Twin Star-Commencement-The Venerable Makeda

      The young girl’s actions were what sent a shiver through the group of humans.  She looked to be no more than fifteen but seemed to glide across the ground without touching it.  She skipped light-heartedly to the nearest soldier.  The man, with a girth three times her size, towered over her slender, four-foot-eleven frame.  She leapt like a gazelle, and grabbed the man’s shoulder, using it like a pole to swing around behind him.  The force spun him around and down with her, forcing him to his knees, where she promptly snapped his neck.  They barely registered the movement of her arms, and she was once again moving with speed and grace before he hit the ground.          She took two bouncing strides, caught the sword arm of the last soldier in mid-swing, and gently plucked his weapon from his hand with terrifying ease.  She threw it uselessly to the ground, then used the upraised arm to swing the man away from her, put her foot in the crook of his knee, and lightly pushed, bringing the young man to kneel before her.  She wrapped her arms around his chest and rested her chin on his shoulder.  Her pale red lips brushed his neck, and her exotic, caramel-colored skin was a stark contrast to his pallor.  

        “It’s a pity,” she teased softly in his ear.  “I would have enjoyed spending time with you… hours or days, perhaps.”  She ran her hand—nails very neatly painted a reddish brown—down his chest to his abdomen, where she caressed the tight muscles hidden beneath his shirt, and the young man blushed, in spite of himself.  “I like the young, handsome ones.”  She leaned in and gently kissed his neck, causing him to shiver.  She bit down, bringing a gasp to his lips.  

        She stopped, as he began to swoon, and glanced at Marin, a question in her deep, dark red eyes.  Memories rushed to Elizabeth of standing in front of her father with some animal or another, asking “Can I keep him?”  It made her stomach squirm.  The girl gave a sigh at the man’s hard expression, “… a pity,” and reluctantly returned to draining the soldier.

        Marcus made a move to help his comrade, but Anthony snapped, “Hold!  She’s a Venerable, Marcus.  She’s too dangerous.  Avoid her.” Marcus’s jaw tightened.  He scowled in indignation but conceded to Anthony’s orders.  “We need to find another way out.”