[aliyaah]

Sharpened daggers dug uselessly at the deadened earth, as if searching would miraculously pull up useful forage from the charred remains of Oinaze. She couldn't help but wonder if the grasses would ever return, if they would continue to live amidst the ash - or if her dominion was going to be left in ruin forever. It had been some time since she had set her own territory aflame, and so far, there seemed to be little hope that it would be what it once was. This isn't something that she would generally care about, if she could get past the fact that the herd needed, you know, food to live and shit. They were making due in the mean time with the few portions of the plains that hadn't been licked by the fire, but soon those resources would be used up, and Sly's herd might have little choice but to move on. She supposed she might be able to delay the inevitable by sending some of the herd members to scrounge for supplies, but considering that most of them were busied these days with war efforts, she believed that their time was better spent elsewhere. Maybe she could ask Xerxes for a favour, to restore Oinaze so that it would at least be able to continue to host her. Not out of the question, perhaps, especially considering all that Xerxes had been asking of the brotherhood as of late. Even still, Sly detested the idea of asking another for aid - particularly for something such as this. Nevertheless, it was something she would keep in mind if she could not come up with a better solution.

And speaking of Xerxes... His previous task which he had offered the Helkaer had been keeping Sly quite entertained. Hunting down cambions, the children of the Underworld. Ensuring that they allied themselves with the depths of hell, and if not, establishing the idea that they would be punished. Either they themselves would be dogged, or those that they cared about. The crimson witch had rather enjoyed patrolling the Lands of the Free, locating the undead children, and offering them their choice. Threatening them if they chose wrong. She had also welcomed the chance to return to the Light Kingdom and speak to Queen Nixi once more - or, rather, to taunt her again. Sly had claimed the rights to one of Nixi's previous kings, dragging him and his daughter back to the Outlands by brutal force, when Sly had been denied the ability to take sweet little cambion Naida. But now that Xerxes sought cambions, Naida had been placed back on the Helkaer's radar. Causing such chaos was what Sly lived for, and the turmoil she had been able to manage as of late had been absolutely delicious. She was eager to see how her work, as well as the work of others set to this task, would effect the progression of the war. Surely, their searches had resulted in an increased number of bodies to fight against the Utopians. And oh, how she longed to see Rasa knocked down a peg... Having become lost in these rather satisfying thoughts, Sly failed to notice that she had been approached. When she realized, she instinctively rounded upon the beast, thorns pinned tightly against her skull. But when she saw his familiar, massive skeleton, they relaxed - and a bemused smirk crossed her blood-stained maw.

TAGGED - A z z y with Xerxes
WORD COUNT - 600+
MUSE - A little shorter just to get this plot rolling. <3
NOTES - The part of the plot where Xerxes tells Sly to kill Solovey for real because of the deal made with Regina. After telling Sephenia that she killed Solovey (falsely), and after Regina spoke to Xerxes about freeing Solovey, after she confirmed that he was not actually dead.

Link to image // Table by Aliyaah