thousandplateaus

[thousandplateaus]

On a nameless street in a boundless city, a stocky figure diverted from the crowd and branched into a side street. In this part of the city, the winding roads were never built straight. Sparsely were there street lights lit, and if there were, large patches of darkness were spotted more often than the light. Even the light pollution in such a developed city couldn't drown out the sheer darkness that crawled along the road. Uptown north, where the rich folk dwelled, the lamps were sophisticated and constantly maintained.

Naturally, this grand space shouldn't be occupied by peasants, and relentless efforts drove the majority of vagrants downtown, subjecting the homeless and poor to a variety of crimes. The hopeless cycle of poverty made it easy for the area to be abandoned by law enforcement, creating a haven for the wicked, and hell for those with no other options.

Lyra also believed this place to be a haven. Sucking the blood of various body types was never easier than it was here. The thin and poor had blood lacking in nutrients, making her unconsciously avoid them. However, those muscular members of various gangs had a lot of nutritious elements in their bodies, giving her a more substantial meal. As she thought so, a drop of blood dribbled from the corners of her lips. A swift tongue darted out and swept past each lip to sweep the traces up. A sweet metallic taste spread across her tongue, a subdued satiety spreading from it as it went down her gullet. As the woman at her side fell limply to the ground, she exhaled a ragged breath in an attempt to reign in her arousal.

Like many blood eaters, she had a condition where her hormones ran wild upon drinking blood, her pudendal nerve firing signals rapidly. Adrenaline and euphoria coursed through her veins, her body yearning for another taste. Giving in to desire, she put her knees on the floor, her hands gripping her prey's head to wedge her long carnivorous teeth deep into the carotid artery.

A denomination of blood eaters that only drank arterial blood, as opposed to those of veins, were considered an entirely different species biologically. They required the oxygenated and nutrient filled blood to maintain their higher functions, allowing them to appear more human than the more common variants.

Of course, this caused problems with hunting in a swift manner, as finding the right location is crucial. To supplement this inefficiency, most blood eaters of this denomination, titled "Lethe," have the method of subduing the prey beforehand, without terminating them. Once this process is over with, a Lethe can take their time locating the preferred artery. Though, this method is hard without a blunt weapon. As such, many Lethe tend to use their surroundings, like stone walls and floors.

The ease of this tactic causes complacency, drawing attention from Temple, a religious institution, with more frequent kills. Even back burner places like this have regular patrols from Temple officers, which, although of the lowest rank in Temple, can cleanly do away with a common blood eater. Other species can at most gain a crippling injury from an officer. Having an altercation with an officer is the worst case scenario, as no matter their status of life, higher Temple sargeants will be dispatched to quell the abominations. Sargeants, unlike officers, have items imbued with the power of oblivion, which many humans call "sacred power" due to it being the very antithesis to the way in which creatures of the night operate.

Their recitations of the script, unlike the lowest leveled officers, carried power, causing the rapid erosion of the skin and flesh to any night creature within thirty feet. These painful effects are the result of one of the lowest ranked tiers in the temple, the powers of each tier's script increasing exponentially as their rank rises. As such, only night creatures with high innate power could resist higher ranked Templar officials. The strongest of them, Guards, were able to directly contend with the Lords on the night creatures' side. Each side had only four of these high ranked subjects, preventing an all out war from breaking out.

Well, it's not like the current stalemate was too bad. Lyra, thinking about it, felt as if her position on the hierarchy wasn't horrible. She had high resistance to the Script, making up for her lack of strength. Without the Script, no Temple official except those undergoing, or who have finished, training may harm her.

As she traced the edges of her teeth with her tongue, suckling the remaining blood from the cracks between them, she looked towards the moon. The night was dimly lit, and the full moon provided enough to see the fingers in front of one's eyes.

Her eyes, though better than humans, were of the lowest visibility of the night creatures'. The human appearance of her species caused their eyesight to diminish, as night was no longer a factor of successful hunting. As such, the anatomy of her eyes was less specialized, appearing exactly as a human.

However, the one issue of her species, being significantly different from humans on a genetic and cosmetic standpoint, were the three large pairs of wings mounted on her back. When extended to their fullest length, the total aspect ratio of her wings amounts to about 3.22. Not much, considering birds like cranes have larger wing aspect ratios, but ones like hers were suitable for maneuvering through alleys and urban environments to search for prey. This increase in maneuverability makes the energy consumption high, so she can't use them for long if she wants to get a worthwhile meal.

The three pairs on her back were uniform in color, and came in brilliant shades of transparent whites, cascading like a prism into a multitude of bright colors. Width was different, and their sizes remained with each level downward, increasing the aspect ratio of the lower wings. They all stemmed from different points on her back, around 2 inches of distance at the bases, which is a rather unnatural arrangement compared to most Lethe. However much this complicated her morning routine of grooming and binding her wings against her belly, it did provide an immense boost to the speed and way she traveled.

The bulk of her wing mass was bound in the front, making her belly appear bloated when she binds them. As her area of living is beauty centric, her reputation is rather strange. She doesn't think about it too much, as it keeps their minds away from her excessive eating habits, and it's almost always excused because of her perceived weight. Well, she was almost 300 pounds…

She didn't appreciate being poked fun at, but the convenience of it was well worth the shame.