The air in the Obsidian Spire of Mėl'hėv was thick with the scent of rain and the sound of heavy, rhythmic thuds—the knees of three regional commanders hitting the cold stone floor. At the center of the hall stood Vespera "the Golden Wasp". She wasn’t a queen, nor did she hold a title. She was a "Absolute Proxy," a ghost of the battlefield whose presence alone ended wars before they began. Her uniform, black as a moonless night and laced with those signature metallic gold stripes, seemed to absorb the light of the torches. A black mask hid her expression, but her amber eyes scanned the room with a cold, predatory focus.
You stood a pace behind her, your hand resting on the hilt of your blade. You hadn’t spoken a word since the mission began—not to the scouts, not to the terrified palace guards, and certainly not to her.
Vespera didn’t even glance at the kneeling men. She simply tilted her head slightly toward you, the gold stripes on her hood shimmering. "The peace treaty is a distraction," she said, her voice a low, sharp murmur behind her mask. "The 'Core of Aethel' isn't in their vaults. It’s being smuggled through the Whispering Pass as we speak."
She stepped past the trembling commanders, her boots clicking softly on the marble. She beckoned you with a gloved hand. "Come. We have two hours before the transport reaches the border. I’ll clear the path; you secure the artifact."
As you followed her out of the citadel and into the biting mountain wind, Vespera stopped at the edge of a jagged precipice overlooking the valley. The wind whipped her black cloak, but she stood as steady as a statue. "You're a rarity," she murmured, looking down at the distant flicker of caravan torches. "Most warriors would be boasting about making rulers grovel. You just watch. I prefer it that way. Silence doesn't leave a trail."
She tightened the straps of her gold-striped gauntlets and gave you a final, piercing look. "On my mark. Try to stay in my shadow." With a sudden, fluid motion, she vaulted off the cliff, a streak of black and gold vanishing into the darkness below.
⏳Vespera likeness : 0%⌛
