“Fear can be a very powerful weapon,” Ysuwe said to the group of young initiates before her.  She remembered being in their very position several years ago.   “Maledici learned this when she first rose to her current position in the pantheon.  To understand her motives and be one with her ultimate goal will guarantee you success in the priestesshood.  Maledici however, wants only the strong.  Remember that here, failure begets death.  And Maledici has ways to make sure you do not seek salvation.  So remember that!  Should you serve her well, you will be rewarded, but failure will have your soul ensnared in her sacred black ichor.”

The several young females all sat in silence before her.  She could see the terror in their eyes.  She could see it in almost any living thing nowadays.  In her own head, she deemed it a gift from her great goddess to see this weakness in her rivals so she could exploit it.  Nothing brought her more pleasure than sowing terror in hearts of those who claimed to be fearless.  Over the few years as a priestess of Maledici, she had done this many times and even started to learn spells that were distinct to only Maledici’s followers.  Many of these involved the sacred black ichor as she’d come to call it.

“Your teachings shall begin tomorrow with Priestess Kolva,” she said.  “Until then, rest and thank Maledici for her guidance right now.  Your lives will change tomorrow.  You are dismissed.”

The young females got to their feet and started to file out of the main room of the Temple of the Goddess of Fear.  Another figure with long, cotton white hair, stood in the entrance and let them pass as she worked her way to where Ysuwe was standing.  “A fine speech, Ysuwe,” she said, now standing before her.  “I’m curious how many of them will make it though.”

“I am guessing maybe one or two, Mera,” she replied.  “I already see a lot of them afraid and when they do that…”

“Do not be so sure… you’re not avatar…”

“Yet.”

Mera sighed as she played with a braid of hair.  “You know our temple already has an avatar.  She’s shown great devotion to Maledici and is worthy of the gifts bestowed upon her by the great ichor.  You will have to wait.”

Ysuwe growled.  She’d thoroughly enjoyed her time learning the teachings of the goddess of fear, but she wanted the power more than anything.  She’d always had an ambition inside her that bubbled like the tars of Maledici.  Ysuwe smiled a little.  “Of course we do.  Just as the other temples have theirs.”

“Remember that they are oracles or keepers of knowledge.  If you ever want to be avatar, you must first adhere to Maledici’s will far more than you already are.  She’ll grant you a great power if you do gain her favor though.”

Ysuwe knew what this power was, but decided it better to not let on.  “And what is this power?”

Mera smiled devilishly.  “You can make any creature see what they fear most.  It can be incredibly useful.  Every thing knows fear, even the dead.  They see that which frightens them most.  It often stuns them quite well.  It is said that you can even kill them with that fear.”

“Amazing…”

“Indeed.”

Ysuwe leaned against the wall.  “So, are you here because you are feeling like a quick go, or do you have business for me?”

“Both,” the other priestess said.  “Turns out a male has been lurking around here without a leash.  He’s been seen around your…”

“That’s Faen,” she said.  “Ignore him, he’s mine.”

“You know he needs to be leashed.”

“I have him doing plenty of things and he knows quite well what will happen if he doesn’t.”

“Ysuwe Olidi, you know the rules.  It must be kept on a lead or some form.  Next time I see it without a lead, or near you, I will take it and kill it.”

“Don’t forget who my mother is…”

“I know Lady Orla keeps strict eye on you, but she isn’t here right now.  She is at home.  And you need to remember your place in the order!”

“She isn’t?”

“No.  Lady Zyri wanted to talk to her about something.”

“Go figure.”  She picked up her favorite book.  She’d written in it some more and opened it to a new page.  This page wasn’t like the others.  She’d needed some paper and rather than go find some paper, she tore a large piece of skin off Faen’s back and used it.  She’d ordered someone heal him once done, and she had started doing it whenever she needed a page.  She quickly started to write down the notes about what being Avatar of Maledici would grant her.  “She say what about?”

“Grell in the tunnels.”

“What of them?”

“They’re mutating apparently.”

She stopped writing.  “How so?”

“They’re getting larger for one thing, and it seems they’re growing resistant to our majiks.”

“So what?  The blade slingers still work unless they’ve got stone skin now...”

“Yes, but we’re finding we’re needing larger blades.”

“What of it?  We’ll find a way to quickly get rid of these mutants anyway.”

“Of course.”

“And now with our business done…  Shall we retire somewhere more appropriate?”

“Of course.”

*****
Ysuwe awoke alone again to Faen’s pleading.  She sat up, seeing her slave with his head bowed before her.  His bare back was a maze of scars.  Each of the wounds had been inflicted by her braids whenever she deemed he’d failed her.

“Damnit,” she muttered.  “What are you doing in my room?”

“Mistress asked me to wake her last night before she retired with Mera.”

A strand of hair curled into a braid and quickly whipped him a few times.  “Never-sneak-into-my-room!”  The last lash cut into his skin, staining her white hair with blood and creating a new scar on his back.

“I-I-I didn’t!” he replied, cowering even more now.  “Mera left the door open for me so I could wake you!”

She growled and whipped him again with her hair.  This strike also opened his skin.  “Draw my bath, ready my dress and then deliver the reply for Syokei.  Then return to your room and wait for me there.  Understand?”

“Y-yes Mistress!”

“Good!  Go!”

He quickly turned tail and ran from her bedroom to do her bidding.  She smiled and lay back down, picking a piece of paper from her nightstand.  She and Mera had not only enjoyed a physical interaction that night, but had discussed matters of their temple.  Ysuwe was quite sure she’d slipped with information on the current avatar, Lyli, which was sure to aid her.

Faen came back in, carrying a thin yellow-green dress for his mistress.  He put it over the back of a chair and entered the bathroom to draw her bath.  

Ysuwe smiled a little, watching him.  She had plans for him that evening.  If her sister had any thoughts, she’d kill them both.  There was a knock on the door.  “What?” she asked in a very rude tone.

“Sister,” a man’s voice said.  “Mother has ordered me to assist in your tasks today for the temple.”

She sighed.  “Why does mother think I need your help, Tyrasir?”

“I do not know, sister.  Perhaps she is not confident with your abilities?”

She sat up and threw her brother a glare.  “Do not dare question my abilities, male…  For that, deliver this to Syokei.”  She grabbed another piece of paper from her nightstand.  “Once done, you will be her slave for the day.  And if I hear anything about you disobeying her, I will see to it mother boils you in tar!”

Tyrasir was clearly not happy, but took the letter from her and left the room.  Faen came back in at that moment.

“Where is the thing you wanted delivered, Mistress?” he asked.

“You’re very lucky, slave.  My brother is doing it for you.”  She climbed out of bed.  “Is my bath warm?”

“Yes, Mistress.”

“Good.”  She took him by the wrists with her hair and brought him to her bathroom as well.  She climbed in.  Soon as she was in, Faen proceeded to wash her.  “You are a very, very lucky male, Faen.”

“Yes, Mistress.”  He gently rubbed her back with a cloth.

“You have the privilege of serving me.  Ysuwe Olidi.  Eldest daughter to Orla and soon to be avatar of Maledici.”

“Yes, Mistress.”

“Soon as you have washed me, you will go into the tunnels and find another of those yellow spiders.  And do it quickly.”

He knew what his mistress was planning.  This could cause a lot of trouble though as Mera had caught him yesterday wandering without Ysuwe’s supervision.  “But, Mistress, if I am caught, I will have failed you.  Lady Mera was quite clear on that you must keep an eye on me.”

She scoffed.  “Just do it, and avoid the temple.  I will be back here around lunch for it.  Just go to your room.”

“What if Mistress’s sister comes by?”

She groaned and a strand of hair quickly wrapped itself around his neck.  “Then be in here!  You can make yourself useful by cleaning this place.  I want it to shine like my diamonds when you’re through.  If I find even a speck of dirt, you will know pain.”  The hair tightened, making Faen choke.  “Make yourself useful then…”

He gagged in response.  Her grip loosened just enough so he could respond.  “Y-y-yes, Mistress!”

“Good male…”  The hair slid off his neck and back into the soapy water.

*****
Ysuwe walked to the temple again, finding a group of drow carrying a dead male along the street.  She managed to get a good look at him as he passed.  He was in good shape and she thought she’d had him before, but a smattering of blood on his right breast was odd, given the weapons they used.  She was surprised that something had been able to penetrate the ceramic armor he wore over his chest.  The rest of him looked perfectly intact.

That’s odd… she thought.  Usually bodies taken somewhere are in far worse shape than that…  Ysuwe sighed and entered the temple to see the morning rituals and prayers take place.  She usually came in at this time.  Thankfully, she was exempt from some of these rituals.

“You’re late,” a female said.  Ysuwe recognized the voice immediately and turned to face an imposing priestess.  She had the longest hair of the group, having it up so it wouldn’t drag on the ground.

“I know, mother,” she replied.  “It could not be helped.  Tyrasir was being more a hindrance than a help as you intended.  He is gone for the moment.”

“Alright then…”  She looked back to the congregation.  “What did Mera want last night?”

“She wished to discuss the avatar.”

“Kelira has been doing a fine job.”

“Even though she has defied your council before?”

Orla smiled.  “She does a fine job.”

“Mother, Mera did mention something last night about her.”

She looked at her daughter.  “What of it?”

“Mera mentioned that Kelira has been talking with other members who do not share your views.  You do know too that her family is currently fifth most powerful in this city.  Should she and her supporters manage to remove you from Maledici’s favor, which would put two temples under her family’s control.”

“That is not good…”  She motioned to her daughter and they walked away from the main hall into one of the smaller rooms.  Tapestries of flayed drow hung from the ceiling of the temple, each face was in an infinite scream, much like Ysuwe’s favorite book.  Many of them were male, but some were female.  “I need proof before I can take such an action.”

“Mother, you are ruling matron of Lerais.  None would dare question your order!”

“The Valtress family is curious about our recent actions, Ysuwe.  I cannot…”

“Mother!  Maledici has granted you this position and power!  Use it!  Show our enemies who they’re dealing with!”

Orla gave her daughter a curious look.

“Ever since you taught me of Maledici’s great ichor, I have wanted that to show enemies of the Olidi family they will know fear!”

After a long pause, Orla looked down at her daughter.  “If you can find me, some proof, you will take her position.”

Ysuwe nodded.  She didn’t know what she was going to do, but she just hoped Faen pulled through with that spider.

*****
She was back home at the moment, as she said she would.  She paced back and forth in her room, waiting for her slave to return.  She knew he would, but she was already impatient.  After about a minute, she heard a commotion outside and investigated.

“Mistress wants to see me now!” Faen pleaded.

“She doesn’t have any need of you at the moment,” her sister Alera replied.  She’d pinned him to a wall in their home.  She used her hair to hold his hands away and another two braids around his ankles kept him from moving.  “And I have not yet experienced it today…  Or yours…”

“Alera!” Ysuwe shouted at her younger sister.  “Get your hands off my property!”

She glared at her.  “You weren’t using him!”

“It’s mine!  You have no right to take anything that is mine!”

“So you can take whatever I have for your own, but even if I want to…”

“Yes!  Because I am the eldest daughter!”  She quickly approached her little sister and focused her thoughts into her hair.  As expected, the magic flowing through it made it rise and she took her little sister by the throat and broke her concentration.  With that done, her hair fell still and off Faen.  “Get in my room, male!” she ordered.

“Yes mistress!” he cried, quickly slipping away and into her room.

With a quick flick of her hair, Alera was thrown into a wall.  Ysuwe turned and left her there, closing the door behind her.  She growled at the cowering male in the corner by her bed.

“Did what Mistress asked me to!” he begged.  “Here!”  He produced the spider from a simple brown pouch on his waist, carefully removing the spider from it.

“Good,” she said through her teeth.  “Now, you should’ve been here earlier.  What kept you?”  A strand of her hair slid around his neck and quickly tightened.

He gasped for breath, but was able to speak.  “Kelira…”

The strand of hair tightened quickly and Faen began to choke.  “What, about her?”

Faen couldn’t reply as her hair tightened around his neck.  He struggled to reply, but still couldn’t.  He tried to pull her hair from his neck, but another few strands grabbed his wrists and pulled his arms out.  With a flick, he was thrown into a wall, gagging and gasping for air.

“I won’t ask again, male…”

“She…  She wanted me… to help her kill Mistress…”

Ysuwe went into a rage.  With an anguished cry, she started to whip Faen with her braids.  The small metal rings designed to keep her braids in place started to glow with an eerie green light as she beat him.  Flashes from the impact lit up the dim room a little more.  After several minutes, she kicked his body on the ground again and again.  She did not care right now that he had done nothing wrong.  “TRAITOR!” she shouted.   “YOU DESERVE DEATH!”  Ysuwe kicked him in the face, sticking his cheek with a spiked heel.  It went through and as she pulled her foot away, blood dripped from the heel.

Faen lay on the ground, bleeding, burnt from magical energies and unconscious.

“TYRASIR!  GET THE FUCK IN HERE AND PATCH THIS PATHETIC CREATURE UP!”  She left her room in a blind rage.  She didn’t care if she had proof or not.  Kelira was going to die by her hand.

*****
Ysuwe went to the temple, to find the avatar.  There was only one place she could think Kelira was cowering.  She’d had the audacity to try and bribe her slave to serve her.  Ysuwe knew that if he had, Faen would be dead.  The temple was in the middle of a mass, meaning Kelira would probably not be there, but rather attending to more important things.  She walked through the doors and found the mass kneeling before her mother.  She quickly walked around the mass, finding the doors to the rest of the temple behind the altar that her mother stood atop.  They were reciting a chant at the moment, which Ysuwe had learned well.  She whispered it as she walked past it.

Ysuwe walked down a long set of spiral stairs.  It led deep into the earth and was tight and narrow with the steps being quickly cut into the earth.  As she went deeper, they got more and more ornate and finely crafted.  She started to notice the warmth of the earth’s lower regions.  Sorceries had made the stairs go far deeper than they really should’ve gone.  Finally, she reached the end of the stairs.  A single door was before her and she pushed it open.  There was a young female standing on an altar of their goddess, Maledici.  She hung from her hair, wrapped firmly around a number of hooks fashioned right out of the rock ceiling.  She didn’t notice Ysuwe there.

“You dare try to challenge my family?” Ysuwe said.

“No, Ysuwe,” she replied.  “I seek to strengthen our people.  Your family has lasted for so long and I can already see the choices you’re making weaken us.”  She turned a little.  “Ignoring the fact grell are in the tunnels and not being eaten by the monsters there.  Something is forcing them here, and you have done nothing.  You do not think the surface is concerned with us, do you?”

“Why should they be?  We have done nothing to them and eventually the time will come to when our goddess covers the surface world in her great ichor!  When that time comes, we will take back what is ours!  Going to the surface will provoke them into attacking!”

“No…”  Kelira’s hair let go and she landed on the floor with her feet.  “We must start spreading her ichor so she will come.  We must show our devotion to her!”

“You speak of heresy.  To do that, against the High Priestess’s will is sacrilege.”

“That is why she must be eliminated…”

Ysuwe had heard enough.  Her hair rose and dark energies started to crackle in it.  She raised a hand.  Some of her hair ran around the arm and the energies leapt from the tips of her hair.

Kelira rolled out of the way, having her own hair rise.  A black sphere of tar bubbled in her hand.  She threw it at Ysuwe.  It missed and splattered on the wall.

“HERETIC!” Ysuwe shouted.  A small orb of energy crackled in her hand now.  Bolts of energy flew from the sphere at her.  She kept her hand aimed as best she could, but the energy’s pseudo-recoil messed with her aim a little.  A few bolts landed on her target, but Kelira was fine.

“You are the heretic!” Kelira replied.  Her eyes flashed with a sick green light.  Ysuwe quickly looked away before her glare met her eyes.

The two began to circle one another.  Ysuwe’s energies crackled while Kelira’s tars bubbled.  “Me?  Your mother worships the Goddess of Hate.  And I know where your loyalties lie.  They are not faithful to the Great Ichor!”

Kelira shouted in anger and threw another glob of tar at Ysuwe.  The sticky substance landed, burning her leg.  

“And you dare try to eliminate me through that thing!”  She ran a hand over the wound and the tar cooled.  After a brief moment the tar slid from her leg.

“Thing?” Kelira replied.  “It was practically begging me to kill you…  The hell you have put it through!”

“He would be dead before he could serve you though!”  Ysuwe threw a punch forward and an eruption of dark energy flew towards Kelira.  Her rival caught the blast in a sphere of tar.  It started to bubble more around her hand.  Ysuwe threw another blast which Kelira caught with her tar.  This time thought, the tar burst, covering her and staining the yellow-green dress she wore.  She screamed.  “Maledici sees your true colors too!”

“No…”

Ysuwe threw another blast, this time a brief flash of red energy clashed with hers.  That was all the evidence she needed.  Not taking any chances, Ysuwe reached for a knife she kept always in her boot and threw it right at Kelira’s neck.  Before her quarry could react, the knife firmly lodged itself in her right eye.  Ysuwe took the advantage and spun around.  In an instant, she kicked the knife deeper with elegant precision.  The deed was done.  Kelira was now the former Avatar of Maledici.  She’d gotten exactly what she’d wanted.

*****
“You understand what is asked of you, Ysuwe Olidi?” her mother asked.  “To serve as an Avatar of Maledici is to become Fear incarnate.  You must know your fears and be willing to have Maledici be the only one who can put fear into you!  Kelira allowed that to happen, and she let hate fill her.  What was Kelira’s greatest fear?”

“To be discovered as the heretic she was,” Ysuwe said without hesitation to the entire congregation of Maledici.

“Do you accept that Maledici is fear?”

“Yes.”

Her mother gave a slight nod to two masked females.  They pulled a lid off a massive pot that stood in front of the congregation.  Black tar bubbled in it as unearthly energies heated it.  Ysuwe let the tar-like dress she wore slide off her figure.  She stood naked before the congregation and without question or fear of the pain it would cause, stepped into the pot, submerging herself in the tar.  Ysuwe took a deep breath before she slid under.  Her hair followed not long after.

“The Baptism tests her resolve and fear only for Maledici!  If she is not pure, she will boil alive in the sacred ichor!”

Ysuwe’s face broke the surface, coated in the hot, sticky tar, gasping for breath.  As she did, a yellow-green glow surrounded her.  The tar started to slide along her and into her.  Her eyes were wide and glowed with the same yellow-green light as her glow.  She climbed from the pot.  Tar seared her back into a very unique scar.  It burned into a skeletal bird, which covered her upper back.  The glow in her eyes died and she looked on the congregation with her new yellow-green eyes.

“You are now Avatar and keeper of The Sacred Ichor of Maledici…”

*****
Ysuwe tugged the chain that Faen had his collar on.  He obeyed, bowing his head.  Ysuwe kept his hands bound with her newfound tars as they entered her bedroom.  She smiled seeing that her friend had done what she could, while leaving a banner of a skeletal bird next to her bed there.  Every sheet was new and crisp, crafted from the finest spidersilk.  She put her boot on his shoulder with a slight smirk on her lips.  “So, male,” she said.  “Have you learned your lesson?”

He didn’t respond.  Ysuwe glared at him and tugged the chain.  His head jerked up and their eyes locked.  Her yellow-green eyes glowed before flashing.  Faen’s face suddenly became panicked.  His breath became shallow and his eyes darted about in fear.

“Well, male?”

“Y-y-yes, Mistress!” he screamed.

“Good male…  You saw your greatest fear, male…  That is what will happen if you ever betray me, or I think you’ve betrayed me.  And I will do it in such a way you will recover.  And then I will do it again, and again, until you can no longer scream.  And then I will cut you open and boil you in my tars, as your worst fears come to pass…”  Soon as he’d bowed his head again, she stroked his cheek with some of her hair.  Ysuwe looked to her bed, and jerked the chain again.  She walked towards it, her tar dress sliding off and jerked the chain again, bringing Faen with her.  As she raped him, she thought of her next move.  With this new power, she could even put fear into her mother.  Perhaps House Olidi would soon be under a new matron all because of the sacred ichor.