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[Thrax]

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Things in Delucia were progressing well; order reigned. The latest meeting of the Regency council approved and confirmed Thrax's venture. Naturally so, since they, like all others except those of Umbra and the followers of Oggaroth, his brethren, labored under the belief that Thrax was Thrax, and not his evil twin.

It had all been too easy. No one seemed to notice the switch. Thraxas had carefully scrutinized his brother's behavior and mannerisms for many months. Besides, most were impulses and habits he shared with him. The real test would come when Ishtar returned from the holiday she had taken with her kinsfolk just before the switch was made. Yet if success could be measured by the reaction of the children, Anduril and Tahira, then even she would be fooled, for they both had been.

Poppy and Durthagg, the household servants, seemed not to notice any differences, but then they stayed so busy working at Whitehall they scarcely had time, that is, until one fateful day when she decided to ask Thraxas about her deceased sister, Chasity.

"M'lord, may I speak with you?" she asked him, peering into his office.

"Surely!" Thraxas replied, gesturing for her to enter and be seated.

She stepped in, closed the door behind her, and sat down.

"What's on your mind, Poppy?"

"Well, it's about my sister."

Thraxas thought for a moment. No memories came to mind; events she would no doubt bring up transpired after the separation of the two entities, Thraxanduril and Anthraxas. He had investigated her background and knew who and what Chasity was, a traitor who had tried to kill him, but that was all. Tension gripped him.

"I've given it a lot of thought," she continued, "but I have decided I want to collect her remains and have them buried in Papua, beside those of my brother. Could you help me do this?"

"Certainly," he replied. "Where do you suggest we begin to look?"

"Why, Nujel'm, sire," she said, a bit surprised by his reply.

"Of course Nujel'm," he stated matter-of-factly. "But I mean what part? You know the place is overrun with evil creatures? You have to be careful where you go there."

She nodded. "I have heard, and that is why I am making this request. They could take over the city, or worse, desecrate the graves."

He leaned back in his chair and placed an index finger across his chin. "You are quite right. I tell you what---let me go there and make a thorough search. I will take her bones and give them a fitting burial in Papua."

"Her ashes, m'lord."

"Pardon?"

"Ashes. She was cremated and her ashes were buried in the cemetary. That's what you told me. Have you forgotten?"

"Oh yes... yes. I am sorry. I forgot."

She looked hurt and more than a bit puzzled by his inconsistent answers about something he once took very seriously. "You seem to have forgotten much about her, m'lord," she stated, lowering her head. "I know she did some terrible things with Malikai, but she has paid for them, as did my dear brother."

Thraxas sighed. "Yes, Elric. Poor fellow."

"Eric sire."

Thraxas nodded, red-faced. This was getting bad. He had to do something, and then there was the matter of Malikai. He got up from the desk and motioned for her to follow him. "Come then, we will see to this right now... together."

She looked up and forced a brief smile.

Soon they were on their way to Nujel'm.

[Thrax]

---

Poppy's magery skills were not quite up to casting gate travel spells, so they both used Thraxas' rune to arrive at the Nujel'm moongate, which was his default moongate rune as it turned out.

"The creatures are in the city proper for the most part. Few, if any, venture this far west," he told her.

They walked to the cemetary and passed through its gates. He took time to survey the area, making certain no one else was there at the time. No one was to be seen.

He had no idea where the burial marker was, or even if there was one. In fact he felt quite sure that the guard who burned Chasity's remains had simply tossed her ashes into the sea, and that his twin had lied about the burial. After all, that was what he would have done.

So he led her slowly to an area pretending to know where the burial plot was. "I think the site has been disturbed," he said. "Most disappointing."

Poppy grew alarmed, fearful that they would not find it. "What can we do?" she asked.

"You stay here. The actual plot is over there," he said, pointing to the northwest fence corner. "Wait for me there. I will go and find out from the officials what is going on, and also obtain permission to move the remains. I am certain we would need to do that anyway, lest we be caught and arrested as grave robbers."

She nodded. "But what about the creatures? What if I am attacked while you are away?"

"Just recall home."

"Oh yes... of course I can do that," she replied. She bowed to him and made her way to the location he had specified.

Thraxas watched her disappear behind a mausoleum, then began casting a spell of summoning. The daemon, Glassyabolas, appeared in front of him, growling ominously.

"Follow me," Thraxas ordered.

The huge daemon flexed its batlike wings and obeyed its master.

Rounding the corner of the mausoleum, Thraxas saw Poppy kneeling, believing she was at the spot where her sister's urn was buried. She was pawing the ground slightly, barely disturbing the sand. She raised her head as she heard words of power being spoken some distance behind her, but was suddenly frozen in place, paralyzed, before she could turn around to see who, or what, it was.

"Take her far out to sea and drop her," Thraxas ordered the hulking malignity waiting beside him. "What's left of her, that is."

The towering beast rambled toward its victim, seizing her in one of its thick arms, lifting her off her feet. It beat its wings in unison, and launched itself into the air, passing over the fence and shore toward the open sea.

Before it disappeared from view, Thraxas heard a short, piercing, cry echo back to him across the waves.

"Goodbye, Poppy," he snidely remarked. "We will miss you. Good cooks are so very hard to find."