To The Wolves

Akilina Volkova remembered the day she was reborn. The hilt of her sword slammed up against her opponent's chest, the end protruding from his back. She raised her hand and brushed her finger over the line of her mask, tracing the form of the bared teeth and wicked snout at the unwanted reminder.

"Hound," A mechanical hiss sounded in front of her, drawing her out of her mind.

Akilina kneeled on the floor, bowing her masked head. "Lord Vader." She greeted.

He beckoned her to rise with his gloved hand, the sound of his choked breathing echoing through the room. He looked at her through his mask with a fierce intensity that could strip the flesh from her bones, the side of his helmet framed in dark shadow. "I want you to find him," He demanded, his voice dark with poisonous intensity. "I want you to bring Obi-Wan Kenobi to me." 

Akilina's mouth stretched back into a rotten grin under her mask. "I won't let you down, my Lord." She nodded, her voice filled with determination. 

There was a flicker of tension under his still demeanour. "Of course, you won't." He said in a rotten voice and curled his hand into a hard ball, making her throat quickly tighten. She kicked out at the invisible force as her feet lifted from the floor, gasping. "You know what will come if you do." His muffled voice came in a fierce whisper, and he removed the pressure from her neck. "Remember what you are. They call you the Hound, and I will find no hesitation to kill you like one."