High Matron Etyl Za'Darmondiel.
***
This was foretold to be the greatest time in the history of drow- nay, the history of all Elven-kind. The day Telin's Champion was to ascend at the Bodhi Tree.
I still remember the day it happened, both the beginning and the start of the end. The day where I, as a young drow, witnessed the great Prime Matron Eiriol Za'Darmondiel was cast from grace, reduced to nothing.
It came when those accursed gates appeared, allowing filth to invade our most-sacred home. Because only our Goddess, in her infinite wisdom, knew how to proceed. It was She who fated the Prime Matron Eiriol to be replaced by her daughter, my mother, Etym Za'Darmondiel, and in the greatest act of mercy bestowed by our Goddess, Eiriol was spared. The condition was that she guide me and lead countless others through the Nonusian gate to perpetuate the Houses throughout the realm.
All of Mother Etym's children ventured through those accursed gates. The second and third daughters, Eylahnor and Ahnya Za'Darmondiel, went through to the White Worlds; the fourth and fifth daughters, Alytana and Eknaen Za'Darmondiel, went through to the Inner Reaches. Even the first and second sons, Ildan and Impaviel Za'Darmondiel, went through to Betrarth; all for the sake of our Goddesses glory. All except the first daughter of Mother Etym Za'Darmondiel. My eldest, most prestigious, legendary sister; she who became the thousand-year Prime Matron of Youtera.
While she remained in the motherland, I, at the young age of 96, entered this realm of power with the forsaken matriarch. In doing so, I wove the largest web in the history of our ancient House by sending the strongest of these lesser houses across the Nonusian Darkworld, to be forgotten by the likes of us.
Those Houses- led by my young, quickly become Polaris's problem. Even more quickly, it made me a great Matron like Mother Etym. Mother of the eldest and strongest House in this realm, descended from the great Goddess herself.
I remembered it all. Me and every being of the Fae who was over the age of 266 did. It was that year, 1,225 in these calenders, when Telin made himself known. For all, his message was simple: Prepare for my Champion's arrival. For us, the message was more complex. A date- the year when his champion was to ascend, coupled with tasks to complete once he ascended: Teach him the ways of our culture.
For others- for my eldest sister, it was to be forsaken, like our grandmother. Not just by venturing through Telin's gates, but by refusing to share her tasks with even our Goddess; by doing as any dutiful daughter would and slaying Mother Etym, claiming her brooch and harvesting her arcane well before claiming the throne as the Prime Matron, reigning until the day came to forsake our Goddess and fulfill her tasks.
Though our Goddess knew not the nature of those tasks, it was easy for even the males to deduce. Even then, we had no choice but to abide by the Creator's wishes and believe. We believed Telin's Champion, Elg-Horr, would arrive at these Falls and bring the start of something more. No longer would we merely be the greatest species after this day. We would be a legendary species. That was what our great Queen Demon Spider saw in our fate all those years ago.
That was what we believed. Though it came true, it happened in ways that even we Matrons could not foresee. Amun would elevate us to a new station, that much was certain. It would not be done with his fealty, however. On the contrary, it would come from him being our most privileged adversary. A worthy foe that would end this peace that made our kind so weak. An Eternal Enemy that would recreate the millennia of war that perfected us.
A war that begins today.
Yet, there was more information to be gained. Thus I subtly rose from my throne and prepared myself while those closest to this devilish drow maneuvered into place.
Being the ones who guided them here, it was fitting for Nym to be the first to test the might of the legendary champion.
She began as all drow would, thrusting her hand to release a cloud of shadow, enveloping them both in the nightly mist while her fingers snapped at the arcana surrounding. Though the latter failed to envelop him in Faerie Flames, we heard a crossbow clicking through the darkness and sinking into flesh all the same. Then came the trademark sound of Amun laughing.
He laughed raucously while the magical darkness shrank, coalescing into a needle-thin rapier grasped firmly in his palm.
"You know, ever since I first learned, I thought it a sad thing that drow can create magical darkness without having the means to see through it, much less manipulate it. But how stupid must you feel, Nym, to cast magical darkness over a child of the Nox?"
Uncaring of the darts protruding from his chest, Amun flicked his wrist, causing the needle of darkness to fall limp onto the floor like a whip. Another flick saw it split into many tendrils that rose on their own accord, snaking to fill the space between him and Nym with a threatening aura. Only for him to toss it to his high priestess.
It was easy to forget she was a Vampyr. With his company of humans and her small frame, she appeared no more different from the rest of those pitiful creatures. Yet her true nature showed in her reflexes, too fast for even my un-bolstered eyes to track. All I saw was her hand snap back, holding a handle of pure light that merged seamlessly with the serpentine whip of darkness.
With no action on her part, the serpentine whip went into motion, wrapping around Nym's arm and torso while the three other snakes slithered toward the pit of darkness growing on the ceiling. They constricted tighter as she writhed, bending her body backwards and twisting her arm further and further until a sharp snap echoed through the chamber. And without so much as a groan of pain, her limp body fell, yet did not collapse onto the ground.
Seeing those wretched things pull Nym into the dark pit made Yela lash out in horror. Her fingers flexed madly as she fought against my restraining gaze and scowled at the Elven Devil, screaming, "What did you do to her!? Where did you send my daughter!?"
Amun's gaze was as placid as ever. "Attack me and find out for yourself."
"Oh, do not show us malice, young Matrons. Lest you wish to see ours in kind. Lest you wish… to be changed." Galendra, the monster of a drow, laughed heartily while Amun puffed on a bone-white pipe, still uncaring of the poison-filled quarrels poking out of his chest.
"You enter these Falls, destroy our houses, stand in this tower, blaspheme against our Goddess, turn her children against her, and expect no malice?" Matron Noqutyl sneered. "Would you not do the same if the circumstances were reversed?"
"I would not." Amun flatly said- a lie, I believed. I had to. Yet...
"You see, on one hand, I am a Grandmaster Artificer. I can always rebuild such things as houses, towers, or cities. On the other hand, death is not the end for my people. So, should you kill them, your fight won't necessarily be over. On yet another hand, I practice a little something called mindfulness. I would seek to understand and accept why the so-called blasphemer blasphemed and I would react accordingly to ensure it that was the last time such a thing happened, because I actually fix problems.
"In other words, I get shit done. And unlike your Goddess, I have only one taboo. The unjust taking of another's freedom, be it physical or mental. That means no slavery of any kind. No rape, abduction, or trafficking. Nothing that takes away the freedom of choice from another individual."
"Freedom?" I snarled in disgust. I was so tired of that word. "You, the Eternal Champion, care about freedom?" I spat. "You care so much for these worthless creatures, it's disgusting! Will you free every slave in these caverns then? Every mortal in these realms?"
"It is in my portfolio." He nodded, but not to us. "But do not be mistaken, Etyl. Freedom comes in many forms, yet the price to achieve it is always high, and the cost to maintain it is even higher. Having freedom means having the strength to survive in any place you may find yourself; or not. It means having the ability to pray to any deities you wish; or not.
"My followers can be as righteous or as wicked as they wish. They can say what they want about me, no matter where they find themselves. If they are capable enough, they can turn my physical manifestations against me or even outright kill them; as I said before, death is not the end for them, and if they manage such a feat, then their skill will be acknowledged.
"Even then, the people of Eotrom are free to commit whatever taboo they please. Likewise, their victims and their associates are free to enact their revenge in any way they see fit. In any case, I would do nothing to punish those who express disdain for my ways; for I can clean up my messes; I fight my own battles. I would do nothing but seek to understand and find a solution to my people's problems; for that is what it means to be an emperor. That is what it means to be the Eternal God-Emperor.
"In exchange, I protect them by granting them the power to protect themselves. In turn, I am hostile towards those who plot against us. I aim to change those who threaten us. I kill those who act against us, unmercifully so, for those who can act against us are strong, and mercy is for the weak.
"So now we are here." Amun turned away from me, grinning deviously as he waved the matter off. "Now, Etyl, I ask you- why did you take hundreds of drow, including your son, to the Crimson Web Maze? And for what, expressing a little interest in me? For being raised and tasked with being my teacher?"
"How do you know of the Maze?"
"Well, Yela, you just told me," Amun snickered in the face of Yela's malice.
"I told you once, Matrons of the Fallen Zimysta." The large drow laughed. "I am the sovereign of the place in which you so comfortably dwell. No crevice or cavern in the Darkworld can you hide, for this domain is mine."
"I'll let you in on a little secret, Etyl." He - that accursed male - smiled while gesturing to himself. "My plan was to corrupt you into devils. Iris wanted to take your resources and turn your machines against you. Blude wanted to rob you blind and flood this cavern. Geri wanted your treasures after she froze the place over. Freki wanted to eat all of your food and possibly a few of you before he melted this cavern to slag.
"Wilson wanted to see how many of his chemicals you all could endure before your bodies melted. Rickley wanted to sing to your souls to learn your secrets, and then use them to torment you; make you go mad. Reina wanted to see how many mutations you could take before you gave out, while Leary just wanted to fight you to the death.
"These are the Champions of mine that you know. Yet there is one you seem unaware of. Ironically so, for it was your Goddess who tasked him to be my trainer, teacher, and adviser for life. In turn, I became his superior officer, leader, and mentor. Thus, our stations are equal. I am the Guild Master of the Legio Noctis. He - your first son - is the Abyssal Regent of Eotrom. It was this regent, not one of my divine creatures you had sent to your pits to be tortured for information you could have just asked for; not only an act of war, an act worthy of destruction.
"However, someone changed your fate." He grinned ever-wider, bringing my eyes up to his jagged teeth before they fell to the item of legendary proportions pinned to his robes. "It was your son, my Champion, Etan Za'Darmondiel, who wanted me to change you filthy degenerates. And so, I am here. Not as the destroyer, but as a creator, as the arbiter of change.
"I have come to bring upon your evolution. I am here to create something new out of you, my fellow drow. Something worthwhile. Legendary. So wipe that look of faux-surprise off of your face, Aunt Etyl, and let's stop wasting each other's time. After all, I told you to stop focusing on just one aspect of my being. I told you from the beginning, I am the Destroyer of Creators, the Creator of Destroyers.
"So tell me, Lilith's Matrons. Will you accept this change in life? Or in death?"
***
Etan Za'Darmondiel.
***
At last, the awaited time came, and right on schedule. Three Arachnyndaar skittered to my cell as per usual. They were my only interrogators, now that Amun was occupying the many minds within this tower.
The bulk of their bodies stood as high as carriages, armored in demonic chitin, which appeared as waxy flesh yet was as hard as stone and formed with natural spikes throughout its angular body. Scorpion tails protruded from their rear, above their spinnerets, creating a wide overhang for the corrupted drow bodies fused on the head.
It was the fate of all who entered this accursed web, being made into abominations. Dangerous and yet dumb creatures. Overly emotional dunces like the demon spiders who ruled them.
The largest of them raised its foreleg as its momentum halted, then lunged forward to impale the wall through my stomach. Using its new foothold, it leaned forward, hissing in tune to my flesh, cauterizing around the scalding chitin. But I had long-since grown accustomed to such pain. Thus, I stared into as many eyes as I could manage while the foul abomination hissed.
"You have forsaken your Goddess! Traitor!"
"Sinner!"
"Filth!" It's cohort hissed.
"Never!" I shook my head. "Impossible, in fact! For I have never had a goddess to forsake!"
The punishment came like stone rain, but I stared through them. I shouted through them until every pair of ears in this Crimson Web heard my echoes. "I am not pious, but Amun, Elg-Horr, is my God all the same! So graceful is he, that I was blessed without faith! And so too shall you be, my fellow drow! For he is here to free us from the Spider Cunt!"
The awaited time was right on schedule, for just as these beasts reeled back for another blow, the Eternal Champion called my name. His voice banged against my spirit like a celestial gong, releasing the incorporeal shackles that kept my ki contained.
The release was like a focused explosion releasing a pair of conical shockwaves in the form of blue-violet incorporeal fists as large as the Arachnyndaar flanking me. Their chitin dented and ballooned upon cracking, then glowed from within as my nebulous ki concentrated in my palms.
Twin blasts set my spirit ablaze, manifesting the blue-violet flames of ki to burn the crimson webs from my frame before they congealed into a towering form of rippling muscle and flowing robes.
The raining ichor phased into a thick cloud of starry motes that fell into an orbit around me as my true self's feet manifested with a stone-cracking stomp, pulling my feet from the ground, and my body forward as a series of swift kicks assaulted my last torturer.
Wasting no time, I imposed my will on those orbiting motes and did not wait for them to shift into astral clones before my true self kicked. Every webbed resin wall, and the stone set between them, I kicked and kicked while my astral clones dipped and dove to retrieve my fellow drow and slay the abominations huddled over them - a process that was finished before the end began.
"That mana surrounding you," Sid, first son of Yela, signed. "Is what you said true?"
"Almost every word." I grinned while signing. "Their Queen summoned Amun here to bring him into her pantheon. Well, the Elven Devil came here to add drow to his divine portfolio. He would have done it covertly had they not tried this." I looked around before settling my eyes back on him, his brother Javrith and the dozens more behind them. "Have faith. Or have none. Just have the courage to stand against those who wish to tread on you."
"It's not like we have a choice." Their sisters, Shaenya and Schyrl, huffed in unison. And they indeed looked distraught. As the former was evolved but had yet to become a true cleric of Lilith, she felt it more than most - the distance between us and the Goddess of Drow.
"I will not be dying here, Etan." The latter of them spat. "I refuse to be turned into a monster because I had the skill to survive the destruction we summoned."
"Blame your Goddess for her backwards ways!" Another drow sneered- Javrith, second son of Yela, by the sound of him. "She planned this from the start!"
"Enough!" I called over them. "We need to move."
"And go where?" Sorn signed. "Surely we can't go back to the Falls."
"We can and we will." I grinned, then pointed to the end of this crimson cave. And one by one, they peered through to the exit to gaze upon the vibrant sky of glimmering light spread above a multi-chambered complex of smooth, striated stone. "For this is no longer Zimysta Falls."