The fire and the flame
Still pursuing a somewhat more daunting than initially expected quest to return to her homelands, Lilah strode casually through the labyrinth of mangrove trees with idle indirection. She’d refuse to admit she had found herself as a little more than lost, even to herself, and as such decided that moving in any direction had been conditionally better than remaining stationary. Her assailants could still be lurking just over the looming horizon, even despite the carnage she had witnessed upon the beach. One guard she could probably take. Two or more however would be a gamble that she’d rather hold tight her hand of restless dice.
Between strategically placed footfalls around the brackish cerulean waterways, the woman wove her perfume carefully around each tree in a tangled web. Should they follow her scent like a dog to a bone, she intended to make it anything but a simple and straightforward task. An insolent smirk curled up the corners of her dark mask in humorless amusement.
Then the wind would shift.
When the delicately exquisite smell of something delicious swam through the gentle breeze, it had whisked away her every last thought with sudden certainty. Practically on cue, the muscles in her stomach began to contract and groan in greedy murmurs. When had she last eaten? That she could not fully recall. Unless it would count to include the stomach full of an anxiety sandwich that she had inhaled while being hunted by the king’s posse of marauders.
A famished tongue salivated from within the tight contours of her mouth as the intriguing fragrance danced in the air before her. Nostrils flared subtly as they eagerly drank in the unequivocal oily, coppery aroma of a freshly downed ungulate creature. Lilah’s lips parted against the savory incense, freshly moistened from an otherwise deprived palate. Her eyes widened and pooled with the intensity of a hungry animal. Muscles acting on impulse carried her without command toward the source.
Ears swiveled dramatically in the direction of a faint rustling as she drew nearer. Lilah stilled, her breathing hitching unevenly within her now raggedly expanding chest. It was a man, perched over the prize, his scent already began twisting around her like palpable ribbons of virile infused cologne. Her eyes narrowed vaguely, a physical manifestation of the thoughts now quickly cycling within her mind.
Advancing gradually nearer to him, her body remained low, stroking the foliage laden ground with onyx silk. It was deemed spying to most, but Lilah was a woman of opportunity, and what kind of trouble could a little prior observation cause her? The answer was likely not much, and yet still, her breathing grew more shallow and her frame slipped toward the shadows in an effort to conceal her presence.
⌘ ⌘ ⌘
Days. Days that felt like weeks he'd gone hungry. Battered and alone the newly rogue male was currently a shell of his former glory cut away from the coalition for no reason of valid tangibility. It was a freak, panicked accident that had split him from his brothers. A heavy huff escaped the mans nostrils causing them to flare slightly. Earthen pelt had become matted, caked with mud and dirt where he'd begun to neglect his grooming routine; and now blood from his fresh kill. Turning his cream chin and throat a beautiful satin red from the hare clenched tightly between his teeth. The feeling of the flesh grasped there causing him to salivate, a knot in his stomach a stalwart reminder of the recent days.
Dual toned eyes cast to the tangle of mangroves, weaving between them from his kill site to find a better; safer place to settle down and enjoy his meal. Stepping over the high roots in a tightly bound clearing just big enough for him to lie down with his back pressed against bark to place his prize between his front legs. Makhai wasted no time, lips peeling back to rip at the tawny flesh of still carcass, tearing into its belly and plucking the tender meat from the best places first. He was caught up in his meal, too caught that he was late in catching attention to the movement, the drift of a foreign scent. Pale audits swiveled, head lifting in attention to the surrounding shadows, the brute shifted his weight slightly tongue rolling over his maw to dab the blood from his face.
He couldn't quite pinpoint the exact location, but called out the trees as if he were talking to them. The man might have a less defensive approach under normal circumstances. But he was hungry. "Do you take me for a fool?" he inquired bluntly with a snap on his tone.
to the rhythm of the war drums. ❞
Lilah seized the opportunity of inspection and allowed her eyes to skim quickly upon him. One thing was for certain, this man was definitely not one of the king’s guard. A breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding escaped her. Relief washed over her in an instant. The unfamiliar scent that shrouded him was akin to a refreshing swell of brisk water. Dismissing the worry that gnawed upon her composure, it had instead quieted the internal panic ravaging her thoughts and permitted her gaze to linger another moment longer.
Perhaps a moment too long.
Hasty silver gems quickly flicked up and down the smooth, earthen kissed body of copper hues that melted attractively into the surrounding lighter fur. Muscles protruding from the edges and large angles of his form held her attention a beat before her scrutiny would rake across the defined contours of his stocky build. Light streaks resembling warpaint adorned a masculine face, and above them, two pale dual-toned eyes strikingly soft and tender. Following his every scar like a roadmap across his body, she mused silently of the stories he could tell.
Despite the matted unkept pelt that had been tarnished by a grisly mixture of mud and blood, he hadn’t been unpleasant to look at. Not that Lilah would ever attest to it in any way ever conceivable to anyone living or dead, but the man was somewhat undoubtedly handsome.
A subtle grimace rounded upon the sharp edges of dark cheekbones. He was probably ill tempered or possibly mentally insufficient. The enormous and aesthetically pleasing ones always were. Mother nature had apparently struggled with divvying up all the satisfactory and compelling genes into one heavily loaded pot. Lilah stared this one down, as if this fascinating specimen of a man may have been the only exception to the rule. Then he spoke.
“Do you take me for a fool?"
A sigh escaped her lips as the fantasy shattered and crumbled before her, glimmers of disappointing glass that glittered to the ground. Check to the first demerit.
A soft chuckle of amusement bounced effortlessly from off velvety dark lips. Watching him appear to speak to the trees around himself was painful enough. Revealing herself shamelessly upon the next breath, she quickly put an end to the obvious lack of knowledge he held for her true location.
“Depends,” A coy and feline like smirk hung off the corner of her mouth in anticipation. “are you going to play the part?” She shrugged carelessly, easily rolling her shoulders forward, entirely unbothered by the concept of offending anyone— much less the random stranger who had stumbled into her path.