Sunbeam Lair could’ve got a deal if i wanted, but i like owning shit

i’d love if someone from the saints could join but this is aw!

After days of traversing the mountain range, he found what he was looking for. A hidden cavern filled with flora of all kinds. A medic’s paradise.

This place hasn’t changed much since his last visit. It was still spacious, still quiet, and most importantly, it was stocked full of all the herbs he needed. There was a lot more mud than last time (that was annoying of course) but it wouldn’t stop him from getting what he needed.

Cupid strolled through the cave before stopping by a bundle of flowers. Momma would use the buds to help with aches back in the day. Hopefully these would be useful if his chest ever started acting up again. God forbid.

renard had not come back to the canyon after the saints’…eventful trip to the meadow. besides the foolishness inherent in marching them around in a straight line like apparently donovan had wanted, if there was one thing worse for moving unseen in than endless sunlight, it was elbow-deep water.

instead, they veered to the west on the way. hardly a sightseeing tour, with the rain, but it was best to make sure nobody else was moving in around the canyon. arrow lake led to a cavern shaded from the rainfall, and renard’s steps took them in a long loop around it before –

smile already rising to their lips, they straightened, and followed the trail down through twisting passages until their eyes landed on the source.

the scent was familiar. not just from the mess they’d followed from ravensblood forest. there was someone…else…

clicking their tongue, renard stalked along the cavern’s edge, eyes opened to thin violet slits. it was good to be in the shadows again; it was good to be out of the flooded pit the saints’ canyon had turned into.

but –

simmik. back at the river. the one they’d even warned about the cannibal wolves. how lucky for her nemisis was currently serving her purpose as dove’s…renard didn’t know exactly what dove was doing with her skull. donovan collected just as many misplaced followers as he did those with an excessive taste for blood.

and then praimfaya. it was a sad time when the only person left with a head on their shoulders was the spy.

“neverwinter forest,” renard said. “this is an interesting choice for travel, isn’t it?”

He usually had a good eye for creeps that lurked in corners, but he didn’t notice this one until he spoke. Cupid spun around, hair on end and a single flower between his teeth.

How the hell did he know where he lived? His face was nowhere near familiar. Maybe he was a previous member of the forest, that’s the only logical conclusion he could come to. However, the theory wasn’t so sound. He needed more information.

What’s it matter to you?

the simple truth of things right now was that renard was both bored and had thoroughly given up on donovan. charisma meant nothing when there was nothing behind it. all the lofty goals of making everyone else here bow to the saints were flimsy at best.

they were half inclined to prod this fight, this war, along, if nobody else was willing to do it.

they wanted to see something. if the saints would stand, if praimfaya would fight with them, what would come of donovan after it all. he’d die or he’d become more brutal – there was no avenue where he actually solved the problem. the fascination was beginning to bleed away quickly.

she spun to face them, clutching a flower between her teeth. maybe not here to scout, then, but renard had lived too long to let suspicion leave on that little evidence.

renard shrugged, circling nearer. “close to the saints, don’t you think?”

Close to the saints.

Well fuck. How lucky of him.

Suddenly his mind was racing. How was he gonna wiggle his way out of this situation? Cupid couldn’t afford be beaten, kidnapped, killed, or whatever the hell these guys did. He had a kid to get back to.

He took a deep breath, collected his thoughts, then exhaled. Look, I don’t want any trouble. Just let me grab these and I’ll be on my way.

renard’s opinion of donovan was, of course, what it was. but they couldn’t deny the effect. it wasn’t the respect that he’d tried to claim – it was fear – but of course it was. fear was far more effective, used wisely, and when you kept an eye on the people you were applying it to.

whatever he’d done – and refused to explain – back in the dunes was enough. their visitor took a deep breath before she spoke and normally…well, there wasn’t really a normal here, was there? she was passing by. if renard cared about keeping the saints’ nose clean –

they were past that.

they took another step. the smile widened until it was flat teeth gleaming in the darkness, lost all pretense at friendliness. it was nice, that for once there was no point in pretending.

“start running,” renard suggested, and came forward, waiting for her to turn to snap out at a hind leg – or at her face, if she refused.

There was no immediate answer, but Cupid didn’t need one. Sirens went off in his head as a crazed smile spread from ear to ear.

Start running? You didn’t have to tell him twice.

Turning around wasn’t an option. He couldn’t let the lunatic drag him from behind, but that wasn’t the only thing. As far as he knew, there was a end in the depths of the cave. If he ran there he was fucked for sure.

Cupid had to go forward, which meant he had to take the hit. And oh how he wished he could’ve changed his decision.

It wasn’t his cheek that the teeth snagged on, or the snout, or an ear. He jerked his head to the side, and his attacker managed to sink his teeth into his fucking eye. The pain rivaled the heart attack. Cupid couldn’t hold back a scream.

He tried to ram his head into the guy’s chin in a desperate attempt to free himself.

she did not turn. instead, she went forward, straight into renard, and their teeth came down, and under the weight of their jaws something popped, accompanied by an unmistakably pained scream. wasn’t their first time biting into someone’s eye, even if this time it wasn’t entirely intended. satisfaction coiled heavy in their limbs.

then her head thudded into their chin. their jaws snapped jarringly together.

“fuck,” renard spat, abandoning any lingering grip on the neverwinter wolf and laughing as they reeled backwards, a trickle of blood already falling from their lip where their tooth had cut neatly through.

they had no desire to drag anyone back to the saints – this was an entirely…extracurricular activity. they’d let her go.

not easily.

renard gave her a moment to get her feet under her. and then they came right after, snapping at her heels – whether their teeth caught flesh or not hardly mattered. the eye was more than enough.

but it would be satisfying.

He stumbled backwards as soon as he was released. Half of his vision goes from red to white to blurry in an instant. God fucking damnit. No amount of medical care could fix what was done.

There was no time to worry about his eye right now. He needed to get the fuck out of here and put as much distance between himself and this mountain as possible.

After he regained what little sense he had left, Cupid made a run for it. Teeth raked across his heels as he slipped past his attacker. The sting was nothing compared to the warm pain on the left side of his face.

He willed himself forward.

wasn’t much of a point following for too long. not for anything beyond renard missing the chase, because for everything about the saints they’d been denied that too long. so they followed, snapped after her every so often until they’d broke from the cave into the pouring rain.

the eye wasn’t healing anytime soon, if ever, but renard kept any further nips that did manage to reach her legs or tail from being too serious. they wanted her back at neverwinter forest, after all. a warning. maybe even a summons, in their own way.

if they wanted the saints, renard wanted to see them try.

but eventually, they’d stop following, much as donovan appeared to enjoy collecting injured people. satisfied with their game, they’d draw to an abrupt stop and let her vanish into the rain.

as long as she took the exit, of course.