Book 5: Chapter 47 — Severence - V
Zax woke up to a dry, lifeless chuckle and someone kicking Zax’s tail back and forth like it were a child’s game. "Zaxius, or 'Zax' is it these days? Haven't seen you in a while."
Zax turned to look up at the intruder, flicking his tail out of reach.
The man casually batting the tip of Zax's tail between his feet stood about three times as tall as the humans, his limbs pale grey flesh drawn tight over bone and muscle that bulged out oddly around the joints before thinning to almost nothing. His robe drifted around him spiderweb-thin strands woven in loose crimson diamonds. The usual connections were not needed for one such as him, but he enjoyed playing with the form of those he ruled, and today he had chosen a humanoid shape.
Zax nodded in acknowledgment. "Ifnal. I thought you were dead."
He laughed. "I've been dead many times. That has never been enough to drive me away yet." The crown he wore was a simple band of black metal, though the power it emitted was enough to level most cities if applied correctly.
Zax shrugged and rose, checking himself over for damage. He'd expected at least one more attack from the Ascendants before the local creatures overwhelmed them. He’d half expected to die in the process of his gambit, and was pleasantly surprised to find he hadn't been more than trivially injured in the whole affair. Most of the damage had been self-inflicted when he tore pieces out of his chained spirit to escape. The merely physical damage was inconvenient and briefly painful, nothing more.
"What brings you to my doorstep, old one?"
"A few unruly children, if I'm honest." Zax walked over to the edge of the pillar and stared down into the free-for-all melee below.
The Void Huntress was binding groups of monsters into her domain and picking them off a few at a time, directed by her Lunar Prophet ally.