Putrid Pride

Aresenn's breaths came in ragged gasps as he sprinted through the valley, the taste of iron lingering on his lips from his own bloodied face. The confrontation with Sephiran had left him enraged, battered, and bruised. But it was the anguished cries of Absinth that spurred him to abandon the unfinished duel. His heart drummed with fury in his chest as he reached the source of the desperate pleas. The sight that greeted him was a nightmarish to say the least. Absinth lay in a pool of crimson, her face marred, and her once vibrant eyes now clouded with pain, half-lidded with exhausted distance. A deep gash on her neck oozed with fresh blood, and a more sinister wound on her side bled profusely, staining the ground beneath her. Her pristine white coat nearly as red as his own.

Fury burned within Aresenn as he dropped to the ground beside her, paws trembling with rage at the sight of her. His eyes scanned her injuries, each one a testament to the brutality she had endured. Then frantically scanned the surrounding area- longing to see the bastard that caused this. The executioner had vanished, leaving behind only the echoes of a malicious act. Scowling, he returned his attention to her, leaning in to get any sort of recognition from her. "Absinth!?" Aresenn's voice trembled with a mixture of concern and rage. "Absinth, do you hear me!?" There was a moment of stillness, Aresenn's heartbeat syncing with hers in the chilling silence of the valley. The world seemed to freeze in that moment; even the air held its breath. What was he supposed to do?

"Aresenn Praetor"