The Obsidian Void

Five: Dark, Darker, Yet Darker

Hidden among the snow-topped mountains of the north, stood the once proud and peaceful kingdom of Arctis. Its desolate far-northern location, along with its mighty and supposedly indestructible walls, had allowed it to become an impenetrable stronghold. As such, the kingdom did not have any guards to defend itself from the outside world, convinced that nature would be able to provide all the protection they could need.

This was untrue.

As was the case for most peace-favouring provinces, once the Obsidian Void was reopened and the Somnii free to rampage once more, it found itself no match for the incoming onslaught of nightmares. Arctis was one of the first kingdoms to fall, and with its remote location- no longer an idyllic snowy wonderland, but a twisted frozen shell of itself- it was chosen to be the Somnii base of operations.

Deep within the palace, the creatures were engaging in one of their favourite pastimes -whilst they weren't terrorising people, that is- being furiously screeching at each other for little to no discernible reason. However, the number of those sharing muttered conversation- any at all- seemed to imply that there may actually be a reason for it this time.

This was such an uncommon occurrence that the entirety of the Somnii had been called to the palace throne room in order to bear witness to a message from their leader. As such, the throne room was fit to burst with chattering demons, countless pairs of wings beating rapidly.

The room quickly fell silent though, when the almighty presence of Lord Cassion materialised in front of his throne. With the tiniest movement of his wrist, every last Somnus stopped screaming and drew their attention to him, as he lounged back on his throne and spread his wings imposingly.

"I thank you all for gathering here today." He announced, his voice somehow managing to sound colder than the ice covered walls surrounding him, "Unfortunately it has come to my attention that we have a... situation. If the spy that was sent out is to be believed, it would seem as if we have a renegade attempting to conspire behind our backs."

Every Somnus in the room simultaneously held their breath and attempted to divert their gaze from Cassion's eyes. He noticed, and waved a hand dismissively.

"Fear not, it is none of you in this room." He told them, "Nor is it any other Somnus among our ranks that decided not to attend. Which reminds me-" He turned to the three Somnii sitting next to him, making sure his voice could still be heard around the room, "Make sure they are all rounded up and brought to me after this. I would like a word with them about why they saw fit to disregard my invitation."

He turned back to the room with a grin, "I shall not call out our traitor by name, primarily because I think the majority of you will be able to guess..."

A small subset of onlookers began chucking to themselves, while the rest continued listening attentively.

"...But I am afraid to say I do not have as much information to share with you as I had hoped. All I can say for certain is that there are others, nothing more detailed than that."

"Sir!" Called out one of the Somnii, quickly making her way before Cassion's throne and bowing deeply before she had a chance to talk herself out of this impossibly dangerous plan. Cassion merely stared at her, unblinkingly.

"And you are?"

"Pandora, sir."

"Ah yes!" Cassion said, "Pandora! How could I possibly forget!" He stopped and glared at her, "Why do you see fit to interrupt me?"

Pandora trembled, "You say you do not know much about these traitors, sir? I wish to offer my services and magical capability to help you find out."

Cassion growled, ready to berate this pawn for daring to boast of her ability to him of all people. It certainly seemed as if the rest of the room were expecting him to punish her- most of them even seemed excited by the prospect. It was only the sudden muttering of a voice next to him that convinced him to give her a chance.