used to be my home, at least. The empire of Osanna lay many leagues from here, across crumbled cities, burned fields, and wilted forests. The nightshades had ravaged it, but Dies Irae still ruled over the ruins.
"He's still out there somewhere," Gloriae whispered into the wind. "The man I called Father. The man who banished me. The man I will kill."
Hoarse laughter sounded behind her. Gloriae turned. The severed mimic head lay on the cobblestones, oozing its juices. It cackled, eyes mocking her.
"You will not kill Dies Irae," it said, coughed, and spat. "He has a new body waiting for you, Gloriae the Gilded. Yes, I know your name. And I know your fate. He will cut off your head, and sew it onto a new body, and turn you into a mimic. Then he will let a thousand other mimics thrust inside you, until you bleed and beg for a death that will never come."
Gloriae stared at it silently, waiting for it to finish speaking.
"You like talking," she said. "That is good. You will talk more. You will tell me everything you know."
It spat a glob of maggoty saliva. "I know that you will be a slave to mimics."
"How lovely," Gloriae said. "But enough about me. Let's talk about you, my toothy friend. Tell me about that Animating Stone that gave you life. Where did Irae find it?"
She knelt before the head, torch crackling.
"Will you torture me now?" it asked. "Burn me? Cut me? Pull out my teeth? Do it. I fear no pain."
A centipede emerged from its mouth and scurried along the cobblestones. Gloriae watched it flee into shadows, then stared into the mimic's eyes.
"Pain won't make you talk. Memories might." She narrowed her eyes, examining it. "Who were you?"
It cackled. "I am mimic. I am death and despair. I am rot and worm. I am your future."
Gloriae shook her head. "That is what you are now. Who were you once?"
It glared at her. "Weak."
"Life," she said. "You were life once. Real life."
It coughed blood onto her boots. "What would you know of life? I know you. All beings do. You killed children when you yourself were a child. You killed countless in your chase of weredragons. You unleashed the nightshades. You destroyed the world."
Gloriae stared at it with dry eyes. Stay strong. No feelings. No pain.
"Yes," she said. "I am a giver of death. I deal in blood and steel. I have killed many, and I will kill many more before they burn my body in a great pyre." She touched the mimic's head, leaned down, and whispered to it. "But I was not always a killer. Once I too was life. I too was a child."
The head hissed and tried to bite her fingers. "You will beg for death, mortal. You will be one of us. You—"
"You were a child too once," she said. "You were a boy."
"I am mimic! I am stronger than life. You will join us. You—"
She clutched its cheeks, lifted the head, and stared at it levelly. "Who were you? You have rotted less than the others. You were killed fresh. Who were you in life?"
"Teeth!" it screeched. "I— No. I am only death, I..."
She brought its face close to hers. "Teeth? What does that mean?"
"They... Teeth! Legs. Rot Gang, and Arms. He betrayed us. He had to die. I had to kill him. Teeth! It hurts, Teeth. It hurts. He hit our head with his mace. He lied to us. Silver! I brought you death, I brought you rot, we are Rot Gang. We are three. Pay me my silver."
She shook the head. "Who was to pay you? Who hurt you? Was it Dies Irae?"
Blood filled the mimic's eyes and flowed down its cheeks like tears. "Do not speak of him! He will hurt us again. He wields a fist of steel. He hit our head. He killed our Legs. He.... He...." The head trembled in her hands.
"What did he do?" Gloriae demanded. "Did he kill you?"
The creature wept its tears of blood. More blood poured between its sharp teeth. "I have teeth. Sharp teeth. Teeth, they call me. I had to kill Arms. Long arms, he had, arms for silver, silver coins, that's what I asked of him. But... his fist of steel. He took my head. He hurt Legs. It burns! He burns us."
Gloriae held the head steady, though its blood covered her hands. "He killed you," she whispered. "And he made you into a mimic."
The head shook. "No,