Summer 41st, AV 15, Late Morning, {Human Form}
The stench alone was enough to deter her from this place, let alone the taste. Old, portly men near screamed in her ear as she walked past their booths, attempting to sell the Dhani their useless wares. “A fine emerald necklace for the tall, exotic beauty! What say you? Matches your enchanting eyes! ...I’ll even throw in a discount!” A balding man, most likely coming near to the end of his mid-life, exclaimed, thrusting jewels into her face. One scornful glance from Skae was enough, the cowardly creature coughed and drew back, his eyes darting around nervously for his next customer.
Of all the places in Syliras she had come to hate, the ‘marketplace’, as it’s residents were fond of calling it, was definitely on the top of her list. It was the center of this great cage with stone walls, all manner of people lingered here, the worst kind. That being said, this was without a doubt the best place to gather information. Many a wealthy human flapped their gums here, it was shocking how much she had learned about Syliras, just from eavesdropping in this foul place.
Skae’s eyes fixated on a young man, his back against a wall, his knees drawn up to his chin. He was dirty, bruised and ragged. He concealed something in his sleeve but the glitter of steel in the sunlight made it obvious, even to the untrained eye. Once, a young male, much like this one, attempted to steal the pouch of mizas Skae always had tied to her belt. She cared not for the currency system of Syliras, or that of the coins themselves, yet they played as an important prop in her human act. Unfortunately for the boy, she had sensed him long before his grimy fingers had curled around her pouch. Skae had near killed the youth, she showed restraint that day only for the consequences it may have held in the future.
The young male lifted his head, and for a second their eyes met. Colour in the scruffy boy’s face drained, quickly he lowered his head, as if it hadn’t raised to look at all. It seems word gets around quickly… she mused, turning into an alley. The sound of her footfalls rebounded from the adjacent buildings, the chaos of the marketplace slowly but surely died as she ventured further down. Alleys were her best friend in this cold labyrinth, they were shortcuts from the more lively areas, usually quiet from the bustle of life, people rarely bothered her here. She turned another corner.
Skae felt something thump hard in to her abdomen, peering down she realised that she had almost knocked someone plain off their feet. She took a step back. A small, fragile looking thing stared back at her, looking just as dumbfounded as she did. Cold, emerald eyes fell upon sapphire. A slight pang of fear crept up her spine, as they gazed at each other in a frozen deadlock. She knew those cold eyes well. There was only one creature in Mizahar that could of held her gaze for that long without balking. Instinct took over and Skae felt her hand reach out and grab the creature’s clothes, slamming the petite female hard against the wall, so hard in fact, that she caused a spurt of blood to escape the female’s mouth and trickle down her chin.
Skae’s tongue instinctively flickered out and licked the blood from the girl’s chin and lips. It tasted of potent venom and treachery, just as she had expected. Viper… she grimaced, spitting the blood out on to the stone floor below. How had they found her? She had taken every precaution to cover her tracks, EVERY precaution. She had expected they would find her eventually, but so soon? It didn’t add up. But here she stood, another Dhani, and a viper at that. Vipers were the worst of her kin by far, their personalities rivaled only by their methods of killing, cowardly and deceitful. Skae lifted the the Dhani off her feet with one hand, and pushed her against the wall so that her vitals were out of arm's reach. She gave herself time to think. Could it be that this was just another Dhani, not out for her life but simply attempting to live out her own in Syliras, just as she was doing? She deemed it highly unlikely, Skae was not one for chances.
She looked to her surroundings to see if they were being watched, satisfied, she decided to proceed with a flurry of questions in snake-tongue, “Who are you?”, “Who sent you?”, “Why are you in Syliras, and what do you want with me?" She hissed disdainfully, pressing in to the other Dhani hard, showing the viper she had the strength to cave in her feeble rib cage if she tried anything stupid.
