Who painted the lion? [Killdare/Malis]

[Malis]

"we pull apart the darkness while we can"

Even when they are apart, she is never far from her king of fire and ash. Buried deep in the marrow of her bones, the rivers of her veins, there is an urge to protect him. She feels it in the echo of her heartbeat, in the flash of those liquid green eyes when someone new shows up unwelcomed within the borders of the Chamber. It isn’t that she thinks Killdare unable to defend himself, one look at the veins of magma seeping from the stone and ash of his skin would easily prove otherwise. But this ability was given to him by the kingdom herself, and Malis would never trust the Chamber.

So when the wolf lopes unimpeded through the forests to the heart of the kingdom with the name of her king howled on his lips, she becomes wild. She catches a glimpse of them across the open clearing, bristling when she thinks she sees the wolf looks past Killdare to where she watches with her daughter, Victra. Without a moment’s hesitation she presses her lips to the curve of the bay and indigo girls ear, “Go find your brother, I’ll join you in a bit.” It must have been the waves of tension rolling off of Malis, of an almost tangible electricity crackling in the green of her wild eyes, but Victra left immediately, casting one curious glance in the direction of the wolf and her father before turning to disappear into the forest.

Malis turned to join them immediately, a strange fluidity to her stride that belied the way her muscles coiled like furious snakes beneath the sleek indigo of her skin. It takes a moment to cross the clearing to where they stand, but she refuses to make a fool of herself by hurrying any fast than that languid walk. Instead she uses the time to absorb the scene unfolding before her. Killdare has his back turned to her, which she notes with tight-lipped smile that is gone again in an instant, so she has a long chance to take in the wolf standing in front of him with hackles raised.

She doesn’t recognize him, but she wouldn’t, Malis had never met Lupei or any of the other shifters in the area. Nor does she realize he has any connection to the green mare who had so recently disappeared from the Kingdom. Perhaps if she had, the furious blue fire licking along his spine would make more sense. She joins them in the next instant, drawing alongside Killdare so closely that her skin ached from the heat. Her expression is dark and indistinct, the row of horns down her nose gleaming like a cold obsidian promise. Had she known that this was in part about her, that she had played a vital role in creating the fire that burned both within and without the black wolf, she might’ve stayed away.

Instead she watches him with eyes as green as emeralds buried in a burned earth, offering him only her silence as she remained poised beside her King.

MALIS

makai x oksana

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