A Promise of Death

Gray

Tori set us down, Riella's head cradled in his hand. He lay her on the cold, hard ground, his lips tugged into a smile. I snarled in disgust at him. Tori looked up, surprised. "Is something wrong?" he asks.

We were near one of the walls. I took this as my chance. I growled, and lunged at him, my hand closed tightly around his throat. He gasped, but did nothing, just stare into my slitted amber eyes. His gray eyes shone with wonder, not fear or anger.

"You will not harm my Riella, you understand me?" I hiss through gritted teeth, my nails digging into his delicate skin. He only nodded. "If you do, you will have to go through me, first." My long canines were centimeters from his smooth face. An urge to rip his skin off gripped me, but I pushed it away. "You will tell me how she knew that language... how I could hear it when she held my hand... and who the hell you are!" I yowl, then release my hand from it's grip.

He let out a small exhale of air, but seemed unaffected otherwise. His eyes shown with amazement. "You had some nerve doing that," he mumbled, rubbing his neck. "But I'm also impressed in your bravery."

I flashed my long teeth at him, eyes blazing. "What, am I supposed to be scared of you? Come at me; I can take it!" I howl, my ears flattened to my skull. Then, I heard Riella murmur, shifting. "Riella?" I ask, my stance still ready to fight.

"Riella!" I snarl, and her eyes snapped open, screeching.

"Calm down!" I yell, gripping my hands over my ears. As she stopped, I shoved Tori out of the way and knelt down, scooping her into a hug. I could feel her heart beating swiftly.

"What happened?" I murmur, my hand running through her hair.

"I-I-It was horrible," she whispered, "The world went from a beautiful paradise to this horrifying gray, cold, and cruel place. These buildings with hundreds of windows sprang from the ground and there were too many people. I was trapped in this gray world, there weren't any flowers, or birds, or animals, the trees had disappeared, and it was ugly," her face was red, her eyes scrunched up, liquid streaming out of them.

Tori started to walk over, and I let out a low growl. Riella looked at me, her vision blurred through tears.

"I don't understand," Tori gasped, and my cold, hard eyes rested on his horrified face.

"That was over 3 centuries ago," he continues, "The world was once filled with gray buildings called skyscrapers, they had many windows, and the world was dark, and cold." The crow-man looked up to the stars that dotted the ceiling of the Planetarium they sat in.

"I don't know how you could have seen that, you couldn't have even been alive," Tori sighed, shaking his head.

"Why...." Riella murmurs, shaking in my arms.

"Why would anyone allow the world to become that way?" she questions.

"I have no clue," Tori says, continuing to shake his head, looking down., "The world, was never filled with well thought out plans. And humans may have been one of the worst." I narrowed my eyes at the last sentence, but Riella seemed to not have heard. Tori leans down and strokes Riella's hair.

"Are you done?" I snarl, shifting my arm so he couldn't pet her. Tori raised an eyebrow. That's it, you smug punk.

A loud rumble began in my throat, then reached into the air, bouncing off the walls. I shifted into my caracal form, large paws landing on the cracked tile. Long, sharp nails unsheathed from the brown fur.

"Felix!" Riella gasps, her ears back in shock. Anger was obvious in her voice.

I crouched low, growling, stalking towards Tori. I licked my lips, watching the man's face flash with fear before he hid it well. My eyes were slitted, my hackles raised, tail bushed out. I was nearly twice my normal size.

"Felix," Riella cries, "I'm sorry! Come back to your senses, please!"

I flattened my ears, ignoring her pleas. I backed Tori into a corner. A chilling thrill ran down my spine as I realized there was no where for the demon to go. I leaped towards him, my eyes shining with excitement. Suddenly, there was a blur, and I skidded to a halt. Traitor!