:::not here for my _{confessionals:::}

Winter was coming.

It slithered like a snake intro reality, slowly but surely, an ice cold monster freezing the world one blade of grass at a time. Malignus sensed it as he moved through the fields, saw it on the trees that stood starkly against the sky, the last of their yellowed leaves clinging hopefully to their boughs as though will alone could withhold the coming darkness. He didn’t understand why the creatures of the earth dreaded the bare months so much – sure food was scarce and the weather dismal but the joy that came with it was unsurpassed.

The slimy male could feel the hormones begin to rage within him, even stronger than they usually were, and his desire for the opposite sex grew to such heights that he was taking a female almost everyday, whether they came willingly or not. It was too early for any of his couplings to result in pups, but such a trivial fact did not bother him. He wasn't particularly interested in the small creatures anyway, and likely had sired many litters in the past which didn't even know his name. Another fact that mattered little. That morning, Malignus had again woken with a burning sensation in his loins, and the desire to locate and subdue a victim.

Fortunately for him, the day had seemed to yield a very likely candidate. He could see her, unmistakable against the backdrop of Moladion's open plains, a pretty alabaster woman who travelled alone, eyes set on the lands around her as though she were seeking something. Pleased with himself, and puffed up with the kind of pompous arrogance one would have come to expect from the male, he loped towards her. His approach was friendly enough, his tail wagging and his sickly yellow eyes glowing, a smile pasted on his maw. He even paused a polite distance away from the lady, struggling to keep his eyes on her face and not roving her curves with desire. He stood square, hiding the german-shepard like slope of his back and puffing out his ruff a little to accentuate his height. He knew that, in the right light, he could cut a handsome figure.

With a flourish of his head, he called out to grab the stranger's attention, if his scent had not already, “Dear lady, wait awhile! I'd very much like to introduce myself. A pretty thing like you probably gets stopped hourly, but I hope you will spare some time for a dog like me?” He dropped his head, looking sorry for himself, and hoped he had picked right. With luck, the white girl would be the sweet, generous kind and naïve enough to converse with him.