Desdemona

Pre-Trials

"Hi! I'm Rayne, what's your name?"

Desdemona looked up at the ebullient reddish Spiral circling her head. She fidgeted with her pearl shyly. "I'm Des."

"Cool!" He looked into her eyes for a moment. "Fresh from the Light realm, eh? Ever been to the Plaguelands before? What brings you to the Necromantic trials?"

"I..." She was born in the Earth realm, but her eyes were often confused with those of Light. Her clan lived in Light, though. She wanted to say that her spirit revolted against the undead abomination of Luminax. She wanted to say that the philosophy of Plague was hers, since it was antithetical to the undead. She wanted to say that she wished her sparkling golden scales did not stand out so glaringly in the red dirt of the lands. She also wanted to say that the Spiral was just about the cutest dragon she had ever met. He was so tiny! And his eyes were so big and friendly. "Excuse me."

She stepped behind a scrubby bush and felt the nacre rise in her throat. Her face grew hot as she spread it over her pearl. She never wanted to forget this moment, but it was embarrassing the way her species made such a spectacle about it.

As the black nacre dried, she poked her head out from behind the bush. Rayne winked at her. "It's okay," he said. "My sister is a Pearlcatcher. So's my father. I'm glad that meeting me made such a big impression." He looked into her eyes again. "Oh...I'm sorry I thought you were Light."

"It's not a problem," she said. "I get that all the time. I'm from the Light Realm, really, I was just born in the Earth Realm by accident. My parents are merchants."

"That's cool." Rayne pointed towards the assembling Necromancers, getting ready to sort the new arrivals into classes. "My mom's a Necromancer, and my dad's her Servus. She's on the Council. I think she would have pitched me into the Wyrmwound if I hadn't volunteered for the Trials!"

Des smiled. "I'm only joining because I really, really don't like the idea of Emperors. Plague is all about survival--undead things didn't survive. They are a mockery of life and should not exist!"

"Got that right," Rayne agreed.

"But I don't know much about the Trials. Can you tell me?"

The little Spiral puffed out his chest. "Of course, it's a little different for every dragon, and this is what the Instructors are for. But I'll tell you all I can."

---

Des's pearl had grown so much since her arrival in the Plaguelands. Every meditation, every lesson, every little bit of information she could glean from the Plaguebringer's Oracles, all went into her pearl. She was pleased to see it taking on a slightly reddish hue. If only her scales would shift as well...but Rayne assured her that they would. "All Necromancers look similar. Their offspring usually look similar to them, but without the traditional stripes of Plague. That only comes with the Trials." He glanced proudly down his own body, where fresh stripes marked him. He had passed his Trials only a week before.

She lowered her gaze to her glimmering scales. "Will you still think I'm beautiful then?"

Rayne wrapped himself around her pearl and her claws. "Of course I will! You'll be even more beautiful than you are now. I bet you'll be an Iridescent Necromancer, like my mom."

She raised her pearl to her snout. The Spiral shifted to her claw as she added another layer of nacre to the outside. As it dried, he quickly placed a clawmark in the outer layer. "That's for me," he said. "The Trials are lonely, but you'll always be carrying a part of me with you this way." He traced the thin layer of opalescence that had adhered to his claw. "And I you."

Des nuzzled him, unable to speak. After some time, she voiced the fear that had sprung up in the past few weeks. "What if I don't pass?"

Rayne sat up. "Of course you will! And even if you do, I'll still love you. You can be my Servus, and we'll work together. Even if you're a Wraith." He stroked her mane.

"But what if..."

Rayne froze for an instant, and then resumed his stroking. "Ghoul?" His voice wavered just a little. "I don't know. What do YOU want? I'll do whatever you say."

"I..." She glanced at the tangled edge of the Wyrmwound, so near. The Plaguebringer was there, or so they said. "I've been trying my whole life to feel connected to the Plaguebringer. If it's at all possible, I don't want to give that up. I...I almost think I'd rather die." She looked sidelong at the Spiral twisted around her neck. "But I do want to be with you."

"We can still work it out if you have to be neutralized," he said softly. "It's weird, but not unheard of. Especially if they were involved before the trials." He uncurled himself, placed his claws on her cheeks, and looked straight into her eyes. "I'll do everything I can for you. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me...except for these, of course." He indicated his stripes. "But you can't go in there thinking that you're going to fail. That's a sure recipe for failure. Repeat after me: I am going to be a great Necromancer."

"I am going to be a great Necromancer," she said obediently.

---

Trials and Post-Trial

She gripped her pearl tightly as she received the Mother's Blessing. She was willing, and allowed the invasive microbes to enter and thrive.

"The first Trial is yours," the Necromancer said. "The Second awaits." She bowed. "May the Mother watch over and guide you." Her Servus made a note, and nodded encouragingly to her.

Des gathered her pearl and limped toward the Wyrmwound. She found a place to rest and seated herself. She traced every line in her pearl, reflecting on all the wisdom she had gained and on the care of the Mother. Meditation came naturally to her. With concentration on the Mother's will, she would conquer the Plague within her and turn it to her mastery. "As the Mother wills it," she whispered.

---

She awakened to an intense pain and a raging fever. She gasped; she had waited too long to partake of nourishment, and her body was weakening, falling into the disease. She made an effort toward the water she knew was there, but she wasn't going to make it. She watched her scales darken.

"Des! No!" Rayne was there, reaching out to her. "I can stop this, I can fix it! You don't have to fall, you can be a Wraith, I'll take care of you..."

A wave of virulency erupted from her maw. Rayne fell to the ground and retched as he tried to conquer the infection within himself. Des felt her pearl drop to the ground. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered anymore. Only the Plague. Spreading the Plague.

She wondered why the small dragon behind her was wailing as she spread her wings and flew off.

---

Neutralization
There was nothing but pain. Pain and a small dragon fluttering in front of her. It had a strangely marked whitish claw. That should mean something. The dragon was healthy. It should bow to the will of the Mother! A stream of deadly microbes poured from every scale toward the small dragon. It seemed to absorb them all, and then it darted up and touched her.

PAIN! It was unbearable. And then, strangely, it was nothing. There was nothing. She slept.

When she awoke, her head buzzed strangely. She tried to sit up.

"Easy, easy," a voice soothed. "You aren't quite yourself yet. That will come back."

She glanced to the side. A Spiral was talking to her, gently, soothingly, like one might speak to a wild animal. He looked familiar. She couldn't remember...

"Oh! I'm such an idiot. Here, this may help." He pulled a large round white object from a pouch and gently rolled it to her. As he did, he held out his claw. It was covered in the same white substance.

She reached for the object cautiously. It felt familiar in her claw, and yet unfamiliar at the same time. She frowned, and looked carefully at it. It was slightly misshapen. She rubbed it with her claws, and then with her snout, and the memories slowly began to fade back in.

"Rayne?"

He smiled, eyes welling with tears. "It's me. I'm here."

"You're bigger than I remember." Her soul ached to hold him, but she still couldn't sit up.

"I had a late growth spurt." He cleared his throat. "Des, I'm so sorry. I know I promised...but there's something I've learned since your trials."

"Promised what?" As she continued to fondle the pearl, she remembered. And then she felt her loss keenly. Her Plague magic...gone, gone forever. She began to weep silently.

"No! No, not forever." Rayne hurried to comfort her, wrapping around her pearl the way he used to. He was much longer now, and was able to put his forelegs around her neck at the same time. "That's what I came to do. There's a way to reconnect you to Plague! And the chance of you losing your sanity again is very low...much lower than that of a Ghoul. We'll be together again!"

"What?" she asked. "What is this? It's not Shade magic, is it?"

"Des, don't you know me at all? Of course it's not Shade magic. It's Plague magic, through and through." He explained everything he'd learned about the existence and creation of Mercys during her time as a Ghoul. She tried to follow his explanation, but was still too exhausted.

"So let's do it!" he finished.

"Now? Won't it be safer to have other Necromancers around?"

"From my studies, it's much safer to do it immediately after neutralization, while the former Ghoul is still very weak. It'll be fine; I've actually created several Mercys already!"

"Okay." She closed her eyes. "Let's do it."

---

Severe Mercy
She wanders, clutching her pearl, never adding to it anymore for fear of covering up the tiny clawmark made years ago by a young enamored Spiral. She's never touched a dragon since her reconnection with Plague; she fears what she cannot remember. She vomited her nacre over the ground after she saw what she had done; she could not bear to carry the memory of that tiny desiccated body with her for the rest of her life. She wears his sigil, his birdskull necklace. She remembers him; sometimes, she still talks to him. She cannot remember his death. She will not remember his death. Her already fragile mind would crack under the weight of her guilt.

---

• Trials, Ghoulhood, Neutralization, and Mercydom left their marks on her physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually
• Physically: tattered wings and sores that continually reopen and do not heal. She can't fly. Other dragons don't want her around because of the open sores.
• Mentally: major PTSD. She veers between jumping at every sound and utter apathy.
• Emotionally: She lost sanity soon after becoming a Ghoul. Her former lover, Rayne, was reluctant to sever the connection to their goddess. When he learned about Mercys, he tracked her down, neutralized her, and immediately reconnected her to Plague magic. She killed him in her rampage.
• Spiritually: she's not tempted by the Shade; she doesn't believe in it. She doesn't believe in the Plaguebringer anymore, either. She's an atheist.
• She lost her Pearl in her Ghoulhood. Rayne found it and carried it with him until his death. He added to it with the help of his Pearlcatcher father so that she'd have memories of good deeds that she did as a Ghoul and so that he'd be able to communicate with her if he found her and she was unresponsive.
• TBD whether she is with Achlys or with the Merciful One
• Because sometimes I'm totally evil, I'm considering bringing I've decided to bring Rayne back as a Revenant. Not that he was willing, of course.