The stag hardly felt like a dictator now as he stood with lowered head, letting the true leader speak to him. The Shadow of his Heart was the one pulling the strings, his soul was thoroughly crushed and molded by her. Every word she spoke pierced into him like no other. It was a strange sensation but one that he couldn't escape because he had caused it himself. Justice was a cruel mistress...

He heard her words though about their child. He would be a... King... Those words filled him with a power, a certainty. Yes. This one would be more than either of them and it filled him with elation. He would raise the child to be the leader and herbivore that he wasn't. He was a Lord but the King would usher in a new era in the cave. An era of freedom for the herbivores and power for him and his kin. His biological deer kin.

His head raised to stare into her eye evenly. The ghost of a smile curving at his muzzle at this hopeful new thought. He was a failure but his son would not be... He would be all powerful. A god, even, but he left this thought to himself. The Tainted doe turned her gem eye towards him and asked for a kiss. Normally this would be a great thought that would make him joyful but now, staring at the black sludge of pollution on her face, it repulsed him... But it was the only way for their son. The stag swallowed and stepped forward as she bid. Magic tugged at the gem on his chest as he extended his lips towards her and kissed the black sludge on her face. It filled with magic and he felt a pull away from her as a shard of gem lifted as it was now infused with life.

However... The sludge was too much, the pollution and anger from her body was too much even for his own black hole of a heart... and he fell senseless to the ground with the stone, darkened with life next to his head.

______________________________________

"This is how I talk!"
This is how I think!

---
@Clover
-exit Vazi via sleep-
8/10

She gave a part of herself to him when he kissed her, a sliver of her slime-covered gem coming undone as his magic filled it, and with a soft and chiming chink it hit the floor, its clear intonation like a coin of silver. With it came the soft collapse of the once powerful stag, crumbled at her feet. She felt....some sort of release, even if it didn't quite reach relief....no, she couldn't feel that at all. Neither did she feel any satisfaction. But the taste of it in her mouth was so delicious it made her salivate. It was intoxicating, addicting, and she wanted more. She smiled, then picked up the glowing shard in her mouth, its inner light pulsing a disgusting color through the sludge, and she placed it on the stone bed for Vazi when he woke up again. She had other things to take care of....other gems to torment and break. [exit clover] "......."