As the world returned so too did all her senses. That stench of copper. That warmth. The heavy feeling of her limbs, as if her leather gear were soaked. Her large gnome eyes darted around her to find she was laying in the middle of a horrific sight. Gore surrounded her on all sides. It radiated outward from her, splashing over the nearby overturned table and chair, staining several rows of books on the nearest shelves and splattering its mist against a far wall.
This... this -wasn't- suppose to happen! This has all gone horrifically wrong!
Ethel was beside herself. The shock of the traumatic event she was just thrust through stunned her. She tried to rise but slipped back to the stone floor. She was practically swimming in it, or so it felt. Her mind slipped into its typical gnomish gears, racing forward in a violent mental attempt to regain control and make sense of what had just happened.
Crystal. Crystal shard. Planted it. I put it where Lilith said. Lilith. It was her plan. She made the shard. Shard, what was it? Blood shard. Yes, blood magic. Think, Ethel. Think. Magic. You know enough. It... it was... a... transportation... yes, a transportation spell, but utilized blood magic. Blood was it's catalyst.
Her innards churned suddenly with the thought. Her stomach wretched, sickened finally at the realization that she'd been used. Her own sister. She'd used her to such a sickening, devastating effect. She knew this could happen. No. She knew this -would- happen.
In the span of her shadowed career the ethereal gnome (as some came to call her) had performed a great many distasteful things. Death was nothing new to her, neither the indignity and gore that so often came hand in hand like petulant children. She'd had her fill of that life. She wanted to get away. Start clean, somewhere that didn't stain her hands. Oh sprockets, her hands.
Ethel lifted her hands and stared a long while. They were red, slimy, and caked in bits of something else akin the viscous matter. She fought down another wretch. It wasn't the gore that made her react so. It was the senseless death she'd been forced to unwittingly commit. It was the knowledge that it didn't have to be like this. There were so many other ways to gain access that didn't involve bloodshed. It was the knowledge that she'd been betrayed. Used by her own family.
Her beloved sister Lilith, clearly, was no long the gnome she once knew. She was dangerous.
Full clarity returned, and once again Ethel had full control of her senses. Through the terrible aches and pains that still wracked her body the spry little dark haired gnome managed to find her footing and step away from that horrific scene. She steeled herself.
I came here to complete a job. Focus on the job. She repeated it like a mantra. Focus. Focus. The Job. Focus. Book... Where's that book.
Somehow, in some way, she was able to find that callous portion of herself and 'flip that switch'. She passed across rows and rows of books, gaining speed as the pain eased. Occasionally she'd pass by a familiar title and knowing its value on the black market she snatched it up. She held five such book in her pack when she finally came across that one. The book her sinister older sister, Lilith, had sent her after. She slid the book into the pack and made her way toward the only exit.
She halted nearing the stone spiral staircase. Sounds. Vibrations. Either an alarm had been tripped or someone heard the... the incident. There's no telling the racket her... entrance... may have caused. Her exit was blocked. Ethel dropped her pack.
Time for plan B.
This... this -wasn't- suppose to happen! This has all gone horrifically wrong!
Ethel was beside herself. The shock of the traumatic event she was just thrust through stunned her. She tried to rise but slipped back to the stone floor. She was practically swimming in it, or so it felt. Her mind slipped into its typical gnomish gears, racing forward in a violent mental attempt to regain control and make sense of what had just happened.
Crystal. Crystal shard. Planted it. I put it where Lilith said. Lilith. It was her plan. She made the shard. Shard, what was it? Blood shard. Yes, blood magic. Think, Ethel. Think. Magic. You know enough. It... it was... a... transportation... yes, a transportation spell, but utilized blood magic. Blood was it's catalyst.
Her innards churned suddenly with the thought. Her stomach wretched, sickened finally at the realization that she'd been used. Her own sister. She'd used her to such a sickening, devastating effect. She knew this could happen. No. She knew this -would- happen.
In the span of her shadowed career the ethereal gnome (as some came to call her) had performed a great many distasteful things. Death was nothing new to her, neither the indignity and gore that so often came hand in hand like petulant children. She'd had her fill of that life. She wanted to get away. Start clean, somewhere that didn't stain her hands. Oh sprockets, her hands.
Ethel lifted her hands and stared a long while. They were red, slimy, and caked in bits of something else akin the viscous matter. She fought down another wretch. It wasn't the gore that made her react so. It was the senseless death she'd been forced to unwittingly commit. It was the knowledge that it didn't have to be like this. There were so many other ways to gain access that didn't involve bloodshed. It was the knowledge that she'd been betrayed. Used by her own family.
Her beloved sister Lilith, clearly, was no long the gnome she once knew. She was dangerous.
Full clarity returned, and once again Ethel had full control of her senses. Through the terrible aches and pains that still wracked her body the spry little dark haired gnome managed to find her footing and step away from that horrific scene. She steeled herself.
I came here to complete a job. Focus on the job. She repeated it like a mantra. Focus. Focus. The Job. Focus. Book... Where's that book.
Somehow, in some way, she was able to find that callous portion of herself and 'flip that switch'. She passed across rows and rows of books, gaining speed as the pain eased. Occasionally she'd pass by a familiar title and knowing its value on the black market she snatched it up. She held five such book in her pack when she finally came across that one. The book her sinister older sister, Lilith, had sent her after. She slid the book into the pack and made her way toward the only exit.
She halted nearing the stone spiral staircase. Sounds. Vibrations. Either an alarm had been tripped or someone heard the... the incident. There's no telling the racket her... entrance... may have caused. Her exit was blocked. Ethel dropped her pack.
Time for plan B.
