GHAUL

i can take you there, but baby, you won't make it back

He has never seen the ocean before, and the sound of it makes him stiffen at first. Before they landed, he thought it was the sound of the wind in his ears. His gaze wanders across the territory as he stands beside Anaxarete. He watches the tide lap against the shore, tilting his head this way and that. The sand is soft beneath his talons. Ghaul leans his head down to look at it closely as he forms a fist of the grains. They trickle between his talons and back to the ground before he releases the sands once more. This land intrigues him and a smile begins to form across his face. This place would make a fine nest for him and Clarissa, he thinks. It is quiet and safe, nestled into Pangea perfectly.

His wings shuffle against his back with the finger-like muscles flexing briefly as he turns to meet her gaze. The Cove, she says. It’s yours now. The stars across his face shine softly as he considers her words. Finally, he nods in understanding. “I will collect my treasures here, and we will serve Pangea faithfully,” he says with a grin of crocodilian teeth. The hellbeast is eager to bring Gospel and Greta here, perhaps even Draco and Dove if they feel so inclined. Their little cult would blossom into something great and terrifying here.

I want to make the southern region burn for its attempts to defy me,” he finally admits. Ghaul does not often frown, but the expression comes easily to him as he thinks of the way Loess tried to keep Clarissa from him. Then they had the audacity to try and take Dove from her home. He grits his teeth and chokes back the growl that builds in his throat. “Gilded kings should be made to obey when they are in the presence of the divine.”

And then he turns to watch the waves once more, plotting the next steps in his path to conquest.