The Hunter and the Prey

JP with Winteroak and White_Caribou

Shalia left the square via one of many alleyways. The square was still filled with the faithful although some had started to return to their homes and camps. Despite the pleads from her escort she dismissed both. She could not face returning to her quarters. She would just end up drinking herself to a stupor again. She needed to think. Clear her head and the deep cold of the desert nights suited her fine. She retrieved her dagger from Lerek and walked into the night leaving the rancorous square behind.

Once her guards left her, knowing best that to argue with their mistress when the mood took her, a shape of a robed man slipped from the shadows and started to follow.

She walked silently through the night, looking down to her hands where the dagger was held. Koshnem had it made for her early on as a gift. It was the only tangible item on her person at the moment that meant so much to her, beyond the pendant and the ring which she suddenly realized she had not returned to her finger still. That aside, this blade reminded her of Fang. Usually made her feel secure and protected. It would have this time if a mess was not fresh on the brain. Still, it curbed the homesickness slightly.

This area was quiet, only a distant cooing of a bird and her own murmurs. Cool air washed over her and she felt so light when it did. Like she could drift away from this place, its problems, and the people.
One hand pushed the scarf off of her head so it hung around her neck, face tilting to the sky. The moon and stars floated high above watching her every move. The same scene she always saw those nights on the mountain. Only this place had no comforting streams to lay her body in the ice water of, no peaks to gaze upon or sing to, and no snow to scoop into her hand. No goats or cattle to observe as they wandered and ate.

'How long until I return to you again?' Shalia thought while gazing, hoping some way Noraura could alleviate her longing.

For days he had kept watch, from the shadows. Sometimes he would think he would not see her again, that she would not emerge from the safety of the quarters next to the Temple.

He had not found a way to infiltrate the place yet. A few days ago he almost did, taking the place of a worker that help carried goods into the kitchens. But they had not been allowed in, leaving all in a courtyard. He had seen glimpses of her once or twice since that day they arrived in the city. All his waking moments were spent obsessing on how he would spill her blood. How he would send her to Zinheim's Garden.

Screaming. Screaming and broken.