Vistus: Storm Queen

Curse them! All of them!

A siren blared as a car rushed past Lorelei, its shrill cry piercing her ears. The pale blue-furred Feln shivered as the wind the car whipped up chilled her to the bone and she rubbed her temple, trying to relieve the throbbing drum the bright crystal lights pounded into her. A chill rain poured overhead, each drop like a needle of ice on Lorelei's fur, her thin, black coat offering no protection from the barrage.

Curse this infernal city, curse this rain, and curse Nemon!

She trudged through the streets, still crowded despite the dark night sky, though it was mostly obscured by colourful crystalline neon lights. The tantalising smell of frying mingled with the earthy scent of rain as Lorelei passed the street of food stalls, causing her stomach to grumble with desire. She had not eaten since getting off the airship.

Her wounds protested with every step, though thankfully they had quieted to a dull ache she could ignore. Bruises decorated her body, all hidden except for the one that marred her face. Along with her sopping wet, dishevelled hair and awkward gait, she could not blame the people eyeing her with barely concealed disgust. She did not want to know how she looked.

She had nowhere to go. She could only stumble through the disorienting neon, hoping that some sort of salvation would come to her. She looked back for the ice-blue bat-girl in her dark suit, sighing inwardly with relief when she saw Yuli was still behind her. Yuli was her tether to sanity. She had nothing else left.

Greenglade was still standing. Despite all her efforts to locate the dragon who created Vistus as they knew it, reanimate him, and use him to destroy the village, the home of magic-users clung stubbornly to life like a cockroach. Damaged, but not undone. Years of honing her Dark magic and enduring the nightmares that came with using necromancy had all been for nothing. All her work destroyed by a traitorous wolf and his pathetic friends.

'Friends'? No. Fericeus doesn't know the meaning of the word. For a brief moment, Lorelei pitied the idiots he was duping. They blindly followed his lies, content not to look beyond his veil of amiability. She wondered how he had gotten that backstabbing thief, the Red Rogue, on his side. That purple rabbit-girl, Lorelei pitied most of all. She had a good heart, one that was blind to mistrust. However that heart had turned against Lorelei and tried to protect the village of scum. The thought sent a sudden wave of anger through her as she remembered how the girl had shot her amplifying gem and severed her connection to Vacerus.

It shouldn't have happened. Lorelei had trapped the girl away from Greenglade, as she had not been a target at the time. How had she gotten free?

"We need to find a hotel," said Yuli, snapping Lorelei out of her thoughts. "The longer we stay out here, the more likely someone may recognise us."

"Right," Lorelei replied, though she was only half listening. She found it hard to focus when her senses were assaulted on all sides. From her painful bruises to the city's unrelenting crowds and iridescence, she was surprised she wasn't already overwhelmed. Worry at being spotted stuck to the back of her mind, even though Greenglade had only been attacked a few hours ago, and she knew news of a sleepy backwater village in another region would not travel so quickly.

The crowds started to thin as they continued through the streets, the sound of a violin carrying over the din. Lorelei barely noticed it, but she appreciated its melody all the same. It was a step up from the electronic ambience of the previous street.

As the rain continued to bombard her, she found herself wondering how she had ended up here. She was a necromancer, for Vacerus' sake! A high grade Dark mage! Fury welled up anew at Fericeus, Laerya, and the others. They were the reason she was wandering these Terros-forsaken seizure inducing streets! Lorelei had been doing the world a favour wiping Greenglade off the map. Why couldn’t they understand that? She wanted magic users and the magicless to live without the toxicity of the elite. She did not want them to endure the years of torment she did, being cast out and beaten by her peers just because her magical ability was weaker than theirs.

"Hey, Lorelei, come play with us!" sang a child, while all her friends nodded eagerly.

Lorelei eyed her cautiously, hiding behind a tree. "Why?" she asked. She was small, her hair short, her robes enveloping her body. "You never let me play with you."

"Well, we found something special in the forest, and we want you to see!"

"Special? Really?"

"Yeah, it's super cool, I just know you'll love it!" The girl’s teeth bared in a gleeful sneer.

"Um... well, okay..." 

"Oi, watch where you're going!"

Lorelei blinked and she was back in the city, not even noticing she had barrelled into someone. A disgruntled weasel-man glared at her.

Lorelei’s first instinct was to punch him. She was already fed up, and this fool had the gall to start something with her? She clenched her fist, but reined in her anger. Making a scene in a busy city would attract attention. “My apologies,” she said through gritted teeth, bile rising in her throat from the words.

“It’s real easy to avoid slamming into people if you watch where you’re going! Do your eyes not work or something, missy?”

Lorelei’s vision flashed red from a spike of anger. “I apologised; get off my back,” she hissed. Yuli put a hand on her shoulder, and she tried to ignore the rage that pricked at her. It was taking everything she had not to smash this weasel’s face in.

“It shouldn’t have happened in the first place,” he scoffed, turning away. “Blind bitch.”

Lorelei’s arm thrust forward, yanking the weasel by the collar. Her eyes sparked purple as shadowy tendrils appeared behind her, causing onlookers to back away in fear. “Excuse me?” she snarled. The weasel’s frightened face filled with her with satisfaction.

Clack, clack, clack.

“Let go of me, you--”

A barrage of diamonds impaled the pavement around Lorelei, Yuli and the weasel. Lorelei looked up to see a pale-furred Feln lady approaching them, her every step graceful and measured, her high heels clicking on the cement. Silence fell over the crowd as they parted to let her pass. She held an umbrella in one white gloved hand, a violin case hanging off her shoulder. Her hair was obscured by the furred hood of her long coat. 

“Please, save your brutish street fights for when I am not commuting home,” she said; her refined voice had a melodic chime to it despite her irritated remark.

Lorelei let go of the weasel, not wanting to draw any more attention to herself and Yuli. She wanted to protest, but thought better of it. She just wanted to get to a hotel and put this horrid day behind her.

The refined Feln’s eyes widened slightly as she caught sight of Lorelei, and she took a step back, putting a hand over her chest. “Oh, goodness… This is a surprise.”

Oh no. “What?” Lorelei asked, dread crawling up her spine.

The Feln stepped forward again, glancing at the shadowy tendrils that still slithered behind Lorelei. Lorelei already knew what she was going to ask, and it was too late to run.

“Are you Lorelei Schreiber?”