The Rusalki
Syndra was standing on the shores of Lake Sargon with Captain Ryul in silence. After he told her of the Gilnan Queen's response to the meeting, she elected to come here immediately. She had a suspicion of who they were going to meet, but it wasn't until she pulled herself out of the lake, long hair covering her face, that it was confirmed. Praetor Svetlana, the same one she met over 10 years ago.
"Ah, Praetor Svetlana. I haven't seen you in a long time." Syndra said, approaching her.
"Oh? Have we met?" Svetlana asked. "Think I'd remember meeting a Princess."
"How about a Fairy King?" Syndra said back. "One you told that the rus aren't spirits."
Svetlana paused. She knew exactly who she told that to. She pulled back the hair covering her face, and looked at Syndra carefully with her pale blue eyes. Eventually, she nodded.
"Yes, your soul smells the same. Had no idea you were a Princess, though. Interesting. No matter. Queen ordered we help you."
Svetlana turned back toward the lake and started yelling in the strange language of the rusalki. Soon, dozens of them emerged from the lake, forming up behind Svetlana.
"Captain Ryul, we at disposal. Will brief on nature of rus, what can and cannot." Svetlana said in stilted, broken elven. She then paused, and resumed speaking in Gilnan. "Please tell me you understand Gilnan. My elven is terrible."
Captain Ryul smiled. "Yes, I can speak Gilnan just fine. I'm a Border Guard, after all."
Svetlana looked visibly relieved, as the prospect of speaking more elven was daunting to her.
"Svetlana your elven is as terrible as ever." Syndra replied with a laugh. "Anyway, come along to the barracks, all of you, I think you'll enjoy my plans for you."
Svetlana barked an order to the other rusalki, and while there were quiet whispers among them, they eventually followed Svetlana into the elven town, past the curious townsfolk, and into the fortified and now under construction Ranger Barracks. Syndra motioned for them to enter the meeting hall, and she took a seat at the table. The other rusalki opted to sit in a corner and talk among themselves, pointing at the architecture and speaking excitedly in their strange language, while Svetlana nodded and sat at the table with Syndra.
"So Princess, what do you have planned?" Svetlana asked, her hair in front of her eyes again despite her best efforts to clear it away.
"That depends. I actually need some clarifications on what the rus do." Syndra said, clasping her hands together. "Is the myth that you eat the travellers you take true?"
Svetlana looked obviously uncomfortable, despite her face being hidden. She fidgeted for a bit before eventually answering.
"Well... yes. We can and do eat wildlife, but unfortunately for you, you taste better. Why are you asking this?" Svetlana answered. She was very nervous and wasn't sure why.
"Because I have a very long list of people I need eaten." Syndra said, laughing darkly. Her freezing aura expanded to encompass the whole room, and the other rusalki fell silent immediately. They didn't understand Gilnan, but they could feel the mood. "I will teach you the smell of the people I want gone, and any you encounter can be dealt with however you wish. Drown them. Stab them. Incinerate their flesh. Eat them alive. I don't care, I just want them gone."
Svetlana blinked. She wanted people eaten? Wasn't this a super taboo thing for the surface dwellers? She had better confirm.
"Let me get this straight, Princess, so that there is no misunderstanding. You want us to eat your foes? Devour them whole? Send their souls straight to the sunken depths?"
"Yes Yes Yes!" Syndra laughed, causing the snowfall outside to intensify. Ryul noticed and signalled the Ranger at the door, who nodded, and disappeared immediately. "Rend their flesh! Send their souls to the damned depths!"
Svetlana grinned. "Just tell us who to hunt, and their days will be numbered."
Syndra laughed manically, and set about teaching the rusalki the smell of her foes. She was very pleased by the Gilnan Queen's decision to send the rusalki, such a death for the usurper's bloodline would be perfect.