AnnouOkay, so I am ging a few things, basically I am moving to scheduling chapters for release, with releasing I think 3 per week. I also started a patreon if you want to read 15 chapters ahead iory ( Might end up posting more, but min 15 for now). The price is 15 dolrs but that was a mistake and I 't ge it for a monnth, week I''ll be dropping it down to 10 dolrs.

  The dining hall of the Serkoth was vast, its high ceilings eg with the quiet hum of versation, but the mood tonight was far from festive. At the tre of it all, a single massive table stretched across the room, its surface of dark stone gleaming uhe warm light of the deliers above. Long tapestries, woven with a symbols, draped the walls, creating a feeling of both intimad reverence for the ritual of the evening.

  Vivie he tre of the table, fnked by Rava, her bodyguard and friend, and Korriva, who occupied the head of the table with her imposing presehe High Fang’s eyes, sharp as a predator’s, rayed far from Vivienne as she studied her guest, though her expression was calm, almost thoughtful.

  The table was set for a select few, an intimate gatheriing the occasion. The feast was abundant—roasted meats, freshly baked bread, and ripe fruits filling the table, their sweet aromas mingling in the air. Yet, the atmosphere was far from festive. Korriva’s advisors sat stiffly at the table, their eyes gng cautiously at Vivienne, a silent awareness of her presence hanging heavy in the air. Among them was Korriva’s third child, a lekine man, whose youthful appearance belied his years—almost twice Vivienne's age, though his face was still fresh with the vitality of youth.

  Korriva’s voice broke the quiet, her tone low and anding, like the rumble of distant thuhreatening a ing storm. “So, Vivienne,” she began, her golden eyes narrowing with intrigue, “what are you?”

  Vivienne fshed a mischievous grin, her eyes glinting with something darker, something older. “plicated,” she replied, her voice smooth and ced with amusement.

  Then, without warning, she opened her mouth wide—far wider than any human should be capable of, a cavern of needles and bohat made even the most stoic at the table flinch. She tossed aire drumstito the gaping maw, tearing it from the boh a single snap of her jaws. She chewed owice, and swallowed. “Teically aherbeast,” she tinued, her grin widening as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, “but a little more than that.”

  The room stilled, the quiet after Vivienne’s uling dispy thick with tension. Rava’s older brother, Narek, shifted unfortably in his seat, his sharp eyes flig between Vivienne and Korriva. He was tall, with fur that shimmered silver uhe dim light, his youthful face betraying his age only in the subtle, quiet lines around his eyes. Korriva’s gaze remained unwavering, her sharp eyes studying Vivieh a mixture of curiosity and caution.

  “A little more?” Korriva asked curtly, as if demanding an answer.

  “Think of a nightmare but with a bit more soul included,” Vivienne said softly, her voice ced with a strange, uling calm. She leaned forward slightly, her eyes fshing in the flickering dlelight. “I holy don’t know too much about my supposed brethren. All I know is I eat aether—or aether-rich sources.” She let the words hang in the air for a moment, a challenge. “And you all smell delectable.”

  The atmosphere in the room shifted, the words settling heavy in the air. Vivieurned slowly, her gaze sweeping over each of the guests, lingering just a little too long on Narek, before shifting back to Korriva. “Am I that scary?” she asked, her tone pyful. “I think Korriva here is far scarier than I.”

  Narek, unfortable with the unnerving presence Vivienne exuded, g his mother before clearing his throat. “We’re all here because we trust Korriva’s judgement,” he said, his voice steady but carrying an edge of challenge. “But don’t mistake the hospitality of our for weakness. The strength of the Serkoth is in our unity, not in how well we scare each other.”

  Vivienne waved him off dismissively, her expression pyful. “Pish. I ’t feel fear, and I’m hardly going to kick up a fuss in Rava’s home.” She bit down on a fruit den with juice, its vibrant color staining her lips. Before it could make a mess, she quickly tossed the whole thing into her mouth, chewing slowly as if sav the moment. “Also, I literally taste the fear-ced aether you’re radiating, and I know it’s directed at me.”

  Narek opened his mouth to respond but paused when Vivienne raised a cwed finger, sileng him. His face darkened slightly at the interruption, but Vivienne only smirked in response, unfazed by his annoyance.

  “There’s a saying I quite like,” she tinued, her voice taking on a tone of refle, almost as if she were speaking from experience. “One I’m familiar with intimately.” She met his gaze, her eyes cold but pierg. “Ce is not the absence of fear. Ce is bravery in the face of fear.”

  She let the words linger in the room, watg as Narek’s expression faltered, his defensive posture softening for a brief moment.

  “I would hardly call your weak,” Vivienne added, her tone shifting to something warmer, though still ced with her usual dark amusement. “Not when the glimpse I’ve had of this city so far is so impressive.”

  Korriva’s lips curled in the fai hint of a smile at Vivienne’s words, and she took a slow sip from her cup, the exge with careful eyes. “Fttery will get you nowhere,” she said, but there was a note of approval in her voice.

  Narek, still holding his posure, nodded curtly, though the edge of his initial disfort had dulled. “I’m not ed about fttery,” he said, his voice firm but measured. “What s me is the unknown. You’re not the first aetherbeast we’ve entered, but you… you speak. You’re something different.”

  Vivieilted her head with a pyful grin. “I mean, sure! Different be scary. I’ve always been different.” She hummed for a moment, letting the words hang in the air, before tinuing, her tone shifting to something more thoughtful. “I wasn’t always like this, but I was always feared, even when I was harmless. Now, I’m hardly harmless, but her is Rava.” She g the womaed beside her, eyes gleaming with admiration. “I’ve seen her crash into aherbeast twice her height like she was a goddess riding the storm.”

  Rava, who had been quiet up until now, cleared her throat. There was a faint flush c her cheeks, though she quickly masked it with a calm expression. “That’s enough of that,” she muttered, her eyes flickering briefly to Vivienne before turnitention back to the table.

  But the faint smile that tugged at Rava’s lips didn’t escape Vivienne’s notice. She leaned ione l with a teasing warmth. “Oh, e on, Rava. I think Narek o hear about how you once single-handedly took down aire band of maraudiherbeasts while barely breaking a sweat.”

  Rava shot her a pointed look, her brow furrowing as she took a slow, deliberate sip from her gss. “That’s not the point,” she said, her voice cool but with an uone of fondness. “What matters is that we work together. We don’t o keep proving ourselves to each other.”

  Vivienne’s smile softened, and for a moment, her usual bravado seemed to waver. “Fair enough,” she said quietly, looking back to Narek and Korriva. “But the point remains—Rava and I, we’re not so different. Fear is only as strong as the strength we give it.”

  Korriva’s sharp gaze lingered on Vivienne for a long moment, and then she nodded slowly, almost imperceptibly. “Strength es in many forms,” she said, her voice steady but carrying the weight of experience. “And some forms are more dangerous than others.” She met Vivienne’s eyes, the unspoken challeween them palpable. “The question is: what will you do with that strength?”

  Vivienne leaned ba her chair, eyes glinting with something unreadable. “What I do with it, or what the gods wao do with it?” she asked, her voice thick with the implications of the question. “That’s a tricky question. I’m ly the type to take orders.”

  Rava’s lips twitched, as if fighting the urge to smile. She leaned forward, her tone light but with a deeper edge. “No one here is asking you to take orders. But I think we’d all prefer if you didn’t make it harder for us to trust you.”

  Before Vivienne could respond, Korriva spoke up, her voice calm but den with i. “I think I have an idea for that. A test of sorts. Deeds are the stro form of trust, are they not?”

  Vivienne nodded, using her cws to slice a whole sb of roasted meat intenerous portions. She then pierced one of the cuts with her sharp talons and pced it in her maw, chewing thoughtfully as she spoke. “Deeds do speak louder than words. After all, anyone say they’re trustworthy, but it’s the as that prove it.”

  Korriva tapped the table idly, her gaze unwavering. “Indeed. Retly, farmers have been disappearing at night. There have bees of a creature—some say it disappear into the shadows.”

  Vivienne’s ears perked at that, her eyes lighting up with a mix of intrigue and amusement. “Oh, that sounds like me!” Her statement was met with a few horrified looks from the table, and she chuckled softly, waving them off. “Not literally me. Just... simir capabilities. I presume you wao look into it?”

  Korriva regarded Vivieh a cool, appraising gaze, her expression unreadable as she listeo the woman's fident words. “Yes. You’ll find that there’s more at py here than simple disappearances. I trust you’ll be able to ha.”

  Vivienne leaned ba her chair, crossing one leg over the other and fshing a wide grin, her eyes gleaming with anticipation as the firelight danced across her features. “sider it done,” she decred, voice smooth and unshaken.

  Korriva arched a eyebrow, her mouth twitg in a faint smirk that suggested she wasn’t easily swayed. “I will sider it done when it is done,” she retorted, her tone dry and precise.

  The ers of Vivienne’s mouth turned up even higher as she let out a hauntingly beautiful ugh that seemed to echo off the stone walls of the chamber. “Of course. May I borrow my dear friend Rava here for the job?” she inquired, shooting a pyful gnce over at the lekine woman sitting stoically beside her.

  Rava rolled her eyes, though a faint trausement pyed around her lips. It was hard to be truly irritated with Vivienne when she was so undeniably captivating in her boldness and uability.

  “I do not see an issue with that,” Korriva said, her tone calm but authoritative. “I will o debrief her beforehand, though. After a night’s rest, of course.” She gave a subtle nod, her gaze flig briefly to Vivienne before settling ba Rava.

  “Of course, High Fang,” Rava replied with a polite bow.

  Vivienne, clearly unbothered by the formalities, gestured toward the half-eaten roast sitting untouched at the far end of the table. “No ooug that anymore. I have the rest?”

  The advisors exged wary gnces before oantly nodded, clearly unsure of what was about to happen.

  Without further hesitation, Vivienne reached out, her cwed hand shifting and expanding unnaturally. The limb split along its length, revealing a seouth brimming with razor-sharp teeth. With an almost casual motion, she enveloped the entire roast and pulled it into herself in one swift, grotesquely effit movement.

  The room fell into stunned silence. Several of the warriors at the table stared wide-eyed, forks frozen halfway to their mouths. One advisor dropped his cup, the ctter eg loudly in the hushed hall.

  “Well,” Vivienne said, leaning ba her chair with a satisfied sigh, “that hit the spot.”

  Rava buried her fa her hands, groaning audibly. “You just had to do that, didn’t you?”

  Korriva’s rea was measured. She leaned forward slightly, her golden eyes narrowing as she studied Viviehere was no fear in her gaze, only a keen i. “You are… unique.” she said finally, her voice carrying a note of dry amusement.

  “Thank you, High Fang.” Vivienne offered a broad grione as bright and cheery as if she’d just been praised for exempry table etiquette—an amusing irony, given she hadn’t so much as g a utensil all evening. Her cws, after all, werely designed for delicate dining.

  The leader of the Serkoth rose to her full, imposi, her anding presence immediately drawing the room’s attention. “I will have a room prepared for you near my daughter’s quarters,” Korriva decred, her tone as unyielding as sto ced with a hint of hospitality.

  Vivienne’s grin widened. “Such generosity, High Fang. I’ll try not to scare your household staff too much.”

  Korriva gave Vivienne a long, appraising look before turnitention back to her advisors. “Ensure uest is settled and that she has everything she requires. Rava,” her golden gaze softened ever so slightly, “you will see to her yourself.”

  “Yes, High Fang,” Rava said, bowing her head. Her tone was respectful, though there was a glint of something unspoken in her eyes as she g Vivienne.

  “Good.” Korriva’s expression hardened again, her gaze sweeping over the room. “The cil meeting will resume tomorrow.”

  With that, she stepped away from the table, her presenanding even as she departed the hall. The room buzzed with quiet activity as advisors began to file out, each casting lingering g Vivieheir expressions a mix of curiosity and unease.

  “Well,” Vivienne said, stretg theatrically, “I think that went rather well, don’t you?”

  Rava shook her head, already rising to her feet. “You’re insufferable.”

  “Charming,” Vivienne corrected with a wink, falling into step beside her. “Lead the way, Rava. Let’s see just how luxurious these Serkoth aodations are.”

  “Luxurious?” Rava snorted, her tone dry. “You’re in for a surprise.”