Slipping through the trees like a specter, he comes, a ghastly reminder of the dark reputation of the Marsh. A buckskin once, now lightly shaded with the green-gray of rot, dark hollows in the place of eyes. Clasped in his teeth is a curved sliver of ivory, the broken remnant of a rib. A dead creature, pitiless, dangerous, unnatural, carrying the remains of a kill. Black-clad legs stride through the thick mud, unmindful of the slight pull or the muck that clings to his hooves. He pauses near a large pool of water, gazing down at the body of a unicorn with a rapt expression. Carefully, he fishes the skull of corpse from the murky water with his foreleg, bringing it to the surface for purposes unknown.
Of course, Slaiter is not really dead, he simply appears to be so. Black eyes, hidden under equally dark markings, regard his prize, evaluating the level of decay. Flesh still hangs off the pale bone, tattered and stringy, putrefied by the long rest in stagnant water. Undeterred, the ghoulish stallion carefully bites down on the twisting horn that protrudes from the skull, making certain not to drop the deer bone that he has carried from the Threshold. He lifts the head from the slick ground, and despite the awkward weight, manages to move it onto a drier patch of earth, close to the trunk of a tree. Both burdens are deposited here, and a surprisingly sweet smile crosses his features. “That’s better, isn’t it? I can’t imagine that it was pleasant to be stuck underwater like that. I’m Slaiter, and this doe is Mira.” He nudges the rib fondly, then turns back to the skull. “Donner? Is that your name?” A pause, as if he is actually listening for a reply, then the odd stallion prances slightly, excitement evident in every motion.
Spotting more bodies in the surrounding liquid, sheer delight lights his eyes in an almost unholy way. “There are so many,” he murmurs, gazing across the vast expanse of corpses. “Let’s all be friends!” Again he approaches the water, slipping slightly in the slick mud, and begins the painstaking process of dredging up another skull, this one belonging to a pegasus. Cheerfully, he begins to hum, hooking a hoof into the empty eye socket of the thing and drawing it to the surface.
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