[private] this is going to bring me to my knees; Mazikeen

[Mazikeen]

Does it even count as conquering if the residents don’t care enough to show up? Mazikeen’s grin grows at the thought of it. Once she would have easily thought they had all hidden in fear of him but now she enjoys a different idea - the families she remembers seeing in Tephra continuing to graze and play while Gale stomped around, declaring himself king. Mazikeen returns his stare, that grin remaining. She is content to wait - both delighted by the snippets of his thoughts she catches and infuriated by… well, everything. But she does not remember what it is like to not be angry. She laughs when he pushes past her without saying anything else, stretching out to lie down where she had been sitting while her thoughts storm through her and as she debates chasing him or letting him run with his tail tucked. Gale had told her once that this Curse was different than the one that had affected his father, but she knew that line wasn’t as clear of a distinction as she had once thought. Or, at least, the distinction did not matter. Everyone feared what Wolfbane had become, enough that the effects of it still rippled through his family even now. And watching Gale disappear into the storm, Mazikeen cannot help but wonder why was there so much fear? If this is all that there was, it was incredibly unimpressive. Some part of her thrills at the idea that she, of everyone, is the weakness to this creature. That she holds power over something that had ruined an entire family - even if she know believed the entire tree to be riddled with rot and hardly worth saving anyway. Had he picked Tephra for the waterfall, or had he picked it for the same reason she had hidden her children there - because it was one of the farthest places from Hyaline? She realizes she’s not done with him yet, though in what way she’s not sure. Mazikeen does not want any ambiguity when they part today. So she rises and slips into the storm. Even with the conditions, it does not take her long to track him - the scent of blood drawing her to him like a shark. Mazikeen is still the giant wolf as she flies out of the snow, intending to knock Gale over on his side or just off his balance - testing what strength and magic he has left in him now before she circles him once more. This time she’s not looking for scars. She prowls like the hunter she’s always been, intent upon her prey. The sight of the blood from the newly-healed wounds nearly sends her into a frenzy but she focuses on holding herself together for just a little longer. Threatening Nashua and Aela had been fun - she knew this would be sweeter. “You’re such a disappointment.” Though she is almost entirely coated with burning markings, her voice matches the snowstorm around them. “Did you really think you could just leave? You owe me a debt and part of you will always belong to me.” Her eyes roam his body, possessive and uncaring as she continues to muse out loud in that same cold voice. “Perhaps I’ll just keep the only piece that was ever satisfying.” She could toss it into the lake, let the fish get a taste of him. She certainly would have no use for it once it was severed. m a z i k e e n .

 

@Gale