blood covering her face. “One of the Dark Eldar thought they’d get an early advantage by thinning out the competition.”
“I’m going out on a wing here and guessing their plan didn’t go as they wanted,” Gilda chuckled.
“It’s me standing here, so no, unless their plan involved dying of course.”
“And here I thought this was just going to be a walk in the park,” Spitfire shook her head, walking towards the bars. “The others are catching some shut eye, though I’ll wake them if you have something they need to hear now.”
“No, no, it’s fine,” Rainbow shook her head. “I just needed to see some familiar faces.”
“What did you see?” Spitfire asked suddenly, her eyes darting around as they scanned Rainbow’s face. “Something’s shaken…”
“Keep your voice down,” Rainbow hissed, glancing around, checking that there were no easily visible eyes, before turning back to the others. “I just saw a slave is all, up close. Poor wretch didn’t even blink when I put a knife to his throat.”
“Why the hell would you put a knife to his throat?” Spitfire hissed.
“I thought it was someone else sneaking up on me,” Rainbow snapped. “I didn’t know it was a slave.”
“It must have been something to shake you, Rainbow,” Spitfire shook her head. “I told you that…”
“Does it matter,” Gilda cut in suddenly.
“What do you mean? Of course it matters,” Spitfire turned to face Gilda. “It’s sick.”
“So?” Gilda shrugged. “Yes, it may be sick, but does it actually change anything. This isn’t a shock for any reason other than the fact we haven’t seen it before. It doesn’t change our mission, or how we’re going to accomplish it.”
“But…” Spitfire began, her voice rising slightly, before Rainbow cut her off.
“No, she’s right, Spitfire. It shouldn’t have been this much of a shock as it was, I just…I had come and see you guys. Reaffirm a few things. I’m sorry if I woke you.”
“You didn’t,” Gilda shook her head. “Just because we’re in here doesn’t mean no watch. I don’t trust these Wyches.”
“It’s probably for the best, making you smarter than I was,” Rainbow shrugged. “I’ll be seeing you again tomorrow, and you’ll all be out of here. Promise.”
With that, Rainbow turned and headed towards her own quarters, ready to get a night of uneasy sleep before the big race tomorrow.
***
Rainbow let out a grunt of effort as she tightened the fuel feed on her bike, sliding out from underneath it as she checked everything she could think of. She had quickly dismissed the cluster of slaves that had been in her hanger, apparently there to provide menial labour, explaining to the Wych who had dragged them back to her in a rage that she preferred to do her own mechanical work.
She had to work very hard not to flinch when the Wych slapped a slave on her way past, the blades on her gauntlets cutting deep into the man’s face as he let out a mixture of a scream and a whimper, before hurrying after his master.
Turning her thoughts from the casual sadism, Rainbow quickly finished her checks on her jetbike, just as the door opened again.
“I said I don’t need slaves to touch my equipment,” she snapped, turning, her eyes settling on the cult’s Succubus. “Unnamed Succubus.”
“Ygal,” the Succubus nodded back. “Or is it Kar? I forget when the lesser species come to Commoragh.”
“Ygal,” Rainbow shot back. “Kar and Kra are the same thing, but they’re not me.”
“The big one then?” the Succubus murmured. “When you fail in this race, she may make an interesting opening fight in the arena.”
“I’m not going to fail,” Rainbow snarled, an unexpected amount of venom slipping into her voice as she hovered in front of the Succubus’s face. “I will win this race, and my team and I will be the riders for this Cult. I’ve already killed one of my opponents, the others are going to lose just the same.”
“You are certainly not lacking for confidence in your own abilities,” the Succubus nodded slowly, before putting her hand a few inches away from Rainbow’s neck, not quite grabbing hold just yet. “But I wonder if your aims are elsewhere?”
“My aim is to become a member of this Cult,” Rainbow didn’t glance down at the hand. “You wanted riders, no, you wanted the best riders. You could kill me here, and have one of those other riders take that title, but I promise you now, if you want the best, you go for the ones who have biological wings, and who have been flying since birth.”
“All except for you,” the Succubus pointed out, lowering her hand.
“Meaning?”
“You are close to insulting me, Ygal. You think that I cannot spot an augmentation when I see one, or smell wraithbone.”
“I…” Rainbow began.
“Do not speak,” the Succubus hissed. “I do not care for your words, just as I do not care for your name. I have yet to see you race, you think you will win, and I will reserve judgement. Win, and I may decide not to ask how a creature such as you came to possess a custom wraithbone wing replacement. Fail, as I believe you will, and I will make sure to extract every single one of your secrets, one by one, an iota of pain at a time, until you are begging for death, which I will not grant.”
“Then I best win,” Rainbow spat.
“Yes, that would be best for you,” the Succubus nodded, before gesturing, the wall behind Rainbow opening up onto a large hanger, a starting grid carved into the floor. “You take the last position. The race is one hundred laps. Finish first, or be the last alive. Those are the only requirements.”
“Weapons free?”
“I will leave that up to you to figure out.”
With that, the Succubus turned and left, her razor sharp high heels clicking on the floor as Rainbow moved her jetbike out onto the starting position. The other riders were all doing the same, and Rainbow caught a few glares from some, while others paid here no heed, mounting their jetbikes and slipping visors on.
Rainbow was dimly aware of a low roar echoing around the hanger, one she quickly recognised as a roaring crowd, before the end of the hanger slowly opened, light streaming in as the roar grew exponentially to a deafening level.
Putting her doubts and fears aside, Rainbow started her bike, before pulling on her helmet, the only part of her armour she was wearing. If she could, she wouldn’t even wear that, but she needed the HUD to see her bikes systems. Even so, she had been working hard on it last night. Any sharp lines had been smoothed over and everything that wasn’t needed had been removed to make it as light and streamlined as possible. Activating the bikes systems, she did one final check on each one, including the auto-mapping systems that represented one of the few Equestrian upgrades to her bike.
A slave shuffled towards the front of the line-up, this one looking just as pitiful as the first one Rainbow had seen. He slowly raised his arms as Rainbow heard a voice she recognised as the Succubus. She was clearly counting down, but Rainbow couldn’t accurately say what numbers she was saying.
Then the slave dropped his arms, and Rainbow gunned the jetbikes engines.
The other Dark Eldar did the same, shooting forward into the light. The slave didn’t stand a chance, being ripped apart by the first rider in the line-up, but Rainbow simply didn’t have enough time to spare him a thought as the race began.
The arena was packed to capacity, all screaming for blood, even as the arena floor seemed to move and convulse, the blades that had be still yesterday slicing through the air with terrifying speed. Large rings were floating seemingly unaided in the air, marking out the track, the first rider already passing through it, much to the pleasure of the crowd.
Rainbow pushed the throttle down on her bike, the speedometer getting closer to the small red zone that represented the speed she needed for a Rainboom, her bike shooting forward and allowing her to overtake the first rider, flipping over him and coming within a few meters of his head.
The crowds roar grew as she finished the trick, members of the audience noticing that one of the riders wasn’t their kind. With the sudden growth in confidence given to her from the crowd, the fact that this was a race truly set in for Rainbow. She was going to win this, and she was going to enjoy every moment of it.
The number of laps began to rise quickly as they hurtled around the arena, every rider managing to keep control at the ridiculous speeds. That all changed on the twenty seventh lap. As Rainbow went for an overtake, the rider jinked to block her, glancing back to ensure that she wasn’t planning to fire at him. Just before she could do just that, she saw a blade arcing down and shot upwards to avoid it. Assuming that she was trying to get around him, the rider did the same, looking forward again just in time to see the blade slice through the front of his bike.
With a scream of rage he leapt from his bike, trying to reach Rainbow. Before he could though, Rainbow twisted the machine, one of the blades now aiming at his neck. He desperately tried to move out of its way, but it didn’t save him as the bladed bike cut through him, the two halves falling to the arena floor, the strange beasts that now prowled the sands setting upon the corpse, drawing howls of pleasure from both them and the crowd.
The whole encounter had probably taken less than five seconds, but it was like a switch had been flipped. The crowd was now worked into a frenzy at the sight of blood, the beasts below were howling as they realised that those above were also their dinner, and the riders unleashed their weapons.
The laps continued to pass, Rainbow having to work hard to stay in the running and to dodge the blades and splinters aimed in her direction. Her bike may have had two engines, and was probably far faster in a straight line than the other riders, but she could never open the throttle fully before she had to break hard to turn. For once, she envied Scootaloo’s bike, the more manoeuvrable craft would have been perfect in this race.
The next few laps were uneventful, the riders doing everything they could to gain a position, or hold it for very long. Rainbow fluctuated between every position, even as she did her best to stay in the lead. Then, on lap seventy nine when she was holding a narrow lead, a red light flared into life on her bikes dials as the auto-mapping software completed its analysis of the track.
“Ok, time to get creative,” she muttered to herself, beginning to activate various systems while shutting down others. Her bike bleeped a few times, before the red light turned green.
Grinning savagely, Rainbow pulled out the knife she still had from the day before from the leg sheath she had picked up from the armoury they were allowed access to, holding it tightly as she took a deep breath.
Then she opened her wings and left her bike, the wind catching them and ripping her backwards. The sudden change in speed felt like it was going to tear her wings from their sockets, before she landed on the first Dark Eldar’s bike.
The woman looked surprised as she suddenly stood on the front of her, balancing on the front of her jetbike. The surprise was short lived however as Rainbow flipped over her, the knife cutting through her jugular and windpipe as she went.
Before the bike could spiral out of control, Rainbow had leapt from it, landing on the next. A splinter struck her helmet, deflecting off the rounded surface, barely even leaving a scratch. Before the rider could get a second shot off, Rainbow struck, the knife plunging through his eye and into the brain beyond.
Again, Rainbow leapt from the dead riders bike, landing on the final racers, only to find her knife met with the riders own blade.
The pair began to trade blows, doing all they could to find a gap in each other’s defences, pulling every trick they could think of. The rider was clearly one of the older ones, his experience showing, while Rainbow fell back on her times in the Nar’bok duelling ring. Finally, Rainbow found an opening in the rider’s style and took her opportunity, bringing the knife down into the bikes control centre.
Smoke poured from the fragile mechanics as they began to lose height, Rainbow leaving the bike moments before it ploughed into the sand. The rider was not so lucky, being flung from his vehicle, his weapons burying themselves in the sand, far away from his reach. He was quickly on his feet again, glaring at Rainbow as he crouched low, preparing to continue the fight.
Rainbow never found out what he was going to do, as three of the beasts dived at the Dark Eldar, catching him off guard. In a matter of milliseconds he was ripped to shreds, Rainbow hovering in the air, safe from reprisals. For a moment she watched the gory display, before the sudden realisation of what she had done.
A few quick modifications to her helmets subroutines brought her bike back to her, and she quickly mounted it. The crowd was going wild, screaming for more as Rainbow raised a hoof into the air in victory. It did not take her long to complete a victory lap, before she finally came to a halt in front of the main box of the arena where the Succubus and her Bloodbrides had been watching the race.
“I, won,” Rainbow grinned, before turning and raising her hooves in victory, basking in the glow of the admiration of the crowd. All her fears of being in front of a crowd again evaporated as the familiar feeling of winning came back to her.
“Looks like I am going to be the head of your Cults new Reaver clan,” she laughed, removing her helmet. “And the name is, Rainbow Dash. Do not forget it.”
“And I am, Succubus Ilithia Avatus,” She stood up, approaching the edge of the box where Rainbow hovered. “Your team will be released to you, and our armouries will be opened for you. They will be taken to the garages and the launch bay, their bikes returned to them and the garages ready for them to work on their machines. You are to come with me, we have much to discuss."
***
Rainbow stood on the left side of Ilithia in one of the long trophy galleries, the black marble floor transmitting the sound of approaching footfalls of two radically different Dark Eldar. The figures swept past the many heads, weapons and other trophies that lined the room, the trophies clearly not being new to them.
The one on the left was the more normal of the two, although that wasn’t difficult. He, or possibly she, was clad head to toe in overlapping segmented armour that had the colour of arterial blood, while the eyes on the helmet looked like twin black holes. Horns dotted the helmet, while two savage looking swords were sheathed on her, or possibly his, back.
The other approaching figure defiantly cut more of a figure however. While the first Dark Eldar looked just like an armoured warrior, albeit clearly clad in higher quality gear than was standard, this one was wearing long flowing robes and an intricate breastplate. The robes did not touch the floor however, as three long, spinally spiders legs kept him a few feet off the ground at all times, scuttling forward in an unnatural and unnerving manner. Yet more arms sprouted from his back, ending in all manner of spikes, pincers and clawed hands. His face was a pale white and pulled taut around his face, and upon closer inspection, was actually held onto a metal helmet by large staples, giving Rainbow the chilling thought that it might not actually be his real face.
The thing that disgusted Rainbow the most however was the platter that he held in his left hand, eyeballs piled high upon it. As she watched, one of the spindly arms came down, spearing one of the white orbs and moving it towards the Dark Eldars mouth, where he daintily took it, chewing slowly, as if he was savouring a gourmet meal.
“My lords,” Ilithia bowed deeply as they approached, Rainbow simply bowing her head.
“My lady,” the armoured Dark Eldar spoke, a deep male voice coming out from behind the helmet.
“My dearest Ilithia,” the disgusting creature bending down as he was lowered to the floor, taking one of Ilithia’s hands and planting a soft kiss on it. “You are as radiant as the last time I saw you.”
“Eloquent as always, Eethron” Ilithia smiled, Rainbow struggling not to make a retching sound.
“Your beastriders caught you a new pet?” the armoured Dark Eldar boomed, petting Rainbow’s head hard. “And you have even dressed it up. How quaint of you and your Wyches. Did you find a team for your new Reaver clan?”
“Take your hand off, before I break it off,” Rainbow growled, flapping her wings and raising herself to the eye level of the two new arrivals.
“It talks?” the strange Dark Eldar, Eethron, cocked his head to the side as he spoke, one of his arms extending towards Rainbow. His voice unnerved Rainbow even more than his horrific appearance did, Eethron speaking slowly and deliberately, seeming to ponder each word before he spoke it, his tone making him sound both impossibly sad and yet morbidly excited at the same time.
“What would it take as an offering for me to be allowed to study it, Ilithia?”
“Enough,” Ilithia raised a hand, Eethron instantly dropping his. “My friends. This is, Dash, a Ygal. She won the trial race, by all the rules we set, she and her team are now the progenitors of our new Reaver clan.”
“You allowed one of the lesser species to take the place over true Dark Eldar?” the unnamed Eldar growled, reaching for one of his swords.
“This, lesser species, killed…” Rainbow began.
“I was not talking to you!” the Dark Eldar roared, drawing his sword, bringing it towards her neck, only for Ilithia to step between the pair, almost casually turning the blade outside.
“You would come between an Archon and his kill?” he snarled, getting closer to Ilithia, the Succubus letting out an exasperated yawn.
“No, Ale’ri, I would stop you from killing my new Reaver Champion,” Ilithia explained simply. “Before you so rudely interrupted her, Dash was telling that she won not on speed, which she excelled at, but by the blade, something that I am sure you can appreciate.”
Ale’ri let out a snarl, before sheathing his sword and taking a step back, leaving Ilithia to speak some reason, Eethron seemingly content to watch Rainbow closely. Ilithia looked between everyone present, before speaking, pointing to Eethron and Ale’ri in turn.
“Archon Ale’ri, of the Barbed Heart Kabal, and the Ancient Haemonculus Eethron, the leader of the Covern of Mutilation. Together with the Cult of the Lightning Fang, we form the Triumvent of Half-Formed Hope.”
“A triumvent with four constituent parts?” Rainbow pointed out.
“You are part of my Cult, you are not a fully-fledged member,” Ilithia pointed out.
“Plus you are not part of our species,” Ale’ri pointed out, his sneer obvious even behind his helmet.
“I believe you may have been too harsh on this Ygal,” Eethron turned his gaze on Rainbow, extending one of his real hands towards Rainbow and running a finger underneath her chin, causing her to recoil. “She has much potential, if you ever find yourself no longer in need of her services, I am sure we can find a use for her at the Covern of Mutilation. I can think of clients who would pay handsomely for wings such as those.”
“Leave my wings alone,” Rainbow snapped, slapping Eethron’s hand away, before looking at Ilithia. “Is there a point to me being here? Or am I simply to be paraded around one of the beasts of the arena.”
“You would never survive in a Kabal with an attitude like that,” Ilithia chuckled to herself, the laugh sounding like nails on a chalk board, rather than something comforting. “But in the Cult of the Lightning Fang, we do not bother ourselves with politics. Here the strongest reigns, as long as you remember that, and your Reaver Clan and my Cult may be able to work together.”
“Then tell me, how are we to work together?” Rainbow asked.
“As I told you after the race, the armouries and garages are open to you and your kin. I am not going to micro-manage your clan, recruitment, maintenance and even the majority of the races you organise will be controlled by you.”
“That’s a lot of independence,” Rainbow said slowly. “I expected…”
“Interrupt me again and I will allow Eethron to take you,” Ilithia cut her off causally. “As I was saying, the only rule that will be set out for you is this: Your colours will be changed to match the Light Fang’s.”
“And as the triumvent demands, if the Kabal, the Clan or the Covern should go to war, you do not get a choice to not come along,” Ale’ri added. “You will fight when called upon, which shall be often, the Triumvent of Half-Formed Hope does not sit idle for long.”
“I expected little else,” Rainbow nodded. “Now if I may, Succubus, my team will be wanting to see me. Am I still needed?”
“I will send instructions to your quarters, until then you are dismissed,” Ilithia nodded, before sighing. “I must also tell you that due to your victory in the race and your new position in this Cult, you have earned the title of Arena Champion. Bear it well, and when your time comes, die the same.”
Rainbow nodded, turning and walking towards the exit. Before she could reach it however, the spider like Eethron moved towards her, laying a claw on her back to stop her. Groaning, she turned towards the Haemonculus.
“What is it now? Are you wanting to prod me more? Inspect me? What?”
“All of those,” Eethron nodded, an unsettling leer stretching his face across the metal skull. “But it was not the reason I stopped you. I have no doubt that Ilithia took time to notice your wing, and your leg, and I doubt that Ale’ri has bothered to look, but it took me mere moments to smell the disparity of flesh.”
“Do you have a point?” Rainbow glowered at him.
“Rash, hot headed, and seemingly skilled. It is little wonder you and Ale’ri have not seen eye to eye immediately, and not simply because of his helmet, and your height,” Eethron purred. “But you will in time, no doubt, become better acquainted. He was like you at the beginning, now he is simply tempered with experience. His Kabal does well under his rule, your Clan may well do the same.”
“Get, to, the, point,” Rainbow enunciated each word.
“If you ever wish for your wing to be made of flesh, not wraithbone, and your leg to return to you, seek me out,” he bent down to her. “My Covern specialises in the moulding of the body. If you ever wish it, I am sure we can discuss a suitable price.”
With that, Eethron turned and left, his mechanical legs carrying him away far faster than he would have been able to move normally, leaving Rainbow slack jawed. She had never entertained the idea of leaving her bionics behind, never knowing that there was even a way to do so. Now that there was such a tantalising offer before her, she was reeling slightly. And all it would take was a price set by the Haemonculus. Surely that wouldn’t be too…
She slapped herself hard at the thought, shaking her head and dismissing it. She had not come to Commoragh to enter into deals with that particular devil. However, even as she turned away, the offer whispered in her head, speaking softly in her ear as she headed towards the hanger bay.