Shadows 7-1

The Queen of Wasps’ first job was an escort mission. A mercantile fiend, resembling a skeletal woman in a dark good and effectively married to her sailing vessel, was having trouble with demons. She usually fared between the Silver-Echo and the Gilded Peaks, her vessel adjusted for the underwater trek to Tarsus to do business, but a flock of Umibozu had wormed their way through the sludge of the Abyss’ Tarpit Bogs into the sea and was causing havoc. These demonic stingrays weren't much of a threat individually, relying on each other to fend off larger creatures. Like most demons they loved to prey on souls, fiends or iebba stones alike. As a result, a larger vessel showing signs of life like a ship were prime targets.

The Queen of Wasps wasn't too worried about it. If she played her cards right, she would be able to pick off part of the flock from afar thanks to her bow. Using the ship as cover, it would not be unreasonable to get more than half of them taken care of that way, and then all she had to do was make sure not to get surrounded and deal with the stragglers. The ship would take some damage, taking hits for her, but it was already going to be taking a beating anyway.

At least the problem would be dealt with and future trips would be peaceful. Her assignment didn't specify the ship couldn't be harmed, nor did she promise it herself, after all. The offered payment was not much for a small group or powerful individual, the stingy fiend would better known to expect a plucky underdog to take the job.

Before embarking on the job however, she was going to acquire the poison she'd been wanting. Keeping her eyes and ears open the past few days allowed her to pick up a lot of things around Tarsus.

Perhaps most importantly was the hierarchy. The deeper into the chasm, the more prestigious and generally speaking powerful the creatures were. It made sense to some degree. If something like a surface stalker were to come along, those living in the top of the fissure would be the first targets.

She also learned that if she wanted to get her hands on poisons, the quasits of the thieves’ guild were the way to go. They built an entire cavern network going through almost the entire city, though it was mostly located in the upper levels of the city. At least that's how the rumours went.

Finding and pinning one down proved a challenge in its own right. The bastards were slippery and didn't like outsiders. It was difficult to even bargain with one; any offer she made was seen as suspect. They hated confrontation, yet were nearly impossible to contact. The Queen of Wasps knew there had to be “official channels” to contacting and dealing with them, but she could only gather so much info in the few days before her trek. She simply didn't have the time to figure it out.

An opportunity presented itself when she managed to find one of the tunnels one disappeared into. She was forced to crawl uncomfortably at first, before the cave opened up slightly. It was now big enough for a quasit to swim around comfortably, but she was still limited to her hands and feet, unable to use her wings to propel herself forward.

By the time she emerged out the other end into a larger cavern, barely able to keep track of her target, she was circled by a group of the fiends pointing small spears. Four of them. She raised her arms immediately to show she was no harm.

“What the hell is wrong with you?! Harassing us, trailing us and now this! Do you want to die?” One of them shouted as they raised their spear closer to her face. The stone tip was lathered in some sort of thick goo. Poison. She was at least at the right address.

“I have been trying to reach out to do business,” The Queen of Wasps explained calmly.

“Not interested!”

“You don't even know what I want or am offering.”

“Doesn't matter!”

As much as The Queen of Wasps despised the little pests, it was hard to blame them for their caution. Being at the bottom of the food chain meant one wrong move could get you killed - if you were lucky. Still, this was nothing short of infuriating.

She rolled her eyes. “If you weren't going to hear me out or give me any kind of chance, then why didn't you kill me immediately?”

The quasit that had been speaking suddenly paused and tilted its head in confusion.

“If you give me a chance, I can prove myself to be a worthwhile connection.”

A shadow approached from behind the quasits, much taller than them. Taller than her, even, at about half her size extra. When it came close enough, it revealed itself to be a larger, purplish black insectoid devil sporting 4 arms and a set of multifaceted glowing yellow eyes.

The group of small fiends noticed and leapt out of the way of it, bowing their heads.

“You're very fortunate that you're the cutest thing I've gotten to lay eyes on in this city,” he said in a disgusting tone and a predatory glint in its eyes.

Multiple thoughts crossed The Queen of Wasps's mind at once. Most aggressively there was disgust at the way the creature was objectifying her. Underneath was shock that someone would take interest in her at all. Assuming he wasn't lying, of course. Above it all was a desperate insistence to stay calm and not let any of her thoughts show. Logic demanded she made use of this opportunity and emotions would not let her capitalize on that. She'd become pretty adept at hiding her emotions from her expression. Being forced to worship something you loathe in order not to die does that to a person.

Her stingered abdomen disagreed however, twitching nervously.

She stemmed the movement by folding her arms over her chest and leaning against the wall behind her, looking casual and relaxed. “I can be much more than easy on the eyes,” she promised.

The larger fiend cackled. “That so? And what is it you've got on offer then?”

“Services done, people taken care of, payment, really I could keep going.”

He huffed. “Such a pretty thing and you're looking to get hurt? Tell me you're joking. I could offer you a pretty seat right next to me. You'll never have to fight again and we could both be happy.”

The Queen of Wasps's stomach churned and her heartbeat sped up. The suggestion of being put in another cage, to be at someone else's mercy once again, made her sick and want to flee. Despite the room being large enough for someone much larger than her, she could feel the walls closing in.

Not again. Never again.

Her bottom hands reached for her stomach.

“Oh don't tell me you let some human defile you.”

The hands retreated behind her back. “As if,” she responded with a gag, she didn't even have to fake it, though her disgust didn't originate from his suggestion, “however charitable your offer may be, it would be a waste of my talents. Especially since I don't plan on getting myself hurt.”

They needed to get back on track. “Things like that would be a lot easier though if I could purchase your poisons, Sir…?” A gesture of her hand signified she was asking for his name.

“Sardar. What exactly do you need it for, princess?”

The Queen of Wasps sighed. “I'll be dealing with that flock of Umibozu that was posted, Sardar.”

The intense glare that Sardar gave her made her feel like he would squint at her if he could. “You're a mad little thing if you can pull it off. Sure. Let's make sure we get you the poison that'll floor those demonic shits, they're annoyingly resilient to the basic stuff.”

She watched him closely as he stepped back and walked away. She couldn't tell if he was trying to rip her off by trying to sell her more expensive product. If he truly didn't want her dead, it was reasonable to assume he wasn't going to screw her over in any way that wasn't in her wallet. That gave her some kind of assurance at least.

Her gaze fell to the four smaller fiends, which were shuffling around awkwardly. Quieting her voice and standing back up properly, she spoke up. “So when was the last time he fucked one of you guys over?”

They startled, alert again.

“That's none of your business..!” One sputtered in a hushed tone.

Another frowned and averted their gaze. “He killed Evedel and ate her soul last week…” they muttered weakly.

“Shhhhhh! Don't let him hear you…!” the third one interjected.

The Queen of Wasps wasn't surprised. Working with Sardar was promising to be difficult. “So a big controlling bully, huh?”

They all meekly nodded in unison.

The insect in question called out from the back. “What the hell are you idiots still standing around there for?! You know you got better shit to do than ogle our new acquaintance!”

With another start, the group scattered.