Jokastah sits comfortably on a mountain of comfortable lace cushions. Her tent is filled with tapestries and spoils from all her victories. A large table sits to her right mounted with many different types of foods, wine and delicacies. Talon stands with his arms crossed, watching her drink a tall bear of wine. He never thought he would set foot in this tent again, but here he was. Jokastah takes a heaping sip of wine and withdraws her cup, licking her lips with pleasure from its sweet taste, "Talon Oathbearer," she takes another small sip from her cup, "Seeing you here now truly drags up old memories. Memories of what we used to be."

"I am not here to harp on old memories."

" Wanting to forget or perhaps you already have?" She drains her cup of wine and throws it to the floor. Swinging her legs around, she places them on the floor in front of her, "We created this band of mercenaries together, you and I. We ravaged and pillaged for the good of all, putting those tyrant warlords in their place. We were unstoppable and you...just threw it all away." She raises her hands up high, "Look at us now. I have made this rabble into a great and powerful force without you! Without the aid of a God." She smirks, "Are you not impressed with what I have done?"

"Numbers do not make an army great. It is what you do that defines you."

She laughs, standing up on her whimsical legs, "Well look at you, talking as a God should. But you are not like the other Gods. You have a heart of a monster." He just stands and watches her. She drags her fingers over the table and picks up a small bit of fruit, "Oh come now. You may deny it but I have seen the worst of you."

"You have never seen the worst of me."

She smiles and walk up to him. Lifting the grape to his lips, she traces his mouth with it, leaning into him, "Do you really regret the past so much? Surely it wasn’t all bad. The nights of a victory always were rather...thrilling. Filled with endless rutting and plenty interesting positions." Talon’s hand shoots out to tangle around her throat. The grape drops to the floor as her pushes her against the table, "What do you think this will do?"

She does nothing but snickers; a misleading smile creeps across her face, "This is turning out to our last night together. What comes next Talon Oathbearer? Your hands around my neck and then your tongue down my throat?" He pushes her as he turns away. She rubs her neck and frowns, "You’ve grown soft. Has time aged me to your disliking? Am I no longer desirable to you as I once was?" Talon does not turn back. The blood begins to boil behind her eyes. She rushes towards him and grabs him by the arm, "You look at me when I speak to you! You think you are better than me? That because I am not a God I deserve nothing? No explanations, no answers? I awoke to find you gone! I searched for you and found nothing! I should kill you for what you’ve done!"

"You may kill me if it brings you satisfaction." She carefully raises a dagger to his throat. She would kill him he knew she would. She was not one who feared consequences. It was strange how seeing her made him feel a small inkling of regret. It would be so easy to fall back into his old ways, to just take her hand and once again have power at his fingertips. "You’d like that wouldn’t you?," she presses the dagger into his neck, "It would be so easy to saw off your head, eat your heart and take all the power you possess. It would free me from looking at your face ever again." He waits with poise for her next move. Jokastah presses the dagger in a bit deeper, drawing some blood from his skin. Not even a moment later she pulls it away, "But I cannot escape your face, even when you are not here." She turns back around towards the table. She carefully eats a few more delicacies before turning back to face him.

Talon wipes the blood from his neck. He stares at the red stains on his fingers for a moment. "I rather enjoy you being here now despite my distaste for you." He glares at her, "You owe me a debt."

"I do not break promises unlike some." She looks him over again from top to bottom. This conversation was making him grow restless. He did not wish to be badgered by her all night, but it was expected. He had been gone for so many years for having spent almost a decade by her side raping and killing wherever they went. She had every right to barrage him with her words, no matter how much he wished she would just shut up. "What is that girl to you? She is a warrior but the child she carries...it is not yours." She takes an apple and begins to walk towards him again, "The way she stares at the symbol on her finger, I’d say she lost the one it belongs to." Circling him, she smiles, "You are in love with her."

"If you summoned me only to pick away at my flesh like a vulture..."

"She is rather pretty. Worth a night between silk sheets but nothing more." She carefully leans into him again, "I am worth more than that." She stares right into his eyes looking rather hungry for more than just sweet fruits. Her hand travels slowly down his chest beneath him. Before she could take hold of him, he grabs her wrist and pulls her up, "What’s one more go? For old times sake?"

"You have not changed. You lack respect."

"Respect? Since when do I owe you any respect?" She pulls her hand free from him, "I miss the old Talon. This one standing before me...I don’t know who he is."

"It is better this way."

"For who?"

"For both of us."

"How noble of you." She backs away from him, "I will help you Talon Oathbearer in whatever venture you deem to take. I may owe you a debt, but the girl...I owe her nothing."

"She is an extension of me therefore you owe her as much as you owe me." 

"And by what authority do you demand this? She is not bound to you; just because you love her does not mean I will not kill her if I find reason to." 

"No harm will come to her by YOUR hand."

"Maybe I will just to see it change you. To get a taste of who you were when we ruled these dunes together..." His heavy feet storm up to her, glaring at her with distasteful eyes. She was pressing him intentionally. He cannot let her cut into him, not like it used to. He may have changed his ways over the years but there would always be the monster inside of him, waiting for a chance to taste the light once again. 

Before he could feed into her trap much more, he hastily turns and storms out of her tent. The fresh night air clears his sense of all the filth that clouded his mind.

"Are you alright?"

He turns to see Amalya standing there with a blanket around her shoulders. "Shouldn’t you be resting?"

"It is hard to find rest here." She glances wearily before approaching him, "This place makes me uneasy."

Next Chapter: Intro Snip