Meitona Palace

The official tumblr page of Regal and the residents of Meitona Palace! Follow us for 'canon' scenes, info, art and exciting updates on the series, and please feel free to send asks to the characters!

[coldphoenix]

Hey all!

Long time no see, I hope you're all doing well 😊

I just came to let you all know I've opened a Tellonym account, because it seemed like fun 😆 So you can find me on there!

Send 'meitonapalace' anonymous questions on Tellonym!

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Hopefully see you all soon! Xxx

[meitonapalace]

Follow me guys!

[meitonapalace]

Father's Day book 2 preview

A/N:

Decided to celebrate Father’s Day with a little father-son moment from the upcoming book 2 :)

Warnings: contains spoilers & violence.

 xxx

 It was true… blood spilt faster, from those who were afraid. Many times had Mokoto looked into the eyes of a traitor; many times had he delivered their punishment himself. He always enjoyed it, and he always felt empowered by it. He relished in the knowledge that he was ridding the world of someone who did not belong here. He relished in the sight of their blood, the smell of their fear, the sound of their jagged breaths… … Usually. Not now, though. Now… he just felt angry. Angry that it wasn’t just the humans that were killing his people. It wasn’t humans down here, in his prison under Meitona Palace. This place was for those traitors who were too wrong to be allowed in the world. Even now, when the world was at war, struggling to survive, these people were too treacherous to fight for the Gaiamira. Mokoto could not allow them to fight for the New World. They would poison it. So he tortured them, and he killed them… for crimes so awful they were no longer permitted to live. Treason, of the most horrific form. Murderers, and predators… helpers of the humans. They were helping the humans win this war… and that was unforgivable.

“Please…” A wounded man whispered before him. His face was coated in his own blood. His chest was bare, his body ripped open. His wounds ran so deep there would soon be no blood left to spill. Mokoto could see the veins pulsing within him; some parts of him didn’t even have skin anymore. Mokoto would skin him alive; and open his stomach and tear him apart from the inside. It was all he deserved. It was better than he deserved. “I… I never… did this.” The man spoke. “I… shot mine. They didn’t suffer. Please…”

“They knew they were dying.” Mokoto uttered. “You don’t think that was suffering enough? I promise you, they thought of their children.” He flinched in disgust, thinking about what this man had done. He was a serial killer, who targeted pregnant women. At first, just pregnant Hiveakan women, but then he moved onto Outsiders as well. Mokoto had asked him why, and he had explained it was because the Outsiders were beginning to put their children in the Hives – much more than before. Because the Hives were better protected, and safer. This man was an Outsider extremist; he didn’t want Hiveakans to be in the world… so he killed them before they were born. Quickly, he said. Without suffering, he said… but what mother would not suffer, knowing she was dying and her child along with her? Knowing she had failed to protect them, when it was her duty… to fail was to suffer. Mokoto didn’t care for it to happen in his world. Those who deserved to suffer were the likes of this traitor. And Mokoto was here to ensure that he would.

           He listened to the man scream, as he dove his claws into his chest. His skin ripped under Mokoto’s fingers, his muscles shredded apart like paper. There was no depth to this man; he had a small build. Thin, useless muscles, and softened skin. Not as soft as human skin. Even Outsiders had thicker skin than humans; even this man’s flesh was harder to break than a human’s… but it broke all the same, under Mokoto’s Footprints. It made a noise as it ripped; his blood squelched and splashed, as Mokoto released it from its veins. He drenched his hand in the man’s blood, watching as the warm, purple liquid ran down his arm. It ran quickly, because the man was afraid. His breaths were fast, and short. He couldn’t fight. He was tied up, helpless. Like a child in the womb, completely reliant on somebody else to save him. Nobody would save him. Nobody would want to. Mokoto couldn’t even feel the Goddess of Death here. She didn’t want this soul.

           The man’s eyes were wide; his body was shaking. He stared up at Mokoto in desperation… but he’d stopped pleading. Finally. He’d realised he deserved no mercy. Or at least, he’d realised he wouldn’t get it. “A Hiveakan died today, protecting a school of Outsiders.” Mokoto spoke, with venom in his voice. He couldn’t help but think of Aourat, and what would have happened to him, had this man been around when he was in his mother’s womb. The lives that would have been lost… “Would you have killed him? And with him, the children that he saved. I have enough humans trying to kill my people. I don’t need you as well. You can understand that, can’t you? You understand… how I am struggling to see the difference between you and them?”

“S-Sire –”

“If you wish to act like a human, you will be treated like one. They are shown no mercy, just as you showed your victims no mercy. Or the Gaiamira, when you denied them the chance to welcome a life into the world. What you did was not just a crime against me, it was a crime against them. Only Lanka may decide when a soul is taken…” Mokoto smirked, as cruelly as any mortal could. He took great pleasure in speaking the words. He took great pleasure, in telling this… mistake of the world, “I do not feel her here. She does not want your soul.”

           He saw tears, in the man’s eyes. The words hurt him, and broke him… but of course, he was reluctant to believe them. So he shut his eyes, and spoke through his jagged breaths.

“She… she is here. She will… come, for me. I… killed them, in a peaceful way. They… had to be killed.”

“No, she’s not.” Mokoto said. “She appears to me all the time, but she isn’t here now. She has abandoned you, because you betrayed her. And she will show you no mercy. And nor will the God of war. They will take you to the Dark Realm, and there you will rot.”

“No…”

           Mokoto moved his eyes, to the boy at his side. Tomakoto. He was worn, from a training session with Mokoto and Lanka. But training hadn’t quenched Mokoto’s thirst. He needed blood. He needed to feel it upon his skin, he needed to watch the life leave a traitor’s eyes… His Footprints craved it. So he’d come here, and he’d brought Tomakoto with him. Because Tomakoto needed to see this. He needed to know how a king should deal with those who betrayed him. He had graduated at the age of nine, but he hadn’t yet taken a life. Now… was the time to change that. “Go on.” Mokoto spoke, gesturing towards the captive man. “Kill him.”

“Sire?” Tomakoto looked at his father. He seemed stunned, and confused. Clearly, he wasn’t expecting Mokoto to let him do it. He thought he was just here to watch, and he’d watched intently. Without flinching, without startle… He’d seemed to enjoy watching. The sight of a traitor being slain seemed to please him. He hadn’t expected to be more than a spectator, though. But… it was time. Tomakoto understood that. He believed it, because he believed in his father’s judgement. King Mokoto wouldn’t have ordered it if it wasn’t right, and Tomakoto knew it would be a betrayal to refuse. So… He had to. Tomakoto held Mokoto’s gaze, and Mokoto stared him down, not speaking a word… Then obediently, Tomakoto nodded his head. “Yes, Sire.”

           Mokoto watched as the boy approached the man. Tomakoto looked at him for a moment first, weighing up his victim. He had Footprints in his soul, but he’d never had to use them. Not as much as they could be used. They were still small, and unsure… but they were just as strong as any Hiveakan’s. Just as strong as Mokoto’s, if Tomakoto allowed them to be. Mokoto could feel them within him, he could feel them rising to the surface of Tomakoto’s soul… Then he saw them come out.

           Tomakoto dove his claws into the wound on the man’s abdomen, and he yanked his hands down. The blood flew out as Tomakoto pulled open the man’s stomach, leaving his organs exposed to the world. Mokoto thought that perhaps Tomakoto would just let him bleed to death; the screams and the smell of fear in the air were surely enough to satisfy the fresh, unused Footprints of a young boy. But… they weren’t. Evidently, they weren’t. Because Tomakoto didn’t stop there. He grabbed the man’s intestines, and he squeezed them in his hands. He didn’t pull them or rip them; he didn’t do anything that would put a quick end to the man’s life. He just squeezed them, and he stared at the man’s twisting face as he became silenced in pain. He put his hand inside the man’s bleeding body, and he pulled out his heart. He held the organs up to him, to show him. The man wasn’t looking, though. His eyes were shut in pain, his breaths small and weak as the life drained from him. He had only seconds left. Only seconds left to see.

“Open your eyes.” Tomakoto ordered. The man didn’t… and it seemed to anger Tomakoto. Because he squeezed his heart, and he said it again, with much more ferocity than before. “Open them!” Tomakoto barked. “Now!”

           The man did… Mokoto wasn’t sure why. He must have known he would only see something terrible; something that would traumatise him in his last seconds of life. So Mokoto couldn’t think why the man would open his eyes… unless the strength of Tomakoto’s Footprints had made him. Perhaps the man’s fear of disobeying them was greater than his fear of seeing… and what a beautiful thing that was. For the child to have such power, with such young, small Footprints… It left Mokoto speechless, in amazement, and in wonder… and it filled him with pride.

           He watched as tears spilt from the man’s eyes. He spent his last few breaths staring in horror at his own organs before him; his own bloodied intestines, his own beating heart… and then he died. In a terrible, terrible way. A way he deserved. A way… even worse than what Mokoto had planned. Mokoto wouldn’t have shown him the organs; he would have just torn them apart and watched the man bleed and listened to him scream. He would have been feral, and thirsty, and excited. Tomakoto, though… he’d had more control than that. He’d been more patient than that. He’d denied himself the tearing of tissue and the spilling of blood; he’d set aside his own desire to cause pain and a sudden death… to satisfy a much deeper, much darker desire. The desire to traumatise, and horrify. To send a traitor to the Dark Realm in eternal restlessness, eternal fear, eternal horror. Tomakoto hadn’t just wanted to hurt; he’d wanted to scar. And that was… incredible. How had the child become like this…? He truly was blessed by the God of War. He was a gift from the Gaiamira, the greatest gift they could ever give. And they had given him to Lakuna and Mokoto… he felt so honoured by that.

           Tomakoto looked at Mokoto, after it was over. After the man had stopped breathing, and the frantic heart in Tomakoto’s palm had stopped beating. He looked at Mokoto in wonder, and with nerves upon his face. No callousness, no coldness, no ferocity… just timid wonder. He was wondering if he had performed well enough. Wondering if he was good enough. He lived his life seeking his father’s approval… just as Mokoto had with his own. Despite what horrific things Tomakoto did… he was still just a child, at the mercy of someone who would always be stronger.

“Was that okay, Sire…?” Tomakoto asked, humbly and timidly. As if he hadn’t just gutted a man with his own claws.

“Yes.” Mokoto grinned. He laughed, charmed by the look on Tomakoto’s face. He was still so young… and yet he was a monster. A wonderful, young monster. “Very good, Toma.” Mokoto approached his son, and put a proud hand upon the boy’s shoulder. “You can do that again, with the next one.”

“I hope there won’t be a next one.” Tomakoto frowned. “I don’t want people like that in the world.”

“Nor do I.” Mokoto smirked. “In the New World, there won’t be. You can help me with that.”

“Yes, Sire.”

           They left the man’s corpse there, for Mokoto’s staff to deal with. Mokoto was done with him now. They left the prison, and headed through the basement to go back upstairs… when Mokoto heard something. A voice, elsewhere in the basement. It was coming from the prayer room.

[meitonapalace]

Water

A/N:

Trigger warning: child death.

So I’ve wanted to write this for a while… Years ago when I was making the character of Taka I decided he had a younger sister who drowned in the palace lake when she was a child. I never did anything with that story until a year or so ago when I listened to Sinead O’Connor’s version of Scarlet Ribbons and for some reason it reminded me of the sister and a poem I read at school (can’t remember what it was called now) and I thought of this scene?? Anyway I was out in the rain the other day and I finally decided to write it. Whilst editing I checked my facts and it turns out Thoit was actually still in the Hive when Temit drowned, so this scene didn’t actually happen, but… oh well. I like the concept of it anyway.

xxx

The tropical rains beat down from the sky, like bullets upon Thoit’s skin. Through the leaves, the branches, making a racket as they came. It didn’t bother him; he would rather be out in the heat and the wet of his forest than in the palace, faced with the coldness of his marriahe. He came out here to hide from her; that was certainly a factor. A small one, though. He just liked being out here. With Notion, preferably… but Nomizon was in his class. An Outsider needed a strict education just as much as a Hiveakan, and Thoit was not ignorant of that. It gave him time to himself, anyway… time alone with his animals, his world, his thoughts. … Thoughts that he didn’t care for, more often than not. It was easier when Nomizon was around.

He stubbed his cigarette out on his arm, briefly enjoying the euphoria that came from it. Euphoria that lasted through him jumping into the lake. Lasted while he allowed himself to sink down, the sound of the raindrops thundering around him as they replenished the water lost from heat. It was like being inside a storm. Like he were being fired at. If he didn’t move, if he didn’t swim, he could pretend he had been shot, and he could sink down and die… and that was when the euphoria stopped. When he thought of that, and recalled a water death he wished had not been. Decades ago, in Meitona, in Meitona Palace…

“Temit!” Prince Thoit had called her name as he ran, as if it would save her. As if his voice could ever be stronger than her own limbs, or make them work any harder than they already were. She knew how to swim. She wouldn’t have been allowed out on her own if she didn’t know how to swim. But ripples in the water, the absence of her… Thoit had just known. She could have been anywhere in the palace, but he had known. “Temit!” Into the palace lake he’d thrown himself. Down he’d swum, underneath the ripples he’d seen. Through the water plants that brushed against his skin – plants that were low, and too weak to capture him. A child, though… a little Outsider girl, who was only an average swimmer, and panicking and scared, and moving without thinking, and forgetting to hold her breath in her fear…

Thoit started to move. Fast. He hurled himself at the surface, through the water thundering around him, into the safe, wet air and he took a breath. A deep breath, that healed him. He threw himself onto the grass and he lay there, so unsettlingly aware of how easily he had been able to save himself. … And the irony of that.

It hadn’t taken him long to find her. It hadn’t taken him long to free her from her chains. In seconds he was on the grass with her, trying desperately to push the water from her lungs. Screaming at servants who had come to help, to send for the palace doctors and tell his father. His father… not the girl’s mother. Thoit hadn’t wanted her to know it yet. He hadn’t wanted her to know at all… not until there was something good to tell her. He knew it would break her. His father, it would not. He would be angry, and he would briefly feel saddened… but he would handle it. This wasn’t the worst news that Thoit could give to him.

“Is she breathing?”

“She isn’t responding!”

“… Sire.”

‘Stop.’ ‘I’m sorry.’ ‘You did your best.’ Words Thoit had heard, from those who really had admired him. Those who had been grateful to him for noticing she needed help, even if he had noticed too late. … Where was the admiration in that? He could have left her there and it would have made no difference to the world. No difference to her mother. In fact, perhaps the woman could have lived in hope, that her child had been kidnapped and would one day be found. People often said not knowing was the worst. It was better to know, than spend an eternity wondering…. Thoit didn’t agree with that. If it was his boy, his Nomi… he would rather live in hope. Blind, ignorant, stupid hope that his pup would be returned. He was certain he would rather see Nomizon’s absence than Nomizon’s corpse. But… people had been grateful to him either way. For bringing her to the surface, and carrying her to her parents. His father, her mother, Keika Fala… and his own biological mother as well. He had knelt down before them, with his sister in his arms. Fala had shivered, and gasped. Speechless, stunned. Not knowing what to do. What to say, what to feel. His own mother, Denna… she had screamed.

“No!” Keika Denna had wailed, in a way that no Hiveakan should, and especially not over an Outsider – and especially not over an Outsider who wasn’t their own blood. But… she was blood, as far as Denna was concerned. As far as most Hiveakans would be concerned. Family through marriage was still family, and Denna had lost her daughter as much as any blood could say. The anger upon her face… Thoit wasn’t sure if she would kill him. Had he not been holding Temit, she might have. But she didn’t dare harm the girl. So she had grabbed Fala, and looked her in the eyes… and that was when Fala had started to cry. Down the women had fallen, holding onto each other. Fala sobbing against Denna’s frame, Denna seething as if she wanted to murder whoever was responsible. It would have been easier if someone was. If only it had been a murder. If only Temit had been killed, by someone Denna could capture, and gut, and torture… that would have been closure enough for her. She would have got over it, the way her husband had. … But she didn’t. She never got over it, because the only language she spoke was revenge, and there was no revenge to be had… and with that, Denna didn’t know what to do. She had never known what to do. Not with Temit, not with her husband… she just lashed out, at anyone who dared comfort her. Anyone who dared try to make her compose herself. She was never one for composing herself, or keeping her emotions in chains. She was dangerous, and violent, and free. … And how hard it had been, being her son. Still… at least she had always been honest. Crazy as she was. sometimes, Thoit still thought he could feel the pain of the many times she had struck him. Or shot him, or burned him in one of her episodes of madness. He could still feel it now, in his lungs, from where she had punched him. It had felt different though, back then. Not as sharp, and not as even across both sides. … … Shit. It wasn’t a fucking memory!

[meitonapalace]

Finally did Kala version 2. I think I prefer this one, it’s much prettier 😊 More pics on my Facebook

[meitonapalace]

Kala cosplay, by yours truly. The shower looked like the one from Psycho when I was finished 😂 I'm going to do another interpretation of her when the weather gets nicer ❤🔔 More pics on our Facebook

[meitonapalace]

Bells and jewellery arrived... just need to get some red heels to hide my human feet and I can cosplay as Kala 😁❤🔔

[meitonapalace]

Regal quote of the day: "They told Hiveakans not to love, and I love you."

Guess who this is :D

[meitonapalace]

Celebrating International Women's Day with these three influencers ❤ Gaiamiráka may be owned by kings, but it's run by queens 👑♀️

[meitonapalace]

How could I forget to post this?? A sexy crazy Suela by @friskyhellspawn

[meitonapalace]

Outsider parent: Shows a large amount of love and affection towards their children, their friends' children, strangers' children... but doesn't really know what to do when said children are harmed. Tries to help, panicks, relies on authorities to get the situation under control.

Hiveakan parent: Cold and cruel towards their own children, and ignore everybody else's. Loveless. Frightening. But will attack and restrain anyone who tries to harm any child at all. Will mostly likely gut and skin anyone who tries to harm their child. Leave them to it, they got this.

[meitonapalace]

"I fought for a better world. I fought for what was right, and I fought for you, and if that means I must die... know that I died for you. Gaiamiráka... I love you."

[meitonapalace]

Princess Beina, by the amazing @Glas_draws. Beina actually has quite dark hair, but Glas came up with this light colour in the first draft and I think it's gorgeous?? So I might use it on one of the other girls, maybe Beina's sister 👀👀

Anyway thank you so much Glas! I love her ❤❤❤

[serenityscribblesartblog]

Simple Watercolor Commissions are still open!

RULES: 2 characters per drawing at max! No detailed backgrounds! Payment in advance!

If interested message me!

[meitonapalace]

Princess Anaka! She was a Secret Santa gift from @the-blueberry-jellyfish , and OMG she looks amazing 😭

Absolutely gorgeous, and I love the background as well! Thank you so much Jelly ❤❤❤

[meitonapalace]

Sci-fi/fantasy novel Regal: God of War

Hey guys! Just a quick PSA to let you know that my sci-fi/fantasy novel Regal: God of War by Victoria Bates is still available to buy worldwide on Amazon in kindle and paperback format, and the paperback edition is also in Waterstones in the UK.

US citizens can download the kindle for free when they buy the paperback from Amazon.com! Regal: God of War is also available for free on Kindle Unlimited.

I will sign copies in Manchester, or elsewhere if I happen to visit! PM me for details.

I’m currently writing Regal 2 and will hopefully release it in summer 2019, so grab book 1 now!

‘Being heir to the Gaiamirákan throne isn’t easy, especially when you have competition. For Prince Mokoto, life is a constant battle as he strives to gain the approval of his cruel and ruthless father King Taka. But as challenging as his adult life is, it is nothing compared to the horrors he was forced to endure as a child. Some nightmares never leave you, even when you are old enough to become a living nightmare yourself.’

~A sci-fi fantasy novel revolving around the lives and family dynamics of a warrior monarchy. At its centre is Mokoto, the youngest and only male child of his father King Taka. Mokoto is raised in a dark and terrifying place, knowing only pain and nightmares. When he is finally set free at the young age of thirteen, he is immediately at war with his own siblings to prove his worth to his father. His life is not his own, and yet it is still his responsibility to make it a success. If he fails, he will not only have to answer to his father, but to the God of War himself.~

Also follow @meitonapalace for updates, info, fanart, character asks, OCs and special offers, and feel free to submit your art/ideas and Regal OCs to our tumblr or Facebook page! Our inbox is always open!

*Regal: God of War is rated as adult due to scenes of violence and sexual content.

[meitonapalace]

Hallowegal 2019

A/N:- Please accept my sincere apologies for the delay in Regal 2. It is coming along, slowly but surely… I’m hoping it’ll be finished relatively soon. Thank you everyone for your patience, I hope you find it worth the wait. But for now, on Regal’s anniversary, please accept this short scene! And thank you to @friskyhellspawn for allowing me to borrow their OC for it! Love you fam! <3 (Warning: contains book 1 spoilers)

xxx

For a while, he had heard rumours, of a beast of the forest. Taka had been hesitant to believe them, of course. When his people came to him, saying there was something in the forest, near the sight at which they had fallen… Taka didn’t believe them. They claimed it could see them. They claimed it had chased them, but Taka didn’t believe it. Nobody in this world could see them. They were spirits, alien to Earth. Unable to join its life force, unable to return home. Taka and his army were destined to wander Earth, spirits lost, for all eternity. He believed that, until he saw it with his own eyes. Or rather… evidence of it. A man of his race approached him, with a bloodied stump where his arm had once been. The creature had attacked, and claimed it. The blood was fresh, not taken by human weapons. This was… something else. Something that could see them. Something that could hurt them. “Don’t go in the woods, Sire.” A soldier warned… yet again. “It can kill us!” “How?” Taka spoke. “We aren’t part of this world.” He looked at the man. “Is it human?” “No.” the solider shook his head. “I… I don’t know what it is. But it can see us.” “… I see.”

He wasn’t afraid. He felt no urge to keep away. Instead, he felt drawn. To the forest, to that creature… it could set him free. That was all Taka could think. All he could believe. This thing… it would set him free. He nodded at the man, and placed a hand upon his shoulder. “Thank you, for coming here with me.” Taka said. “I am sorry I brought you here.” “Sire…”

The solider watched, baffled as Taka began to walk towards the forest, towards his certain death. “Sire! What are you doing?” He ran to the king, and attempted to pull him back. “It will kill you –” “How long have we been trapped on this world?” Taka growled, pushing him off. “If this thing can kill me?” He smirked, and watched the horror form on the soldier’s face. There must have been excitement in Taka’s eyes; there must have been such a keenness upon his lips… because he could feel the ecstasy filling his soul, and he made no effort to hide it. This was it… this was the thing that would end it. And in such a way… “I will enjoy the fight.”

The soldier tried to stop him, but Taka went all the same. Running towards the forest, without even looking back. He told his comrades they didn’t have to follow; he told them the choice was theirs and it was true. They could stay if they wanted, and he wouldn’t think less of them if they did. But him… he was done with this world. He was done with wandering, he was done with regretting. And he was… restless. So, so restless. His thirst for blood carried him into the darkness of the woods and he hoped the creature would show him no mercy. He was ready for a fight.

He ran through the trees, his senses alight. He listened, he smelt, he watched… he stopped to study his surroundings, and realised he was lost. He had kept track of his own movements; he should know exactly how to leave. But he didn’t. He couldn’t escape. And it excited him. The woods… had trapped him. It was… soothing. Taka exhaled, and allowed his eyes to close. He allowed the memories to flood his soul, memories of the last time he was trapped in a dark, cruel place, with nothing but his own fear to keep him company. The Hive… his home. He could feel it, in this place. He could feel it around him. The coldness of his room upon his torn skin, the hardness of the floor upon his bare, tired young feet. The smell of his own blood in the air, the feeling that he couldn’t fully sleep in case he was disturbed by someone who wanted to harm him. His own shaky breaths were his lullabies, the sound of his neighbours being beaten and bruised… … That place was the safest he had ever known. And he felt it now. It was… comforting.

Taka could hear breathing, though. He could sense he wasn’t alone; he could sense eyes on him. A faint snarl came from nearby, followed by sinister laughter. It was all around him, as impossible as it was. He wasn’t afraid. The creature would come for him… and he would let it.

He started to run. Not because he wanted to get away, but because he didn’t want it to be over so soon. He wanted to enjoy his death. He wanted to be pursued, by something besides the humans. Something that wasn’t sent by his gods. He wanted to die by the creature’s hand, and he wanted to revel in leaving the world. He wanted to remember what it was like to be a child; he wanted to relive the fear he’d only felt in the dark safety of that place. He could hear the laughter, he could hear the snarls. Drawing closer, although Taka ran fast. “Come here…” A voice echoed all around him, growing louder as it spoke. “You won’t get away…!” Closer… louder. Still, Taka ran. Then he threw his neck up, and jumped.

He grabbed hold of the web he had hurled from his mouth, onto a tree branch and he gazed down at his pursuer as he swung over its head. He had seen it coming. Of course he had seen it coming. It must be this place, or the fact that he was nearing the end of his life… but he felt once again in his youth. Having to flee, as fast as he could, from someone who wanted to kill him. His mother. So many times he had caught the vicious end of one of her moods – and so many times he had caused it. He’d run from her, because he didn’t have the authority to kill her first. He’d fought her as gently as he could, but she’d brought weapons to the fight. Guns, knives, flamethrowers, bombs. The woman was a lunatic, he wasn’t afraid to say that anymore. Her persistence knew no limits and if he didn’t dodge, he didn’t live. They had been terrifying times… but looking back, perhaps the best in his life.

He cut himself loose to drop down in front of the creature, and before it he stood his ground. It looked like nothing he had ever seen. Clothed, and shaped somewhat like him, and like a human… but in place of its head was a skull, a ram skull. A skull with hair, and eyes alight with excitement. It held a knife in its hand; it walked upon hooves. … What was this? “Why can you see me?” Taka asked. “I’m dead.” “Mmm…” The creature purred, its eyes glowing as it sneered at its prey. “Tasty one… so am I.”

It wanted him to run again, Taka could sense as much. He knew bloodlust when he saw it; even upon the face of a skull he could see its thoughts. He could smell its excitement; he could feel its keenness to hunt, and kill. Of course he knew it; he had it himself. He knew this creature wanted to chase him, and have its fun with him… But he wasn’t going to run. He wanted his fun with it as well. So, he charged.

He let out a snarl, and in battle they engaged. The creature was clumsy at first; clearly it had never had anybody fight it before. But fight back it did. Taka growled as they fought; blocking its attacks and throwing at it his own. It hurt him… even when he blocked its attack it hurt him; the strength of its arms shattered his bones. He relished in the pain. It reminded him of the beating he’d got from his father, when he’d impregnated his first wife. He hadn’t enjoyed that. He had hated that. But… it had been when he was young, and free. He missed being young and free…

Slash! Taka cried out, at the sharp pain of a knife in his body. He could feel it, greater than he’d ever felt anything before. Never had he felt pain like it! The fibres of his muscles burned around the blade, as if it were forged in the depths of hell itself, and still hot from its birth. He felt his blood spill from his being, faster than blood should run. He was dying… “Hahaha…” The creature snarled in excitement, joy within its eyes. Did it think it had killed him? Did it think it would be able to cut him again? No! Taka fought through his injury, as great as it was. He smacked the creature down, only for it to rise and do the same. He threw a fist into its skull and relished in the crack that followed. But the skull wasn’t broken, although Taka’s fist almost was. What was this thing…? Why couldn’t he damage it? It was like a god… and that soothed Taka even more. The last time he’d fought a god it had defeated him, and there was no shame in losing to a god. But, this god… this was the god he wanted to take his life. This wasn’t the Gaiamira. This wasn’t human. This god was worthy of him. “Ugh!” “Rrrrrra!” The creature howled when Taka pierced it with his claws, but its howl soon turned into laughed when it grabbed his hands and pulled. Taka gritted his teeth, hissing as it did exactly what he thought it would do. Yes… grab him. He could feel it breaking his fingers, his palms. He could hear the cracking of his bones echoing through the forest, and he relished in it. Because he wanted a challenge. He kicked against its body, and threw it to the ground. It pulled him down with him, and they wrestled against the mud. It struck him with its knife, time after time, but Taka struck it back. Bloodied and sliced he fought it, unable to do anything else, and he saw his brother in its eyes. The greatest fight he’d had with Thoit… the battle for the throne. For hours they had fought, to the death. It was supposed to be to the death. To win the crown, one brother had to slay the other, and to slay each other they had tried. With every cut the creature made, Taka relived his brother’s claws. With every strike Taka threw at it, he felt Thoit’s body against his hand. As he tore at the creature’s shirt he remembered Thoit’s bloodied clothes, shredded and spoiled as he bled underneath. Thoit could have died that day. Taka could have died that day. One of them should have. But Thoit… he hadn’t wanted to. He had sensed Taka would win, and he had known he was supposed to carry on fighting until Taka did… but Thoit didn’t. He didn’t carry on. He ended it, against his own pride, before Taka could kill him. Not because he wanted to live… but because he wanted to see his brother crowned. He’d wanted to witness it for himself, because he’d held in his soul pride… for Taka. More than for himself. … Fuck. Taka remembered that now. He remembered Thoit not wanting to kill him, in case he missed him. Damn… did Taka miss him.

He leapt to his feet and fought, to the death in Thoit’s name. He stood opposite the creature, his claws as sharp as its knife, his teeth as bared as the nakedness of its skull, his eyes as filled with bloodlust as its own. But… one of them would not be spared. Taka knew the creature had no intention of letting him go; it wanted to gut him too much. And Taka… he had no intention of living after he had been defeated. It was time now… it was time. As he stared the creature down, each of them trying to hold dominance over the other… Taka knew the next strike would be his end. He could feel on his clothes too much of his own blood. “Come, then!” Taka cried. “Finish it!”

The creature did. It lunged at him, and Taka fought against it. He refused to go without fighting, but he knew it was a fight he would lose. Still… a fight he enjoyed. It had been so long since he’d fought someone worthy. He struck it more than it had ever been struck before. Although he couldn’t kill it, he hurt it enough. More than it was used to, much more. And it got excited. It slashed at him. And slashed at him and slashed at him, laughing in malice as it butchered its prey. Still, Taka fought. Until he became too light-headed to stand, and his legs dropped him to the ground. Like Thoit had dropped to the ground, and bowed his head in defeat… Taka looked up, at the creature that would slay him. The beast of the forest, the undead entity… whatever it was. The thing that would set him free. He stared into its eyes, and he didn’t dare break its gaze… until he could stare no more. In one sweep, too fast for Taka to escape even if he’d tried, the knife sliced across his face and took his eyeball with it. The ligaments tore from his socket so easily it was as if they wanted to go. Taka fell onto his back, so that he could still face the one who had slayed him. He heard the laughter as it marvelled at his injuries, and he felt the knife in his skin. He felt his guts being pulled from his body, he felt his blood spilling onto the cold, dark ground… and he felt an overwhelming sense of peace.

[meitonapalace]

"I'm not angry that the world is destroyed. I'm angry that I tried to stop it, and it happened anyway."

Who can't stand failure? 👀👀 Free mini fic for the first person who can guess who this teaser relates to.