Omake: The Plan Must Proceed
The
fragment drifted through the
churning cerulean sea and watched the burgeoning nexus with interest. Maters in the realm of the plague god were progressing nicely: the candidate was poised to advance one step closer to suitability, and should he stumble then his thread would be neatly pruned by Eldrad rather than becoming corrupted by the
bloated, complacent, idiotic mound of filth and decay. All and all, it was a satisfactory situation.
It wasn't enough. It wasn't nearly enough. There were threads that could be better, paths that could turn this from a satisfactory situation into a
masterstroke.
Ambition denied it the option of not pushing forward, of not trying to increase its chances of becoming the
Truth.
And so, compelled by its
Nature, it acted. Nine warbands, nine tiny sparks of azure, hurtled out of the
everchanging cerulean seas of
Tzeentch and into the
fetid swamp of Nurgle. In truth the were minute, barely noticeable against the churning battleground of the border. Their goals were similarly insignificant, grains of sand on the scales of the great game. One, maybe two would succeed, the rest would be driven back.
Darting, flitting, weaving among them, its flickering light hidden by their comparative radiance, danced a
splinter of the
fragment. As the candidate took his first steps into the
fetid garden the splinter was there, hiding in a speck of
clinging muck. Thus it clung to the candidate, hiding and biding its time.
Through the garden it waited, through the entrance halls it schemed. When the Oracle found Hope, the
splinter rejoiced and was empowered, for Hope and
Ambition are but the barest octaves apart, are they not? That power blazed within it as the candidate passed through the kitchen, and came to its final decision.
There the
splinter struck, surging forth in blazing glory.
The first
spore fell in an instant, burned away by the power of Hope. The second put up more of a fight, but was still swiftly felled, all be it at a cost. The third... The
splinter would have to Hope as it faded that the damage was great enough that the candidate's other defenses would be sufficient.
The
fragment was as satisfied as it could be. The path that could one day lead to it having always been Mustrum Ridcully was just that much more secure.
@Durin
