The Blood Witch

4: Beastly People

~ Callidora Violetclaw, manticore ~

Callidora is trapped in the Darkscape, and she knows she's likely going to die. The manticore girl walks through the cave, her scuffing steps the only sound besides that of a far off dripping sound. She turns a corner, but stops. She can smell the scents of three people in this cave.

So, she ducks into the shadows, hunching low behind a big stone, and listens closely. Above her head, bats begin to chirp and hiss.

Then, she hears voices. Two people are approaching the place that Callidora is, but the manticore remains still, like her predator side demands. She looks on as a young witch follows the man in front of her, a man who has an odd aura. One thing about manticores, her kind can see or sense auras of others. And now, she realizes that this man isn't just a normal person.

He's a god, and likely, that guy is her patron god.

Callidora watches as the two of them walk deeper in the cave, neither looking her way. Just as she thinks that she could leave the way they had come, just as she thinks that she won't be seen....

"Wait," says Rhialdir, god of Beasts. "I sense something here. A being.... under my domain."

The girl, who Callidora now sees is a light elf, not a witch, lifts her head. But the light in her eyes has faded. She looks a bit broken-hearted, but she.... there is something else. Callidora vaguely remembers a time when her mother, also a manticore, watched her mate, a female werewolf, as she was killed by a demon. The light left her mother's eyes that night.

Frahka — fuck.

Callidora watches as Rhialdir scans the tunnel, his eyes glowing amber as he searches. But it doesn't take a genius to realize he's searching for her.

Callidora slowly lowers herself. She doesn't want the god to find her. Yet. But it seems that the universe beyond her understands that. Especially when her patron god looks right at her, and a dark smile forms.

He steps toward her, and Callidora knows that she is well and truly fucked. She cannot morph — he would have complete control over her, then. But he might have that regardless, as she is a beast, and that is his domain.

"Well, well," he practically purrs as he stalks forward, all lethal grace. He stops right in front of Callidora, his smug smile enough to anger her, causing her wild side to leap into her heart like a tsunami striking a beach. She stumbles a bit, though not from fear of him, rather, fear of her own power.

But Rhialdir chuckles and grabs her shoulder.

The effect is immediate.

Adrenaline pulses through her body, and Callidora morphs. Course, golden fur erupts all over her body as her human shape becomes that of a lion. Her wings, large, golden wings with feathers take form. Her scorpion tail morphs into place, along with claws and fangs. She snarls, batting his hand away and growling, tail poised to strike.

Rhialdir outright laughs and cheers.  "Yes! I have found myself a manticore!"

She growls low in her throat, baring her teeth at him.

"Oh? Look, we have a manticore who knows her power," he says, grinning wickedly, his own fangs sparkling in the dim light of the tunnel.

Callidora glances to the light elf, but she is defeated. She looks away as Rhialdir grabs her by the throat and throws her  across the tunnel. She smacks the wall on the opposite side, yelping as her wings twist in an awkward way.

Rhialdir approaches Callidora then. "You are my dog. But you never bark at me ever again. Because if you do, you won't like the consequences."

Callidora bares her teeth and he sighs. "Very well."

Pain fills her body, then. And that is when the world goes dark.