Agni

Grunt #0
Mother of the stolen

In the middle of the night, when the night guards have almost fallen asleep, Agni carefully makes her way out of her hidden grotto, not making a single sound. She makes sure absolutely no one is around before she sneaks her way to N's room. She slid right in and shook the sleeping spiral up. "Mum?" "Shh... You'll wake the whole clan up!" "Is it time yet?" "Not yet.... please be patient..."

Agni was once a very young fae, wandering in the wastelands. Her previous clan had died off due to a rather nasty beastclan attack, causing her to flee into the contagion that would've eaten her whole, had she not found Ghetsis. When the two locked eyes, they both realised that they were meant to be together. They settled in the same land they used to curse, and quickly formed a clan.

One of the things she didn't account for was how this clan was to grow. She had two clutches of eggs, but each hatchling was taken away without a trace. As she lamented to her mate about the issue, he came up with a solution: hatchnapping. If you can't beat them, join them. Agni was a bit reluctant to the idea, but she still accepted it, neither the less.

Thus began the first rescue mission. First it was Honorato, then Aldith. Soon, there was almost no room in the lair. They even had a scientist from the Shifting Expanse come over to work on his studies over how the power of dragonkind can be improved. She was getting used to the rescue missions, or hatchling huntings, as she called it. However, there is a point when everyone draws the line somewhere, and that was when N showed up.

N, as she hoped, would've been just a regular grunt. No special talents, no unique abilities, nothing. Not even a glimpse of being leader of the team, but as fate would have it, he had a unique power. A power that Ghetsis would exploit later. He had the ability to speak to animals. She was the first to know, and she quickly spread the word to everyone. As soon as the word spread, Ghetsis made an announcement. "As you have heard, the newest addition to our team has some... special talents. However, I can assure you," then came the eight words that changed everything she thought about him. "He is no grunt, he is my son!"

After the announcement, Agni swiftly confronted Ghetsis. She yelled at him about how N looked nothing like either of them, and how people will start to suspect the true nature of the team. He tried to reassure her that no one will ever know about it, but it failed. Out of frustration, she gave an ultimatum to him that she would tell the whole clan the secrets of N if he did not admit his lie. He considered this threat carefully, and then called for a few grunts to throw her out. She was to be exaulted, not the the Plaguebringer, but to be thrown into the wyurmwound. However, the grunts hated to see their lady die, so they hid her in a room known to the few grunts who built it. There, she hides, waiting for nightfall to go try to find a way to set N free.

"The Lying Disease"
A sonnet by Dandelion with the subject of Agni

Sickness not of the body, but of mind
To recover what you can never find,
Lies run too deep to be truly forgot,
In a land that cares for truthfulness naught,
A thief, to replace what cannot be found,
But pulls at the mind till you’ve been drowned,
And will not give up its pull easily
So when you decide that you want an out,
You find there’s no water, only a drought
That suffocates just as strong as before,
That pulls you down, not less, but even more
Into a grisly fate, cruel and unkind
You find that one you thought you once knew
Is the one from whom you finally flew

Thanks, unistar2000!

Thanks Birdsofafeather!