fifteen flares inside those ocean eyes
Sabbath spoke to some primitive part of him. The remnants of some old instinct leftover from a time when the males of their species claimed females and forced them into a band. Like an evil little angel whose fingers deftly plucked at the strings of a harp, she struck that ancient chord within the shapeshifter the very moment she had the audacity to blind him.
Sure, he couldn’t see clearly for a while and that led to him following her around this new Beqanna like a lost wolf cub, but he couldn’t find it in himself to leave her alone. She fascinated him and a singular word remained synonymous with her name from that point on.
‘Mine.’
Of course, she spat in his face a few more times that spring until he saw it fit to follow her the remainder of the season and all of summer at a distance.
Sometimes, the two of them would have a friendly conversation until she got fed up with his endless jabs and either spit at him again or tried to take a bite out of him.
Still, wherever Sabbath went, her new-and-abused shadow followed.
Nish was amused, often thinking about how he would have torn a lesser woman to pieces for even pettier crimes against him. He noticed that he found odd pleasure in the dappled mare’s tantrums.
Sabbath thought herself so powerful and capable of destroying him at her leisure that he could not help indulging her. Whereas protecting Else from the rest of the world had given him purpose, making this woman feel so powerful over him left him feeling strangely… happy.
Summer was fast coming to a close, but his presence never wavered. He even stood guard over the temperamental, scaly witch while she slept—whether she liked it or not.
But then came autumn.
After the first time, he couldn’t stop thinking about her.
Even while he was with the others.
She stayed on his mind and as soon as he was done with them, he came rushing back to her each time. Whether she knew or not what he’d went and done, Nish had no idea—but she never brought it up and he supposed she would have no qualms about it anyway.
As much as he had grown to love her, she still appeared to hate him. He was used to that, though, and every so often when Sabbath would lash out during her pregnancy, he would feel the scar Caius left on his body start to itch and he would start to remember Else.
Unrequited love was certainly not unfamiliar territory to him.
—
Nish knows the time is drawing near and while Sabbath saw it fit to run him off several days ago, he has lingered near the nest undetected in various forms.
The day she arrives in a huff, she doesn’t seem to notice the colorful little parrot zipping off into the jungle; he finds a safe spot to land and begins shifting, from innocent little bird to disheveled stallion, and returns to her with a concerned look on his scarred face.
He knows better than to disturb her, of course, and simply stands outside and waits, listening—baring his fangs and sneering at even the slightest hint of approach.
It’s hours before he hears anything besides the pained sounds of her labor and then… then something else. Something soft and sweet to his ears. He isn’t familiar with the sound (as far as he knows, anyway), but he knows he will never forget hearing it.
Sighing in relief, he decides to give her more time—but he’s utterly perplexed when a second cry comes from the den. ‘Twins,’ he realizes after a while, a half-smirk pulling at one side of his mouth. The stallion turns then, lowering his massive head so that he didn’t bump it against the ceiling of the den.
The twins are sniffing at one another, Reign flapping her wispy little wings in delight when her brother accepts her offer to touch noses. Nish thinks it’s a trick of the light, certainly, when her sudden display of happiness and affection causes the wings to become… less, but—
“Leave before I feed you to my sisters,” Sabbath warns, spitting her venom. He’s spent months dealing with her antics and is quick to jerk his head to the right to avoid being blinded again.
“This place is for family, and you are not welcome here.”
For whatever reason, the words cause an angry ache to start forming in his chest. His initial reaction, of course, is to hurt her just as much as her words have hurt him. His skin ripples unnaturally and thick black scales start to form across his body. The hairs of his tail draw back up into his flesh and his tail itself splits at the end, forking in opposite directions.
The children are busy testing their legs when he turns to face their mother again, his face decidedly more canine-like. Two large horns break the skin of his head, they grow long and audibly crack as they bend themselves to point down towards his back.
His lip curls into a quiet snarl; he could hurt her now, if he really wants to. He could rip her apart. He could take the children away from here and just—
Just no.
“I am yours,” he states, his body slowly reverting back to its equine shape. “If anyone tried to hurt you, I’d lay waste to their entire line or I would die trying, do you understand that?” Nish growls, his voice caught between what it should sound like and the low-grumbling tones of the beast he had shifted into.
“I love you, regardless.”
careful creature, made friends with time
he left her lonely with a diamond mind
equus mutatio, immortality, disease manipulation, trait immunity