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| “ | To destroy monsters, we become monsters. | ” |
–Chapter 36, House of Sky and Breath | ||
Lidia Cervos, better known as the Hind, is the Republic's most notorious spy-hunter and breaker. She reports directly to the Asteri.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Lidia is the daughter of Hecuba Enador, the Queen of the Valbaran Witches, and an unknown Deer Shifter of the Avallen Fae. When her parents sired her they struck a deal that Lidia would live with the parent whose gifts she inherited. She lived with her mother until she was three. When she started manifesting her Shifter gifts, her father's kin from Pangera came and claimed her. She was taken away years before her younger half-sister Hypaxia Enador was even born. Lidia made the Drop in her early twenties, and later became the spy-master of the Archangel Sandriel. She was part of Sandriel's triarii but reported directly to the Asteri.
At some point, when she was around thirty, Lidia Cervos selected from the females in her family to participate in a fertility rite in the Aldosian Forest. She mated with a male of another family, but their identities remained a secret to each other. A few weeks after the rite, Lidia discovered that she was pregnant. Although a baby from a sacred ritual was celebrated, she decided not to tell her father about it. At that point, Lidia already knew what kind of monsters she was serving, so to avoid getting her children close to Pollux Antonius, Sandriel, or others who served the Asteri, she faked her own kidnapping and disappearance. She surrendered to the rebels who took her to the Ocean Queen's ship, the Depth Charger. The Ocean Queen offered her a place to stay for a while and to bear the babies but for her children's continued protection, she had to go back to the Asteri to spy for Ophion. Lidia then had to leave her sons named Brann and Actaeon, when they were eighteen months old. Shortly after Lidia had to leave, they were adopted by a couple named Davit and Renki.
House of Sky and Breath[]
Lidia belongs to Sandriel's triarii, having been reassigned to Ephraim after Sandriel's death. She is also the lover of Pollux, who is disgruntled about having been separated from her after Sandriel's death when he was assigned to Celestina.
The Hind comes face-to-face with Bryce, Hunt, and the other members of their group when they try to escape after Hunt and the others destroy deadly technology seized by Ophion. She approaches them alone and interrogates them before pulling out a small object while telling them about killing Sofie Renast, saying she showed one of these stones to Sofie just before she threw her into the ocean. The Hind then drops the stone into the water. The group is soon rescued from her by agents of the Ocean Queen in an underwater vessel that can go undetected, while the Hind escapes back to her Omega Ship. Unknown, Lidia works as a double agent, passing information on to the rebels under the name of Agent Daybright.
Ruhn Danaan is tapped by Agent Silverbow to replace Agent Cypress, after the disaster of losing her, as their contact with Agent Daybright. They think Ruhn is the best option to be able to reconnect with Daybright because of his mind-speaking abilities. Silverbow gives Ruhn the comm-crystal and asks him to try to get in contact with Daybright. He says Ophion has been trying to coordinate a hit on the Spine, a north-south railway that cuts Pangera in half, and the main artery for supplies in the way, and want to see if Daybright has any useful information for them. They have heard whispers the Asteri are working on a new mech-suit prototype, designed for Vanir pilots. Later, Ruhn attempts to use the comm-crystal to connect with Daybright. They make a mental connection and she appears to him in a mental sort of dream-scape bridge as a humanoid figure cloaked in flame, while Ruhn appears to her as a humanoid shape cloaked in night and stars. Ruhn fumbles a bit when she asks who he is and he admits he hadn't thought as far as a codename, as he's new to all of this. Agent Daybright gives him the codename Agent Night. He asks about the Spine and all Daybright tells him is to relay to Silverbow that "safe passage is granted under the cover of the waning moon." At first, their connection is established using said mind crystal, but with every meeting their connection grows stronger until they find their way to each other's minds in the dream bridge.
A few days later, Lidia feels something is wrong when, unbeknownst to her, Ruhn is pulled into the sewers by a few Reapers. She is suddenly able to connect with Ruhn through mind-talk, even without use of the comm-crystal. She screams at him that he has to wake up immediately because she can sense he's in danger. Ruhn struggles to comprehend what's happening and seems disoriented - he remarks that he feels like he recognizes her voice and scent from somewhere before being rescued and woken up by Bryce and Cormac.
When the two of them next meet on their mind bridge, Ruhn thanks her for trying to wake him up when the Reapers took him. Lidia then proceeds to pass on information for their next mission – the hit on the Spine is a go and the shipment will be in three days. It will leave the Eternal City at 6 am and will travel to Forvos with a mech-suit prototype on it, as well as fifty crates of brimstone missiles, 112 crates of guns, and 500 crates of ammunition. She advises them to destroy everything rather than try to unload it because if they do they'll be caught as it will be guarded by 100 wolves and a dozen aerial angel scouts. After relaying the intel, Ruhn begins to refer to Lidia as "Day." He tells her they did the intel drop-off and almost got caught by Mordoc, the Hind, and the Harpy. He says he has had a tough day, and they commiserate over the stress they both face, not only in their efforts but also in regards to their respective families. Lidia tells him she works with people who make Mordoc seem sweet and that she's never had a true friend in her life. She shares that she has a family, a very influential one.
The meet on the mind bridge again after the hit on the Spine to tell her the rebels were successful. They talk and get to know each other for a while when she suddenly doubles over in pain. Ruhn runs for her across the bridge and slams into a mental wall, but can feel what's happening to Day through it. He feels her left wrist being squeezed by someone wanting her to yield, give herself over to him, teeth scraping over her nipple and clamping down. He realizes that she was being woken up with rough sex by someone before she disappears from the bridge. Ruhn waits until she comes back and asks if she's okay. She confirms this, but Ruhn comments that it didn't seem like she enjoyed it. Day tells him it's none of his business, but says she hates the male she's sleeping with and that no one knows it but he disgusts her. They talk for a while more.
After Ruhn, Bryce, Hunt, and Tharion are taken by Cormac to see the shipment that Ophion stole during the hit on the Spine, Lidia calls Ruhn to the mind bridge. She heard there was an attack on the rebel base, people were killed and the suit and shipments destroyed. He informs her that Sofie was confirmed to be dead, to Lidia's shock and sorrow. When she talks about creating a world that their children can be free in, Ruhn reveals he doesn't think he can have children. She assumes he means that he's infertile but he tells her the truth – that the Oracle told him he would be the last of his bloodline, so he will either die before he can have a child or he's infertile. She notices this knowledge unsettles and upsets Ruhn and offers to tell him a story. She tells him "in a time before Luna hunted the heavens or Solas warmed Cthona's body, there was a young witch in a cottage deep in the woods, beautiful and beloved by her mother. She grew older and stronger but then a wandering prince passed by her clearing one day and wanted to take her as his bride. She didn't want the prince but he chased her through the woods, his hounds following. As she ran she pleaded with the forest to help her and it did. It transformed her into a deer, but his hounds caught up with her. So the forest turned her into a fish so she could flee down the mountain streams, but the prince built a weir to trap her. Then the forest turned her into a hawk so she could fly away, but the prince was a skilled archer and fired an iron-tipped arrow at her and struck her breast. Where her blood fell, olive trees sprouted. When her body hit the earth, she was transformed one last time…" Ruhn falls asleep before the story ends. He wakes up on the couch on the mind bridge, Lidia asleep across from him, her body veiled with flame. Ruhn knows that story, a princess of fire sleeping and waiting for a knight to wake her. He approaches her while she's asleep, but she wakes up and quickly puts distance between them. He then asks to hear the end of the story. She says the forest turned the witch into a monster. One of claws, fangs, and bloodlust. She ripped the prince and hounds apart and that's the end.
The next time they meet, Day has intel for Ruhn that Pippa Spetsos is planning a big retaliation for losing the mech-suit and Ophion fully supports her. She and Ruhn get into a fight and she says if he is not careful he will wind up dead. They argue, as she insinuates he knows nothing of sacrifice. They leave with Ruhn angry.
Lidia calls Ruhn back to the mind bridge a while later. He is still angry with her for what she said the last time they met, but he tells her they're friends and can forgive her if she buys him a beer. She says she will when she comes to visit, but Ruhn assumes she’s joking and asks her when. She says she will be in Lunathion on the Autumnal Equinox because she was expected to attend the mating celebration of Archangels Celestina and Ephraim. She tells him she could attend the ball and then meet him somewhere after. Ruhn realizes she must be someone with standing, remembering that Ophion suspects she might be an Asteri herself. He tells her he is also attending, and because it's a masked ball he could meet her there with less fear of being caught. They plan to meet at the fountain on the conservatory on the rooftop garden of the Comitium at midnight on the night of the ball. Lidia is hesitant, but eventually agrees.
In between those meeting, Bryce and the rest of the group come into contact with the Hind on numerous occasions, all worried when will be the moment she chooses to expose all of them as rebels. Hunt goes as far as to ask the Hind if this is all a game, but she pretends like nothing ever happened.
The night of their planned meeting, Ruhn is able to excuse himself to the gardens to attempt to meet up with Day, but when he arrives at the fountain he finds the Harpy there instead. After exchanging some word with the Harpy, he turns to leave and also sees the Hind watching from the steps to the ballroom. Ruhn realizes that Day wont show up with so many eyes watching, so he leaves the party without telling anyone. There, Lidia watches him in her role as the Hind and taunts him before he leaves. At the festivities, Lidia also meets her half-sister Hypaxia for the first time.
That night both Ruhn and Lidia meet on the mind bridge again and he apologizes for asking her to risk exposure with their meeting and says he understands why she didn't show, since the Hind and the Harpy were sniffing around. Lidia surprises him by addressing him by name and telling him she was there and saw him at the fountain, but she saw the danger and backed off. He kisses her and she kisses him back, but then pushes him away and says she's sorry before vanishing.
The next time they meet on the bridge, Day tells Ruhn the kiss was reckless and it can't happen again and she can't see him anymore. Lidia tells him that he makes her feel alive for the first time in forever, a bit because of that she may end up dead and Ruhn along with her. She says the male she's attached to and previously pulled her from the dream bridge would kill Ruhn if he finds out, and would make her watch. Ruhn asks Day if she can leave him, but she says no, that his fate is bound to hers. But Ruhn argues that her fate is bound to his. Ruhn promises to find her one day and take her away from the male and says she reminds him he's alive too. They hold each other. Lidia then tells Ruhn she never told him the end of the story she told him before, about the witch who fell to earth. She says she remained a monster for hundreds of years and forgot she was once a witch. A warrior arrived in the forest one day, and she planned to kill him but he was not afraid of her. The warrior came to love her and that love transformed her back into a witch, where they lived in the forest for the rest of their lives. Lidia suddenly kisses Ruhn's chest and they realize they can physically join in the mind bridge, so they have sex.
Afterwards, Ruhn tells Day they plan to get into the Asteri Archives because the intel Sofie possessed is likely in one of the rooms there, based on the information they got from Baxian. He tells her they could use a distraction, for attention to be elsewhere while they break in. She panics and begs him not to go, saying the Asteri will kill all of them and she won't be able to help them. Just before the male she's attached to pulls her out of the mind bridge, Day tells Ruhn that "they know. The dungeons—" but is pulled out before she can finish the sentence.
Ruhn then declares his intention to the others to save Day when they go to the Asteri Archives, and the others tell him they can't risk separating once there but promise they'll work together to rescue her when the time is right. Lidia is present at Urd's Temple with Pollux, Baxian, and the Harpy when Ophion tries to attack. Bryce, Hunt, Ruhn, Tharion, and Cormac are then caught when they attempt to break into the Asteri's Archives to uncover the information found by Sofie Renast. When Ruhn is about to be tortured by the Harpy in a prison cell, the Hind attacks the Harpy to protect Ruhn, revealing to him that she is actually Agent Daybright. He realizes the reason he recognized her scent was because it's similar to her half-sister, Hypaxia. He also notices that his scent is also faintly on her, since he had sex with her as Daybright via the mind bridge.
The Harpy says she had suspected the Hind of being a rebel for a while and calls her a filthy liar. While Lidia admits she might be a liar, she exclaims to the Harpy that at least she's not a fool, then kills the Harpy with Ruhn's help. She releases Ruhn and tells him he has to hurry and escape. He asks if it was a trap the whole time, and she tells him she tried to warn him Rigelus was luring them to come but she was interrupted by Pollux. After that she realized if she told them it would give her away, as only the old members of Sandriel's triarii knew of the plan. Ruhn accuses her of killing Sofie, but she shows him a calling stone and told him she dropped one in the water to summon one of the Ocean Queen's ships to save Sofie before dropping her into the water too, but they arrived too late. Ruhn realizes that's why the ship rescued them from the Hind in Ydra, because she'd used one of those stones then as well. He calls her out for all the people she has killed and Lidia simply replies "there's so much to tell you Ruhn."
Lidia hears Pollux approaching and tells Ruhn and Bryce that they need to "make this look real." She tells Bryce that "the information lines can't be broken, do you understand?" to which Bryce nods before launching herself at Lidia and punching her in the face. Pollux walks in to find the Harpy dead and the Hind being beaten by Bryce with Ruhn advancing. Before Pollux pulls Bryce off of the Hind, she whispers something in Bryce's ear. Pollux, the Hind, and other guards chain Bryce, Hunt, and Ruhn together and lead them to the elevator. Hunt sees that the Hind didn't actually lock the manacles around Bryce's wrists and understands Lidia intends for Bryce to escape. Lidia pleads for Ruhn to talk to her via mind-speak, but he's upset about who she is and locks her out of his mind. His resolve wavers when Pollux asks "do you like the way my lover looks?" and he sees the fear and pain in Lidia's eyes as Pollux wraps his hand around her throat in a caress. Ruhn is torn between his hatred for the Hind and his love for Day, having a hard time reconciling her actions of harming others with the fact she had to maintain appearances in order to get vital information for the rebellion. He wants to kill Pollux for hurting his love, but still can't get past the blood on Lidia's hands.
House of Flame and Shadow[]
TBA
Personality[]
Lidia seems to have two sides to her personality as a result of the double life she's been living for years: as the Hind and her true herself. As the Hind, Lidia is a cold and calculating individual, with her intelligence in both spy mastery and ruthlessness in torturing serving her well under the Asteri. She is incredibly calm and collected, and doesn't seem to be phased by threats from anyone other than the Asteri themselves. She delights in digging into the truth of her enemies and is capable of reading and piecing together their motives and history from one simple interaction.
In truth, Lidia is far softer than her Hind alias lets on. And while she holds a tremendous amount of guilt, shame, and loathing for the deaths she's caused, she's come to understand it as a necessary evil to ensure that the Asteri are brought down. Due to spending years of living a double life as the Hind, Lidia hasn't been able to make many friends and thus doesn't understand general social cues which can lead her to being very blunt and harsh in her perceptions. However, she is also willing to learn from her mistakes and is shown to be comforting and consoling when need be.
Physical Description[]
Lidia is described to have blonde hair and golden eyes and to be extraordinarily beautiful. She has fair skin like her mother, and is described as "the spitting image of Luna."[2] She has a regal angle to her neck and jaw and is coldly serene as the moon. She is slender, on the taller side, but with a delicate frame. She has slender fingers. Lidia has insane curves including lush hips and full breasts. She's often seen wearing a silver torque around her neck. She is strong enough to carry Ruhn, despite having a burned arm. She wears her golden hair in a chignon high on her head.
In her deer form Lidia is an elegant doe. She has a gold coat so pale it's nearly white. A slice of darker gold slashes up between her eyes like a lick of flame. Her golden eyes are framed by thick, dark lashes. She has delicate hooves.
Powers & Abilities[]
Powers[]
- Shifter Physiology: Lidia has enhanced speed, strength, and regenerative abilities because of her Vanir status. She has more acute senses and can heal from injuries much faster than a human.
- Shifting: Lidia possesses the ability to transform into a magically enhanced animal form. Her animal form is that of a larger than average deer. In this form, she is presumably stronger, faster, and has keener senses than in human form.
- Fire Magic: In the Cave of Princes, Lidia was able to extinguish the Autumn King's flames after he died, though this took much concentration as she was still affected by the Asteri's parasite. However, after taking the cure, Lidia was able to summon a wall of fire that turned Pollux to ashes and was able to burn her opponent's internal organs, burning them from the inside out with merely a thought. Queen Irithys of the fire sprites even mentions that Lidia's fire burns more brilliantly than what she imagined as Lidia melted brimstone missiles with her flame. As a descendent of Brannon Galathynius and potential heir of Mala Fire-Bringer, it can be presumed that Lidia may have a deep well of magic that may surpass others on Midgard.
- Mind-Speaking Abilities: Lidia is able to speak to others via a mind connection. She often does this with Ruhn and tries to reach out to him through their bond from time to time. It is suspected that she may have read Ithan Holstrom's mind during a poker match once.
- Immortality: Since she has made the Drop, Lidia is immortal which not only grants her a slowed and expanded lifespan but allows her to survive injuries that not even her accelerated healing would be able to regenerate from.
Abilities[]
- Master Interrogator: Since Lidia is known as a notorious spy-hunter and -breaker, she likely has extraordinary interrogation skills.
- Weapons Expert: Due to her occupation, it can be assumed that Lidia is an expert marksman.
Relationships[]
Pollux Antonius[]
Pollux started courting Lidia almost immediately after she became the spy-master of Sandriel. Pollux is possessive over her and views her as his. However, he doesn't really care about her on a deeper emotional level. Lidia secretly hates him and is afraid of him. Pollux is often shown dragging Lidia out of sleep to have sex with her against her will.
Ruhn Danaan []
Lidia genuinely cares about Ruhn. He is the first person in a long time that Lidia is able to talk to about her real self with. Ruhn is also the first friend Lidia ever had. After the events of HOFAS, they know that they are mates and marry in a small ceremony.[1]
Gallery[]
See more here.
Trivia[]
- While acting as the Hind, Lidia keeps her voice low and soft. Her voice, in reality, has a higher pitch.[citation needed]