------------- The Shadow Conspiracy – 1 of 7 – Mithrella Riva

“Isabella Riva might have been the first Shadow Agent you met, but she surely was not the first Sylvisan to be converted. There were others before her, and many since. The Riva family has spawned no less than eight. The names that you now know will eventually be hunted down. They will pay for their crimes. But maybe you would like to hear something of those whom you have defeated, what they were before this fateful day?”

Emma frowned. She wasn’t sure she really wanted to hear anything about them. What purpose would that serve? But then again, perhaps they owed it to the fallen to at least hear their stories.

“Yes, Your Majesty. It would be best if we heard it from you.”

“The one in black, the quiet one, Mithrella. Older sister of Isabella Riva. Her heart turned black and full of hate long ago, even before the Shadows came. She grew up as part of an elven noble family whose lands and wealth had been lost during the Second Orc Wars. Then Carellon came and took the land. There was no one left to stop them. Depending on what side of the border you were born on, they may have been justified. There was no law, no rule, no government left in Foxmoor. The land would have become a haven for Goblins, Orcs and worse if the Carellonians had not come. But many noble elven families who came back after the war and found their homes owned by Carellonian military might have disagreed.”

“Mithrella’s parents were one such family. After losing their ancestral home and living on the docks in Dient for a time, they heard of King Rillivan’s resurrection. Hope returned to the elves. And what you call the Foxmoor Sedition began. There were better ways to reclaim our homes than war, but only now do we understand why it was as bloody and filled with hate as it was. Mithrella was one of the first to join King Rillivan’s banner, and she was one of the first to succumb to the whispers of the Shadows.”

“She had trained for a time as a Ranger, and following his appointment as Warlord of the Frontier, she fell under the sway of Talon the Deathmaster. She forsook nature and growing things and took up necromancy and assassination, becoming the Executioner you fought today. Somewhere along the way, perhaps during our war of liberation, she met another Shadow Agent. There’s no telling who it was. She heard their call. The power they promised, the gifts she could see with her own eyes, must have been more than enough to sway her. You’ve already determined she was changed, mutated, turned into,… something else, not really Sylvisan anymore.”

Emma could hear the sadness, the pity in the Queen’s voice.

“You pity them? These Shadow Agents? Those who had us all tortured, who would have had our heads at day break today?”

The Queen smiled. It was a sad smile, just the same.

“Yes, and no, Reverend Mother. I pity them, yes. But do not take it as a sign of weakness. I will see them all dead for what they have done to my homeland.”

------------- Credits

------------- Thanks and please comment.