Betrayal

[Lady Adara Draven]

She crouched down in a low stance, the wind playing tantalizingly with her hair as she surveyed the scene around her. The hinges upon the door were broken as well as the lock as if penetrated by excessive uses of force.

She had ventured here in the hopes of easing some of Ebans pain to only find the front door to the Northridge Trading Company battered down and mangled. A shadowy figure slide up beside her, nuzzling his large black head against her hand.

"Sataa.." she whispered softly by the panter's ear. Closing her eyes, she expanded the barrier to her own mind and invaded the thoughts of her progeny.

"It seems we have company. Keep your eyes and ears open." her voice whispered softly at the edges of his thoughts, as if she could be heard outloud by some unseen voice. With the silent footfalls of a predator the panther crept away into the enveloping shadows of the forest.

With nimble fingers she grasped the handle of the spike enclosed in her boot, holding it lightly in her small grasp. She gathered the shadows around her in a dark blanket, moving from one pitch to the next as she stalked along the walls.

Her descent up the stairs was tedious at best, still trying to master her control over the shadows of the night while remaining quiet enough not to startle any unseen intruder.

She made her way up to the bedroom in record time though. This door too had been bashed open from its hinges.

The wind blew a swirl of dead leaves to pool and dance around her feet before flitting away on the gust. The window lay wide open allowing the chill frost of winter to permeate the air around her. It did nothing more than give a familiar nip at her cool skin before making leave to bother a warm blooded soul.

The blankets were tossed carefully into the corner. The bandages and medicine strewn recklessly across the wood floor. The floor was slick with patches of ice where previous bath water had spilt across the floor in their haste to leave. Her eyes sought the bed but she knew it was empty.

She felt the familiar warmth of Anfalas as she leaped up through the window and sauntered over to her side.

"Nothing.." his deep cattish growl brushed into her mind. She gave an accepting nod in response, stroking her fingertips lightly atop his back. Her irritation flared to life but broke under his soothing presence.

She thought back to Marcus's words.."traitor" his voice, even now, seemed to echo throughout the silent room. She felt bile rise in her throat at the thought of what she had done. That was the last time she would ever help any human not of her own kin.

Her aqau blue eyes took on an icy appearance as she looked down to Anfalas.

"Find him..." she spoke in a low growl, the anger finally getting the best of her.

She had been betrayed for the last time.