Flare trotted out of the woods, and through the wall. Leading his new wolf to the Syndicate, where her life would only grow so much more difficult. her brief flash of freedom was long gone, and seemed docile enough now. Following along behind him, with his fox taking watch behind her.

He made his way first to the healer's den, knowing there were things that needed to be done to her before she could be properly usable. She was the first slave to bring to the man, and he was curious what contraptions he had designed. He had heard a few tidbits by now.

He approached the den and knocked to announce his presence, pushing his new slave to sit beside him. “Do you have a name?” If he didn't like it, he'd simply give her another.

"Speech"

Oh god... She had never been a religious woman, but as she followed him with her head bowed past the border littered with bodies she wondered if she wasn't too late to start praying now. Was he about to sacrifice her to this wall of death? She was really in it now. She clung to the ground as she followed him, her shaking emaciated form trembling from the horror. This was nothing like the abuse her father and brother had given her, nothing like the abuse her uncle had done, nothing like the abuse from her previous masters. She was going to die. She hesitated following him more for just a moment until she heard the vulpine growl behind her and a click of teeth reminding her she had a guard and to keep moving. She stifled a whine.

They approached a door, she was pushed to sit next to him. He asked for her name, she briefly looked up at him then back down to the ground.

"Demelza..." She replied quietly. She liked her name, it was the last thing her mother had given her.

The acrid smell of alcohol and bitter herbs brewing from within the den wafted out through the open den door. Even up north, the summer had been unseasonably hot, so Azrael had removed the bulky furs that kept the drafts out during winter so the cool coastal breeze could ripple through the cave in a cross breeze. Azrael was watching the color of the decoction he was distilling, waiting for the pale green color to boil away into a neutral clear color to signify it was done. Then came a knock at his door, catching Az's intrigue. A visitor to his quaint little workshop of horrors? How delightful!

Removing the beaker of clear medicinal concoction from the flame so it could cool, Azrael rose from his worktable and headed out to the mouth of the cave. He knew it wasn't one of his relatives, as the Saxe clan usually just barged in whenever they felt like it, so he was curious as to who was paying his apothecary a visit today. Stepping out into the warm summer day, he was greeted by two wolves—a massive behemoth that looked like he'd been spawned from fire itself and a thin delicate-looking fae about half his size practically shaking where she sat and was notably free of their scent. A loner. Interesting...

Azrael looked between the two of them before fixing his gaze on the brute that smelled of the Syndicate with a pleasant and easy smile. "You're one I haven't met yet." Azrael only really knew his family in the pack. He hadn't bothered getting to know any of the other rabble Sephiran had managed to scrounge together. "Azrael Saxe. You rang?"

"Azrael Saxe"

She gave her name, but he gave no acknowledgement that he had heard it. She would need to learn how utterly unimportant she was, and if he intended for her to keep her name at all. Once the door opened, a purple toned brute appeared in the opening and spoke. Flare nodded his head, acknowledging both the fact that they have not met, and until recently he had been relatively new and insignificant. A fact that would soon be changing. “You can call me Flare. Absinth encouraged me to join.” He explained in greeting, before turning to the matter of why he had come here.

“I heard you are the wolf to see about bringing a new slave to the pack. This one needs some birth control, and it might need some attention on its face, it’ll need its vision to complete its jobs.” He explained, indicating with a paw towards the cut that ran to her eye, and the spot of red on the white of her eye itself. “If your able to spare a few moments.”


"Speech"

"Speech"

A twisted villain came out disguised as an herbalist. She knew what he was... At least she thought she knew. She trembled and shrank down next to her new Master as if he were some kind of shield. Even though he was the orchestrator now.

Azrael Saxe... She'll try to remember it. She had to. The scents of his den that wafted from the doorway weren't only the warm herbal scents, there was a sharper flavor in it. A flavor beyond her understanding that made her afraid. Her eye stung, her stomach rumbled and her mind screamed at her to run.