Library of Rain

The uffter looked down at the lesser uffters she had dominated. To one side were the twisted ones, gifts from her green-eyed goddess. She had a job, and they would all serve their purpose. The two-tailed chosen stood next to her. He wasn’t as smart as her, but the goddess had chosen him, so she wouldn’t argue with him being here. 

These here would make for a good start in achieving the goal of their goddess. She had only briefly brushed the goddess's mind when she was first gifted with intelligence and power. But that had been enough to see the desires of the green-eyed one. The goddess wanted knowledge, so she would gather it. 

Unfortunately, dominating the minds of the lesser humans was more challenging than the lesser ufters and the twisted. Still, she had enough power to read their surface thoughts. She learned their language and customs, how they interacted, and what they wanted. It wasn’t enough. If she wanted the recognition of her goddess, she needed to gather more.

With a mental command, the lessers scurried away to watch the city. She would keep watch of everything through their eyes. 

She felt a movement in her belly. Good, her children were growing. She knew she wasn’t strong enough to achieve the green-eyed goddess's goals alone, so she would have many children. She would teach them their duty to the green-eyed one, and together, they would gather all the information this city had to offer. Who knows, with multiple mind uffters working together, they might even be able to dominate the lesser humans.

*****

Hornet looked down on the beautifully twisted visage of the woman, blood leaking from her ears and black veins spreading from her temples. It was almost perfect. If only she had answered his questions, it would have been perfect. 

He had even lied and told her he would spare her life if she told him who ‘our merchant friend’ was. She had refused, telling him she didn’t know. She thought her tears would convince him. She was wrong. He knew she was lying. She just didn’t want to tell him. She didn’t want him to get another of the books. 

“Why?” Hornet asked the dead room, grabbing the woman's hair and smashing her face into the wooden floor.

“Why? Why? Why? Why? WHY? WHY? WHY!”

With each word, he smashed her face into the floor, breaking bones and turning it into a pulverized mess. The note in the book said that he needed to talk to ‘our merchant friend.’ Hornet didn’t know who that was! The boss probably knew, but he refused to tell Hornet after Hornet killed him.

No matter, Hornet would just keep killing people until one of them told him what he wanted to know. Yes. He thought as he stood up to his full, crooked height. I will kill this ‘merchant friend’ and force you to give more power. With that, he walked out of the bloody home and onto a sun-lit farm.