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[METEOR]

METEOR

Hearing Chernabog’s descent, Meteor glanced up to watch the dragoness land near the hot spring. He trusted her flight skills, but, with everyone exhausted after the natural disaster, the lion preferred caution. However, Chernabog landed elegantly and he didn’t need to move to avoid her talons.

At her question, Meteor grimaced and nodded once. “Indeed, Valerius is dead. He died valiantly, attempting to save the forest closest to Mnt Halelevu.” A pause, as the lion glanced at the boiling crabs. “If Vale didn’t bring enough coconut crabs for all of you, I can forgo this meal. I already cannibalized my father.”

Then Meteor’s golden eyes slid to the shapeshifter. Out of everyone under Meteor’s command, Meteor found it most difficult to predict Vale. He’d expected Vale to flee and never return, but here the inquisitor was with a crab feast and a gesture of… loyalty.

Meteor wasn’t an idiot. He knew Vale, Kole, and Chernabog would follow him because it was in each of their best interests. Even with Valerius’s inefficiencies and selfishness, he remained in power because of that simple fact. Meteor planned on staying in power that way, too, but with less sadistic egomania. By Requiem and Vayu, out of all four animals circling the hot springs, Meteor was the only one born on this island. If Valerius hadn’t been so amused by watching Descendants kill each other in the pits, would the dead’ve been useful minimizing the damage of the eruption? Would those dead Descendants be useful when the cannibals would, inevitably, have to raid supplies?

The lion sighed and rolled his shoulder, and then settled on the black sands. His front paws tucked under his body while his rear hooves splayed to the left.

Meteor nodded with a snort of agreement to Vale. “If the inquisitor says Valerius’s death to the volcano might’ve appeased Requiem and Vayu, who am I to argue?”

He glanced between Vale and Kole. “I appreciate your confidence in my leadership. I intend to be a Pharaoh worth following.”

However, Meteor knew Vale and Kole would disappear the moment things became unfavorable for them. But that was the way of things. Leadership was not owed. Leadership was a cultivated skill. If Vale and Kole left the Descendants of the Departed, then Meteor would only have himself to blame. Meteor chuckled, and then that sound quieted into a smirk.

His golden gaze lingered on Kole. His expression shifted to contemplative, and he licked his teeth. “You have certain… dietary restrictions, don’t you? That is unfortunate. If you wish, we can discuss this later.”