Darnath’s jaw ched tightly, his defianwaverie the fear flickering in his eyes. He met her gaze, his voice steady but edged with bitterness. “You devour my body, monster, but you’ll never break my spirit. My faith in the Snty—”

  Vivienne burst into ughter, a sharp, mog sound that echoed off the chamber walls. “Oh, stop,” she said, wiping an imaginary tear from one of her eyes. “Spare me the martyr’s monologue. Faith? Spirit? Please. You’re just words and flesh. And you’ll find that the tter is much easier to work with.”

  She straighte over him with an almost casual menace, her tail swaying zily behind her. “But I’ll give you credit for ohing: you’ve got guts, Father. Guts I’m quite curious to taste.”

  Darnath’s silenly deepened her grin, and she extended a single cw, running it lightly down his chest. “Last ce. A name. A purpose. Something that’ll make me think twice about finishing what I started.”

  The priest’s lips parted, but no words came. Only his ragged breathing filled the space between them.

  Vivienne sighed, dramatically rolling her many eyes. “Ah, well. Guess we’re doing this the fun way.” Her cws flexed, gleaming dangerously as she prepared to strike.

  But before she could move, a small voice piped up from the doorway. “Wait!”

  Vivienne froze, her eyes snapping toward the interruption. Snarl stood irance, her green face pale with fear but her expression resolute. Renzia hovered behiilting her head curiously.

  “What now, little one?” Vivienne asked, irritation g her voice.

  Snarl shifted nervously, wringing her hands. “I-I just thought... maybe he’s not lying about not knowing anything important. He’s just a grunt, right? Maybe it’s not worth the trouble.”

  Vivienne’s griurhough this time it was tinged with annoyance. “And here I thought you were smarter than this, Snarl. Are you suggesting I let him go?”

  The gobliated, then nodded. “Y-yeah. You’ve already won, haven’t you? What’s one more corpse going to do for you?”

  For a long moment, silence hung heavy in the air. Vivieared at the Goblin, her expression unreadable, while Darnath’s breathing quied, his stoic facade finally beginning to crack.

  Then, with a theatrical sigh, Vivieepped back from the priest, her cws retrag slightly. “Fine,” she said, her tone bored. “You’ve got a point. He’s beh my notiow.” She looked down at Darnath, her griurning. “But you’re not walking out of here unscathed, darling.”

  Before he could respond, Vivienne shed out with her cws, sshing his . He cried out in pain, colpsing further into the bloodied floor. “A little reminder,” she said sweetly, “of what happens when you e.”

  She turo Renzia and Snarl, her voice sharp. “Let’s go. We’ve got better things to do than babysit the leftovers.”

  Renzia nodded and followed silently, her meical grace trasting with Snarl's hurried, stumbling steps. The goblin gnervously over her shoulder o time, her gaze lingering on the priest’s crumpled form before hurrying after Vivienne. Behind them, the faint echo of Darnath’s agonized cries reverberated through the fortress’s cold, blood-stained corridors.

  As they wound their way through the byrinthine passageways, Vivienne’s sharp ears caught the telltale sound of Snarl’s hesitant footsteps slowing. The goblin was staring at her, her wide yellow eyes flig between Vivienne’s many eyes and her swaying tail.

  “Yes?” Vivienne drawled, her voice cutting through the tension like a bde.

  Snarl flinched, wringing her hands nervously. “Oh, uh, I just... didn’t think you’d let him go,” she stammered, her voice trembling slightly. “I mean, not after all that.”

  Vivieopped iracks, turning slowly to face the goblin. She tilted her head, her expression unreadable as her many eyes bore into Snarl’s. “Let him go?” she repeated, her tone ced with mockery. “Sweetheart, did you miss the part where I left him bleeding on the floor?”

  Snarl hesitated, her small frame trembling under Vivienne’s intense gaze. “I-I just mean... you didn’t kill him. You could have, but you didn’t.”

  A slow, predatrin spread across Vivienne’s face, revealing the faint gleam of her hidden maw. “Oh, Snarl, you think that was mercy?” She leaned closer, her voice dropping to a whisper. “What I left him with was worse thah. He’ll suffer. If he doesn’t bleed out, I presume the soldiers that e down to this fortress after I report my findings to Serkoth will deal with him. And if he survives all that, he’ll remember me every time he screams in pain.”

  Snarl gulped, her gaze dropping to the ground. “R-right. Mercy. Got it.”

  Vivienne chuckled, the sound low and menag. “Good. You’re learning.” She straightened and resumed walking, her cws clig softly against the stone floor. “Now, are you finally ready to tell me your name or do you want to keep being called Snarl?”

  “…Kivvy,” the goblin blurted out, her voice barely above a squeak. She fidgeted nervously, wringing her hands as she gnced up at Vivienne. “My name’s Kivvy. Not Snarl.”

  Vivieopped, turning to face the goblin fully. Her many eyes narrowed slightly, studying the small figure with an uling iy. “Kivvy,” she repeated, sav the name like a rare delicacy. “Much better. Thank you for sharing.”

  Kivvy swallowed hard, her hands twisting together nervously. “S-so… what are you going to do with me?”

  Vivienne’s lips curled into a sly smile, her tone almost pyful. “You mentioned you have no loyalty to Aegis and that you came from the Snty, yes? I find myself needing insight—what life is like for the average citizen there, how their society works, and other little details. You could prove quite useful in that regard.”

  Kivvy hesitated, her brow furrowing. “You… wao tell you about the Snty?”

  “Precisely,” Vivienne replied, her smile sharpening. “I’ll simply say you were a prisoner I freed. The people of Serkoth are much more fiving of artificial creatures like you than the Snty seems to be. Once you’ve shared what you know, who knows? Perhaps I’ll let you go on your merry way. Or… perhaps you’ll find other reasons to stick around.” Her voice dipped into a predatory purr o line, her many eyes glinting.

  Kivvy’s lips pressed into a tight line. “And if I don’t want to help?”

  Vivienne’s grin widened, a glimmer of her jagged, hidden maw slipping through. “Then I’ll let you go on your merry way.”

  The goblin blinked, her disbelief evident. “You’d just… let me go? Just like that?”

  Vivieilted her head slightly, her expression one of amused curiosity. “Of course. You’ve already been quite helpful, and you do amuse me. I’m irely unreasonable, you know.”

  Kivvy’s eyes narrowed, suspi creeping into her voice. “And I suppose there wouldn’t be any strings attached, either?”

  Vivienne chuckled, the sound rid predatory. “Well, if you think about it, you’d be leaving with your life intact. That’s more than what most people get from me. But if you’re so ed, stay and help. Either way, it’s your choice.”

  The goblin studied her for a long moment, clearly weighing her options. Finally, she sighed. “Fine. I’ll help. Not like I have a whole lot of other optiht now. Plus standing beside the terrifying all ing monster sounds safer than being in front of her.”

  Vivienne smiled, this time a touch menuine. “Smart choice, Kivvy. You might find stig around has its perks.” Her tone remained light, but there was an unmistakable edge that hi the sequences of betrayal.

  They reached the massive front doors to the fortress and Vivienne frowned as her gaze shifted back toward the faint golden light seeping through the cracks in the fortress doors. Her many eyes narrowed, the tension in her prowing palpable.

  “I’m sorry, Renzia dear,” she murmured, tilting her head toward the mannequin. “It seems I’ll o impose on you once more. That ball of light out there is far from inviting.”

  Renzia tilted her head, her frame creaking softly as she aowledged the request. With a smooth motion, her hands moved to the buttons aloorso, swiftly unfastening them. The hollow partment opened, revealing the darkened space within.

  Vivieuroward Kivvy, her smile turning faintly teasing. “Now don’t look so horrified, darling. I’ll only be a moment.”

  Without waiting for a response, Vivienne’s form began to dissolve, her body shifting into a flowing, formless shadow. It seeped into Renzia’s open frame like smoke, her presence filling the mannequin’s hollow structure. Renzia straightened as the st wisp of shadow disappeared, the partment closing smoothly over her chest.

  Kivvy stared, wide-eyed and uneasy. “That’s… uling,” she muttered, rubbing her splinted arm.

  A soft ugh emanated from within Renzia, Vivienne’s voice eg slightly in the fined space. “Uling, perhaps, but practical. Now, stay close and don’t dawdle. Renzia, my dear, let’s be on our way.”

  Renzia nodded, her movements fluid yet meical as she stepped forward and pushed the massive doors open. The golden light beyond was blinding, its iy f Kivvy to shield her eyes as they stepped out into the courtyard.

  The oppressive heat and energy from the pulsating orb above bore down ohe very air shimmering with power. Renzia moved steadily, ued by the weight of the energy radiating from above.

  “What… what is that thing?” Kivvy whispered, her voice barely audible over the hum of raw aether.

  Vivienne’s voice echoed coolly from within Renzia, her toinged with wry amusement. “Surely you must have seen it during your stay here? It’s rather hard to miss.”

  Kivvy shook her head, her small hands wringing together nervously. “They kept me uhe fortress, mostly w on artifacts. By the time you arrived, I hadn’t seen the sun in weeks—let aloepped foot outside the fortress.”

  Vivienne’s chuckle carried a sharp edge. “Why’d you stay, then? Doesly sound like a vacation.”

  Kivvy g the ground, her expression s. “You really don’t know anything about the Snty, do you?”

  “Not a lick,” Vivienne replied breezily. “Which is why I kept you around. Enlighten me.”

  Kivvy sighed, the weight of her frustration evident. “Well, we goblins are at the bottom of the dder, which would be a ugh if it weren’t so bloody depressing.”

  “How would that be funny?” Vivienne asked, her curiosity piqued.

  “They worship artifice,” Kivvy expined, her voice ced with bitter irony. “Praxus, the god of order and patron of meists and artificers. You ever seen one of their Nexus Arbiters?”

  Vivienne’s response was immediate. “Yes. It was very hard to pull apart.”

  Kivvy’s eyes widened in astonishment. “You fought one? And won?”

  “I had help, but yes,” Vivienne replied nontly. “Carry on. You were saying something about hierarchy or something?”

  Kivvy nodded, her enthusiasm waning as she tinued. “We goblins were made by some arsehole wizard turies ago to be assistants. We’re rubbish at aetheriipution, but we’re the best enters and artificers in all of Nymoria. No one match us.”

  Her chest puffed with pride for a moment, but her expression quickly darkened. “But…”

  Vivieone softened, a sliver of geerest creeping in. “But?”

  “But we’re artificial creatures. Alive, made of flesh and blood, but artificial. To them, that means we’re lesser at best—disposable tools at worst. We’re ly stroher, so we’re stu the worst lot.”

  Vivienne’s many eyes narrowed. “Then why not just leave? Surely you’ve thought about it.”

  Kivvy let out a dry ugh. “Leave? Only humans e and go as they please. Lekines and sirens need chaperoo move around, and goblins? We need gover permission just to leave one province for ahat’s assuming they eve us go.”

  Vivienne’s cws twitched within Renzia’s hollow frame, and her voice came through with an edge of genuine disgust. “That’s barbaric! They value your skills enough to use you, but treat you like tools? Cowards.”

  Kivvy gave a weak shrug. “That’s just how it is. The Snty runs on Praxus’s ideals—order, hierarchy, fun over form. And to them, goblins aren’t much more than cogs in their mae.”

  Vivienne hummed, her tone ced with icy disdain. “Perhaps it’s time someone broke their preae.”

  Kivvy g Renzia, whose tall frame moved with meical precision toward the looming staircase. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean,” Vivienne purred, her voice dripping with dark amusement, “that systems like the Snty’s only fun because everyone accepts them. And systems like that? They’re oh so satisfying to break.”

  Kivvy shivered, her rge eyes darting upward to the mannequin carrying Vivienne’s formless essence. “You know, that sounds absolutely terrifying ing from you.” She hesitated, wringing her hands nervously. “Actually, everything sounds terrifying ing from you.”

  “Fear and terror,” Vivienne said smoothly, her voice carrying a subtle purr of pleasure, “are my currehey’ve served me quite well, and holy, you should be thankful I’m spending them on others at the moment.”

  Kivvy muttered something under her breath, her voice barely audible, as they reached the entrao the staircase. The oppressive hum of the aether was even stronger now, filling the air with a low, ominous pulse. Onside, Renzia paused, allowing Vivieo slip out, her form swirling and coalesg bato her curvaceous, formidable prime.

  Vivieraightened, her tall frame now fully restored, the bck obsidian scales of her arms gleaming as her tail flicked with a quiet, predatrace. She turo face Renzia and Kivvy, her expression one of quiet satisfa, though her eyes glinted with a dangerous anticipation.

  “Well,” Vivienne began, her voice smooth and cutting, “I think I’ve had enough of caves, mysterious glowing balls of light, and traitors of the state.” She stepped forward, her cws clig against the stone floor, eaent deliberate. Her grin stretched wider, revealing the jagged edges of her hidden maw.

  SupernovaSymphony