As she had held the young man in her motherly embrace, she had felt the beginnings of the chill that crept over her skin. It was odd for her to feel cold again, as she had felt nothing but the empty chill of death for two long years. Nothing felt cold to her anymore, simply because everything was cold. She felt as though she had been an empty body for a long time; she had no concept of the stretch of eternity that tumbled before her like the fall of rocks that spilled down the slope to the thin strip of beach below.
But she turned her thoughts away from that for now, just like she turned herself away from the sandy edge against the kiss of water and climbed the slope toward the flat plain of grass.
Once she gained the top of the plateau, she lifted her chin, eyes collecting the glitter of starlight and moonshine and giving back a pearly glow. So close to the coast, the wind whipped eternally, catching the fluttering edges of her gown and snapping them like flags. A tumbled fall of golden hair, turned silver like mercury, fluttered from her shoulders like pennant banners in the breeze, writhing like snakes from a gorgon's scalp. In the biting, clear light of night, she looked nearly as forbidding.
When she turned to look at Aeizith, she extended one hand as though to draw someone from the ground, though really to bring the golden-haired youth to her side. If he acquiesced and took her hand, she would bring him toward her, one finger fluttering to press against her mouth in a warning for silence and the other hand indicating the grass beneath them, as if to caution him to step carefully. At the same time, hand still clasped firmly around the frigid fingers within, she whipped into a predatory crouch, jerking downwards with surprising strength to make him imitate him, while sweeping her free hand outward.
Just ahead of them, moving casually across the broad sweep of coastal plain, the glittering shafts of moonlight peeked through ragged edges of cloud and highlight beige-brown bodies. Reflections glittered in the doe-wide eyes, limning velvety antlers in quicksilver. Already, a rapacious hunger had stolen into the vampire's eyes as she tracked the movements of the deer, every inch a crouching mountain lion preparing to spring. She leaned toward the dragon-vampire hybrid, lips barely moving and words snatched playfully by the wind, eyes never sliding from her targets.
"You will want only to kill. But you have already killed." She tore her eyes with difficulty from her prey, fixing the youth with every ounce of arresting vampire will and the amber eyes of a panther. "But tonight, you will hunt. Watch me, and then imitate me." She half-turned, taking a crouching step away, then froze once more. "This will not be over quickly. Control your hunger. Do it now, and you'll bypass years of unnecessary heartache." Of course, he could never know that even with her incredible will, she was still caught in the grip of such instinct.
Over the next hour, the milk-and-honey shadow crept forward, small steps punctuated by stretching silences and minutes of absolute stillness. Despite the glaring obviousness of pale skin and white clothing, she seemed to melt into the rippling shadows of the tossing grass and rolling moonlight, always moving her body to keep herself downwind of the strolling herd. It was only in the end, her flickering figure half-obscured but growing intensely more impatient, separated by nearly a full 10 yards from the herd, that she snapped. The outlines of her body became indistinct as one hand pushed herself off from the ground, flitting in a flurry of fast-moving legs and pumping legs; the entire herd kicked forward in the collective instinct to flee danger and preserve lives.
But by that time, it too late. She had already targeted the nearest deer,the one close enough to fling herself forward - which was just what happened. Her arms flung themselves wide and wrapped around the neck, legs kicking strongly so that she literally rolled herself and the deer over and over. It was already over by the time the creature's side hit the earth; her teeth had found their mark, and though the kill was messy, with the creature's limbs twitching and blood spilling down the front of her dress, it was quick. She crouched over the body, eyes feral and vicious, then threw her head back and laughed, an exuberant ripple of energy.
"Ah, well, dear. Perhaps you'll do better."
