”The Leviathan.” It was a name that would stay with the girl for a long time, one that would creep into dreams and linger just out of sight. It conjured pictures of the legend that lurked in the sea, where the water was cold and dark and deep. Surely this beast was a match for the name, it rolled off his tongue with matched menace that wrapped her in ice and held her captive. The screechers came again, horrid angry things, and Asavvi lifted her eyes to the circling dragons. Her mother’s eagle could have taken the white one, but the gold would have been nearly twice his size and neither mattered for her guardian was not here, and neither was her mother, or her father. She was alone and faced with a beast that spoke of devouring gods.

The Leviathan questioned her of magic and around the edges of her fear snuck curiosity and the smallest hint of pride. Is that what she had felt? This tie to what had been? She would have thought it would have been like her mother’s, warm and bright and welcoming but now it seemed so dark. Was it really this that had been sleeping inside her? This conduit to pain and suffering and not only that but he was mocking her for it. As different as she might have been, she was still the Sunspear's daughter. She did not speak but a are flare of stubborn pride stiffened her spine and had her glaring at the the stallion. Magic. If she had felt anything before now it had seemed small and beautiful but the way he spoke the word made her want to recoil. How dare he? Wasn’t it enough to be threatening, wasn’t it enough that she had to be powerless and frightened, did he have to make her a bad thing too?

The Leviathan placed the amulet on the ground; she had been warned about the Goddess, and in the girls mind she was just as much a creature of nightmares. “No!” Her voice was firmer than before, for she was sure nothing that came from that amulet could be good. The thing seemed to pulse, a glowing purple heart and Asavvi remembered the purple specter she had conjured, the one in the midst of war. Her ears went flat now, not only was she frightened but now the little stargazer was something she had never truly been before: angry.

If a wolf must kill to eat, that was nature. In her childish understanding of the world it was sad perhaps but it was spoke in the wheel of life. Death was a natural thing, not necessarily a bad one, but cruelty was and cruelty was written all over The Leviathan’s face. “Don’t, I don’t want to see—“ Her voice was a hiss, an angry whisper because whatever he was going to do was going to be bad, whatever came from the Moon Goddess was going to be bad. Her safe, happy world was gone, it had betrayed her with the help of the hulking, smirking, monster. The change was subltle, he still stood there, leering at her with the shards of the amulet under his hoof and his dragons circleing overhead; but he was different. The mane that hung lank curled back in lazy waves and the dark frightening face suddenly shimmered. 

....is this a joke?

For the first time the girl gave ground, stepping back as her head fell to the side. The anger and hurt and fear had fallen away from her face to leave only a mask of sheer puzzlement.