09-10-2015, 02:48 PM
(This post was last modified: 09-10-2015, 02:50 PM by Minette.)
The mountains are cool, barely touched by summer's heat. Mist rises faintly upwards through which glimpses of black winged birds can be seen flocking. There are two numbering the herd now, awaiting the whim of their master, but they have not sought one another's company. For her part, Minette isn't eager to share her misery with anyone. This is the first time she feels at home in this desolate place, one with its feeling of deep pain and loss.
The grief she carries is great. Minette doubts Gryffen can punish her any more than her shattered heart already has. With every breath and every step and in every moment, she misses her baby. Sette's smoky black form, graceless and full of life, with eyes that shine with eagerness. Minette doesn't know when she will see her daughter again. If she ever will. She isn't even sure if she herself will see another day.
It is only a matter of time before the white stallion returns.
The cream gray mare finds comfort in the safety of her child, but it doesn't stay her tears or her fear. She reeks of anguish. Now that the deed is done, and her daughter has been spirited away to safety, the fullness of her sin and terror consumes her. The wolf will come home and demand a reckoning. Minette has no hope of hiding her transgression. She can only pray he will not tear her limb from limb. She concentrates on putting one foot in front of the other, and eating what little she can stomach.
The sun rises dimly on another day. Minette dips her head to drink at one of the mountain's freezing creeks. She catches sight of the deep scar above her left eye and winces, turning away. The young mare feels suspended in time, awaiting the ripples of the stone she has thrown.
He watched his newly winged sister creep into his lands, for he had been watching from a ledge on the mountain. His red eyes are cold and a snarl is on his lips. He watches as the jaguar mare steals his daughter away. Minette, she fucking planned this. Oh he had known all about her little sneaky meetup in the Meadow. The raven had told him. Hadn’t he warned her not to trifle with him, to try and pull the wool over his eyes? Now not only had she doomed herself, she had brought the Amazons down with her.
He didn’t bother to interfere with the kidnapping. No he simply watched and let it happen. He would get his daughter back eventually. For awhile he stands there, considering what has just happened. Then he slips from his perch and makes his way down the rocky path to her. The minnow who thought she was a slippery dolphin but in the end she was a minnow. A minnow he would crush beneath his hooves. He finds her looking anguished and forlorn. What she should look like is the epitome of fear. ”Little minnow…” He hisses, red eyes glowing blood red as he advances on her. ”I warned you but you refused to listen.” His hooves fly at her shoulder and if she has fallen he waits till she has gotten back up before he continues. ”You think I don’t know who took her, where she has gone too?” He snarls at her, hooves flying again and this time at her barrel. His neck snakes out as his teeth snap at her flesh. ”And to think I was going to let you keep the next one.” He laughs maliciously, letting his hooves fly at anything he can hit. She hasn’t fallen just yet. She will.
His body is against hers, his teeth clamping onto a good grip of her mane and he tugs as hard as he can to bring her to the floor. Once she has fallen he aims a swift kick at her head, not caring if it connects or not. Not caring if she dies or not. If she avoids it, it will serve as a good warning. That your life is in my hands. ”No more games little fish” He spits at her, towering over her and seething with his wrath. ”No more trips to the Meadow for you. You are lucky I’m sparing your life. And this Fall you will have another child, one that will replace the one I’ve lost. You better hope it’s a boy, something that will slightly redeem you.” A short pause as he looks at the pathetic creature before him. ”Oh and one more thing…..I will get her back. When the Amazons burn you’ll only have yourself to blame for starting a war.” Promptly he turns on his heels, kicking dirt in her face as he leaves her alone with her grief and pain.
Gryffen
- - - - - The Big Bad Wolf |
She feels the heat of his rage before she sees him, a tangible wave of fury bearing down on her. Minette shakes, taking one step backwards before terror freezes her body. The intensity of the white stallion's snarl makes her heart sink. She had thought she had known dread. Gryffen is teaching her differently. She fears she will fall, that she will finally be broken.
She will not apologize, she tells herself. She will not beg.
But she does not know if she is lying.
The first blow startles more than it stings. His hooves find her shoulder with a dull thud. She makes no sound as she slips to the ground, her dark eyes wide.
Minette struggles to her feet, certain she is only to be knocked down again, but unwilling to meet her fate while sprawled at his hooves. He waits for her to stand, a mockery of courtesy. White hot hatred beats through her veins. It nearly matches his fury for intensity.
Her breath leaves her in a harsh cough, sharp tendrils spiking out from her stomach, where he strikes next. His words are a meaningless blur, and she struggles to understand in the haze of pain. He is relentless, his teeth tearing at her skin. She dimly hears a low keening sound. Eventually she realizes that the noise is coming from her.
A sharp agony tears through her mane as he wrestles her to the ground. Minette kicks feebly, but Gryffen is stronger. The struggle is brief. Her legs slip from beneath her. She lands with a solid thump, bruises forming upon bruises, blood trickling to wet the ground where she falls.
For a moment she thinks he is through with her, but the final kick connects with her ear and neck with a blaze of indescribable agony. Blood streams from her right ear, down her neck, and she screams. Her hearing on that side is lost, flooded out by blood.
His voice comes very faintly to her, a hiss and a growl on the wind. Only then does she begin to sob, her voice cracked as she listens to his pronouncement. The thought of bearing another of his children, the thought of Sette's future being torn asunder… these torment her.
She hopes he has damaged her beyond repair, that another child is impossible. She hopes she won't live to see the day that her daughter returns. She hopes that Liz and Lagertha and the sisters can protect her child.
"No." she whispers faintly. "Please… Gryffen…"
Exhausted and beaten, Minette collapses into the ground, weeping. And still, the ravens watch.
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