[P] jaws of the viper

[Raum]

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

 

From the skull’s orbits maggots writhe and creep. They spill upon the flagstone step at Raum’s feet and none flinch at the echoing thud the heavy head made.
 
Below Avdotya stands, her scars are stark against her torso, her eyes gleam savage and bright. To look in those eyes is to see the blood of his victims running like a river. Surely there were enough bodies of his to make a river now? Did their blood pour out life as if they were but water from a cup? Did it flow like a rapid, surging out into an eternal sea, into its tides and waves of souls gone before their time?
 
She mocks him and oh how his ire stirs. It sparks as a train on a track, it ignites like gasoline soaked paper and burns bright and hot. Raum is a shell, within him a monster is stirring, a dragon breathes fire against the stone of his flesh and beside him Legion’s beak parts a keening cry of desire slipping past his poisoned fangs.
 
“I do not.” Raum confesses softly as he continues to gaze at the head before him. “I did not bother myself with the courtly dramas of Solterra when I was spying. I had only interest in the sovereigns and their dealings beyond Solterra’s borders. Games of courtly intrigue do not interest me now either.”
 
Slowly he lifts his gaze to hers, to meet the crimson of her, that violent, violent gaze. And who is the most deadly with their gaze? The poison king whose blue is electricity crackling and laughing wild and keen, or is it Avdotya, the raging red of a serpent set to bite. Does she know that behind his veil of blue, Legion’s eyes are just as crimson, just as savage. Yet his behold a terrible magic.
 
“The head.” Raum murmurs to his monster as his scarf slips free. At once the corpse is stone, each writhing maggot turned to rock. The Crow commands a soldier to find a place for it within the hall and obediently she disappears, the head held tight. Legion’s blind fold returns and the beast scrapes its talons across the stone, the walls echoing with the offending screech.
 
Avdotya continues, her serpent’s eyes glittering with pride. The citadel is safe of her, but…  “I would like to offer to a deal, Avdotya.” He remembers the rain, the ravaging storm, the girl who slithered beside him caught in shadow as lightning framed her. Raum had respect for her and he now desires that girl and her might. “One I am sure you will find merit in.”

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@Avdotya