Word count: 614 // +5 points
Aww why thank you! Yours are very well written as well! <3
Jaden’s speech was difficult to sit through, and he found himself wanting to close his fangs around the villain’s snout; but he was far better than that, and he gathered the courage to listen intently. There was so much that he could say—so many flaws in Jaden’s words that he could pick out and spit back in his face—but Alduin stood silently and as still as a long forgotten statue. His ears did not twitch. His tail did not sway. His eyes did not blink. He waited for Jaden to finish in perfect silence.
He raged inside, and the beast he kept chained was shredding through its thousands of sturdy restraints. Every poisonous word that fell from his enemy’s lips ate at Alduin’s core. Had he been a stronger man, he was certain that Jaden wouldn’t have been so careless with his remarks. As the black wolf’s speech drifted away with the passing breeze, Alduin took a deep breath and set his fiery gaze upon the brute before him and shifted his stance into a more comfortable position. The man before him was no longer a threat.
“Thank you, Jaden,” he hissed slowly, the name rolling off his tongue in acid tones, “However, your self-proclaimed kindness will be your downfall.”
Allowing him to live was his first fatal mistake, and Alduin would ensure that the demon would make more in his remaining days. The Alaskan wolf’s ears twitched impatiently. Oh, what he would do to make that day arrive sooner. Patience stayed with him, though, and he smiled inwardly at the thought of this man’s corpse rotting in the ground.
“My mother was not selfish. She was right to keep me hidden from you and your kind, villain,” he stated clearly. “The mercy you claim to have given her is but a figment of your twisted imagination—do not try to make yourself out to be the kind soul you think you are.”
He didn’t know the story behind how his mother had escaped, but he refused to believe that Jaden played any part it in. While his body remained neutral and unthreatening, his eyes made it clear that he wasn’t convinced of the wolf’s claims. They were fixated on Jaden’s form, watching carefully for any sign of attack. When he saw none yet, Alduin continued.
“And do not suggest that we could have ever been brothers, Jaden,” he warned. “Under no circumstances should you believe I am not a threat. It is, unfortunately, obvious that I am not now; but mark my words: there will come a day when you find Death upon you, and it will bear my name across its lusting blade.”
He couldn’t growl, nor could he find it in himself to shout at the demon before him. He wasn’t worth it, and Alduin felt ashamed that it took him so long to realize that. Though weaker than Jaden, he no longer felt as if he needed to worry about him. It seemed as if everything in his world was returning to its peaceful state, and he let himself truly smile for the first time since their meeting.
“Now,” he started serenely, “I suspect that even you would find that a victory here and now is either dishonorable or undeserving of your precious time. We will part ways today, and meet again when you deem me a worthy opponent.”
He stood tall and firmly in his place, prepared for any underhanded attack Jaden might attempt. For whatever reason, Alduin felt as if the red-dyed wolf had some sense of honor within him; he would give him the chance to walk away and end this encounter without unfair bloodshed.
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