The explosive sphere burst into the middle of the air above a marshy delta, in a bright flash and a violent snap that sent a sizeable sedge of cranes scattering in every given direction except closer towards them. The flames, once a vibrant shade of violent crimson, had lost a large volume of energy within the transition to such remote destination; now appearing only as a thin and brittle sliver of amber.
The words were clearly exhausted in the effort to teleport our two heroes across the leagues and fathoms separating this distant land from their gaping void of misery. Thrall thanked them, and sent them on their way.
"You have performed valiantly, my friends. You have my eternal gratitude." He sighed as he excused them back into their rest. The globe shattered into about a thousand disparate pieces of golden triangular shards of glass, and the white platform plummeted into the soft marshy soil below, as the runes pulled themselves free from its place within his great spell.
Each individual shard melted, then ignited into a shower of sparks before setting the ground aflame in a general circle around them. It was a little strange, to see wet ground burning like kindling. The fire was intense and inextinguishable, but it didn't spread, either. Only the small white surface of the void appeared unchanged.
The runes swam appreciatively around him, as if thanking him for the experience, before blinking out of existence, one after another. The last one burst into a fountain of sparks and song, before disappearing altogether.
"You have got to show me how to do that some time," Xantheaa gasped. The power of the words was too great to be ignored. If he was truly knowledgeable about the meaning of concepts, then perhaps even she would be able to wield such powers herself. All she had to do was learn the words, right?
"All in due time," he said, politely. "You already have an innate aptitude with the ruach. I'm sure we can wake him up easily enough, whenever we like. But right now, we have to find the reason Mudaut sent us here. Stand back, real quick." Thrall again unsheathed his sword, and raised it to the sky. All the surrounding flame spiraled into the extended blade, and its searing edge was restored.
Oh, she DEFINITELY had to learn his secrets now. That was so incredibly cool! ..or was it hot? The harpy flapped her wings in a gesture of resignation almost like a shrug.
It was only then that she noticed the small black bird, to her left. This was the only one who hadn't left once they arrived. How very curious...
"Why, hello there." She said. The crow continued to ignore her. They were poking around the earth in small delicate hops, almost like they were looking for something; muttering all the while in its gravelly corvid voice. She slowly approached them from the rear, low to the ground as if not to spook them.
"Hello?" she tried again. Closer now, it almost seemed like she could make out specific words. This crow... was speaking language! He seemed to be mumbling about an annoying little spider. Now close enough to reach out and grab the thing, she noticed that its wings were bound to its back with the strong tensile thread of web along its back.
"Are you alright?"
"Squawk! CAW!" he cried, sending her about two feet straight up in the air. "Back off, Griphon! You can't eat a servant of Nephthys—I'm cursed, you know? Anything that touches me dies."
Thrall heard her shout and hurried over. "What is it, what happened?" He saw the bird no larger than a loaf of bread, which had managed to throw her entirely off-balance, and had to stifle a little chuckle. "What have you found, Xantheaa?"
"Ahem, Th-this poor bird has been bound from head to toe, Thrall."
"Stay away from me! I don't taste nice!" the small animal clarified.
"Oh, don't worry. We're not going to eat you, little guy!"
"Who are you calling little?! I am a mighty servant of Nephthys, the lady of the house of the dead. I will not be patronized!"
Thrall laughed, "You know, he kind of reminds me of someone." She glanced at him with fire in her eyes.
"And who, pray tell might that be?!" There was venom in her voice as she quickly snatched the crow's body up within her mighty talons.
"H-hey! Unhand me, you akh! Put me down, or I'll kill you! I swear it!" he squawked and struggled, kicking his own miniature talons in the air, but with his most of his body bound, he was hopeless to escape her confines.
"I highly doubt that," She chided. "If you had the power to kill through touch, you probably wouldn't have had lain there and let whatever spiders attacked you to weave such an intricate cocoon around you. Now, let me help."
She set about curving the sharp tips of her talons within the slender threads, and picking them apart, but the threads were alarmingly tough—almost as if they were made of steel! "Hold on a second. I'm going to try a little bit harder!"
Thrall smiled, what was the point of all this? The crow continued spitting and cursing and carrying on. The harbinger of death was reduced to its most pitiful state.
"Wait, wait wait wait wait. Stop that-they're stuck to my feathers! OW!"
Thrall suddenly couldn't control his laughter. It was so ridiculous that these aviary creatures were so incapable of breaking a meager thread made of brittle spider silk. Shouldn't birds prey on insects? Well, not that a spider counts as an insect anyways.
"I am sorry, my new friend! Please forgive me, these are harder than they look to remove!"
"I already told you to leave me alone! I'm fully capable of solving this on my own. I just have to find Anansi. He can't have gone far."
That name pricked up Thrall's attention. "Wait. Let me see him." Xantheaa looked back at him, and seemed a bit surprised to hear him volunteering his services, but was glad to help aid him on his journey to redemption.
She handed the bird over, not even registering the incredibly dangerous weapon that he held in his opposite hand. The crow, however, absolutely inconsolable. He had never seen something so manifest in its deadliness outside of the throne room of the Pharaoh. He pled and he shouted and he cried; for mercy, for salvation, or for even death itself. Surely nothing would be worse than perishing under the might of this great and fearsome sword.
Thrall simply smiled blankly, as he aimed toward the crow with the blade outstretched. Only then did Xantheaa's vacant smile register a hint of alarm. She had already purposed in her heart so resolutely that she would focus all her trust in him, that she faithfully assumed they shared the exact same intentions.
Why did Thrall suddenly ask for the crow, once Anansi was mentioned? Surely he couldn't be meaning to torture the poor bird, to get more information! She was about to say something, but the blade was already pressing upon his tender stomach.
"No! No! No! No, no, no, no, no!" He screamed. The flames singed his flesh, dancing in a wiry pattern all across his body. He would be completely consumed!
He shut his eyes, and waited to meet his goddess beside Osiris in death.