Not one but three emerge. Two are probably guards, judging by the breadth of their chests and the tense way they try to read me. To my surprise it is the third who steps forward, at once bold and cautious. My ears flatten in distrust. On first glance she is ragged and sand-swept, but beneath the dust I see she is ruddy, wine-stained velvet. And beyond what seems like bone-tired fatigue, in those young eyes I can see strength like a clenched fist. From the situation I learn this mare is of some importance and this land is of some danger- else there would not be the two winged escorts lingering with taut dissatisfaction.
I don't think I could escape them. On foot maybe, given how weary they look, but the two soldiers have wings and could track me down in a matter of minutes. I turn back to the girl as she steps closer, closer. She is bold, which I admire, but still a stranger; and I am torn between stepping forward and backward so I just stay where I am, ears distrusting even as I lower my head and offer my breath in tentative greeting.
"Your promise means nothing to me, little fox." I sneer. What good is the promise of a stranger, a mortal one at that? She asks a question and I laugh shortly, billowing with sorrow and fear and anger- confusing things I have not felt in many, many lifetimes. With each of my next four words I feel myself deflating. The feeling reminds me of watching a candle collapse on itself. "I am not alright." I look away.
The silence after stretches a moment too long. I rise again, fill my chest with air and remember who I am. I have lived longer than this child can even imagine. There are a hundred names for me. There are embers in my eyes where there were once bonfires, but still- the angry drum of my heart cries out
I am more god than man.
My tail flicks angrily, remembering what it was like to be a rattlesnake. I hear my words come out in a low, angry hiss. "You would not understand." I hope she cannot sense my desperation, my need to be angry so that I will not be afraid.
@Cyrene YES <3 pardon my drama queen xD
