A lone shrikeship orbited Omni, gliding silently above the serene planet. Inside, Colicor stood over the body of Eloiela, marking her face with paints and chanting ancient incantations. The ship was his personal transport, but it was also a necromatic laboratory, one he could use when he didn't want to be discovered. It was also where he devised his most terrible spells, and where he stored the virus that eliminated Tropika. He didn't want to keep it on Omni, in case it accidentally got loose. Up here, he could be alone.
Not that anyone would notice him, he thought. Back on Omni, the Spire of Eternal Thought stood empty, the collected magi within no longer living. Colicor had taken care of the others before leaving to catch his prize on the Wanderer.
To be this close to her, Colicor thought. He had seen her before, several times, on travels the magi made to Toril. He admired her beauty, her intelligence. When he heard she travelled with the Eternal Wanderer, he knew the day would come Onestar and his crew would have to be destroyed. Eloiela's death was painful, but the magi had long past found ways of cheating death.
Colicor carefully prepared the final ingredient for his spell, making a potion in a bone cup. It was a little difficult, since Colicor could only use one arm at the time. The other, cut off by that coppery-skinned animal Colicor thought, was still regenerating. He kept it hidden under the folds of a robe. Within the hour it would be healed, but for now it was just a nuisance.
He gently lifted Eloiela's prone body (using spells to make up for the lost arm), opened her mouth and poured a blue liquid into her throat. As gently as he lifted her, he laid her body back down. Even in death, the bard looked beautiful, dressed in a silken sleeping gown and silver slippers. After long, quiet moments, she began to blink her eyes open. Colicor stood back, a smile crossing his thin lips.
"Wha..what happened?" she said, coughing. She tried to sit up, but became dizzy from the effort. Colicor carefully placed one hand behind her to help her up.
"Careful, my dear," he said, his voice unusually soft. "It will be awhile before you're strong enough to stand on your own."
"Who are you?" Eloiela commented. "Where am I. This isn't the Wanderer. Last thing I remember, that worm creature was attacking...No! Li! Onestar!"
"Shh. It's all right," Colicor calmed her down. "I am sorry, but there's nothing that can be done for any of your friends now."
"What is going on here? Who are you, and what happened to me? Last thing I remember, I was casting a spell toward that...thing, but then everything went black..."
"Where are my manners?" Colicor helped Eloiela up, then they made their way over to a small couch in a corner of the room. He helped her sit down, then he sat next to her, very close. "My name is Tannenbam. Tannenbam Colicor."
"Colicor?" Eloiela replied. "You're the reason why we were coming to Omnispace! Onestar..."
"Onestar, I fear, is dead, just like the rest of the crew of your old ship. All of them died from the hands of that creature, I fear. My operatives found your ship, drifting in the flow, all dead save you. I had them bring you here. I've nursed you back to health."
"Why?" Eloiela asked. Colicor bowed his head, his cheeks becoming flush.
"I must admit," Colicor replied, "it has not been easy for me. For most of my life, I have been shunned, misunderstood by those close to me. I've been alone for so long..."
"You are such a beautiful woman," Colicor said, looking into her eyes. Eloiela recognized the look. She had seen it many times before, in the eyes of the businessmen she seduced on Toril. Colicor was in love, or at least deeply in lust, with her, and she realized she could use it to her advantage.
"So the others are all..." Eloiela replied, holding back the tears.
"I am afraid so, my dear," Colicor replied. "But don't think of them, think of your future. You know, I could make you very happy here on Omni."
"Really?" Eloiela looked around the shrikeship, seeing what he had stored there. "Where are we right now?"
"Onboard my private ship. It's not much, I admit, but I've done quite a bit of work up here. I realize it's probably not what you're used to..."
"Oh, no," Eloiela replied, turning on the charm, "It's really quite impressive." She tried to stand, and after a few attempts, was able to get on her feet without falling. Colicor looked at her with amazement.
"Incredible," he muttered.
"What's incredible?" she asked, hoping to catch him with his guard down.
"That you're able to stand so quickly after what happened."
"What was that?" Eloiela began to walk around, looking over the necromancer's spells and components.
"Considering I just revived you not five minutes back, I am impressed that you can walk so quickly." Eloiela was standing before a portal, with Lora off in the distance. The sleeping gown she wore was extremely sheer, as Colicor's opened mouth would attest.
"Revived?" Eloiela asked innocently. She was beginning to understand. "And where is the Eternal Wanderer now?"
"On it's way here, but I've slowed them down enough. Could you turn back around? The light shines through that dress, highlighting your..."
"So they're alive?"
"Of course," Eloiela had Colicor under her spell, and she learned all she wanted to know. She bent over, picked up a jar of potion, and threw it as hard as she could at Colicor.
"You bastard!" she cried. The jar hit Colicor, breaking and causing the potion to run all over him. "I'll see you burn in hell for this!"
Eloiela picked up another vial and tossed it toward Colicor. The necromancer was stunned by her actions, stunned at the thought she'd rebelled against him.
"But, I don't understand," Colicor replied, ducking out of the way of the other vial. "Don't you love me?"
"Love you? I can't stomach you!"
Colicor's eyes burned a fiery red. Eloiela tried to find some weapon, a sword or something to use, but there was nothing. She picked up one last container, a jar filled with red liquid, and began to throw it toward Colicor. The magi realized what she had, and tried to stop her.
It was too late. The jar shattered upon impact, causing a violent explosion, destroying half the ship. Colicor and Eloiela were thrown into Wildspace, Eloiela floating back into the void while Colicor was sent toward Omni, burning has he fell. The shrikeship soon became a violent fireball, exploding into a million shards.
Eloiela looked back toward the exploding ship, dying one more time. She had finally realized that she died from the attack of that monster, and she was going to die a second time. This time, she thought, her death might mean something, if it sent Colicor plummeting to his doom. With that last though, she smiled and closed her eyes one last time. When the Wanderer found her body the next day, floating through the void, Hall couldn't help but notice that she seemed so much at peace with herself.
Colicor's burning body plummeted into Omni's Great Western Sea, not that far from the island of Glorin. He looked like a falling star, burning has he hit the waters. When he hit, water was forced up a hundred feet into the air. As the water returned to the ocean once again, Colicor's body plunged toward the bottom. His body charred beyond recognition, his eyes were opened wide and burned with the fire of vengeance. Anger and hatred filled his soul. Slowly, he faded from view.
Soon, he reappeared on the beach of Glorin. His body no longer charred, his arm replaced. He laid there, looking up to the stars, to a bright glow burning in the nighttime sky. A single tear rolled down his cheek as he lay there, rolling from his face into the sand beneath him.
"That was the last time," Colicor said. "Enough is enough. Tomorrow, they will all know the pain I've known. Tomorrow, I take control of this sphere, and I will make them feel how I feel. I have been spurned long enough."
Colicor laid there, staring up at the stars above him.
