Heart of Ashes

The Maragi Beast

Dmitri held the goblet, trying to focus on keeping its contents inside of it. He was near the door to the dungeons. He was going to give Caine blood and attempt to talk to him. That was when Evelyn burst through the door, wild panic in her eyes. She slammed it shut and looked straight at Dmitri

"Run," she said, her voice was dry and he could see her pulse in her neck.

He put the goblet down, in front of the door, and started backing away. Evelyn had already abandoned her heels and taken off up the passage. Dmitri heard something being smashed on the other side of the door then the door, itself, splintered as Caine ripped through it.

Dmitri found himself staring into Caine's hungry, angry eyes. Caine's veins were visible again and every single tooth in his mouth had elongated into needle-sharp fangs. He knew exactly what was about to happen. Caine was going to release the true form of the Maragi. He summoned flames into his hands and held them up, trying to warn him, as if that would do anything. Caine growled and Dmitri saw talons slide down from his fingers. All his muscles seemed to bulge a little and he hunched over. Dmitri heard a strange cracking sound, like someone clicking their joints. He realised it was Caine's back. Odd bulges appeared, where his shoulder blades should've been, under his jacket. The material began to tear and the black wings of the carrion bird Caine favoured burst through his skin. Caine looked up at Dmitri, locks of hair hanging in his face made his appearance all the more terrifying. Dmitri knew he'd never be able to beat it as he was.

Dmitri felt a growing warmth in his chest. It spread through his shoulders and down through his legs. It spread into his face and it pushed at his skin. Lillith could travel between worlds, Vlad could turn into a dragon, Caine was a strange raven demon and he could set himself on fire. It wasn't the most useful thing in the world but, he hoped, it would deter Caine from touching him too much.

Caine crouched and leapt at him with the agility of a show horse. The flames licked at Caine's hands as they closed around his throat. It had absolutely no effect. Dmitri's fist connected with Caine's nose, this also had no effect. He did it again, and again, but Caine didn't even flinch. Dmitri felt Caine's talons rip through his throat and blood coated his mouth. He felt a tongue on his throat as Caine crouched closer to him. Caine's lips brushed against his skin then all thirty-two of those shark-like teeth ripped into his veins and tissue. He knew his throat had been ripped wide open and he couldn't even scream. His only thought was that that was what it felt like to be eaten alive. His eyes found a spot on the ceiling that had been spattered with blood, his blood. The spot became blurry, as did everything else. The pain faded away and, while he was completely aware of the monster on top of him, he didn't care anymore. Relief flooded through him and he let his mouth turn up in a smile.

So this is what dying feels like.

The thought echoed in his head. He'd made his peace with it. Everything became so blurry, he couldn't even make out the shapes of things. A black frame appeared around the edges of his vision, or maybe it was white, he didn't know. All he knew was that he'd never felt so calm, he'd never felt so free. For the first time in hundreds of years, he didn't have a single thing to worry about. Theodore could take over, Katrina would be looked after. He wasn't worried about a thing. The darkness around the colours crept further inwards and the colour flickered for a moment. He closed his eyes as he felt something enter his chest, he was relatively certain it was Caine taking his heart.

Sensation returned so fast he didn't even have time to form a thought. Pain gripped his body, then it went away. He healed. There was something heavy on top of him. He opened his eyes and the dark shape of Evelyn Cromwell came into focus. She had her hands on the end of an iron poker. The other end if it was buried in Caine's back. Dmitri shoved him off and managed to get to his feet.

"Thank you," he said, not really feeling it.

Evelyn nodded but she looked more than a little rattled, "Don't mention it. He's not... he's not..."

"Dead?" Dmitri suggested, "No, he's not dead. He's Caine. We need to get him somewhere secure."