by Ava D. Dohn
* * *
“So! This is the world of angels and fools, the blowhards of government and policy making!” The eyes hidden in the shadowy confines of secreted corners of the council chambers studied the many faces in the gathering crowd. Scorn filled the whispering lips of the person behind those eyes, disdain for people of pompous society and highbrow pedigree evident in the creature’s bitter frown. Visions of days long ago flooded this person’s mind, filling it with the sights of torn and bloodied bodies of the dead and dying, all the while hearing grandiose chatter of an amused audience concerning itself with the glory of the kill or bravery of the defeated.
Turning its attention back to matters at hand, the creature muttered under its breath, “And who, this good eve, is the next to find my blade? And yet, it is not for the cheering crowd I deal death out by choice, but for the voices within that still cry out for the sport. ‘A clean kill tonight! Show your skill and cunning, and allow it no second breath! Cleave it to the kidneys, yet let it live long enough to smell your sweet joy in its capture unto death’.”
Shaking off the intoxicating vision, the creature sputtered, “It is for the safety of the king and its council. Indeed! The world I shall save tonight. Is the death of one not a fair price to save so many?”
And there was another hiding behind secret doors, waiting for someone’s message or directions. But the spy was not secret to all, nor would it survive long enough to receive a ‘well done’ from its awaiting master. Now to wait…to wait and see who shall deliver the treasonous note to the contemptible thief.
Sucking in a breath as though sniffing the breeze, wary eyes examined the crowd as nostrils flared in disquiet. “Too many are the foul odors of mischief and evil in this room tonight! Have all the worlds’ vultures gathered here to me, or does the wind itself offer up its putrid scent to offend my thoughts? And yet another I smell whose presence I do not yet discern, but like the Kriggerman on the prowl, it comes ever closer. Its very breath hastens the death of us all.”
Quietly, the creature slunk further back into the shadows like a panther waiting its prey.
