The Haunted Traveler Vol. 1 Issue 1

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the surface world; it remains permanently scorched by the
blazing red sun overhead and the pale companion that occasionally
makes itself comfortable in the grip of that gigantic,
celestial king. One can only stare so long at the heights before
the glare of glassy peaks above and red sand below result
in one losing their sight forever. It is why Pofiri keeps his self
to the ground, both in mind and body, for such dreams as can
be inspired by the sky have no place in this world of extinct
majesty. His kind live by the blade, and oftentimes they die
by it, though whether the blade is wielded by a brother or
the omnipresent planet is never fully certain. Indeed, one
must kill to only live in this world called Hathid, and what
can be taken oftentimes must be stolen.
For the Drak’Krali are carnal, and it shows in the way that
the male looks to his companion as he falls back to the cushion,
drawing the woman down with him by a hand that commandingly
presses itself to her chest. “Only a dream, Tiri,” he
explains further, the roomookt dropped as he does. The links
of the long chain that link to the dagger by the pommel clatter
loudly in the discomforting quiet of Drak’Toor. Purring,
Tiri runs her nimble fingers over Pofiri’s torso, comforting
him as best as she can without resorting to more overt means
of distraction. She knows Pofiri’s attitude toward mating,
and that using her natural attraction as a means to get his
mind off of things that don’t exist will incite his rage. The
habits she had learned in the slave-brothel of Balti were hard
for her to break, and Pofiri was beyond admirable in his attempts
to make her understand mated life in comparison to
slave life.
Though, by Your standards, the females of this race are hardly
more than slaves even as a freewoman. The promise of a mate
is only the promise of domination by the one who is stronger in
body as well as mind. Indeed, this race lives on domination, but
even the greatest of warriors will eventually come to a ceiling.
At that point, there is nowhere to go but down, down, down…