Die with a smile

Absinth prowled further into the crimson-lit terrain, her ivory coat shimmering like a ghostly veil under the blood-red sky. Each step she took was careful, controlled, and exuded her quiet dominance, her children trailing behind in practiced mimicry. Yet, she could feel the doubt simmering beneath whatever masks of confidence they attempted to wear. A smirk played at the corners of her lips—perfect. If this strange land couldn’t carve away their softness, she’d make sure to.

She let her gaze linger on the towering pillars surrounding them, their sharp forms jutting into the sky, casting jagged shadows across the ground. She’d dreamed once, long ago, of something vast and monstrous moving through the earth—a tunnel-dwelling beast that shifted the very ground underfoot. It was an omen she’d not forgotten.

Among her brood, those who had dared to follow her—Araxina, Dracun, Abyssinica, and Zagan—stood at intervals, each finding their own space within this ominous landscape. She cast each of them a fierce, approving glance, emerald eyes gleaming with a challenge only they could understand. To her children her gaze offered a silent, wicked encouragement that dared them to prove themselves.

She watched them closely, scrutinizing every twitch, every hesitation. She wanted them to feel the thrill, the danger, to learn to rely on their instincts, and to find enjoyment in the unknown as she did. This place would test them, shape them—or break them. Survival depended on their wits and their resilience, and Absinth had brought them here for precisely that reason: to see how they would fare in this… unusual trial.

Under her paws, the ground pulsed faintly, as though alive. She paused, feeling the subtle vibration—a warning, perhaps, or a twisted sort of greeting. It didn’t matter. It was exactly the thrill she craved.


"Absinth Artemisia Inferos"