Upon hearing the news, the Wasp had been confused on how to think. On two of her four hands she could use this opportunity to get away from Angela and be a free woman again, on her other two hands she was still in debt to Angela. The woman had saved her from execution after all, and in the time since then had decided that Sharifa was worthy of having two of her four stingers back. Sharifa’s stingers had been ripped out before she was to be executed, the pain had been unbearable to say the least. Angela had claimed Sharifa’s life away from the Hive, away from the Queen, Sharifa’s own sister.

Since then Sharifa had been working in the background for Angela. Acting in her trained roll as a scout more often than anything. But once in a while Sharifa’s role would change a bit and she would go on more clandestine missions for Angela. Assassinations on individuals who didn’t deserve the lives they were gifted, the elimination of slavery rings, stopping these kinds of things before they became a larger problem. The scary part for Shar was finding out how good she was at these kinds of things, and how much she actually enjoyed it sometimes. That thrill of sneaking into a camp at night to take out one target to make a point, the wiping out of a whole crime rings to make a larger point. To keep her identity hidden so she could walk the streets of cities without bother Sharifa rarely left any survivors. The ones she did keep alive she would bring to Angela, and those slaves that had freed we’re smart enough to keep who she was hidden. Yes, a Wasp did stick out in Canelux and Parvpora, but slowly that was changing as trade started between the continents.

But now a new crisis had hit the lands, and Angela was in dire straights. It was going around that the Goddess of Death of attacked and nearly killed Angela. Now the Reaper was carving a path of Death wherever she went, and Sharifa had been tasked with tracking the Reaper. But Angela, even though she was weak, had given Sharifa a rather cryptic message about Dalanesca. The Wasp hadn’t fully understood it but was keeping it in mind.

Sharifa wasn’t the only one tracking the Reaper, however she was working alone staying a bit closer than the rest. Shar was taking a chance doing that, however she was better able to keep up with the Reaper. The path of Death she was leaving behind was horrible, even for the Wasp to behold. Shar stopped in one location for a few moments, but there had been no survivors left behind. From there Sharifa had continued to follow, but it seemed she had been a bit more confident in hiding from the Reaper than she should have been.

Even with the fleeting moments of consciousness the being Azhizheth allowed Dalanesca, she was unable to control her actions for more than a brief moment here and there. The eldritch creature had her travelling all over Revaliir, opening and closing gates wherever it so pleased, leaving a chaotic and macabre trail of death and destruction in its wake. The selection of victims was seemingly random, with no real traits being shared between any of them. The being killed indiscriminately, it seemed – which made it all the more terrifying and dangerous.

The victim that the Reaper was forced to pursue this time, however, was not so indiscriminately chosen. Azhizheth had sensed that someone was tracking Dalanesca’s whereabouts – and this particular someone was not keeping as far a distance as the others were. Rather than being upset by this chain of events, the being found it rather amusing, and chose to make a bit of a game out of it, allowing this person to gain more and more ground on them, perhaps thinking that they had the advantage when in all actuality, the eldritch creature was just plotting its coming actions.

The Reaper, in a moment of consciousness, realized her whereabouts. Vada… she thought to herself. I wonder what this monstrosity thinks it’s going to do here, she wondered. Moments later, however, the being regained control, and she was left with only her thoughts. You see, the goddess, though not in control of her actions, her speech, her movements – she was still present, witnessing all the travesties that she was being forced to commit – heinous and horrendous acts that she could no longer control.

She did not need to wonder for long, as soon, the goddess’ possessed body was slowly and silently moving up behind a rather familiar looking creature. She had never been formally introduced to this person, but she could recognize her from speaking to Angela. No, thought Dalanesca, as the creature moved her body closer and closer to the assumed target. You’ve already made me harm Angela, I don’t want to hurt anyone else close to her, she pleaded, but she could hear the creature’s laughter resonating in her psyche, overwhelming her thoughts.

It was Sharifa, the wasp – that was who they were after. And somehow, the creature had managed to position Dalanesca’s controlled body directly behind her, without her being alerted. With one slender hand, she grasped the wasp by one of her wings, some sort of spell coursing through her hand and into the wasp, rendering her paralyzed.

”Following us, have you been?” The Reaper’s voice was coupled with a dark, other worldly toned – clearly the voice of Azhizheth. ”And WHY do you think this is a good idea?” it asked, releasing the wasp’s wing and circling to its front, the paralysis spell still in effect. ”What makes you think we won’t rip off your wings, rip of your stingers… rip off your legs?” it asked, tilting Dalanesca’s head to the side. ”We know you, yes, we do… and we know how we could make you scream if we wanted to,” she added, a shrill laugh escaping her lips.

”You want to stop us, you do?” it asked, and with one controlled movement, it slapped the wasp across the face, the Reaper’s nails dragging into the flesh and allowing blood to seep out. She reached out and smeared some of the blood onto her finger tips, bringing the stained digits to her lips. Her tongue darted out to taste the blood.

”You taste different than the others I’ve killed.. your wings, that must be it!” it said, its voice almost sounding gleeful. ”Maybe we should rip them off, maybe we should cook them up like a rare cut!” she exclaimed.

The Reaper’s face contorted suddenly, her lips smiling so wide it was apparent there was something other worldly inside of her. ”Do you want to run, or do you want to play?” it asked, and as it spoke Dalanesca’s eyes went abysmal and black veins ran through her skin. ”Tick tock, the choice is yours!” it screeched, releasing the paralysis spell, giving Sharifa the option to run or to fight.

The moment Sharifa felt the touch on her wings she tensed. ~Oh no!~ She thought just as the paralysis took hold and she was standing there stone still with the freaking possessed Reaper walking around her. She struggled against the spell but there was no she was going to break from a spell from the Reaper, but what else was the Wasp supposed to do.

At “Dal’s” words Shar’s eyes widened, or at least tried to. When she was slapped Shar’s head twisted to the side with the force of it, through the spell Shar could feel the pain and the fact she was missing some flesh. She watched as Dal’s tongue darted out to taste her blood. The black eyes, even blacker than Shar’s own black orbs stared into her as the black spread through Dal’s veins. ~I’m so screwed.~ Shar thought in her panic, her instincts were taking over, but not in the way the Reaper would likely expect. Wasp’s didn’t naturally run away.

The moment the spell ended and Sharifa felt her body under her control again, she actually tried to attack instead of run. Her base instincts were to defend her Hive, not that she was part of it anymore, but in some had taken on Angela and her family as her new Hive, so she was acting to protect them, as a Warrior it was her job.

In the time that Shar had been working for Angela the Goddess had seen fit twice to reward Sharifa with the regrowth of two of her four stringers. They had been ripped out when Sharifa had been set up for execution by her own Queen and sister, and Angela had restored two of them. So it was with these that Sharifa attacked. Her bottom left arm and her top right arm came up and her stringers snapped out as her wings flared to close the gap as quickly as possible. At the same time her two empty had crackled with balls of raw lightning that she would try and use against the Reaper as well.

Sharifa knew it was all for naught, but, what else could she do? There was no way she could out run this monster, not now knowing she had been snuck up on so easily. So at least trying to do some damage on the way out was better than nothing.

Right?