Encore [Rhysati]

[Chaeli Snowsong]

17 Fall, 511 They were not exactly hidden. Chaeli could not ask as much from a woman so fearless, who had taught her about fear and how to be feared. But the ghost could not help but spread herself thin, clinging to a veil of invisibility as she waited for their guest. It comforted her to hide. She would show her face when the time came; she would face her killer and enact her vengeance. He had always been prideful. His confidence had been one of the things that enamored her. So she appealed to it as well as she could think to, told him of a prime business opportunity with a less than legal foundation. It required not only his brilliant mind, but a secret meeting place and the utmost discretion. Not a soul should know. It had been difficult to hold the pen, but not as difficult as waiting. Not as difficult as killing. That was why Delilah was there, or whoever she was. The dhani woman was the courage that still faltered in Chaeli, the kindling for the fire of her hatred. She had taught her what she was, what she wanted, and what she was capable of. Chaeli knew now that her own death meant nothing, if the man who caused it did not pay the same price. After nearly four decades, it would take a living creature to show a dead girl what it meant to take a life. It was all she could do not to gasp when she first heard him, crawling through the sliver of space that separated the warm grotto from the stale outer-city air. Her cold hand materialized to grip Rhysati’s arm, but as soon as she realized how much like fear the gesture was she released her. His long, stringy hair was pulled back in a loose tail, his face less gaunt than she last remembered it. He had been eating more. Chaeli had forgotten what it was to eat. He slipped gracefully to the floor and looked around half-heartedly. Chaeli ducked backward, soulmist swirling. Surely he would see them. It was too soon. She had forgotten how she wanted to take revenge, how exactly, and what to say. Panicking, she whispered almost inaudibly, “What do I do?”

[Ssafirarhysati]

They were back where they had first met. Rhysati did not know if the place held some sort of sentimental value to the girl when she had still alive, or if it had meant something to this man, this Spider, that would birth such fervent need for vengeance from a soul so seemingly innocent. It was all so much foolishness for Rhysati. But, oh, was she going to milk as much fun out of it as she could. Oh yesss... Like she would in her snake or Dhani form, Rhysati's tongue flicked out of her mouth, running the tip of it over her upper lip, licking herself and tasting the air. There was an aura of tension about them, of anticipation, that it almost seemed like a physical thing enveloping her, wrapping itself around her. Like she would wrap her coils around a doomed prey in her snake form. Rhysati trilled at the imagined sensation. "Mmmm..." Abruptly, she stopped, that beyond-the-grave coldness emanating from her companion ruining the moment for her. Rhysati almost snapped a curse at her before she caught herself. The spirit was terrified, the fool girl. But that would only mean that their quarry had arrived. The man who was about to die. She watched him approach from where she lounged among the rocks. She was naked, of course. The mild warmth from the grotto's waters felt so much better without the barrier of cloth sheathing her body. It should serve to put the man at ease, as well, or at least as much ease as he could feel with the knowledge that this naked woman concealed no weapon on her person. Not that she needed any. From behind her, the spirit gave voice to its uncertainty. "Do? Do?" Rhysati's shoulders shook as she stifled a laugh. "Chaeli, my dear, this is your game we will be playing now. Make up the rules as you go! Lie to him, coerce him, tell him I'm some brainless woman he could pet...have. But whatever it is you do, have him linger. "And then we will have our fun..."