'Ah, apples and cinnamon.'

Longing struck me hard. Apple pie, a good food. I haven't tasted it in a long time, though.

'Forget the pie, Korra. A freaking smoke? How, from where?'

As if in response, more came out from under the fur, out of my skin. Confused. Mind muddled by primal ferocity, furious. Out of control. Terrifying. Paws hurting. Humans bewildered, too.

"Fuck! Is that...?" the mind twisted female asked, angry, afraid. "You brain rotten imbecile; your reports said nothing about one of your freaks being able to use the poison."

"Th-that's because they never were able to... f-fascinating..."

"Fascinating, my ass. If the mutt can wield it..."

'Wield what?'

"...then I'm out of here."

'Again, wield what?'

Stupid? Obvious, the poison.

'What poison?'

The beast, well, me, shifted my wings and the orange cloud surrounding me followed suit. Not stirred up by the flap; stirred up by my command. It swirled around me. Then, along with my might bearing down on the room, a roar ripped from my throat, challenge, threat, a pounce. The cloud listened, surging forward.

"Fuck!" The eyes of the mind-twisted woman widened, flashed with panic, then flooded with pain when she failed to avoid it. The poison cloud slammed into her in a heartbeat, sending her flying. Satisfying. Even more so to see her crash into a wall, smashing cabinets with vile concoctions. Should smash all.

Despite the sickening notion, time to sink my fangs into her flesh has come. I pounced - and whimpered in pain the very next moment, hitting the ground. Paws hurt bad, every step being torture. The shackles too tight, didn't grow with me. Annoying, the mind twisted female, so close. Deranged human even closer. Vexing, so vexing.

Steps painful, though, the paws hurting too much.

Instead of prey, my fangs sank into the iron. They tasted bad, but no other choice. I chewed, I clawed, need to free my paws. Iron tougher than apple pie, though, the chains, even sturdier. Enchanted, I could taste it, my tongue tingled.

"C-cognizant M..."

"Blast your mind - and you, Dungreen," barked the mind-twisted female, full of rage, hurt but still awake. The poison didn't kill.

'Wait what? It could kill her?'

A little. If the female weak.

'A little...? No, no killing. You promised.'

Stupid. She dangerous prey, needed to be killed before hurting me. The cloud too scattered, though. Unable to control. More required. Not much of mana left, annoying, me still too weak. I might need it later. But better kill the female, now. Or be ready to kill, wait, prowl, and pounce. With decision made, I mustered the mana inside my body. The tight tension returned to my skin and tail.

"H-here, the antidote..."

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

The female bared her teeth in a sneer at the male's attempt to save her life, ungrateful, stupid, my poison dangerous.

'Don't say... wait, even to me? Could it kill me, too?'

Of course not. Safe.

"A little late to be helpful, don't you think?" the female of the twisted mind shooed away by the deranged male's hand, smashed the bottle of vile liquid, her eyes never leaving me, smart. "I don't need your fucking potions, imbecile. In fact, for your own sake, you should get out of my sight, or I'll reconsider whether we need you and your questionable skills."

"My s-skills are the finest..."

"Tsk, cut the nonsense."

The grinding of the deranged male's teeth against each other bad as the rattle of the chains, ear-jarring. Still, I watched, waited, prowled, weirded out by how easily these beast ways came to me.

"B-but you, ma'am, y-you will t-take care of the beast, won't you?"

The female hesitated, burying her gaze in me, weighing her chances. Hers not bad. Annoying. She seemingly unaffected by my poison. I unable to pounce, unable sink my fangs into her flesh.

A warning needed.

So I growled back, hit the humans with my might, breathless, tiring, let more poison rise from my fur. It worked. The female's resolve waned, her tail tucked between her legs.

"Tsk, your brain must have rotted away. The mutt is your problem now."

"D-didn't you want her as your pet? Y-you can have her. Just..."

The female hesitated again, eyeing me, longing in her eyes. My fur bristled. Danger. Her misguided desire to tame me giving her second thoughts.

»Dare,« I growled a challenge, breaking my so-far futile efforts to chew through the shackles.

"Don't be full of yourself, you mutt. If it wasn't for the beast taking me by surprise, you'd be groveling at my feet with your tongue out, licking my boots."

'And if it weren't for the damn shackles, I'd rip yours out!' I lashed out in my mind, horrified by the savagery of my thoughts. Worse, primal ferocity clouded even my judgment. A mistake was spoken, a weakness revealed, the female aware.

Or not?

Why she just staring? No longer in my mind?

Scared. Good. My mind only for me.

Still, I let the orange cloud of apple-scented poison hovering around me swirl in warning, ready to pounce if needed.

Turn out to be not - wary good, though.

"Tsk, I'm not equipped for this," muttered the mind-twisted female, another tool appearing in her hands. A black cube covered in those accursed runes. My fur bristled, a growl escaped my throat. More runes to bind me.

"T-that's...no, you can't leave me here with...with that beast," the male rasped, eyes wide with fear. "Our deal...you're meant to keep me safe."

Female’s eyes on me, she bared her teeth on male in a sneer. "Not from your failures. Besides, it's your research we care about, not you."

"B-bud...if you...who's gonna finish the research?"

"Someone else. You're not the only alchemist in the world, nor the only one in our employ, Dungreen. Well - best of luck to you. You're really gonna need it."

"No, wait...take me with you."

"The brain rot dug deep, huh? That's not how Anchors work, and you know it."

Cautious, I watched the black cube in her hands. Could be a ruse, the way for me to put my guard down, bind me. Should I pounce with the poison, first? Dangerous, would leave me exposed. Still...

"Then...a-are you...are you going to send someone here?"

The female bared her teeth once more, runes on the cube glowing blindingly white. "Of course, I will; survive a day, and you'll meet them." Her gaze then bored into me, eyes glistening with unsettling glee. "And you, mutt, you better wish to be long gone by then."

Her words sent a shiver down my spine all the way to the tip of my tail, no false threat. Better not to see the female again. As if still in my mind and to make sure of that, a sharp white light surrounded her, cutting into my eyes, dazzling me. A whimper escaped my throat, panic cut into my heart. The ruse I feared. I willed the cloud of poison to pounce and it surged.

Deranged male screamed, Wood creaked, glass shattered, but female silent. Danger, more poison needed, mana in my body sparse, though, me too weak.

'Where the bloody heck is she?'

No sound of her, no steps, no breaths, not even the smell - the air scented too strongly of apples and cinnamon.

Foul female lurking around, me prey.

Pathetic.