Duck Lake Manifest Destiny

Their time in Bearclaw Valley was growing short. Summer was approaching, and the hot days tired Potema to no end. She was a child of ice and darkness, not heat and light. She longed to either go north to the taiga, where it was considerably colder, or back to the shadowy forests of Blackfeather of Blackfoot. Instead she found that she had wandered north, towards a lake. It would have to do for now; water cooled just as well as shade.

The cool of the water would not be the only thing the lake provided to her. She could find a meal in the ducks that paddled gleefully on the water's surface, their tail-feathers in the air as they ate from the shallows. Potema had not seen waterfowl before, nor had she eaten one either. It would be a novel experience for the Dark Acolyte. She did not have much cover here, compared to the forests, but she made the most of the undergrowth shielding her from the view of the ducks.

But she was not the only wolf lurking in the tall grasses. Being born in a nest of assassins helped with her awareness, and her missing eye raised her senses nearly tenfold. Her ears swiveled to the nigh unnoticeable sound of movement, and her eye locked on a blaze of fire as it pounced on an unfortunate duck. The others scattered before Potema could make an attempt to lunge after them, leaving the young princess the opportunity to steal. Would she, though? Her stomach did not grumble enough to bring her to do such a thing.

She was more curious about what the fire-pelted woman said after her kill. A prayer. Potema cocked her head. She never bothered to pray over the souls of her kills and she was certain the Dark Brothers never did either; they only prayed that their mission be a success.

A heathen. The voice hissed in disgust. A sibyl of a fire god, most like. But nonetheless, a flame that has no place illuminating the Darkness. Potema was not a killer, however. If it was true, then perhaps she could tip off her brothers or another Dark Brother. But she had to see for herself. The half-blind female walked closer to the fire-furred woman, as silent as she could be. "Are you a priestess?"