Choosing to say out of the Alliance, the Cinders are isolated in their own conflicts, and when Helia Cinder reaches to the void for answers, she inadvertently draws a creature out. Expecting to be eaten alive, she is instead left with a man with no...
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Heat rushed against Helia's body as a familiar form stood at her side, larger than any living thing had a right to be. Steam filled the air as Vice breathed out, his mouth twisting into a deranged smile that had Helia wondering again just how much the minds Vice used affected him. The giant man stretched like a damn cat, hands over his head as his joints set, and he even had the gall to squeak like a teenage girl who had just woken from an afternoon nap at the pool. The final breath of relaxation puffed steam out into the wind, and crimson eyes snapped up to meet Riff where he'd taken a step back. It was out of confusion as he tried to figure out what was going on, positioning himself back to prepare for whatever was coming.
"Talamayas Sol," Riff growled, half as acknowledgement and half a question at what could not possibly be real. They'd seen Wren chase after Talamayas as they'd dove into the desert, and he could not be in two places at once.
"In the flesh," Talamayas declared proudly, all of his teeth showing as he retrieved a tie from his pocket to secure the thin end of his hair. It whipped like a pitch snake behind him as Talamayas focused on removing the mage attire that no longer fit. With a deft fingers, he ran his hand down and unclipped each hook before he slipped his shoulders out and folded it, stacking each under layer that barely made it around his abdomen on top. With a foot, he dug a small hole in the sands and dropped the neat pile in so its didn't blow away.
"Do you know no other way to fight but naked?" Riff flexed his hands, eager to rip the man apart, and his eyes sank to pitch as his chains wriggled under the sands.
"Are you uncomfortable seeing a man half naked, Riff?" Talamayas chuckled, bringing a hand to his mouth and touching his chin like it was the funniest joke of the century. "If you're insecure in your masculinity and have naughty thoughts just from seeing a few bare muscles, I have some men who wouldn't mind showing you the pleasures of being a bottom."
Riff ground his teeth side to side, and the first chain struck out for Talamayas. Volatile Song magic pulsed everywhere in nauseating sound waves, but Talamayas side stepped it, still laughing, as he landed on both feet.
"Relax, Song. I would have brought a shirt if I knew it upset you so much. I only took the clothes off because I didn't realize they were a relic. Wouldn't want to dirty something so cherished. Might make a nice drapery to remember this grand occasion." The sarcasm in the words had a dozen chains reaching from the ground, arching and falling on Talamayas like striking snakes. Light magic met them in the form of two shields, the rounded barriers see-through enough that both Helia and Riff caught Talamayas' eager smirk.
"How do you still possess Harper's magic?" Riff demanded, his chains fanning out and circling for any opening to take Talamayas' body. If Riff managed to catch Vice wearing Talamayas Sol, Helia would be as dead as techno.
"Oh, I ate him," Talamayas said simply with a shrug, dipping Riff's pallor a shade. "A little chewy going down, but it was necessary for the magic. You Songs are all muscle so it was like tearing into a juicy steak, you know, except for all the begging." Talamayas snorted a laugh. "I've never heard a sirloin weep so much as I dissected it, mumbling some crap of an apology about someone named Cadence."
