Will sing for food!

This far north was often blisteringly cold this time of year, tonight was no different. Snow fell heavily around them, crystalline breaths from each of the trio showed just how much the empress struggled. Samael and Ilyn both urged her to stay at the ship to no avail. Now, Lurid growled softly under her breath, causing her companions to look at each other nervously. The devil had been in a foul mood for most of the day, the once-queen had a lot to feel foul about. But they were right, Lurid should have stayed home. This was a night for isolation, even though Requiem had also opposed her decision. He wanted to help her however he could, especially since she was weakened. Sickness had lost her the crown she so coveted, her absence leading to the downfall of Mirovis. Her monsters had always been lost without her, it seemed they tried to take over while she thought she might be dying. Had she expected anything else? Of course, they would turn on each other, and her as well.

She refused to play the poor-pitiful-me act, however, and she let her failure motivate her. Tonight she dwelled on what she had lost; not only her family, but her home was now free for claim to anyone who wanted it bad enough. Lurid would not lose her home to just anyone, however, and she would fight whoever tried to take the ship from her, even in her current state. Requiem had done well in keeping her fed while she recovered more fully from her illness. Still haunted by a cough, Lurid could not run without hacking her brains out. Eating was no problem anymore, but hunting was an issue that continued to plague the demonic woman. It also happened to be the reason for her foul mood, along with losing the security of a pack she was meant to lead. Requiem was not here to hunt for her so she must resort to ambush, something she both loved and hated. It was much easier to chase down a smaller wolf, it was hard to trick one into striking range. Hunger was painted all over her features, an angry sort of hunger that pinched her stomach and made her want to fight to kill.

"Why not use your voice?" Samael cooed silkily, knowing by the look on her face what she was thinking. He was good at that, this time it didn't get him in trouble. "You're a real smart bird, you know that?" Lurid remarked with a grumpy sort of half-laugh. Ilyn looked jealously at the bird, wishing like hell Lurid had never gotten attached to him. The augur buzzard was almost lunch for the miniature polar bear, but Lurid saw something in the raptor that made her stop Ilyn from killing him. Since she saved him, Samael decided to pledge himself to Lurid, much to Ilyn's vexation. "Well, it's better than simply waiting for someone to come by, my lady." Samael fluffed up his feathers against the cold as he spoke, getting chills from their current frigid location. The bird wasn't harried by the cold - usually, he loved it - but winter in Boreas seemed a little colder than what used to be home. Ilyn chuckled at Samael, "We could just eat you..." Ilyn advanced on the bird as if he really would eat him. Lurid growled at the bear in warning, her dual vocals making her sound as though she hissed at him as well. "You would be the better meal, Ilyn. Take care not to anger me while I'm hungry. That's your only warning." The bear dipped his head in submission, backing away from Samael with a growl of his own.

With the squabble over, Lurid cleared her throat and breathed as deep as she could inward, starting a coughing fit on purpose to clear the mucus out of her lungs so that she could sing. Once finished, the pale femme fatale gave her lungs a moment to rest, breathing slowly and purposefully. It was physically taxing for Lurid to sing her operatic siren song, so she had to prepare her lungs and diaphragm. A few short barks were given, echoing off the walls of the broken-down cathedral. Lurid smiled at the acoustics and took a deep breath. On her exhalation, she sang in beautiful lyric contralto, her voice husky and deep as she let her voice be heard in operatic fashion. Latin flowed from her lips, as few could understand it anyway, hoping the one who came to her song wouldn't know what she was saying. Closing her eyes she searched for the words in her mind, and then the concert began.

"Perdidi domum meam, perdidi populum meum." Her voice dipped low and rose up, powerful in the echoing cathedral, and managed to reach the ears of a passerby. Hearing the snow crunching just outside the ancient church, Lurid tried not to let her melody slip as her ears twitched at the sound, "Ecquis est foris?" Drawing out the last word in deep, dark vocals, her dual-toned voice beautiful and hypnotic, Lurid let her voice loose. Taking a deep breath as the stranger rounded the opening to the cathedral, Lurid switched her focus to the black female. Singing directly to her, Lurid's voice became plaintive and sweet, a softer sound reached the ears of the darkly clad woman attending the impromptu opera show. "Adiuva me aliquis hanc famem levare. Adiuva me ut pascat amicos meos..." The long Latin notes carried in the vaulted chapel, drawing the stranger closer than what was safe. The last word Lurid dragged out as long as she could without coughing, when she finished the yearling stranger was clapping along with Ilyn and praising the pale demon. "That was magical! Bravo!" Lurid bowed to her, "Thank you." Samael clicked his beak as a way of clapping, drawing the stranger's icy blue eyes away from the devil before her.

In that short second, Lurid struck like a snake. Leaping at her prey with her mouth open wide, the demon queen aimed her fangs at the exposed side of the girl's neck. Having no time to react, the young stranger cried out in pain and shock when Lurid's teeth penetrated her skin. One of Lurid's teeth managed to find the carotid artery on the right side of the girl's neck, the young wolf's struggles made the kill easier than she thought it would be. Gurgling but not giving up, the dark girl's flailing made Lurid lose her balance and she dragged the girl with her. This made the girl fall under the bestial witch, Lurid kept her grip on the little female and allowed her body to fall on top of the younger wolf. Blood spewed from the girl's mouth as she coughed, gurgled, and coughed beneath the titanic woman. Feral laughs left Lurid as she lay over the girl, pinning her to the icy floor and making struggling difficult. The massive demonic woman then rose to her paws, releasing the girl. The young stranger scrambled to numb paws, woozy from the loss of blood, but still trying to get away. Laughing, Lurid watched as the girl put on her own show. Wobbly in her movements and moving in confused circles, the stranger gurgled something along the lines of a last insult, though Lurid couldn't quite make it out. Then, choking on her own blood, the girl's body failed her and she finally succumbed to blood loss. Before the girl was completely lost, Lurid moved to say one last thing to the girl. "Thank you for helping me feed my friends and myself." Latin lyrics revealed, the girl's eyes went wide with horror as her eyes began to glass over.

The last thing the girl would know is that her body was to be feasted on, and feast they did.