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    COTY

    Assailant -- Year 226

    QOTY

    "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


    [private]  this is going to bring me to my knees | Mazikeen
    #1
    Gale
    this is going to break me clean in two --
    this is going to bring me close to you



    The purple queen wouldn’t share the location of the twins, and there was too much magic shimmering at the edges of its Vision for the Curse to feel comfortable pressing for information. It had left Tephra with nothing to show for the trip, and gnashed sharp teeth at anything that passed by. Most were wise enough to keep clear of the glittering blue creature, but by the time it slunk into Hyaline there were a half dozen newly glowing scars along Gale’s navy hide.

    He’ll be entirely gold soon, like the pale yellow sands of the Pampas.

    The Curse shoves away that rather pretty image, a remnant of Gale that remains despite its efforts to clear away the vestiges of its host. Since killing Mazikeen, Gale has been silent, and the Curse laments not doing so earlier.

    It had wasted the fall and winter waiting for her to give birth, but at least it has made good use of spring. Bringing the entities to the mountains and consolidating their magical powers had been one of Gale’s ideas, but the Curse relishes the safe haven that his host has created. No alarm sounds as the brindle stallion moves across the border of the high altitude kingdom, and the sound of a delighted laugh echoes across the rocky landscape before Gale’s legs break into a run.

    Between one stride and the next he shifts, from horse to hyena, stripped to faintly spotted. The body is more massive than any cave hyena had ever been, as tall as the shoulder now as it had been in horse form. Continuing its run, the pale-eyed creature makes its way into the heart of Hyaline, intent on finding the entities that it has gathered near the lake.

    @[Mazikeen]

    #2

    Mazikeen is sleeping near the lake when she thinks she hears a strange version of Gale’s laugh. She stirs, shaking her head - assuming she must have been dreaming, and then thinking it’s pretty stupid to be dreaming nice things about someone who had eaten your eyes and heart recently. And then his scent drifts to her and Mazikeen is on her feet a moment later.

    That new heart of hers is hammering loudly in her chest and she almost misses the quiet that had existed without it. She shifts into a panther, sniffing at the air and trying to figure out a direction. Mazikeen doesn’t consider not going, doesn’t even consider trying to find back up this time. The only reason why she hesitates is because she’s frustrated with her inability to see. With a growl she swipes at her face, one of her hooked claws catching on some scar tissue and tearing. 

    There’s pain, and then she can see a little bit of light. She is in too much of a hurry to be careful or to test further what she thinks this means, that maybe - somehow - her eyes have grown back like her heart. With efficient savagery, Mazikeen tears at her eyes with her sharp feline claws and rips the scar tissue over them open. She growls and hisses through the pain - it is not a precise job and she damages her eyes again in the process but they heal.

    She doesn’t understand how but they heal. And then she can see.

    Mazikeen moves before she can give these new eyes a chance to adjust - her first few steps accompanied by a blurry world  The weariness that has plagued her is not completely gone but she has no choice but to push through it. Then she is up in the air as an osprey, searching, breathing heavily already and hoping that whiff of his scent had been old, just a haunting memory.

    But no, there he is - moving as a gigantic hyena in a line that is coming towards the lake. The entities? Mazikeen doesn’t care. It is enough to have a trajectory so she can interrupt it. Her thoughts are already a storm that she can't puzzle out so she works on instinct. Instinct tells her this is the Curse, not Gale. Gale would have either found her or stayed away. But regardless of which one is in control, the instinct to be near him still exists for one reason or another.

    She dives towards the ground and shifts when she lands in his path, becoming a large Arctotherium bear - over a foot taller at her shoulder than she is in horse form. Her white fur is already alive with her burning markings - orange eyes blazing in a mask of blood from the wounds that have now healed.

    Even Mazikeen isn’t above theatrics as she hisses out an angry, false-sweet greeting. “Welcome home, my love.” She wonders if the Curse thought she was dead. It would be nice to surprise it yet again.

    m a z i k e e n .
     


    @[Gale]

    [Image: tenor.gif]
    #3
    Gale
    this is going to break me clean in two --
    this is going to bring me close to you



    This host had regrown itself from a wing and a bit of spine, so Mazikeen’s recovery isn’t exactly miraculous.

    It is, however, incredibly annoying.

    “I was looking forward to killing the new Alpha,” it tells her as she stands in front of it. Despite the sharp teeth that the words must pass through, they manage to sound nearly petulant.

    It scowls with the hyena’s heavy brow, and looks down at her glowing chest. There is no sign amidst the thick fur that it had ripped her apart, and the crimson blood that streaks her face is evidence that another heart beats within. Why is her face bloody anyway, it wonders? There are no wounds on her furious face.

    “Have you been using my presents?” It asks suddenly, and the frown has turned to a smile at the idea of her utilizing the entities, and of how she must think of it when she does. Had she fought a battle, it wonders, stolen someone away from their home?

    She sounds angry and though it knows better than to trust her, she would not be the first to willingly embrace the Curse rather than accept that their lover was dead.

    “I was thinking of you when I got them,” it tells her. They are words Gale would say, and words that Gale would mean in an entirely different way than the Curse does. They’re not said with Gale’s voice though. It’s the Curse that speaks as the hyena steps closer to the glowing bear, shifting seamlessly into the navy version of her pale shape.

    “Well, you and the children.” It amends its words as it draws closer, near enough it might reach out and taste the blood that masks her orange eyes. “A shame you had to hide them from me, but I do appreciate the resurrection. I assume you’ve learned your lesson?”

    It had wanted to kill the new Alpha and crown itself, but for the first time it does not mind the way that Mazikeen has dashed its plans. This time, it is for the better. It will simply kill her a second time, and if that’s not enough, a third. She’ll eventually tell it where the children are, the Curse is sure, and if she doesn’t at least her ability to survive having her heart consumed means she shouldn’t struggle with another pregnancy to give it the children she owes.

    @[Mazikeen]

    #4

    She would have liked surprise, but the scowl and petulance that her survival has been greeted with manages to soothe away the rising tide of anger at the idea of Gale killing anyone else. And then it’s her turn to scowl when he smiles. Her answer is clipped and short. “No.”

    She hadn’t given the entities a single thought, actually. She’d been a little preoccupied recently growing a new heart and, apparently, a new set of eyes - and then before that she had been busy with the upcoming birth and her plan. It had been a surprise to discover more than one of them. Though she remembers Gale’s sweet promises to get them all she had just expected the one - the one that came with an alarm so they could spend their time occupied doing other things.

    This new heart still loves him the same, it seems, and it aches to think of those happier times.

    It is annoying that the entity didn’t seem to consider him a threat considering what had happened - but he must still consider himself a member of this kingdom. As with so much, this is both incredibly aggravating and exactly what she wants - she’d rather him be close. Even before she could heal she would prefer his attention to be here, on her.

    Mazikeen’s bear lip curls back into a snarl when he takes a step closer, shifting into a navy version of the shape she is wearing. It needles her for them to be a matching set when it had once been such a source of delight. But then, that had been when it was Gale and not the Curse. Her orange eyes watch him carefully, wondering if Gale is in there. If he’s watching this, if there’s any piece of him left to save.

    She’s going to try anyway, of course. Until one of them is reduced to ash or until she is successful.

    Mazikeen doesn’t yield ground as Gale’s body draws closer, though part of her wants to. That is the part that remembers what it had felt like to wake up on the shore of the lake, shredded and clinging to life by some bizarre fluke.

    She does, however, snap her jaws in his direction in warning when the Curse mentions the children but her mind latches on to his next words. Are they still hidden, then? She should know better than to trust anything out of his mouth but she still wonders if she can find out for sure. It would surely have said something if it had found them, it would have gloated - wouldn't it?

    The Curse and its host don’t know her very well if it thinks she’s learned any sort of lesson. Mazikeen snorts in response to this question at first and the action is so normal that it alarms her, diffusing a little bit of the anger in her for a short moment.

    When in her life had she ever learned a lesson when she should have?

    “What lesson should I have learned?” She asks innocently. Or as innocently as she can ask while she’s a 2 meter tall, prehistoric bear with blood streaking its face and fire in her eyes.

    m a z i k e e n .
     


    @[Gale]
    #5
    Gale
    this is going to break me clean in two --
    this is going to bring me close to you



    The scowl returns at her single-word answer, accompanied by a tilt of Gale’s head. No? Why then is she covered in blood? Gale would have asked, unable to hide his curiosity, but the Curse is less concerned. Perhaps it’s some sort of ceremonial war-paint for this confrontation between them.

    It likes the idea that she’s had to prepare for it, and stares without blinking as though it can read what goes on behind her orange eyes. It does try, but that is not yet an ability the Curse possess, though perhaps she will feel the intrusion before it withdraws to look more carefully at her.

    Her snap at the mention of the children intrigues it. They will be a good tool against her, it decides, and resolves to hunt down a horse with the ability to Track so it might find them itself.

    Mazikeen asks what lesson she should have learned, and the Curse narrows Gale’s electric blue gaze. Four or five surprises ago, it might have taken her at her word. But Gale’s trusting nature has finally given way to the natural suspicion of the dark thing within him. The innocence in her tone is feigned, and it wants to push her farther, to see how much it will take for her to glow again..

    “That there’s no point resisting.” It says, leaning closer. The trick from the purple mare seeps into her skin where they touch, binding Mazikeen’s bones and keeping her completely still. It sniffs at the blood across her face for a moment. It’s hers, and fresh, so maybe she’s just been recently injured after all.

    “That Gale is gone.” It says, the long pause between the continuous thoughts only an echo of the man he’d been. “You could ask Wishbone, if she recovers.” It suspects the waterfall will save her. Leaving with neither the children nor the entity had rankled it, but there was some small solace in having ripped open the Tephran Queen’s purple chest and consumed her heart and magic.

    @[Mazikeen]

    #6

    It does not take long for the glowing markings to return and illuminate her fur. Mazikeen tries to turn her head away when he leans closer but she finds she cannot move and fear fuels her anger - the markings seeming to radiate from that point of contact as they flare to life once more. She is thinking about how she has definitely not accepted that Gale is gone, not forever, when the mention of Wishbone chills her. Her orange eyes widen and her fear shines so obviously in them.

    Mazikeen had planned so much, had taken so much care, and it had taken no time at all for him to find where she had left the children.

    She knows Wishbone could have survived anything he did to her... right? She had witnessed the rebirth of her friend into another body when they had first met. Their friendship was one forged in blood and battle. Still, fury and fear mix with guilt over her failure and Mazikeen grows sick with the idea of Gale eating her heart and eyes, of doing to Wishbone what had been done to her. She tries to snap at him again, but she is still held rigid and fast by whatever magic he had been using. So instead, large, thorny horns sprout from all over her bloody face - pushed out with all the speed she can muster, hoping to catch him, wound him.

    Knowing it won’t cause any lasting damage.

    And then words are quick to follow once those thorns have disappeared back into her skin a heartbeat later. Desperate words that push out of her almost without thought. “What will it take? For you to leave my friends alone?” What can I give you? is what she’s really asking, hoping that there is something. Mazikeen doesn’t include herself as someone to be protected on purpose and she can only hope the Curse will accept another deal with her after she had not followed through on the last one. There is, after all, no point in resisting so she might as well try to save who she can.

    m a z i k e e n .
     
    #7
    Gale
    this is going to break me clean in two --
    this is going to bring me close to you



    Her struggles embolden it, and with a smile it comes even nearer. The fear that glitters in her eyes is delightful, and the Curse imagines it can smell her terror and fury as it scrapes Gale’s sharp teeth along her throat and contemplates ripping her open. She’s stubborn enough to resist, the Curse knows, and strong enough to put up a good fight even in the face of inevitability.

    The sharp horns she sprouts are proof of that, but it only laughs.

    Perhaps she is not so unpredictable after all. It only needs to expect her to do the most foolhardy thing.

    Her desperation, then, feels all the more wonderful to the dark thing. So it shakes Gale’s head, and an amused smile curls up at the edge of his mouth. Mazikeen truly thinks she can save her friends.

    She can’t, of course, but the Curse is willing to let her think she might. It knows better than to trust her though, so for a long time it is quiet, watching her with Gale’s electric gaze. She makes an offer, but anything she might give the Curse could easily take for no price at all.

    What then, might make limiting its hunting worthwhile?

    Something that would make her glow, it decides.

    “Obedience.”

    It smiles, and continues before she can protest.

    “I’ll let you stay Alpha. it refers to its previous plan: that of killing whomever had been her replacement. But if Mazikeen is alive and following his commands, he doesn’t need to accept any of the more burdensome responsibilities of leading. She can do the hard work, and he can reap the benefits.

    Benefits like keeping captives, and starting wars, and watching Mazikeen’s loved ones die while she worries it is her own fault. What an absolutely delightful future!

    Any irritation at being pricked by her sharp horns disappears as it draws closer, ivory armor plating the bear’s skin so that it might press intimately near.

    “But you’ll do anything - everything - I ask of you.” It wants to feel her tremble, perhaps even to watch her flinch away, so the last of the bone magic returns to his skin. “Starting with telling Sabal she is not welcome in Hyaline anymore.”

    @[Mazikeen]

    #8

    Though her lip does curl into a snarl at the word, in that moment she does not think obedience sounds too bad. Mazikeen doesn’t have the imagination to be able to comprehend all that it will involve and she wants to believe she’s strong enough for whatever he’ll ask her to do. That her soul and heart will survive it and that her obedience will give her time to continue with her plans, even though those ideas seem so hazy and foolish now with her neck still tingling from the brush of Gale's teeth against it.

    There is a small tremble that runs through her when he presses close. He still smells like Gale and though their happiness had been fleeting, her skin remembers what it feels like to have him so close and what that did to her heart. Now what causes her heart to race is a confusing mix of anger and fear and the echoes of affection. She does not let herself move away. Maybe, in time, she won’t want to and she’ll be able to control that tremble. Maybe there will be a day when her skin no longer crawls to have the body of her beloved Gale press against her while something else is in control of it. While it says and does terrible things.

    Mazikeen doesn’t know whether it is better to hope for that day or wish she’ll be able to stop this all before it comes.

    A startled What?” escapes her at his first request. Sabal. She isn’t sure what she had been expecting but it wasn’t that.

    Somewhere in the back of her mind, Mazikeen admonishes herself for having so many weak points. But it’s too late to change that - she’d do anything to protect her friends, to protect anyone she could. And she only wishes she hadn’t let that part of her be so obvious.

    Her body obliges with a brightening glow as shock turns to anger and she moves to look at him more clearly with her burning eyes. She hates it but this request is something of a blessing - Sabal would be safer away from here. This could be how she saves her friend and her son. Everyone living here would all be safer away from Hyaline but Mazikeen does not know how to drive them all away until it is only her and the curse left.

    Mazikeen knows her answer immediately, as she does with so many things, but she doesn’t verbally agree right away. Her head is whirling, trying to come up with plans, as she growls out “In exchange for their safety, I will do everything you ask of me. Anything.” Her muzzle twitches like she might reach out to touch him but instead she twists her bear’s head to look away and at the lake - her voice still seething when she asks. “Why ask me for this?” and then “What if she won’t leave?” She’s not asking these things to be difficult (mostly), she genuinely wants to know. And maybe she needs to hear whatever despicable things he will say in response so she will not be tempted to find a loophole, so she won't be able to forget why she asked for this deal in the first place.

    m a z i k e e n .
     


    @[Gale]
    #9
    Gale
    this is going to break me clean in two --
    this is going to bring me close to you



    She begins to glow, and the armored creature smiles.

    Mazikeen is a marvelous sight. Lit from within, blood-stained, furious, and mulling over the possibility of promising to do any and everything it asked. There is no small amount of lust in the way it watches her while she inspects the lake, but there will be time for that later.

    First it must test her obedience with something large - Sabal. If she manages that without caving, the Curse is sure that Mazikeen will not object to carrying another pair of twins.  The longer it waits for her to give an answer, the more sure the Curse is of what that answer will be.

    When she agrees, a low rumble of pleasure meets her growling ire. The same mouth that had ripped her chest open presses kisses against her neck and throat, lost for a moment in single-minded focus.

    Later, it reminds itself as it pulls away. Later, when their coupling will be more fruitful. Later, when it will have time to savor the delicate sensation of shattering her into ever smaller pieces.

    It ignores her first question entirely, but the bear’s bright eyes glitter at the second, and it laughs through sharp ivory teeth.

    “Then you’ll hurt the little squidling till she does,” the Curse replies with a chuckle, plucking the image of Sabal’s child from her mind with well practiced ease. It hadn’t known she had a child, but this is the sort of surprise it enjoys.

    Children are always useful to have around, especially when their parents are obstacles.

    The two of them are close, the alpha and the kelpie, and both are obstacles. Mazikeen, the Curse is sure it can handle, but Sabal is still an unknown. Better to have her gone, away from Mazikeen lest the two of them start plotting.

    Collaboration amongst others will always be its downfall. The Curse knows to delay that inevitability, and in doing so give itself more opportunity to sow discord. Sabal leaving  is for the best, and by having Mazikeen take care of it the Curse can enjoy the anguish that doing so will cause her.

    The image of her crying elicits another smile, and with a lighthearted tone that is identical to Gale’s it lies: “This really won’t be so bad as long as you do what you’re told.”

    @[Mazikeen]

    #10

    Mazikeen remains still as kisses are pressed against her throat and neck. She does not lean into them, as she would have with Gale, but she doesn’t let herself move away either. Another small shiver runs through her, causing the long glowing fur to quake slightly. This intimate touch introduces new confusion into her mind - revulsion and a longing she doesn’t understand. She shouldn’t miss this, shouldn’t crave it. She’ll have her chance to be kissed by Gale again when he is the one in control of his body.

    It is when he refers to Sabal’s son that she finally flinches and immediately she regrets it. She needs to get better at schooling her reactions, at keeping them contained, if she is going to have a chance at succeeding. All her emotions are so out in the open, have been for so long, and they give her away. Every weakness, every flaw for everyone to see.

    Mazikeen tries not to think about how he said that she would hurt the boy. Not him. He would make her do it. She does not believe she would, but she does not want to know what he would do if she refused. So she must avoid that scenario.

    In Gale’s voice, it tells her that this won’t be so bad if she does as she’s told and she believes that to be true. Mazikeen cannot at this moment think of a time when the Curse had lied to her. It had followed their previous deal to stick only to nighttime excursions, as far as she knew. It had killed her when it said it would. She was the one who had lied, wasn’t she? She had been the betrayer.

    Still illuminated by her glowing markings with an anger she doesn’t believe will ever truly fade, Mazikeen speaks in a softer version of the growl she had just used. A restrained version as she attempts to make herself compliant. “Say it to me, tell me you won’t hurt them. My friends in Hyaline, Wishbone, and Gale’s brothers. And Sabal, when she leaves.” It is not a terribly long list but as she says it she brushes her muzzle against his armoured hide with a kiss of her own, pushing down on the disgust that tries to rise up when she does. It is a brief contact but enough that she feels more confused, unsure of whether she’d stop herself if she left it there longer.

    She is going to be good, she is going to behave, and she will save them.

    When she continues, her voice is rough - the words belong to someone else and Mazikeen attempts to pretend she doesn’t hear them. That avoiding saying her friend’s name out loud in this context somehow makes it easier. “And then tell me if you’d like to come watch me kick out the kelpie.” She thinks this might be something it will like, to see the pain it will cause them both. For Mazikeen to lose her Champion and her sister.

    m a z i k e e n .
     


    @[Gale]




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