Mara - The Lady Grief (Completed)

40 Ribbons of Flame

2650 B.C.E., Tombs of the Forgotten, The Desert

Winter, Month of Shabatu, One Year and Eleven Months after Mara's Rebirth

Thelios

Screams travel long distances over the sand dunes. Every instinct in my demon's shade wants to run after my Flame. But, I'm weak. That fucking bitch's drugs still race through my body, slowing my heart, making my chest hurt from pulling too little air. Even my skin tingles and pricks in discomfort as my scales fight to the surface, only to be battered back inside the softer skin.

Pulling precious breathes into my lungs, I duck into an open tomb in the cliff face. I crouch down in the shadows, concentrating on slowing down my erratic breathing so that I can be silent. I can't run, can't fight, so I need to hide, to remember the training that Nateos offered in the tunnels. Silence can be the most deadly of weapons.

More screams of rage, of fear. Feet pounding the earth as they try to flee from the horror outside. Howls and hisses and the breaking of bones, the rending of flesh; it is all familiar.

I am a fucking monster. A lowly beast from the pits of the Underworld. I betrayed my Fated with the Love goddess and broke my promises to her father, the Lord of the Underworld himself.

My fingers sink into my hair, pulling and tugging as I try to think.

What do I do? I've destroyed my Sprite's home. I've abandoned her and Poppy. Led the war that has emptied the city of her friends.

My brother is by her side, now. I choke back the growl that is bubbling up in my throat. She's mine. Mara is my Fated. Poppy is my daughter. What is he? The male who let her go. Who betrayed her with another female.

So did I.

I yank even harder on my hair, biting my tongue to keep the whimpers at bay.

"Nateos," I say in the barest whisper, "please, find me worthy of her again. Don't let those few weeks be all I get. Please, Lord Death. Let me reclaim my family."

I hear nothing from the god. I hear nothing at all.

The desert is silent. I up down on one knee, assessing my body for weaknesses. My claws are out. Scales are still not emerging. I am not wounded, thank the gods.

I strain to listen. The faint scraping of stone is all I hear. I flex my claws again. I can't be sure what is happening outside of these stone walls.

I do another once over of my body. I feel stronger, the drugs fading. No fucking boots on my feet, I can thank that bitch Love for that. I shift my toes into talons and concentrate on the scales covering the soles of my feet. At least now I will be protected by the burning hot sand as I walk.

Why are my fucking boots always missing?

My wings... I can't remember what happened to them. I feel the remembered twinge of agony in my back. Love told me that it was Mara, but she must have lied. I saw the horror on my Sprite's face. Not to mention that my sweet female is hardly the type to mutilate her Fated no matter how angry she may be.

It had to have been Love. Bitterness twists in my gut as the realization steals over me. My wings... she did it to disguise me as Thane.

My hand searches for my medallion. It's missing. Love has it, hanging around her neck. I remember seeing the skull with the sword through its eye and the crown of lightning. It's a heavy, male's chain, out-of-place for her delicate, treacherous neck.

Gods. It's the necklace gifted to me by Nateos. It allows me entry to the Underworld. And Love has it in her possession. As a goddess, she doesn't need it to cross realms, but she can give it away to anyone she chooses.