Forum Thread

x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x

in the neighboring town of gladeberry, a poor widow struggles to support
her two children. despite having close to nothing himself, her son made his best
efforts to lend a hand, unwilling to let his mother suffer on her own. gradually,
they made it through - the son soon ascending through the school system. he
swore to his mother and sister that he would always protect her, no matter the
cost. whatever the price he would pay it.

unfortunately, tempest's life with his mother and sister soon came to a close after
a fateful wander into sundorne manor. clarity's curiosity soon led her to pluck one
of the flowers that had been resting on a pedestal near the entrance. but before
she could make off with the beautiful blossom - which she intended to give to her
daughter, she was caught. by none other than the beast herself.

furious and vengeful at the theft, the black shewolf decided to hold the terrified
woman captive instead of killing her outright. without any hesitation, the widow's
son has volunteered to take her place. handsome he was, with an earnest gleam
in his eye and a soul full of love. against all odds, the beast let his mother free,
and took tempest as her captive instead. unwilling to keep him in the dungeon,
she gives him a room and a roof over his head. but their interactions aren't
always cordial, as aelin becomes desperate to fulfill the condition laid out for her.

time is running out.
༻╴╴╴╴─ ─ ─────────── ─ ⸙ ─ ─────────── ─ ─╶╶╶╶༺

─────────────────────────────────────────

─────────────────────────────────────────
𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙎𝙊𝙍𝘾𝙀𝙍𝙀𝙍
darren | male | unknown species | trigger - black mamba

𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝘽𝙀𝘼𝙎𝙏
aelin myraxis | female | wolfwalker | vaermina - wolverine

𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙇𝙊𝙑𝙀 𝙄𝙉𝙏𝙀𝙍𝙀𝙎𝙏
tempest clare | male | human | angel - collie

𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙃𝙐𝙉𝙏𝙀𝙍
name | gender | species | daemon

𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙒𝙄𝘿𝙊𝙒
clarity clare | female | human | daemon

─────────────────────────────────────────

─────────────────────────────────────────

𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝘾𝘼𝙎𝙏𝙇𝙀 𝙎𝙏𝘼𝙁𝙁
name | gender | species | daemon

The moon waxed full and plenty in the sky like a warm cup of milk, sending its silver glow down to the realm of the living. Which was very busy indeed. Like most metropolitan cities, Lyremond South - as this city was so named - had a robust nightlife, full of bedazzling neon lights and evening cafes that tempted passerby into its brightly lit depths with a warm glow and the tantalizing scent of the food on offer. Cars honked and the sound of merry chatter filled the air, warm laughs giving the dark eve a fond warmth to it. Night's thick darkness was broken by streetlights that stood like cheery sentinels, their golden ambience helping to guide those weary from a day of hard work to their warm beds. The farther you lived, the fainter the sounds of nighttime revelry became, until all that split the night was the whistle of a breeze, the voice of someone close by or the expanse of a day's recollection.

Aelin was left in the dreary company of her own thoughts, books in hand and visage somber, as usual. She wasn't the type to smile easily - her nature much too serious and her mind-space too dark to consider such folly. Beside her walked the sleek shape of her daemon - Vaermina - a rather large wolverine. Yes, Vaermina was a girl's name but there was nothing girlish about Aelin's nighttime companion - a large, brutish thing with cold amber eyes that shined force from his shadowy visage and large silver fangs that flashed whenever he opened his mouth. But that dark description fit the female well; her hair was as dark as her daemon's pelt, her skin was beautifully pale, but the cold eyes that stared out of her sage eyes warned that something else lurked beneath the beauty. She was unnatural, ethereal, more shadow than human. The compound where she was said to reside had no lamps to light up the night. No matter. They wouldn't have wanted to believe their eyes anyway - Aelin had many peculiarities that did not always endear her to the rest of the town. Those who gazed upon her and her ever-empty eyes usually turned to focus on the more corporeal world of the living. There were rumors, of course.

Most peculiarly, while Vaer did have a personality of his own - a very dark and brooding one that rivaled her own - the two did not move in any way out of sync. They were one, their souls spliced and humming together in mutual feeling. Emotions sang between their bond, two eyes glared out into the gloom with equal concentration. Their senses expanded and mingled with each other. The wolverine did not speak - part of Aelin's unnerving reputation was her equally unnerving silence. Rarely, if ever, did the ghoul utter a word.

The black figure approached her home and entered on quiet feet - her wolverine leaping into the alcove after her. The door boomed shut - a surprisingly loud sound in such harsh quietude. Same with the lock as the door was sealed. Aelin despised company, and anyone who entered uninvited was sure to find her full of ill-will. Suddenly overcome by a strange weariness - she leaned forward to rest her forehead on the deep spruce-hued wood, a silent sigh echoing into the wood. The shadows and silence pervaded, assuading the pounding headache brought on by a long day in the library, as well as too much light. Her shoulder strap dug into her shoulder blades as she removed herself from the main foyer and sat down to take off her shoes. With her luck, her headache would likely develop into a migraine. She spent so much time in the darkness that light somehow seemed unnatural.

Suddenly she stopped. Not for any obvious reason, but Aelin was used to listening to the whisperings of the shadows. She read the language of shadow and stone. Vaermina's ears perked, her eyes narrowing as she sniffed the air. Something off was here, in her house. Two questions immediately came to mind: - how did it in here - and - why was it in here -. No, it wasn't a person but- Vaermina's nose twitched, both ears coming up to perk and hackles rising as a familiar, wild scent oozed through the air. The scent of a serpent.

Aelin only knew one person with a snake daemon, and that person was not welcome company. As if sensing her hostility, Vaermina bristled til he was nearly twice his size, ivory incisors on full display as she gazed into the eyes of a familiar coffinhead. Still, no sound came from her maw- even if the intruder's presence singed Aelin's senses, becoming known throughout the entirety of the household. Or just to her alone. The shadow inclined her head to her guest, the suspicious cant to the left demanding he step out and speak his reason for this unwelcome transgression. Like a serpent - he'd hid unseen, like a huntress of old, he'd bided his time, waiting for her to come to him. There was no notice of course, no note. Vaermina braved a few steps between him and the glossy black serpent - unafraid but not unaware of the danger posed by the serpent's fangs. Mind you Darren was no strong thing like her - but rather lithe, pallor, and gaunt, as if starved of sun and sustenance for ages on end. Deep jade and amber flecked eyes momentarily bled away to leave wholly black as he acknowledged her. Dark and predatory. Perhaps the only person she truly had reason to fear.

Aelin inclined her head and motioned for him to sit, her posture stiff yet fluidly relaxed as she waited for him to speak. But she did give him a name - with a voice husky and hoarse from misuse, yet as smooth and cold as a newly honed blade.

"Darren."

---

975 words

The monster before this shadowy mistress did not move for a very long few seconds, his predator's gaze only lingering on her face as his body slowly woke up. A soft whisper sliced the air mercilessly in two, emanating from the ceaseless void behind the jaws of the devil in the room. His maw only opened the slightest amount. "Aelin.. It's cold in here." That was ultimately a lie, if not a simple miscalculation. Darren was letting off heat as if here had been plugged into a power outlet and had his dial turned all the way up. The serpent beside him shared no such trait, though. She was visible beside him, though closer inspection of the daemon only showed she was staying as close to Darren as possible- half of her body was wrapped around him. She was cold, that was the only reason Darren had spoken.

However, this did not halt the terror from being polite. Or, as polite as a cannibal god could be. From their past, Aelin knew that any flesh would suffice to satisfy the hunger that Darren so rarely had... Even if it were his own kind's. He even smelled of blood at that very moment, as he stepped over to the nearest chair and glared down at it. His eyes examined the seat so carefully, it was as if he suspected it to open up and swallow whatever sat upon it. At last, he pressed a talon into the center of the cushion, pulling it away and examining it, then sitting. Evidently, he was satisfied by the fact that a bear trap hadn't snapped his claws off.

In return, the horror gestured to a seat across from him. "Don't be shy. We're old.... 'Friends.' You know that.. You remember me, thought not fondly. Take a seat." He didn't have any plan regarding speech, so it seemed. After a moment, the head of his serpent appeared once more, crawling across his shoulders and lacing herself across the many limbs that this dragon had. She made herself at home strewn between the bases of his intimidatingly large wings and his impressive rack of horns. Like a ram's, there was a pair curled down around his long, pointed ears. Though, that was one set of four. He was different from when Aelin had last seen him, and understandably so. It had been some time. One difference was clear: three more sets of horns. One set protruded from the front of his head, and ended quickly in wickedly sharp points. The second new pair seemed to be more decorative, spreading out to the sides of his head and forming a demonic crown of the charred bone. The last pair only added to the terror that existed within the mamba's perch: like a deer's antlers, though far sharper and shorter. They rose directly up, branching out three times each, and ending at eight more small terror-inducing points.

He no longer wore the same old baggy sweatshirt and loose jeans, either. In their place were a simple set of thick wraps and tight shorts, both scarred by some sharp object during combat. With the way this divergent freak fought, it could have been his very own claws. Bloodstained wraps surrounded his forearms, hiding the world from his terror-scent. The pheromone was powerful once exposed, though it could not penetrate the ancient wraps on Darren's wrists. His chest was covered with similar bandages, though they bore no blood. They wrapped sideways across his chest, openly exposing his scaly hide to the chilling night. One might have called them "Druid's wraps," if not for the unholy being that wore them. His legs were clothed in what seemed to be Kevlar, only halfway down his thighs. The waistband of the shorts was elastic, and seemed to have been sewed on. These were nothing bought or stolen, but rather created from pieces lifted from unsuspecting officers of the law. That, and some poor bungee cord that had been cut from whatever is held in it's past life.

His eyes were entrancing, changing colors subtly in the light levels and with the angles of Darren's head. One was a flaming orange, twinkling like a forest alight. The other was teal, a soft green-blue, such as an ocean's shallowest tide. It seemed to move such as the water did too, gently lulling any soul who stared too long into a deadly stare-off with hell itself. He now kept his gaze fixed upon Aelin's own, as if daring her to blink for him to win the children's game of a staring contest. Though, with a predator, that game had much higher stakes.

---

776 words