Garmr slips into the confines of the Lagoon; his mind wrapped in darkness, reflecting in the gleam of his green eyes. His knotted mane that drapes on either side of his neck is streaked in crimson, leaving lines of red down his right shoulder where the fresh blood had rolled down his skin before drying. Smeared upon his face and muzzle like war paint, the stallion does nothing to wash it away. Although he does not wear it with pride, there is a deeper satisfaction knowing he was about to get exactly what he wanted.


Garmr?


The stallion stopped when he heard his name. Although he had meant to return to his guarding of this particular treasure, he hadn’t meant to seek any company from it. Garmr was not ashamed of the blood he wore. Although it had nearly been hers, it was not, but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t bring fear if she saw it. Garmr, half tempted to see it flare in her eyes, nearly stepped free of the shadows that currently engulfed him, but thought better of it. Even if Ainaz knew him for the monster he was, having seen it first hand, Garmr felt a reluctance for her to see it again. That she might take back the words he still doubted were true.


“What is it?” his deep, rumbling voice nearly sounded like a growl as his green eyes glistened from the darkness he peered from. Looking at her now as she stood, mud and leaf litter clinging to her that needed to be cleaned away. It made him wonder briefly, amongst the much darker thoughts, if he should take her to the cove to the east to bathe in one of the many beautiful pools of water. Most talked about the fetid swamp they mostly resided in, but he had never heard of anyone mentioning the beautiful part the Lagoon kept hidden from outside eyes.