"But the dream, the echo, slips from him as quickly as he had found it and as consciousness comes to him (a slap and not the gentle waves of oceanic tides), it dissolves entirely. His muscles relax as the cold claims him again, as the numbness sets in, and when his grey eyes open, there’s nothing but the faint after burn of a dream often trod and never remembered." --Brigade, written by Laura
And in the darkened underpass I thought, "Oh Satan, my chance has come at last!"
Mary had greeted her at the walls of Sylva. They met each other with scrutiny, but Valdis was permitted through nonetheless. Unable to turn her back on curiosity, she threaded herself through the autumnal forest and drank in the scenery for the very first time. It’s odd how such a colorful place holds captive a dark and brooding beast.
Perhaps, there is much more that she needs to learn about Sinner.
Just as in the meadow, Valdis isn’t sultry or seductive in the way she weaves through the territory. She frequently takes pause to search her surroundings and memorize what she can. From large boulders to small ponds, there is a lot to admire. Yet her thoughts frequently stray to Hyaline and its open landscape. The skies were far more welcoming there and enticed her to try touching the clouds as a child. Here, she is confined. Sheets of sunlight penetrate the canopy. The frost along her body glistens each time she passes underneath the light, dulling when she creeps slowly into the shadows.
Valdis doesn’t call for him. It’s likely that he has already found her and is stalking her like the predator he is. She instead roams quietly alone, savoring what she can until her solitude is disrupted.
VALDIS
But then a strange fear gripped me and I just couldn't ask.
01-02-2019, 11:33 PM (This post was last modified: 01-02-2019, 11:37 PM by Sinner.)
there is but one rule hunt or be hunted
The obligations of the crown consume his time of late. He thought he would have found himself on the outside of the autumn forest attending to visiting other lands, but it seemed that the other lands of Beqanna were drawn to their little quiet forest. Sinner has no disagreement with those arrangements though. He finds the visits of diplomats from other kingdoms and strangers coming to call Sylva home a proud moment.
Now, it means less time for him to sink and become lost within the duties of the crown. He does not particularly care for what responsibilities come with the role of being a leader, but that is where the color-changing mare, Mary, comes into play. She was born and raised under the rule of the late Sylvan king and taught to live the life of a kingdom-dweller. He, on the other hand, is simply a beast. A predator that only knows the call of the hunt of flesh and bone.
But then he also has his own personal games. Games he loves to play so very much. Valdis was currently his new favorite game.
Her scent is fresh and clear within the woods of Sylva, marking her close by. It seemed her presence within the autumn forest was not short-term but more permanent.
Yet, for how long?
The dark beast has left his play-thing unattended since she has arrived here, but he does not give a second thought to that. If she did not have an interest in him, she clearly would not be here. Valdis would also leave by now if she did not have a deeper curious (and perhaps desire) to want more. He has played his cards right so far, and the games were only beginning now.
Sinner watches with dark-nutmeg eyes from the shadows of the forest. The canopy of the autumn forest hides him well in the darkness, but so does his instinct and skills of a hunter. Sylva confined the sunlight, keeping the darkness held within, just as he has confined Valdis into his own trap. It is a beautiful thing, playing with the curiosity of a young mare. The naïvetés of such innocent hearts as truly marvelous, but Valdis is not such one nearly. Of course, she has her curiosities, but she also has her own desires that she craves and was willing to get.
The question was just far was she willing to go?
He is willing to play in order to find out exactly.
The dark bay—out of his hellhound form, which is a rare sight truly—moves through the forest slowly. He is quiet with each step upon the dark-earth floor, but he does not have the silent steps of a predator in his horse form. Then again, there was no reason for him to be quiet in his own domain. Sinner was the king of these woods (even if he might be under the ruling of Wolfbane) after all.
He steps away from the darkness finally. The hunger within him groans, beckoning him towards the blue and white-frosted mare. It has been too long since he has been in the company of the girl—the girl he couldn’t quite get off his mind truthfully. Valdis didn’t have an emotional hold on be per say. It was entirely something else. Something he isn’t quite sure of yet either.
“Valdis,” he says slowly and softly, tasting her name as if for the first time again.
And in the darkened underpass I thought, "Oh Satan, my chance has come at last!"
The enticement of his scent hooks her. He could reel her in like a fish, but she would not be an easy catch. Even as she hears him and breathes him in another time, Valdis doesn’t yet acknowledge him. Around her, the trees rustle with the soft breeze. A chill runs down the length of her spine, her body still battling fever and sickness. Somehow, she has been able to mask her symptoms with the exception of a periodic cough that scratches at the lining of her throat. Her weight has fluctuated as the plague tries to starve her, but perseverance has kept her in reasonable enough shape that when Sinner arrives, he would not be able to notice the struggles she has faced with the sickness.
Valdis, with her eyes dreamily drifting in a slow blink, turns to regard the hellhound with a coy grin tipping the corners of her mouth. Her gaze glimmers curiously, seeing him as a horse for the very first time. The musk that envelopes him, mixed with the hooded intensity of his stare, confirms his identity as he looms like a shadow. ”The wolf has shed his skin,” she comments airily as she pivots to face him. Her core rattles delightedly by how he says her name, but her expression doesn’t betray the electricity coursing through her veins.
She refuses to make anything too easy for him.
Sinner’s body heat radiates from his skin like fingers, stroking along Valdis with an allure that she struggles to ignore. A slow (unwilling) step peels her farther away from him, enjoying the sense of being untouched as his gaze roves hungrily across her. ”I thought I scared you away,” she quips with a gentle bout of laughter, knowing well that if anyone were to be afraid, it would be her. Valdis won’t make the mistake of completely trusting him – at least, she hopes not to fall entirely under his spell – because, like father, he is a monster, a predator. More bubbles on her tongue, tickling her and urging her to say more, but instead she chooses a road of silence as she observes him, memorizing every detail of his alternate body.
VALDIS
But then a strange fear gripped me and I just couldn't ask.
When his dark nutmeg gaze meets the girl’s own gaze, he cannot help himself, but he holds himself back. There is a deep dreaminess to the way she looks at him, but when he catches her coy grin lifting at the corners of her mouth, he knows there is more to her than that. Her appearance of attempting to allure him has grown more intense. But perhaps it has been the longing that has grown within him since he last saw her.
He is not completely daft though. Nor is he a fool to fall into the trance of a seductress. The hound likes to play his own games too. He is even beginning to like his plaything even more. Valdis seems to like the idea of it too, or at least it was a good assumption from the way she turns and speaks to him.
“I am not always a monster,” he says in reply.
It was a lie.
He is always a monster.
The dark hound can feel her heat. He wants to crease her again, to feel her body once more. But she is no fool either for what he desires—she knows well enough by now. Valdis steps away from him. Sinner bites his tongue in irritation while keeping the annoyance free from showing. It seemed their time apart has allowed her to plan her own games as well.
Sinner’s hungry look as he gazes across her falls away when she speaks again. A soft chuckle releases through his dark bay lips. “You could never scare me away,” he answers back. He already knows that there is nothing within her that will scare him off. It is he who should be fear, and he wonders if she dances on the edge of that thought. Valdis never shows she is fearful of him—she seems to welcome and challenge the unknown.
“So, it seems the little princess got away,” he adds as an amused smile fills his dark-chiseled face. Hyaline would have been a safer place for Valdis if she had remained there. Sylva was filled with darker creatures and ideals for living their life. It offered much more than the lifestyle of safety and good. He had given her the offer, but he cannot help but wonder if she will officially accept it. Her mere presence her could only be a game, another curiosity of hers.
And in the darkened underpass I thought, "Oh Satan, my chance has come at last!"
This isn’t a fairytale – it likely never will be – but Valdis has never been a delicate girl dreaming of a Prince Charming. She is a dangerous concoction of beauty and ferocity, of claws and lace. She doesn’t fold into Sinner so sweetly and offer her entire self to him (she more or less allows Mary to pass through her thoughts and she nearly laughs). Although her voice is intricately woven with honey, Valdis remains just out of his reach with her eyes glittering mischievously. ”Is that so?” Father claimed he wasn’t always a monster either, and yet a scar puckers mother’s skin. He had lost control of himself, and she was witness (and victim) to it. With a half-hearted chuckle and a coy smile, ”I’ll be the judge of that.” Even has her heart quickens beneath his stare, Valdis remains wary. Each step, every glance, is calculated.
Much to her expectation, Sinner admits that she will never be the one to frighten him. She knows this, of course, but somehow it reassures her. Do they have hooks in each other already? Their mutual fascination tethers them. That’s the reason she is here, in the Sylvan forest, with him just a few steps away. Valdis could admit to him the changes she has undergone (it frightened her initially when she stirred from her rest to see claws instead of hooves) and how the precariousness of them may have slightly increased. In truth, they can hurt each other. They could spill blood, but they don’t. They haven’t.
There’s a reason for that.
”Mother wasn’t too happy, of course,” it was liberating to step away from Hyaline’s grip, but it also tugged on her heart to see the flickering discomfort across Solace’s face. To lose her child – albeit not permanently or in poor terms – unsettles the Caretaker, but she was also reassured by Valdis and the confidence she emanated during their conversation. That had been the final thread to confirm her change of homes. ”She made an offer and tempted me to stay, but I declined,” Valdis takes a step toward Sinner now, their eyes leveling on each other, ”so I guess you’re stuck with me, for now.” A smug grin wrinkles the corners of her mouth and brightens her eyes as they dance across his face. She hasn’t quite been able to read him. A hooded stoicism breaks only with an occasional look of hunger. Much to her dismay, Valdis doesn’t realize his irritation that she remains just beyond his touch, teasing and tempting him. She is affecting him more than she fathoms. Perhaps, that is best. It would make her too arrogant.
But she is searching for a reaction and to see his face light up somehow. What had earlier bubbled on the surface of her tongue now coats her lips enticingly until she can no longer subdue the words. ”A congratulations is in order,” she isn’t envious because she isn’t ready to be a mother herself, ”I take it you like girls jumping your bones.” A sweet laughter slips from her now. It is contained easily enough, however, as her mind wraps around the King and Queen coupling. Sylva had been Sinner’s initially, so perhaps out of desperation to seal her place, Mary opened herself to him. Such an easy woman, but how exciting to have a Whore Queen sitting on Sylva’s throne.
VALDIS
But then a strange fear gripped me and I just couldn't ask.
At one time he had been uncontrollable. The hunger within him had been his guidance, his master that dictated every move and thought. It was only the taste of flesh and bone that satisfied the beast within him before. A monster that fed upon the aroma of fear just before he killed his prey. But he has become more than merely being a predator now.
He will always enjoy the hunt and thrill that comes from chasing the prey. The aroma of fear will always intoxicate him, but there are new games he has learned to enjoy. The manipulation and control that he has so easily on others entices him. Perhaps it is because he enjoys dancing on the edge of recklessness. He has also gotten everything he has wanted so far.
There was obviously more he could get.
“Don’t judge me too harshly,” he says portraying a soft, yet weak voice in mockery.
He would always be the monster that should be feared. Even he does not know how much power he has within him. The hound’s ability to endure the darkness and fight for what he desires most is unfathomable. Sinner has a deep determination within his nature. It is almost innate for him to fight for what he wants, to become the predator if he must again.
Of course, the queen would not be happy to see her little princess escape from the safety of their home. Sinner knew all too well that mothers wanted the best for their children. Even his own mother wanted the same for him. She loved him despite the very darkness that created him. Her little hound, she would always say to him. But was it even possible to truly love the darkest of creatures? He isn’t quite sure truly.
Valdis takes a step forward, enclosing the distance she put between them earlier. “For now, huh?” It sounded promising to him at least. She declined an offer from her own mother. Perhaps Valdis’ mother was willing to give her children anything to make them stay. But his offer to her to come to Sylva had been much more promising, much more than she had ever wanted. A prideful expression crosses over his face now with that thought. Sinner looks back at her, watching as her eyes dance as she wears a smug grin on her pretty little face.
“How miserable it will be,” his lip curls into a playful grin now as his dark tail flicks against the back of his hind legs. His eyes then light up with mischief as his thoughts wonder into darker thoughts. The hound cannot help what sort of things he will cock up to play. Valdis certainly had no idea of what he had in mind with her. And now that she was here, she would eventually soon find out.
His ear flickers forward curiously at her next words. Mary, he thinks with a sharp flick of his tail. Of course, she would be quick to find his new interest. Nothing could ever be left in the dark too long with Mary near. She was marvelous with the way she found information. Perhaps one of the best things that had helped him find his position within Sylva, but so did placing a child within her belly. He was determined to find every way possible to seal his position on the throne of Sylva.
“Why thank you,” he says with happiness without missing a beat at the humor she found in her last words. The swelling of Mary’s womb had put him in rather a good mood lately. It was as if the birth of his child would be the beginning of something greater. “Now, don’t get my intentions all tangled up, Valdis.” He says softly, eyes sharp but playful. The hound takes a step forward towards her. “I am much more than that,” he adds licking his lips lightly.
how come I never got used to the feeling of sleeping in a cage? too long driving, too damn hungry; a tied-up hound but nothing stays
”I know, I know. I’m pretty awful to be around,” laughter breaches the space between them and brightens the shadows for a flickering moment. Sheets of sunlight slash through the canopy, catching the fragments of frost along her skin. The leaves are decorated with diamond-like reflections until another gray cloud passes over and blots out the sun. They are shrouded in the forest’s gloom. Trees around them groan as another wintry gale shoulders through, nipping at Valdis’ heels as she stares at Sinner with amusement gleaming in her rich, sapphire eyes. ”But as troublesome as I can be, mother still wanted me around. I guess I can’t be so terrible then?” Admittedly, in Hyaline, Valdis enjoyed the pampered grandeur of being a princess. She didn’t decide to actually make herself known until recently. Her siblings acknowledged her then. Velk remained silent, standoffish. Such an odd twin dynamic they have, but she has since shrugged it off.
As long as they are all still around, she has a home.
Taunting Sinner, she mentions, ”Piss me off, and I’ll just go back to Hyaline,” that grin of hers is poison but still her face remains pretty, ”So yes, you have me for now.” But she doesn’t plan on leaving. Sylva, so far, is fascinating enough to keep her in its murky shadows and autumnal forest. It would be foolish to admit this however, or to make him think he has so easily won her over. He is a hunter, so of course he savors the chase. Mary gave him no such thing and so it will only be a matter of time until his boredom overlaps her usefulness. Eventually, she will become nothing more than a used rag.
Valdis takes note of how Sinner licks his lips and hardly wavers his stare. He follows her with predatory intensity, something that eerily reminds her of father (but Sinner is far from a paternal figure in her life). Easily enough she could become prey. Yet still she plays her games.
Once again, she edges away from him, spacing them further than they have been for quite some time. Somehow, they are magnetized. They are drawn to each other, and so she struggles to stay away. Her eyes distractedly look up at the branches, but she is still listening to him and admiring the way words slip from his tongue. ”I’m not easy like her,” she says mildly before finally glancing sideways at him with a lifted brow, ”but then again, I don’t think we have much in common.” It doesn’t bother her of course. There is an organic tension borne between the two women, but no definitive reason why. Valdis can’t quite put her finger on it. With a chuckle, she coldly adds, ”Such a shame your broodmare Queen doesn’t like me.”
“A mother will love her children regardless of what or who they are,” he says in response to Valdis bringing up her own mother. Sinner’s own mother had shown him every ounce of love and more. His creation came from damnation, but the connection of his parents was the strongest a bond could ever be. A love that could not be broken by anything.
His own mother could love the devil himself. A bringer of darkness. A monster that took the life of others easily. But his father was not someone he truly admired. He was given power that should have been bestowed upon him. A gift from hell that has wrongly been give the respect it deserves.
Yet, he was half the man his father was. Sinner shares the darker half of his red devil father. That will only ever be the similarities they share. But the dark wolf… Well, he much worse than his father.
He laughs freely at her attempt of taunting him. It was rather amusing to see her use yourself and hear her words. But every one of those words lured him in even more. Valdis had brought a new fascination into his life. Something he never thought he would enjoy. Playing with his food had been one thing before killing them and eating, but manipulating someone of his own kind was different. It was thrilling, and he cannot help himself to pursue deeper into it all.
“I can only hope for now is forever,” he says with deep seductive tone. The hound does not care to hide his thirst for her now. She obviously knows by the way she displays herself to him and taunts him with her pretty little words. Her weapon was all that she had. But he expected more from Valdis truly. Her mind was sharp, but just how far was she willing to go.
Valdis steps away again from him as soon as he closed the distance between them. He holds his disappointed in this time. Sinner cannot help but wonder why she does not fold into him. It was more of shame truthfully. The games she was willing to push off and not enjoy. Their connection was more than chemistry. It was wild and untamable.
He needed it.
Needed to feel it.
Needed to taste it.
The chase can only last so long before the hunt becomes unexcitable. He plans on having his fill before that ends. Eventually her games will not be enough for his hunger, he will have to play the game on his own terms.
“Why would you even compare yourself to her?” He asks curiously. This sudden fanatic of bringing up Mary clearly brings something else to his mind. Jealousy is the first thing, but Valdis seems above all of that. She clearly knows Sinner has his full attention right now. Does she fear the day he will find something else more interesting? If that was the case, all she needed to do was fill his hunger. To give herself more to him.
He chuckles at her last words. “Does Mary really mean that much to you?” The hound cannot really see what their interaction might have done. Were females really this way? It seemed so childish, something he doesn’t care to truly step into, but he lives a different life now.
how come I never got used to the feeling of sleeping in a cage? too long driving, too damn hungry; a tied-up hound but nothing stays
Valdis sees how she is plucking at his nerves, taunting him with the body she has. A coy smile reactively spreads across her lips. His reactions are drawing her in – mentally, physically – but she hesitates because she has never been a harlot. Fire and brimstone boil throughout her veins, lacking in the tenderness that her mother has always possessed. ”True,” she agrees as her eyes drift to the autumnal leaves hovering above them, ”and it’s always beneficial to stay close to her.” Her ambition dribbles from her confession, but she’s uncertain as to how far she would go. If mother stood in her way, what then?
But she tries not to dwell so much on what is done. With a mischievous gleam in her blue eyes, Valdis turns her attention to the present, to Sinner. Her grin has not faded, and she holds it back from broadening as he mentions forever. Underneath his intense, predatory stare, her heart quickens. Is this when the first half of his chase ends? He is taking the legs out from underneath her, anchoring her to what is his. Oddly enough, she enjoys this lingering thrill that scrapes its nails along her skin. ”Well, when you put it that way,” she rolls her shoulders and inches forward. Already, her mind is swirling with imaginative scenes of her life alongside him – his untouchable treasure, his toy, his bit of excitement in this pestilent world.
Her only drawback is the consideration of ownership.
Does she doubt her own ability to escape, if necessary?
Underneath her metallic forelock, Valdis blinks and withdraws herself from the vivid imagery of her thoughts to look at him. A brow lifts, her grin wavers. ”She could be a bump in the road for me. That’s all,” arrogance is there, surfacing in her expression and tone of voice as she addresses his question. ”But I suppose a challenge is a good thing sometimes. I suppose Mary can only hinder so much of my rank climbing when I have you backing me.” And now, finally, after the weighing anticipation, Valdis folds into him. To feel a man – someone other than a sibling or her father – warm against her side both invigorates and frightens her. A chill cartwheels down the length of her spine as her body nestles into his own curves, nearly merging them into one. When he looks at her – because she knows he will follow her with his eyes – she merely grins. It isn’t sweet like that of a found lover, but comfortable and opportunistic. Sinner has been wanting this, to feel her, but she admittedly has been, too. Crumbling in the face of temptation, Valdis accepts her fate. ”Sylva’s future is waiting,” it will be an empire, she assumes, because her king would want nothing less. She waits for instruction, for direction, as she deeply breathes in and savors him.
He does not miss the way her confession is spilled. The girl’s words are held on tightly, because he just knows how precious these words might be. A reminder that a princess truly would never stray far from her own kingdom and family. His own father had a similar relation with his birth home and family. It had become his father’s own downfall in the end. A piece of humanity he would never dwell in himself, he promised. But Valdis words would become a tool one day, all the while it will lay with the other chest of weapons he has tucked away into the deep, shadowy crevices of his mind.
Valdis turns away from such talks of family and home. The wolf watches as she turns to what she knows best, the tools that send him almost kneeling before her. Throwing his crown before her, to lay it at her feet was out of the question though. He would not throw what he has gained at the feet of a temptress. But he could see many others in the future be willing to do it just anything to get to be with someone like Valdis.
The hellhound cannot wonder if she truly knows the power she has. The way she smiles at the right time and touches him at the correct moment when he pulls away. It only reveals to him that she is learning step by step of what she has, this invisible chain around him. He isn’t sure how he has gotten lost in the moment of it all. It is blurry and dangerous, but all the while it excites him, and he was nothing but more of it.
Her reaction is not what he expected. But neither is the way she has a hold onto him. The girl finally let herself slip into his presence just a little closure now. He takes a step in her direction to, closing in the space that remains.
The grin fades away from the lips that lure and seduce him. He watches are her arrogance shows, matching her words exactly. A smirk grows quickly across his dark-stained lips. Sinner cannot help but laugh softly. “You are truly something else,” he says after his laugh subsides. Valdis finally steps in, folding into him, and giving him what he had wanted. “I don’t think a little princess would be that fearful of the big, bad queen,” he says playfully.
Her body is warm and sets his own on fire. His mind wanders quickly to darker and unspeakable things. But how can a man help himself when someone such as Valdis was right on them? The autumn king might have had his fill with Mary, but it was nothing compared to what he desired with Valdis.
Time was too long. Sinner grew inpatient for the way she has hold him back, neglecting him for what he deserves. What is rightfully his to have. Her games are getting better. The cards she holds are played too easily at the right time. A game he has more experience with—so he thinks—and will not let her have it entirely.
“You will have whatever you want,” he says finally, feeling his lust finally set in and enjoy the comfort of her warmth and touch. So long as I deem it, he thinks because he will not let her have anything without his approval. He will be the one to give it to her. Only him will she want. The bay stallion’s muzzle traces only her figure. Every part of her was his to mark, claiming each and every piece that made her who she was physically. He would have it all. Make it all his.
He smiles through lustful eyes and a grin that obviously gives away he is enjoying this moment. “Then Sylva can wait a little longer,” he says with a deep laugh filled with pleasure. Sinner tags lightly on her metallic gold mane. He would make it wait forever if he must to enjoy this moment as long as he could.
