Her teeth gripped Het Vuur’s skin hard enough to make him cry, and she relished the sound. She wanted to cause him the same pain he made her feel – she wanted him to suffer for what he had done. But he didn’t fight back. He never fought back.

In all their years together, Het Vuur had never hurt her.

He had laid his teeth upon her in foreplay more often than fight. If he wanted to hurt her, there was no question that he could. As much as Sterre might like to believe the opposite, she could not defeat the giant if he really fought back. She almost wished that he would. At least it would be over for one of them if they fought physically.

The victories were always hollow when they fought with words.

She watched him, still seething, as he seemed to consider what had just happened. Her sides heaved and her nostrils flared as her breath came in heavy, angry huffs. When he finally turned to look at her his blind eyes were cold and hard, but she did not look away, not even when he spoke those vicious words.

For just a moment, Sterre was silent.

It was not the idea of aborting the child that offended her – if there were an easy way to do that she would have taken the opportunity in an instant – but it was the implication that she should sacrifice her own life to do it. There were many things that Sterre would have done to free herself of this parasite, but there was one thing she valued above all others in this world: her survival.

And now Het Vuur – the man who would not have to carry around another creature inside of him for months on end, the man who would not have to tear his body apart to rid himself of the oversized offspring when the time came, the man who would not have to sustain the child’s life with his own – had the audacity to suggest that she should risk everything to rid him of this inconvenience.

She couldn’t bear the sight of him for a minute longer.

With a snarl she lunged for him again – snapping at his hindquarters as he turned away from her.

“Get away from me, you bastard!” she screamed, doing her best to chase him away with her angry jaws. “GET AWAY!”

She hoped he fell down that fucking mountain himself while he was wandering blind and alone. He had bitten the hand that fed him one too many times.

“I HATE YOU!” she shouted after him, her hooves clattering against the rocky ground as she span around to head further up the mountain, where she knew he would not follow her alone.

this thing of darkness
I ACKNOWLEDGE MINE