Wraith's Lament: Wraith's Lament Chapter 2 - Rampage

        The Eternal Abyss hummed deep in her chest as she lay along the outside edge of the encampment, watching with half-lidded eyes. After the ‘chase’ she’d led the pale blue creature on through the volcanic terrain - the temptation to pick up and throw the insufferable creature into the trap instead had been high, but she’d resisted - the others had settled down to briefly relax in the calm. She wasn’t as interested in joining in the small celebrations at capturing the blue stryx-creature without anyone else becoming infected, preferring to watch and think on her own.

        So here she was, lurking at the edge of the camp - though those from the city Sol called them strange and unfamiliar, she knew of them. There was a wide world outside the gates of the city, and more to the world than a single culture. She knew that well, and while she didn’t believe she had met this particular group personally, she had bumped into others of their kind before. Due to their observance of Nokt, the glowing dots that spattered across her body gained her almost always at least a mild reverence. Even here, where there were no personal connections other than her leading the stryx-creature into their trap, a few had bowed to where she lay and left her small gifts.

        She had to admit the gifts of food had been quite welcome, and as a small thanks, she had gifted those in return one of the small feathers of her body. They had taken them with thanks, and had left to talk excitedly to friends and family she supposed, not that she particularly cared. She wanted peace and quiet, please. Luckily her imposing size and appearance - jagged spines that rose from her back, and the long claws that tipped her feet and wings - seemed to deter most of those that would care to approach her.

        Except the children, of course, she sighed internally as she heard some of their high, clear voices approach. The children seemed to view her as nothing more than something to climb on, despite the Eternal Abyss’ general grumpiness and their parent’s cautions to not bother the wild stryx larger than the tents scattered through the campsite. She wouldn’t hurt the small mini-people, of course, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t voice her annoyance with a deep rumble that made them all flee, laughing.

        Luckily, this time, one of the parents was around to shoo the annoying gremlins away from her before they could latch onto her feathers and pretend they couldn’t hear their parents. A few of the other stryx in the campsite had tried to settle down on or around her, but she’d warned them off with a deep growl, showing them a flash of dark, sharp teeth set into her glowing mouth. They’d all promptly decided that there were much better places to sleep.

        Good, she’d thought, and had snorted at their retreating backs, wondering why in the world anyone would try to sleep on or next to a creature such as herself. She didn’t exactly exude an air of being warm and cuddly, and she’d had several people that she allowed to sit on or near her complain that she was cold rather than warm. Which made sense - she was a child of Nokt, more made out of night and winter than anything else. She wasn’t exactly mortal anymore, she reflected absently, and then shrugged. Their mistake.

        She had a feeling that the Taura-Naji at least, had an inkling about that - while she’d been resting, she’d had a few dressed in different robes than some of the others and eye her curiously, but they’d always move on when she lifted an eyelid to consider them. They were close to Nokt, though, so she saw the sense in that. She didn’t mind them particularly, the most that would probably happen is that some would start trying to put her on a pedestal. If they tried to do that, she would leave - she wasn’t much invested here other than she’d been curious about the ‘corrupted’ stryx-creatures and decided to lend her aid briefly.

        With a sigh, she stretched out on the damp grass and dug her claws briefly into the soft dirt as she stretched. The night was still dark, aside from the orange glow that illuminated the sky softly beyond the trees - if she didn’t know that it was from the edge of the world, she would’ve thought that the sun was rising. But no, instead it was something much more… unnatural than that. There was something strange about that place, other than simply being a volcanic field - something that had made her want to leave as soon as possible after completing her task with the Spook.

        Putting aside those thoughts, she decided to nap while things were quiet. There were still more of those stryx-creatures out there, she was sure, and who knew when they might decide to make trouble?