anything and everything

Maelle

"prince!" Maelle struggled against the man holding her. She had to get to the prince and protect him. It was her job, she'd sworn herself to this family.

"Keep the bitch still!" The leader drew back his bow and steadied his aim. He wasn't foolish enough to get within arms reach of the vampiric Prince. Even restrained, one wrong move could end someone's life.

Maelle closed her eyes. Breathe. Focus. Do something! She shifted into her hound form despite the pain in her shoulders from attempting to shift while being restrained.

She bit into the wrist of her captor and shook her head back and forth until she was dropped. A soft yelp escaped her when her back hit the ground.

Maelle squirmed around to her feet and looked at the prince. Time seemed to move in slow motion as the assassin releases his arrow.

Without a second thought Maelle threw herself between the prince and the arrow. She landed heavily on her paws and bit down to keep silent. The arrow stuck out from her side but she was pretty sure it hadn't hit anything vital.

Protect the prince.

Maelle had become more human in the years she spent protecting the royal family but sometimes she still reverted back to her animalistic way of thinking.

Kill the pups. Less mouths means more food for you.

Kill the assassins. Protect the prince.

Maelle pounced on the man that was holding the prince and bit his shoulder, slashing at his chest and back with her nails. Anything she could reach. She pushed herself a little higher to his neck and but down tighter than before. Kill. She had to kill them. Just like the pups. Tear the artery and move on.

Maelle ripped her head to the size and took a chunk of skin out of the man's neck. She didn't wait to watch the blood and instead moved onto the next man. The one that had been holding her captive.

He managed to pull out a dagger before Maelle jumped on him. He stabbed her in the side but Maelle, she didn't even feel it. She went straight for the throat.

Her fur felt wet. Her muscles were stiff. Maelle was panting heavily, blood and drool dripped from her tongue to the grass.

"What the hell kind of beast-" the assassin stared in disbelief at Maelle. Shot and stabbed in the side multiple times but she was still up.

Not for long. He grabbed another arrow and drew back, releasing it as soon as Maelle started to charge -

+++

"Wait a moment, please." Harlow placed a hand on the angel of death before he could sever the soul of the inu.

Azrael looked at Harlow and nodded. It wasn't his first time meeting a guardian spirit. She must be about to trade her position.

"What happened to her?" Harlow ran her hand over Maelles side, the one that hadn't been stabbed.

"The arrow was the cause of death." Azrael pointed at the arrow in her head. A clean shot through the eye, quite impressive.

"Who was she protecting?"

"I don't know." Azrael said. "I need to move on though, if you're giving her your powers."

"I'm scared." Harlow admitted.

Azrael looked at the neko beside him. He'd met Harlow a few times before. She was often besides mother's who died for their children. Victims killed by the hands of a loved abuser. She was the guardian spirit of loyalty.

"You'll go on to whatever afterlife you believe in. Aliqu, I assume." Azrael said.

"Will you guide me there?" Harlow asked. She didn't want to give away her powers but she was being pressured into it. It was time for a new guardian of loyalty.