AnnouAhh screw it, double chapter today since I'm way ahead in my writing right now. Hope you enjoy some delightful ripping and tearing until it is do;3

  For the rest of the night, there were no more interruptions. The teillness hung in the air, but Vivieiced something peculiar—the taste of fear aether had vanished entirely from the tavern. It was as though the building had been abandoned, emptied of its octs. She tilted her head, bemused by the strange quiet.

  “Evacuated, maybe?” she mused to herself, her voice barely a whisper. The thought made her grin. Fear had its uses, but this absolute absence was uling in its own way. She couldn’t shake the image of herself as a coiled serpent, tasting the air with unseen senses but tasting fear rather than… whatever sasted. "A sh too mah," she murmured with amusement.

  Her thoughts wao Rava, whose breathing had slowed into the steady rhythm of sleep. The woman had endured a lot in the short time they’d been together—more than most mortals would mahout breaking. Vivienne leaned back against the wall, cws idly tapping against her arm as she reflected.

  Rava was an oddity. Tough, stubborn, and fiercely protective despite her sharp tongue. She was the kind of person who didn’t scare easily. A, Vivienne wondered if there was anythihat could shake her to her core. The idea stirred something pyful and dangerous ihough she quickly pushed it aside.

  The hours passed, and Vivienne’s predataze remained fixed on the door, her posture still but rexed. As the first hints of daw into the room, the faint sounds of the vilge stirring reached her ears. It seemed the night’s tension hadn’t spilled over into chaos—yet.

  When Rava finally stirred, blinking groggily, Vivienne greeted her with a grin. "M, sunshine. Sleep well?"

  Rava groaned, rubbing her eyes. "You let us survive the night. Thanks."

  "Don’t mention it," Vivienne said lightly, though the sharp glint in her eyes remained. "What’s on today’s agenda? Winning the hearts of the vilgers or just surviving breakfast?"

  “I doubt they’ll let us do anything but leave, so we will be doing that. Leaving.”

  Vivienne’s grin stretched a little wider at that, the ers of her mouth twitg as though she couldn’t help herself. "Oh, how disappointing. I was just starting to enjoy myself." She gave a dramatic smile, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes.

  Rava rolled her eyes, already standing and reag for her gear. "You enjoy chaos far too much. I swear, you're like a child with too many toys."

  "Chaos is an art form," Vivienne replied with mock seriousness. "And I’m quite the artist." She leaned ba the chair, letting her c against the wood rhythmically, her gaze flitting toward the window. The vilge outside seemed eerily calm, a quiethat felt almost like a warning.

  Rava’s fingers brushed the hilt of her on—though it was more habit now than anything. "Whatever you say," she muttered, seg her things. "You just keep that appetite of yours in check."

  "Hey, I’m not picky." Vivieretched zily, her long form unfolding in a fluid motion. "Besides, we’re leaving nht? The sooner we go, the set to hunt something more iing than tense vilgers."

  Rava shot her a sidelong gnce as she adjusted her pabsp;

  Vivienne chuckled, the sound dark and teasing. "Don’t worry, I’m not that hungry yet." She waved a hand dismissively, though the glint in her eyes said otherwise. "Besides, I’ve already had a taste of the fear in this pce. Let’s go find something with more fvour."

  The tension that had g to the room st night was gone, repced by the almost palpable anticipation of what y ahead. With Rava ready, Vivienne followed her to the door. The tavern outside was quiet, the early m sun casting long shadows over the empty streets. It felt too calm, as if the vilge was holding its breath.

  “Lead the way,” Vivienne said, her voice soft but still carrying that edge of pyful menace.

  Rava nodded curtly, her tail flig in annoyance as she stepped outside. "And keep your cws to yourself, Viv. I don't need you tearing through anyone's livesto the way out."

  Vivienne smirked, stepping into the sunlight. "Fine, fine. But you’re missing out on the fun."

  Rava sighed, her ears flig ba irritation, but she didn’t ent further. The vilge around them was eerily quiet—no sounds of people starting their day, no chatter from nearby homes, just the soft hum of the wind through the trees. The trast to the chaos of the previous night was stark.

  As they moved through the streets, Rava kept her pace steady, her senses alert for any sign of trouble. She’d been in enough tight spots to know that when things seemed too quiet, it was usually a sign that something was off.

  Vivienne, oher hand, appeared utterly unfazed, her eyes sing the empty vilge like it was her pyground. "I thought these pces were supposed to be charming," she muttered, half to herself. "Bit too quiet for my taste."

  Vivienne smirked, her eyes gleaming as she goward the slightly ajar door of one of the nearby homes. She poi it with a long, obsidian cw. "Looks like they’re waiting for us to leave with bated breath," she said, her voice dripping with amusement.

  Rava shot her a sharp look, her patience wearing thin. "Hurry up, Viv, let's go."

  Vivienne's grin only widened. She slowed her pace just enough for her preseo bleed into the air, letting the tension hang thid unfortable. As they walked, she made no effort to hide her amusement. Her aura felt like an oppressive weight imosphere, enough to send a ripple of nervous energy through the vilgers inside.

  A soft, sinister chuckle escaped her lips as she added, "I 't resist a good scare. They won’t fet us anytime soon."

  Rava groaned, rolling her eyes but keeping her pace steady. " we go one day without sg people half to death?"

  Vivienne, quick as ever, darted to Rava's side. She tilted her head and looked up at the taller woman with a feigned innoce, her lips curling into a sweet smile as she batted her asymmetrical eyes. "No?" she said, the single sylble dripping with mischief.

  Rava shot her a sideways gnce, but the er of her mouth twitched despite herself. "You're impossible."

  Vivienne's grin only grew wider, and she skipped a step ahead, clearly enjoying the little bad-forth. "You keep sayiertaining’ wrong.” she teased, flig her tail with an almost childlike glee.

  Soon, they reached the edge of the vilge, the oppressive silence following them like a shadow. No one dared whisper, no one dared linger. It was as if the entire vilge exhaled in unison, a collective sigh of relief marking their departure.

  Vivieretched her arms over her head, her cws glinting in the soft m light. “Sooo,” she drawled, her tone light and pyful, “how much loill we get wherever we’re going? My legs are getting tired.”

  Rava snorted, her ears twitg as she adjusted the straps of her pack. “Ys? you eveired?”

  “Of course! Probably. Perhaps. I’m serving energy!” Vivienne replied, feigning indignation as her feet hovered just above the ground for emphasis. “’t be too careful, you know. What if a wild beast attacks and I o… pounce?” She fshed a wicked grieeth gleaming.

  Rava shot her a gre but kept walking. “It’s another day or two at least. Maybe less if you actually walk a proper pad stop distrag me with your nonsense.”

  “Oh, so it’s my fault we’re slow now?” Vivieeased, her voice lilting with mock hurt. She drifted closer to Rava, tilting her head. “You’re the one who insisted on taking the sic route.”

  “The sic route is also the safer route,” Rava retorted. “Or would you rather walk straight through aetherbeast-ied ss?”

  Vivieapped her , pretending to think it over. “Hmm. Depends. Do the aetherbeasts taste good?”

  “Viv.”

  “Kidding!” Vivienne said quickly, though her grin suggested otherwise. “Mostly.”

  Rava sighed, her patience fraying but not breaking. “Let’s just focus oing to the Serkoth e without tripping on the hazard. For once.”

  Vivieapped Rava on the shoulder with a cw, earning herself a gre sharp enough to cut stone. Predictably, Vivienne didn’t flinch. If anything, she leaned into it with a grin that practically begged for trouble. “Too te,” she purred, gesturing with one wickedly curved talon. “Look over there.”

  Rava followed the motioail flig with irritation as her sharp eyes focused on the se ahead. She groaned and shot Vivienne an exasperated look. “Are you a mag for trouble? I swear to Serranos, this is the most eventful journey I’ve ever had—and not in a good way.”

  “Trouble? No, no, you wound me.” Vivienne pressed a hand to her chest in mock affront. “That’s not trouble, Rava. That’s dinner.”

  Ahead of them, a pack of reptiliaherbeasts prowled in a loose circle, their elongated bodies slinking with a predatrace. Each beast was the size of a small horse, their vermilion scales shimmering with an unnatural gleam uhe autumn sun. Their heads were ed with spiked frills, and their sinuous tails swayed like lethal whips.

  Surrounded by the creatures was a group of five figures—likely soldiers uards, judging by the mismatched scraps of armour they wore. Their ons glinted in the sun, but their formation was sloppy, their fear palpable even from a distance.

  Rava growled low ihroat. “Looks like they’re iheir heads.”

  Vivienne licked her lips, her eyes glinting with an uling hunger. “Perfect. A little appetiser before we move on.”

  Rava grabbed her arm before she could step forward. “We don’t even know who they are, Viv. Maybe leave the ibalistidencies on hold for a sed?”

  “Firstly,” Vivienne held up a cw, “I am not humaher are they, so teically it wouldn’t be ibalism.” She then held up a sed cw. “Sedly, I meant the aetherbeasts, you dolt.” She reached up with her scaled hand and bopped the lekine warrior on the head.

  Rava grumbled but thought about that. “Well, if it helps you… Fihey look like e guards, if their armour is anything to go by. Let's go help.”

  “Yay! Diime!” Cheered the little nightmare, g her hands together.

  Vivienne darted ahead with unnatural speed, her movements fluid and predatory, while Rava followed at a measured pace, muttering under her breath about her panion’s antics.

  The guards had formed a shaky defensive liheir spears and swords raised against the cirg aetherbeasts. One of the creatures lunged, its massive jaws snapping, only fuard to narrowly deflect it with a spear.

  Before anyone could react further, Vivienne barreled into the fray. She leapt onto one of the beasts, her cws sinking into its neck as it writhed beh her. “Hello, geous!” she cooed, her voice dripping with mock sweetness before she tore into its flesh. Goldeheric blood sprayed across her face, and she inhaled deeply, shuddering as if sav the taste.

  Viviehrew her head back, letting out a dramatic sigh of ecstasy. “Oh, the rivers and the seas! Cool and fresh! This taste is immacute.” she decred, her voice dripping with exaggerated reverence.

  Before Rava could scold her for her theatrics, Vivienne’s mouth split wide, revealing rows of jagged teeth. With a feral gleam in her eyes, she sank her fangs into the neck of the aetheric samahe golden glow of its aether pooling around her cws as she fed.

  Vivienne didn’t even pay attention to the other samanders or the guards who were staring at her in abject horror, too absorbed in her meal. The samander’s body writhed weakly beh her as its aetheric essence flowed into her, illuminating the dark veins of her otherworldly body. When she finally pulled back, her mouth snapping shut with an audible cck, she wiped her lips and gri Rava.

  Rava rolled her eyes, stepping closer to the guards who stood frozen, their ons still drawn. “She’s... harmless,” Rava said as a siing snap of bones could be heard. “Mostly.”

  One of the guards, an older man with a bloodied gash along his cheek, pointed his spear warily in Vivienne’s dire. “That’s what you call harmless? She just devoured a creature like it was her breakfast.”

  Vivienne licked her lips, her grin widening. “Breakfast? Please. That petiser.”

  “Viv!” Rava snapped, gring at her panion. “You’re not helping.”

  The older man’s grip on his spear tightened, his eyes narrowing. “What kind of creature is she? And what business do you have here?”

  “Fight now, talk ter!” Rava barked, her fists crag with the force of the tempest as she drove it into the snapping jaws of another approag lizard. The impact sent the creature skidding backwards, its snarls fading into a pained whimper.

  The guards, startled but emboldened by Rava’s intervention, reformed their shaky line. “Focus on the beasts!” the uard shouted, his spear plunging into the side of one of the reptilian monsters.

  Vivienne rolled her eyes dramatically but stepped into a, her cws glinting as she intercepted another lizard mid-lunge. “Oh, fine,” she muttered, twisting gracefully to avoid its venomous bite. With a swift movement, her cws sliced through its scaled hide, the creature’s essence spilling out in shimmering waves.

  As more of the lizards closed in, Rava worked alongside the guards, her strikes precise and brutal. Every punch was followed by a crackle of energy that sent the beasts reeling. Vivienne, meanwhile, moved with a predatrace, her strikes less about defend more about sav the hunt.

  “ you not look so delighted while doing this?” Rava called out betweehs, her tone ced with irritation.

  Within moments, the field quieted, the st of the aetherbeasts colpsing in a heap. The air was thick with the st of blood and the faint hum of dissipatiher. Vivieood atop the heap of falleures, her shimmering bck cws slick with gore as they tore effortlessly through the thick hide. Each swipe sent glinting sptters of blood into the grass, and with each bite of aether-rich flesh, her form seemed to pulse faintly, the veins in her body glowing momentarily like molten gold.

  The guards stood frozen, their ons s trembling hands as they watched the nightmare unfold. Vivienne was a vision of terror—her body drenched in blood, her predatory movements more beast than human. She tore another k free with her fanged maw, the sound of g bone and snapping sinew audible evehe uneasy silence. When she swallowed, her glowing eyes flicked to the guards, as if daring them to say something.

  "Vivienne!" Rava’s voice cut through the oppressive quiet, sharp and anding. “You’re sg the gods-damned locals,”

  Vivienne paused mid-bite, her bloodstained grin widening at the interruption. “What? Tell them to turn around,” she purred, lig a streak of blood from her cw. “Waste not, want not.”

  Rava growled, striding toward her with purpose. She gestured sharply at the group of guards, who looked like they might bolt at any moment. “And you’re making my job harder.”

  Vivienne’s head tilted sharply toward Rava, her gaze weighty and feral. “This feast will sate me for a while,” she hissed. “You wa my best, don’t you?”

  Rava exhaled through her rying to suppress her irritation. She couldn’t deny the logic. With any luck, the meal would st Vivienne several days—even if her appetite seemed bottomless.

  Maybe not pletely endless, she thought, gng at her panion. Vivienne haden sihe raid on the Aegis watchtower, and she had taken some bad hits during that skirmish. Rava grudgingly accepted the y.

  Fine. She have this one.

  Turning to the frozen guards, Rava squared her shoulders, standing tall and anding. Her voice rang out clearly. “I am Ravanyr Serkoth, Twilight Fang of Korriva Serkoth. I am returning home after an assig. This,” she gestured toward Vivienne, who was still gleefully tearing into the aether-rich corpses with no sign of hesitation, “is my panion. She saved my life, and I owe her mine iurn.”

  The guards exged uneasy gheir hands gripping their ons tightly but not yet raising them. One, a younger man with trembling hands, stammered, “That thing—she’s eating them! What is she?”

  Vivienne’s sharp ugh broke through the tension. “Oh, sweet boy,” she said, her voice dripping with mockery, “I’m the thing that keeps yhtmares pany.”

  “Viv,” Rava snapped, shooting her a warning gre. “Enough.”

  With a bloodied cw held to her chest in mock penitence, Vivienne smirked. “Of course. Always ruining my fun, Rava.”

  The eldest of the guards finally spoke, his grizzled features set in a firm scowl. “If she’s with you, she stays your problem. We’ll tolerate her—for now. But don’t think we’ll fet what we saw here today.”

  Rava ined her head curtly. “Fair enough. We’ll be out of your way as soon as we’re finished.” She turned back to Vivienne. “And by we, I mean you.”

  Vivienne gave a theatrical sigh but resumed eating. “Oh, you’re no fun. I’m almost done anyway. Don’t worry, my dear Rava. I’ll save room for dessert.”

  The guards visibly flinched but held their ground.

  Rava muttered under her breath, “You are the dessert, idiot.”

  Vivienne’s ughter echoed across the field. “What a flirt.”