Table code and image © to Alaine
OOC: there is a big motherly lecture coming... XD
The snakes eye's were small golden slits, but in them, Caillen could see his death.
It would be painful, and long, and suffering. There would be no fighting it, no way of staying above the tide of poison that would sweep through his body and shut down organs, one by one, till the beating of his young heart was lost to the drone of finality. And that would be it - no more Caillen, no more dreaming, no more winter days spent lounging in the company of those whom had built him. There would be only the cold embrace of death.
But Sylvie would live. In the time it took the snake to strike him down, have him out of the way, she would be long gone. Sylvie would live.
And that meant that the sun would rise tomorrow, and the winter would gradually fade, and the world would become green and beautiful again, because even if he was 6 foot under, Sylvie would live. And the world would go on.
So with clear blue eyes, a dreamer turned soldier. He watched the venom slid in thick drops down the serpent's bared fangs, felt his lip lift to bare his own, the pup's inner wolf snarling and frothing and ready to rumble. And for just a split moment, the snake hesitated, confused by the pup's surprisingly bold display; and it that moment, it sealed it's own fate. The cream lightning struck with fatal accuracy, her emerald eyes a chemical blaze of pure hatred and ice-cold instinct. The head came loose, and it bounced on the earth till it stopped at his paws. The golden eyes, in which death still loomed, stared vacantly at a world it did not see.
Caillen felt a surge of triumph. And then he fainted.
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Her paws shivered beneath her frame, but still she stood, breathing heavily. The air whooshed about the obstruction in her maw, slithered between the ruby diamond of her teeth, was drawn back in by her flared pink nostrils. There was a soft thump as Caillen fell to the ground, and suddenly the fear became real and alive, and she spat the horrid body to the ground and was at her son's side in an instant, checking for bites. Canine paws flipped his small body over - nothing, no sign of a strike. And his little heart still fluttered strongly in his chest, his breathing came easily through open maw.
Alaine sighed softly, and sank down to the ground beside her son, her legs still quivering. Reassured that she could now regain her breath with dignity, the young woman abruptly speared the girl with her piercing emerald eyes, one brow lifted at the expression of awe that had adorned Sylvie's impish features.
" What... Happened... Here?"
Her tone, though musical, was no-nonsense, but her gaze was unbelievably affectionate. She could not be cross, not yet, not with the overwhelming waves of relief still pulsing through her body. Neither of her children had been hurt, her son and daughter were safe... Wait, no, her son and Sylvie were safe, that was it. One paw reached out to pull the young girl to her side, just so she could be reassured that she wasn't harmed.
Speak think elegant
Speak think awkward