Vex moved with a sudden, fluid urgency. He quickly put Ren down on her feet, his hands gripping her shoulders tightly.
Ren unbalanced a bit, her knees still feeling like jelly, but Vex steadied her instantly. He pressed a long finger to his lips, his orange eyes wide and commanding silence, before he abruptly pulled her against him.
Ren gasped as her face was buried into his bare chest. He wrapped his arms around her, shielding her completely with his body, his broad back and tails serving as a wall between her and whoever stood behind them.
"Just following a scent trail, Vara," Vex said, his voice light and airy, though Ren could feel the tension vibrating through his ribs. "I was chasing a whisper on the wind. The scent of a stray far from home... one that carries the pungent, rotting perfume of the feral. It is quite... poetic, don't you think? The way decay masquerades as power?"
There was a confused silence from behind.
