Noctisardor Bypass It's a blood diamond, flawless but for that one thing

It was perfect!

Ah, that must be him! Wylla picked up the pace until she was striding right alongside the boy, still gathering her thoughts together and mulling over how to be nice to someone outside her family when he folded into submissiveness. She lifted her lips in an approving smile. That was when she took her first good look at him and felt her stomach fall out from under her in a steep swoop.

If not for the soft blue eyes, the snip of brown on his nose, a smattering of black over his spine and the conspicuous scratches across his muzzle, Wylla could almost swear she was looking at Caiaphas. A much younger and much more hale Caiaphas. It wasn't Caiaphas, of course. She was far too ugly for this fellow. But someone even slightly resembling the witch made Wylla's blood freeze in her veins. It was like she could never be rid of that ghastly woman or her lifelong curse, which by now, Wylla was wholly convinced of.

It took her some time to recover from her shock, at which point she narrowed her eyes at him just a little. Just enough to put his guard up, like she might do something unkind, but she had no such designs. Her lips remained curved up at the corners, suggesting that her snarky remark of, what, you been beat up by a little girl before? was well-meaning, if a little crude. She liked that he was respectful — it sure was a nice change from her usual reception — but she saw no reason for him to curl his tail down like that. As if to dispel any tension, she waved hers jauntily.

It's okay, I'm not gonna bite ya. Hard. She snickered, waving away her unease from before. Not Caiaphas. Definitely not Caiaphas. But gut her for a sea bass if he didn't look like her from far away. I'm Wylla. You're new, she said, no hint of a question. What do they call you?