Dark and viscous, shining red like a ruby in the candlelight, the liquid sloshed slightly as the silver goblet was raised by one gloved hand to smiling lips. The figure inhaled the coppery odour that clung to the air around the goblet, then took a delicate sip. He looked up at the girl seated across from him, still smiling.
"Not thirsty, Lina-chan?"
Lina Inverse shook her head, casting a glance around the food laden table. Shadows danced fitfully among the plates and chalices, chased by the light of the candles. Across from her, Xellos smiled. "Pity," he said, and drained his cup.
"Are you sure?" asked the stately figure at the front of the table. "It's quite fresh."
Xellos poured another drink, and offered the cup to Lina. Just to be polite, she took the offered glass and sipped. She gagged immediately and put the cup down violently. Blood!
At the front of the table, Xelas Mettalium laughed, a low and husky sound. "I killed it myself, just this morning," she added and took a drink from her own goblet. Lina spit onto the ground, and mused that when a man heard a voice like the Beastmaster's he would think only of sex. A man would fail to see the wildness in that voice, the danger, like a buried knife.
Lina munched on her food, not tasting it, but rather feeling the weight of the eyes of her hosts. Slit pupils, glimmering in the scant light. Somehow they were worse than Shaburanigdo's ruby orbs, for in those there had been only rage and hatred, not this cunning intelligence and dark humour.
"Yare yare, Lina-chan! So quiet tonight! And you're not eating with your customary gusto," Xellos remarked.
"Yeah, well," Lina mumbled. "I'm not that hungry."
"Never thought I'd hear that," Xellos remarked, grinning.
"You don't have to worry Lina," Beastmaster said from the head of the table, her red lips turned up at the corners slightly. "It's not a person on that plate of yours. It's venison. Xellos persuaded me to feed you something you would be comfortable with. He said you humans don't enjoy cannibalism." She shrugged, her blonde locks tumbling about her shoulders, as if to express she didn't understand this line of thought at all.
"Thanks," Lina said dryly.
"Not a problem. Although if you change your mind, I do have a roast trespasser on that cart over there."
Xellos leaned forward, interested. "Was he hard to catch?" he inquired. Beastmaster laughed.
"No. Pathetic, really. So I played with him for a while first."
Lina shook her head, disgusted. "I can't believe you two," she said thickly. "That's a human life you're talking about!"
Xelas and Xellos both regarded her silently, eyes gleaming, smiling identical smiles. After a moment, Xelas nodded. "Your point?"
"That's horrible!" Lina cried out, jumping to her feet as she did so. She planted her hands on the table, glaring at her hosts. "What kind of animals are you?!"
"Predators," Xelas replied promptly. Lina looked at Xellos, but he just nodded and sipped more blood from his goblet.
"It's true," he said. "You know that. Mazoku feed off of humans." Xelas smirked. "And you must remember, Lina-chan," Xellos continued. "Mistress here is not only Mazoku, but also the Lady of Beasts. Mighty predators all bend to her will."
"Wolves are my favorites," Xelas purred.
Xellos had risen form his seat and was wandering seemingly aimlessly about the table. "All creatures are animals," he explained, gesturing with one gloved hand. "Stripped of all your morals and lofty ambitions, it all boils down to animal instincts and survival. Humans and Mazoku both."
He paused, then looked Lina in the eyes, smiling as he did so. The candlelight turned his face into a vulturine mask. "We are simply the hunters."
He closed in, eyes swallowing the world. "And you are the hunted."