Mera

  “How idiotic is a choosing ceremony,” Mera thought.

 As she stood by the dessert table eating tiny cakes. Especially if there was a war to be made. She rolled her eyes at the gaudiness of it all.

     The women vying for the chieftains affections, Him picking some young damsel who’s barley matting age. Mera huffed, This isn’t what she came to Sung for. To take part in some young girl's enslavement. Where she's branded and all freedoms taken away. No, that's definitely not what Mera wanted. 

She surveyed the gallery. Everything twinkled in the starlight. Her eyes landed on a group of young women who sneered at her and laughed. Mera Bared her teeth and chuckled as the women shuffled away quickly. 

      She continued her survey, she spotted her father talking with Sung’s advisor With a drink in his hand. She couldn’t be more annoyed at her father, he loves a good party, she hoped his antics didn’t embarrass her tonight.

    “You shouldn’t eat too many sweet cakes,” someone said.

Mera turned around and came face to face with Sungs General, Kai.

“You might never find a mate if you keep eating like that” Kai scolded as he took a sip of the thick red liquid that sloshed around in his cup. 

     She instinctively reached for her sword at her hip, which wasn't there,  

“Shit” she cursed under her breath. 

   “What do you want?” Mera scrawled.

 She hated being without a weapon, especially since this guy screamed of danger and violence she didn’t trust him, so she stepped back and crossed her arms over her chest with an expectant look upon her face. 

   Kai walked and stood directly in front of her and lifted his hands in surrender. 

   “I just wanted to talk and get to know the next chieftain of the Yumi people''.

 “There's nothing to know,” Mera snarled, turning her back on him.

 Kai let go a soft growl. Mera smirked, she knew he wasn’t

use to disrespect. 

  She turned back around to see that the general was fuming, his body clenched up, his hands shook,  the look of murder was written across his face.

   He was like a lion ready to pounce. So she stepped back and bared her fangs, Mera was not about to back down.  She got ready for whatever would happen next. 

  Her vision sharpened, her ears perked up, she became aware of everything, it all moved in slow motion. The general pounced. Mera was awe-struck by his lethal form. He was elegant and dangerous at the same time. 

  Mera marveled at the very thing that intended to end her life. She was blown back by an invisible force, her back hitting the wall with an audible crack, she dropped to the ground in a low crouch, her back ached but she had no time to lick her wounds.

  She had no weapons, but she was ready to break some bones. Mera searched the room for her attacker. What Mera came face to face with gave her pause. Standing in her place, the Chieftain Kane.

He glowed brightly, his tattoos were lit up. Golden light  Written in his skin.  His eyes shone bright like the sun. Mera breath caught, He stood breathtakingly Beautiful. She heard rumors of his powers, but seeing it first hand made tingles shot down her spine and fear settled in her stomach. 

She watched as he stood in front of his brother, arms outstretched with a look of concentration on his face. He held Kai mid air. It was hard not to compare the two. Kai has hard muscles, warrior tattoos, with weapons strapped to his back.    Kane was lean; he didn’t have the body of a warrior, but that of a dancer. Gold tattoos traced across his lean form. He looked like a god. Kane slowly lowered him to the ground.

   As soon as Kai's foot hit the ground, he bared his fangs and growled.

 “If you ever do that to me again, I won't hesitate to rip your throat out,” Kai said as he stormed off.

 Kane grabbed Kai’s arm and whispered something in his ear.

  The fire died in Kai’s eyes a little as he walked off. Kane walked up to Mera.

“Are you alright” he asked, concerned, as his eyes raked over her body.

 “Im fine” she replied breathlessly.

  She felt uncomfortable by all the eyes watching her, but the most unnerving eyes were his.  

  Kane’s presence made her fidget; she usually was more confident, but his intense stares made her nervous. And not in a bad way, which pissed her off.

  “Sorry to mess up your evening,” Kane apologized, watching her like prey 

 “No, no, no, It's your Mating Ceremony, I should be apologizing to you,” Mera says. 

 looking around trying to avoid looking into his eyes hoping  they won’t suck her in again. 

  She breathes in slowly, ready to end this torturous conversation. 

“I should go find my father,” Mera says, turning away ready to make her escape.

 Kane stepped in front of her blocking her exit.

   “Are you coming to the meeting tomorrow?” Kane asked, as his eyes searched for an answer before she could speak. 

“My father will be there, you don’t need me,” Mera stated looking up into his eyes.

 Immediately regretting it, there’s a storm brewing in them, a vortex of golds and yellows. 

She was being sucked in again. If Mera didn’t put space between them now. She knew she would be caught up in his storm.

 “I must go”, she stammered.

    Mera stormed past Kane and into the crowd she had to get away, it was becoming hard to breathe. As she neared the gallery door, she turned and looked over her shoulder.

    Kane stood there staring at her, confused. He looked like he wanted to run after her. He took a step forward. Mera made it through the door and took off down the long corridor she ran

until she got to an empty hall. She fell to the floor in the corner of the room, pulled her knees up to her chest, and covered her face. She had to pull herself together. Mera knew coming here tonight would be a bad idea. But the young Chieftain she heard so many rumors about intrigued her, so she had to come see for herself. But what she found only intrigued her more.