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Rainbow Skies: Tales of Aeyalion
13 - Bestial Guardian 1

13 - Bestial Guardian 1

"You'll pay me what you owe to me, Uporin!"

A massive, long-fingered furry fist slams down onto a thick, wooden table. The force makes the table shudder and splinter. The owner of the fist leaned forward, both paw-like hands pressing into the tabletop, claws sinking easily into the wood. Her teeth were grit tightly in anger, her long canines gleaming in the soft light shining from the prism floating above the table. The bear-like humanoid in front of her wilted from her anger, cowering from her intensity. Uporin's ears twitched quickly, his eyes hesitant and darting from the nevorin in front of him to the stairs behind him and back.

Swallowing and taking a shaky breath, he speaks up timidly, "Jeshin, p-please, t-the shipment didn't m-make it to the d-d-drop off. I-I can't sell merchandise I d-don't have at t-the..."

Jeshin snarls loudly, throwing the sturdy table against the far wall, pieces of it flying across the room as it slams into the stone with a crack. In a blur, she crosses the distance between her and Uporin, grasping his neck in one hand, muscles rippling as she lifts him high into the air. His eyes widened completely, his paws clutching at her wrist. Uporin wasn't a short kulam, standing at nearly seven feet tall, easily weighing as much as a large horse, but the nevorin in front of him had lifted him to where his feet dangled and kicked, and as if he weighed nothing more than a heavy stone. Her eyes shined dangerously in the soft light as he gasped, eyes rolling panickedly.

She snarls again, tightens her grasp on Uporin's thick neck, claws digging deeply into his hide, arms and shoulder flexing heavily. Uporin's struggling became less and less energetic, his eyes glazing over and breath all but stopped, before Jeshin threw him against the broken table, his back slamming painfully against the wood, one of the legs catching his side and splitting it open, blood spilling on the dusty stone floor. He gasped and sucked in air, lungs pushing and pulling as much as they could of the sweetness in the stale air. The stench of vomit, cockroaches and rats, normally gag-inducing, was the best thing Uporin tasted all month.

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Jeshin aggressively grasped his face, palm and fingers covering his short snout and most of his face, and stepped in close, the tip of her nose nearly touching his cheek, her hot breath promising barely-restrained violence. She speaks so low into his ear as to almost be a whisper. "Uporin, your excuses are as stale as your tavern's beer. I expected my payment days ago, tempering my impatience, and you have the absolute gall to cheat me..?"

The kulam's body shook hard from his fear. He shook his head robotically, as much as he could in Jeshin's grasp. She lifts her palm from his mouth, claws instead digging into his face as she turns him to look at her.

"Then where. Is. My. Shipment," she seethes at him.

"I-I-It was taken! The shipment was taken," he shrieks. "Please! Don't kill me!" His sobs echo through the bland chamber.

Jeshin softens her grip. "Who?!", she snarls.

"T-t-t-the Black Kamber! T-They raided the shipment on Herin's Road," he sobs out. "The guards w-were flayed a-alive, o-only little Yupo made it out. P-please, Jeshin, don't kill me! I-I can get it back! J-Just give me s-some time!"

The nevorin sniffs in displeasure. "You're right, you WILL be getting it back. You and I are going to go get what's mine. Get up. Get ready to go."

Uporin's mouth hangs open, surprised. "Wh-what?? M-me?? B-but, I can't leave the tavern unattended!" As he finished his sentence, his words are cut off by Jeshin's fist smashing into the remains of the table next to his face.

"You fail to realize, I don't care," she snarls. "You let MY property fall in the hands of a merc group, you're gonna be the one to get it back. Find someone to take over your tavern, or don't for all I give a shit. You'll be ready to go by tonight or you won't have to worry about your rathole ever again."

Uporin swallows, paws damp with fear-sweat, then nods emphatically. She steps back from him and he scrambles clumsily toward then up the wooden steps, bursts through the door above, and disappears from view. Jeshin surveys the room, growls low, then proceeds up the steps.