**Sorry this was late... Enjoy**
The Arwain Chronicles: Factions...
The feeling was awful. The thought of the possibility that may be, she wouldn’t get to see him again. The possibility that Dan wouldn’t be able to make it out of the castle her brother had built filled Ember with a sickening mixture of worry and fear. Her brother hadn’t killed Dan yet, that much she knew. The fact that she was still outside the castle along with the rest worrying, allowed he to be sure of at least this one thing. Had Eldraen killed Dan, her soul would have died within her, she would have now been drowning in a sea of slow, cruel and all encompassing pain. Everything within her wanted to smash through the wall and do all she could to get to her mate. The fact that she logically knew that trying to get past Eldraen's defenses would only give pitiable if not laughable results, did nothing to quell her desire to get to her mate. She knew she couldn’t get past the walls and worse still, there was the very real chance that there were more than defensive spells cast on the walls. An offensive spell from ilk of her brother would do a lot more harm than any of them was ready if willing to incur. And so, despite the slow agony she was in, Ember forced herself to remain still her features stoic as she regarded the blackened walls of the castle.
“How long will we wait?” Ailin posed quietly. It was clear to hear from her voice that even she was aware and afraid of the possibility that Dan might not be coming out from within the castle.
“As long as it tak…” Athena’s cold and determined words were cut off as. All their heads turned towards the castle at the sound of it. Something or someone had smashed through the walls.
Ember did have to look to know who it was. The bond that had for close to the whole of the previous year missing, fell back into place. She couldn’t have stopped the smile that grew on her face had she tried. She could have sworn that her heart swelled to three times its usual size with relief joy and overflowing love. Her eyes quickly found her mate. He was seated on a saddle on the back of a beast she wasn’t familiar with. In any other situation, her in born natural phoenix curiosity at a new piece of information would have kicked in. Apart from the fact that it was big, and covered in armor, barely much else registered.
Dan himself was seated on it his eyes regarding them all as the hole in the wall behind him slowly sealed itself up once again. The tar like substance dripped down from the top of the hole, forming web like layers as they moved down. The ‘webs’ merged one to the other till the hole Dan had just made pretty much disappeared. It seemed that whatever security measures the phoenixes had put in place, hadn’t been designed to act on those that breached the walls from within the castle. Which made sense given that their entire army was behind the walls.
Dan had on a pair of black pants most likely conjured less than a day before. Apart from this however, he had no other item of clothing on him. He was shirtless and his feet bare. Neither of these facts however, seemed to be anywhere to be found in his conscious awareness. It didn’t take much close study to note the difference between the Dan she saw now and the Dan she had parted with almost a year prior. He had more brawn to him now. The increased muscle mass gave clue to the fact that they boy had put himself through a gruelling training regime while he was still within the shields in his fort. However, the change in him was most evident and stark in his eyes. It was almost as if, a bit of his youthful innocence or that some of the optimism that had always seemed to burn bright in his eyes, had been lost to what had gone on behind the wall…
*******
It didn’t feel real. After so long apart from them and the very real chance that he would indeed never get to see them ever again, part of his mind was afraid that this was a dream, or some cruel joke on him be Arwain. He hadn’t missed the hundreds that stood all around them, his eyes however remained on them. In all their eyes, he saw the same fear he felt, that this moment wasn’t actually happening. The older among his following, like Ember Athena, Ailin, and such, didn’t appear to have changed all that much. It was the younger ones that seemed to have had something within them changed. Dan didn’t need to be told to know what it was that had changed them, the army before him made it clear to see. War had broken out, and while the older ones had seen enough of war or maybe just didn’t care enough to be affected by it. The ones who were still new to how gruesome war could be were the ones that seemed to have been changed the most. The simple gazes they directed at him in that moment, told it all.
It was at last Elly who broke from the hold of them moment first as she ran forward. It was almost as if, she was unable to help herself. Her frantic need to get to Dan conveyed in the very way she moved. She gained speed with every step she took till she was in a full on sprint for him. When she got to the beast she, unlike him, sprang off directly from the ground up into the air landing on and effectively straddling him. Dan barely had two seconds to think or say anything before her hands found the back of his head and pulled him in for a kiss. Dan did not resist or object to it, once it started however, his heart broke. In that kiss, Dan felt all the pain, sorrow and unhappiness that he’d caused his mate. It tore at his heart to feel just how much his absence had affected the girl before him. With her kiss, she also opened the floodgates, not only of every memory of the past eleven months, but also of her emotions in all that period. She laid bare to him consuming void that had been within her slowly chipping away at her very soul. When they finally parted Dan found his head turned to the side the right side of his face stinging from the smarting slap Elly delivered.
“My wolf wants you,” Her voice bore the same pain he had just felt in their case. Dan saw it in her eyes too as he turned to face the wolf once again. “And there is very little I can do to keep her from you. But do not for one second think that you are forgiven for all you have put me through,” Dan couldn’t stop his jaws from clenching at the ice in her voice. His lips pursed in displeasure even as he nodded once in acknowledgement.
“It’s been eleven months, I think it’s safe to say you can skip the foreplay,” in spite of himself, a smile crossed Dan’s face even as he turned to regard Athena. The demon along with all the rest had walked up to him and now stood in an arch before the beast. Bursting into flames, Dan vanished from the saddle, he reappeared before the beast facing them.
After regarding the for a while, Dan was unable to keep himself from saying. “Somebody please tell me that this isn’t a dream,” he said his smile widening.
“I’ll do better,” Ember said vanishing in a burst of flames and reappearing before him. Her hands moved to the back of his head jus as his moved to her waist. Unlike the first kiss with Elly, Ember’s communicated how much she loved him and just how much she’d missed him with her kiss. Though Dan could clearly feel it that she was blocking out every other thing she felt apart from the two, he didn’t probe. Instead, he allowed himself to enjoy her warm luscious lips as they sought to merge with his coy and playful manner. When they finally parted, the smile on Dan’s face seemed to be permanently down on to it.
Chloe was the next to run into his arms pulling him into a tight hug. “I’ve missed you so much,” she whispered seemingly unable to speak any louder from the emotion that seemed to be close to overwhelming her.
“Not even close to how much I missed you,” Dan replied hugging her just as tightly as she was him.
“I like the beard,” Claire spoke up with a smile at him even as she waited for Chloe to finally let go. The frown that crossed his face and the way his hand reached up to his own face, made it clear to all present that he himself hadn’t been aware of the growth on his face. It wasn’t all that long, but still about a centimeter or so. “Wow, you’ve really been out of it, haven’t you?” Claire voiced regarding him with slight amusement.
“Eleven months of nonstop training will do that to you,” Dan replied with a easy smile even as Chloe finally managed to let go.
Claire’s brow arched at him even as she noted that he wasn’t just saying it. While she seemed to have more composure about her, the emotion communicated when Claire pulled him into a tight embrace was in no way any less than that of the rest.
Dan regarded the demon who’d been standing regarding him with a smile. Knowing how the demon wasn’t given to displays of emotion, Dan wasn’t bothered by the fact that she hadn’t jumped into his arms as all the rest had. This however, didn’t stop Dan from pulling her into a tight embrace their lips melded into one. Dan could feel his lust spike at the very scent of the demon and even more as their fluids mixed as their tongues held duel with each other. All of Dan’s will power couldn’t keep the effect from flowing downwards. From the cocky smile he could feel grow in her lips as they kissed, this had been her exact intention. When they parted Dan had already mentally created an illusion to cover what would have otherwise been a painfully obvious hard on.
A guy that Dan did not recognize walked up to him and held out his hand. “Hi, I’m Kurt. It’s nice to finally put a face to the name,” he offered giving his hand a solid shake.
Dan was not sure why, but there was subtly confrontational almost territorial air to him. It was almost as if he was trying to measure him up in some way. A quick probe into his mind quickly revealed why. “I see you’re very close to Chloe,” Dan stated with a pointed glance at Chloe herself. Dan saw the alarm and worry that sparked in Chloe as she realized what it was exactly that Dan was getting at. Her gaze fell to the ground as she found herself unable to look him in the eye. Dan turned back to the guy who at first seemed alarmed at what Dan had just done but then let the side tip upwards in a cocky smile.
“Yes, yes we are,” he stated.
Dan could quite clearly see that he was trying to lay claim to Chloe and make it clear that he was interested in her. Dan was not sure yet how he felt about the fact that Chloe had slept with this guy. Or how he felt about the fact that this guy seemed to be under the impression that he could contest dominance with him. He found himself unable to stop the chilling smile that crossed his face as he regarded the guy, Kurt.
From the corner of his eyes, Dan didn’t miss Athena rolling her eyes. “Barely two seconds out and you are already in a pissing contest,” she stated.
Dan let out a slight chuckle, “Part of the joy of being a guy,” he said neutrally.
The smile on his face straightened when he saw him. Jim was standing behind everyone else with his arms crossed, his face an unreadable mask. Dan walked up to him, coming to a stop about two feet away. The two regarded each other for a long silent while before Jim at last reached out a hand for him to shake. Dan gripped the hand and proceeded to pull his brother into a hug. Jim stiffened at the unexpected gesture on Dan’s part, and while he didn’t return the hug, he didn’t pull away. “I’m sorry,” Dan found himself saying. He could still see it, the rage and pain that had been in his brother’s eyes eleven months before.
“Sorry won’t bring her back,” Jim spoke pulling free of him.
The ice in his brother’s voice caused his tore at him. “I know,” Dan stated in a hollow voice, the image if his mother lying in a pool of blood pushing itself up from the depths where Dan had buried it within his mind. His lips pressed into a straight line as he focused all his will on pushing it back down. He resigned himself to the fact that forgiveness from his brother for taking their mother’s life, would not be coming any time soon. He wouldn’t push the issue.
His gaze turned to all the rest of them, his eyes moving from Victor, Carroll and the other wolves to Ailin, an new vampire that Dan didn’t recognize and the assassins. A frown crossed Dan’s face as he did another once over of the whole group. “Wait, where’s Kirra?” He questioned noting her absence. Dan didn’t miss how glances were shared among some of them. “What?” he asked turning to Ember. “Where is she?” He once again asked.
“She’s in Europe,” The phoenix replied.
“Europe?” Dan repeated his confusion not in anyway hidden. “Why?” he further posed.
“Her fears came true,” Ember answered. “Soon after the shields went up, she lost all of her connection to either you or Karra,” the phoenix explained. “She essentially became harmless, unable to cause harm to anyone or anything. She helps out in Europe but other than that there isn’t much she could do, not with the way things turned out,” from the way her lips pursed immediately after saying it, it was clear that Ember hadn’t planned to let that last bit out just yet.
Dan remained contemplatively silent for a second. Though he’d hoped for it, he hadn’t been naïvely expecting that peace had reigned in the eleven months of his absence. He turned to the one he’d hoped to address the last, the young girl Two. She’d been standing with the two assassins off to the left a bit. On seeing that he’d finally turned to regard her, she walked forward to him. “I wasn’t sure I’d find you alive,” Dan said with a slight tilt on one side of his lips. “Aside from that, did anything else go right?” he posed though his tone already made it clear that he already knew the answer.
“Why not see and judge for yourself,” She replied.
Given the fact that he was once again bound to everyone he’d been bound to before the shields went up, he could feel it as Two let down her mental guards. Taking the invitation, Dan closed his eyes and delved into her mind. Over the next few minutes, Dan got a first hand view of the kind of Chaos that had erupted all over the world in his absence. By the time he finished reviewing everything, he was no longer sure that he’d made the right decision not leaving he town with them eleven months before. Maybe there was some way he could have prevented all the death and misery that had engulfed the planet. He could have just as easily taken them all for their actions and inactions yet he knew that ultimately, all blame and responsibility lay with him. After a while of silence, Dan finally spoke. “I need to get to Europe then Africa,” he stated.
“Wait,” Raymond spoke up the first time. “We came here expecting a fight, I’m not exactly complaining, but what happened?” he queried.
Dan was quiet for a while before he answered. “Karra happened.”
He didn’t miss the shock on the faces of those who knew of Karra’s betrayal and confusion on the faces of them that didn’t know her. A smile that bore no mirth crossed his face. “She managed convince Eldraen and the other dark phoenixes that there was no real merit in killing me in there, all alone and unseen. The much better way to go about it would be to allow me to rejoin you guys and mobilize a whole army. Then we’d meet in battle where they would kill me before everyone then proceed to kill all the rest of you guys,” he spoke in a stoic tone not hiding any of the details of the encounter. In the eyes of those that had known Karra notably with the exception of Athena and the assassins, some hope had been sparked that there was maybe some part of her could still be redeemed. As he’d continued to retell what had taken place, Dan had watched that hope be crushed utterly. In it’s place an even more vitriolic and corrosive hatred burnt in their eyes. “And so now as it stands, we have seven days to either vanquish the danger that faces us all or to die by its hand.”…
*******
Dan emerged from the shower in the penthouse suite of some hotel in New York that had somehow been preserved from the destruction that seemed to have destroyed most of the rest of the city. Most of the city except for those parts that were still held by powerful magical factions, such as wizards, weres, and vampires among other beings. Dan would have never believed that a simple shower could be such a pleasurable and welcome experience, but after eleven months of only having magic to keep his body clean, the water on his skin had felt like a massage from an angel. Dan paused with his hands on the towel he was using to dry his hair when walked out to find both Ember and Elly in the adjoining bedroom to the bathroom. Apart from the towel on his head, Dan had nothing else on him, a fact that wasn’t in the least bit lost on his two mates. While he wasn’t vain about the transformation his body had undergone over the past eleven months of rigorous exercise, the lust that burned in their eyes as they literally ate up every inch of him with their eyes, didn’t exactly hurt his ego.
Ignoring his nudity, Dan walked over to a mirror on one of the walls and started to study his reflection even as he finished off drying his hair. He did look a bit nice with the beard on him, however he personally preferred himself without it. Whether it was because he was used to himself without it, he wasn’t exactly sure. The towel vanished soon as he was done with it. Dan brought his hand to his chin and produced a bit of phoenix fire. While leaving his skin completely unscathed, scorched hair fell from his chin cheeks and upper lip. “Is one of you going to say something or do we just let this tension rise?” he posed calmly with an easy smile as he studied his image now ‘clean-shaven’.
“What is there to say, you abandoned us,” Elly spoke up.
Dan’s jaws clenched as he regarded his own reflection. He could see the anger sparked in his eyes at the words. However, by the time Ember came into view as he turned to her, it had faded from his expression as he pushed it back beneath the surface. “Do you feel the same way?” he posed leaning back on the drawer that was just below the mirror.
Ember regarded him quietly for a while before speaking. “I’ve fought in wars before Dan, heck I’ve fought against my brother before,” she added. I’ve played the role of both general and soldier and one thing I have come to accept as inescapable about war is that, sacrifices have to be made,” she said. “Was I happy that you did what you did? No, not in the least,” she answered her own question candidly. “But am I angry or hold it against you for doing what you did? The answer is also no, not at all, because I’m not that juvenile,” she stated.
Dan did not miss the dig at Elly, and neither did she taking from the way anger sparked in her eyes as she narrowed at Ember. A half smile crossed Dan’s lips as he found himself appreciating Ember’s honesty. The smile however vanished when her gaze landed on the she wolf before her. “Do you want to leave?” he posed calmly in a voice devoid of any emotion. Confusion marred her features even as she turned her gaze back to him. “Do you want to be among those in Europe? Because believe you are very welcome to walk the fuck away if you feel that this war is inconveniencing to you!” The pure venom and ice that flowed into both his tone and gaze made it quite clear that Elly had touched a very wrong nerve. Even Ember seemed to be taken aback by the dark rage she could see burning in his gaze that Elly was shrinking under.
“Y… you have no idea the kind of hell you put me through,” Elly once again found her voice and tried to make her case.
“And I honestly couldn’t give a fuck,” Dan snapped back causing a shocked silence to fill the room. “Are you honestly so narcissistic that you do not see what I did had to be done?” he questioned in a tone that caused them to wince. “Tell me what would you have had me do? Huh? Not raised the shields that have kept the world safe so far? Not allowed you all to go before me and prepare the world for the devastation that is coming it’s way? Or is it that you are so fucking special that I should have kept you with me and let everyone else go? Tell me, what the fuck do you think I should have done!”
It was only after a while of silence that it became clear to Elly that he expected an answer. “Well, you could have started by telling us what you had planned,” the boldness in Elly’s tone was all but lost as it became clear that she was in very wrong territory. Even as she said it, she knew it was a dumb suggestion, none of those in Dan’s following would have been willing to leave him behind, least of all her.
The gaze Dan sent her at her words reminded her very much of her Dad when he was at the edge of his patience with someone, especially when they said or did something stupid. “I am the leader of this following, I am the alpha, the fucking general of this army! There are things I will do and say that you will not agree with, too freaking bad. But make no mistake I am not running a democracy here, what you or any other person In my following thinks is irrelevant unless I think it too, is that clear?” he posed.
“What you think, or what Lord Arwain thinks?” Soon as the words left her lips, she recoiled within herself knowing that it was the wrong thing to say. The ice that flowed into Dan’s gaze as he regarded her, painfully confirmed it.
“You can go now,” Dan spoke in a voice void of any emotion.
“I’m sorr…”
“I said leave,” Elly winced, the sting of Dan’s curt and cold tone almost physical.
Dan’s eyes turned back to the mirror completely ignoring her as she rose off the bed and walked out of the room.. His eyes focused unseeingly on his reflection, his mind fully engaged in trying to quell the rage that bubbling up like hot lava within him. His body went stiff when he felt Ember’s hands on her shoulders his eyes finding hers as she stood behind him. Despite the pure liquid rage that burned within his and the nervousness he could feel from her through their bond, Ember’s eyes remained calm as they met with his. “She’s young,” Ember said in a calming tone.
“I’m younger,” Dan shot back at her his anger not being placated so easily in spite of his ardent effort to rein it back in.
“I know, but as Athena once told you, weres tend to be a little too attached to their emotions,” she said. “She’s speaking the pain and emptiness that she felt when you weren’t here, not that she actually believes that you abandoned us,” Ember spoke in a calming tone.
“What I did had to be done,” Dan stated unapologetically.
“And believe me, I do not even for one second question it,” Ember answered. “But being apart from you is not exactly easy for some of us,” she added quietly laying her head on his back….
*******
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Chloe was unable to help the anger that permeated her voice as she turned to Kurt the first chance they got to be alone. They were now in one of the lower floors of a buildings in New York, all the rest were currently in one of the upper rooms near the top with Dan at the very highest one. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?” She snapped.
“Are you really concerned over my safety or are you just angry that Dan found out about what you and I did?” Kurt posed his arms filed over his wide chest, the expression on his face already telling that he knew the answer.
“Dan can sleep with whomever he wants and so can I,” she shot back at him her anger unabated.
“Are you telling that to me or to yourself,” Kurt returned simply.
What bothered Chloe more than the fact that Kurt seemed to see right through her, was the cold and detached manner in which he was both talking to and regarding her. From the way he’d confronted Dan, it was plain to see for Chloe, that her second in command had developed feelings for her. And looking back at their time together, it became quite clear that a lot of what she had so far mistaken as devotion to his queen, was actually something else entirely. How could she have been so blind? How could she have missed it all when it was right in front of her face? And now he was slipping away. She could both see it and feel it through their connection, she was falling into the same category as Raven as far as Kurt was concerned. She wasn’t exactly sure why this bothered her so much.
“Look Kurt, you are my most trusted advisor and a dear close friend to me, I never intended to hurt or mislead you on any way…”
“Yeah, you just needed me to fuck you while you waited for the one you really wanted!” Kurt returned waspishly. Chloe’s arm swung at him before as her anger spiked and overrode rationality. Kurt however was a second too quick for her. Chloe’s hand swung right through the pitch dark cloud that he burst into before rematerializing a second later. “Will that be all my queen?”
Chloe’s insides froze with both horror and shame at what she’d intended to do and the ice that had been in Kurt’s tone of voice. She had gone too far, and Kurt’s tone told her that there was no coming back! “Kurt,” she called out apologetically. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have tried to hit you, I apologize,” she offered genuinely.
“All due respect my queen, your apology means and achieves nothing,” He replied in an even tone. His tone made relayed that he wasn’t being difficult or trying to be insolent, he was simply relaying a statement of fact. That Chloe’s words undid nothing of what she had done. She had used him and betrayed his trust, just as Raven had done. She wasn’t sure why, but Kurt’s now even and emotionless tone of voice bothered her much more than his anger had. “Can I go now?” he asked stoically.
Chloe’s jaws clenched her lips pressing into one another as she reluctantly gave a nod...
*******
“What is it?” Carol queried from where she lay on the bed. They were now in one of the only remaining buildings in New York. They had gotten into one of the rooms near the top floor, to get away from the rest and just be alone for a while. It was a well furnished room with a king size bed. Both Carol and Victor were doing their best not to imagine all the things that could be done on it. Victor had been standing by the window regarding the wreckage that remained of New York City.
“What?” Victor questioned turning to her.
“You’re being all silent and broody,” Carol pointed out. “Something’s on your mind,” she stated.
Victor was silent for a while before he finally answered. “There is a very real chance that we will be dead a week from now,” he said. “We have known of the fact that we are mates for close to eleven months, three weeks now,” he went on. “In that time we have done atrocities to defend one another. And yet now, there is a very real chance that we may die never having known what or how it feels to love or be loved by our mate,” he said.
Carol’s gaze left him for a while as she considered his words. Without actually thinking about it, she rose off the bed and walked over to him. Tipping on her toes, she brought her lips into contact with his. His hands almost instinctively wrapped themselves around her, pulling her to himself possessively. Over the months, they’d come to find that this was the limit to the physical intimacy they could have without rousing their more primal side. When their lips finally parted, their eyes locked gazes with each other. “I don’t know exactly what kind of feeling it is that we are missing,” Carol stated. “But over the stretch of the past eleven months, you’ve fought and killed for me and I for you, that together all the brief moments we’ve spent together. It… it can’t all mean nothing,” she said emphatically. “Look, maybe we’ve been too focused on waiting for some magical feeling to come along and validate what we already know we have,” she went on. “I don’t know about you Vic, but I don’t need no damn feeling to know that you are my mate,” she declared firmly.
Victor considered her words silently for a while before a smile slowly crossed his face. “You’re right,” he finally spoke. “And I don’t need any damn feeling to tell me that you will always be mine,” he added with a smile before dipping down and kissing her again. “If we live through what’s coming, we may not have learnt to love each other a century from now, may be we never will. But I make this promise to you right now, Till I draw my last breath I will always be by your side,” he promised.
“Just as I will always be by your side,” she returned….
*******
Chloe moved towards the door to the penthouse suite where she knew Dan was. Despite her best efforts to keep herself from feeling so, she was failing at pushing down the nervousness she felt. She had done nothing wrong. This was what she kept telling herself, it was what she so desperately wanted to believe. On a logical and rational level, the statement was true and made sense. She had every right to live her life and enjoy it however she pleased. Her heart however, didn’t believe it even for a second. She felt as if she had betrayed Dan in some way.
The door opened before she could get to it causing her to freeze in her motion, her fear getting the best of her. Elly walked out from his suite, she looked to for some reason be in regret about something. The werewolf caught sight of her just as the door behind her closed. “You might wanna come back at a different time,” Elly spoke. “Now’s probably not the best time for whatever conversation it is that you wanna have with him,” she added, seemingly not too happy about the fact.
“Why? Did he say something about me?” Chloe found herself asking before she could help herself.
Elly’s gaze left Chloe turning unseeingly slightly to the side. “How could he? I was too busy being a selfish bitch!” She answered. Chloe didn’t miss the self disgust that saturated her voice.
“What happened?” Chloe posed her brows drawing together in a frown.
A sigh escaped Elly as her jaws clenched. “I’m not sure I wanna talk about it,” she said. “But it’d be best if you gave him time to him time to get over how much of an idiot I am,” she said this time a bit solemnly.
Chloe watched as Elly walked away. A big part of her wanted to take the easy way out offered by the she wolf and just walk away. However, another part of her knew that it would be much harder to deal with this later on. But then if he was already in a foul mood, then there was very little chance that this would go the way she hoped it would. Steeling her resolve however, Chloe turned back towards the door ready to go in. She once again however, froze as the door opened before she could make any move. The look on Ember’s face when she caught sight of Chloe, once again reinforced Elly’s words that this was not a good idea and that now was not the best time.
“If I don’t do it now, I’m not sure I’ll be able to do it,” Chloe said to Ember before the phoenix could say anything. The way her lips pressed together into a thin straight line, combined with her gaze, the phoenix seemed to be feeling sorry for her even as she gave a nod of concession. And walked down the hall after Elly. Chloe turned back to the door. This time she didn’t give herself time to over think it, she stepped forward and pushed it open before walking inside.
The door opened to reveal Dan standing by the window regarding the desolate New York city. His head turned in her direction probably to investigate who was entering the room. Chloe did not know what to make of the way Dan regarded her with an indifferent gaze for a second or so before his gaze turned back out the window. Or how threads started to form around his naked body quickly turning to clothes. A clear indicator that she was no longer allowed the trust intimacy or closeness she’d had with him before. “Dan, I… I’m sorry,” she said.
“You are a big girl Chloe,” Dan spoke in a tone that reflected the indifference she’d seen in his gaze. “You can do whatever it is you want,” he added. “Besides you’re part of my following, that role doesn’t entail you not being able to fuck whoever it is you want.”
Chloe winced at the way the word Dan said the word “fuck”. “I know that it doesn’t,” she said forcing herself to go on. “But it clearly doesn’t make you happy either?” she said.
Something that sounded like half a chuckle half a scoff, escaped Dan’s lips. “And when did you become aware of this fact, an hour before now or have you always known since the moment we parted ways almost a year ago?” he posed.
“I don’t know what I wan thinking Dan,” she pleaded. “I just didn’t think…
“That I would find out?” Dan cut her short. “You didn’t count on me ever finding out about your little escapade, did you?” he posed.
Chloe couldn’t decide whether Dan’s indifference hurt or infuriated her more. “That is not what I intended to say. I didn’t think it would be such a big deal to you,” she stated a lot less meekly than she had begun.
Dan was silent, her outburst barely seeming to register with him as he kept on regarding the city outside the window. “Pick him,” was what he said when he finally broke the silence.
“What?” Chloe posed a bit confused.
“You’re bothered by this so much, not because of what I feel but what you feel,” Dan stated.
“What are you talking about Dan?” she posed her confusion still very much present.
“You’re bound to me Chloe, putting up a facade just won’t work with me,” he said still not regarding her.
“What façade?” Chloe posed her confusion deepening.
Dan finally turned away from the window to regard her, giving her a once over. “You really don’t see it do you?” he posed as it became clear that she didn’t get what he was getting at. “You’re so bothered by this because you’re not sure who to pick,” he went on. “You have feelings for him Chloe,” Dan informed her.
Chloe’s first impulse was to deny it, yet for she reason, the words just wouldn’t form. A frown drew her eyebrows together as her gaze turning unseeingly away from Dan. She found herself forced to assess the truth of the claim given her inability to deny it. Did she actually have feelings for her second in command. Had Kurt somehow managed to occupy a more special place in her heart than she’d thought him to have.
“If it helps your decision, he really does love you,” Dan stated calmly regarding her. “Plus, if you were to break his trust, I doubt he’d be able to trust anyone in that way ever again,” Dan added a bit more thoughtfully his gaze leaving her.
A frown crossed Chloe’s face. “ How much of his memory did you look through?” She asked.
“How much memory does he have?” Dan returned rhetorically turning away from her and back to the window.
Chloe’s eyes widened. “You had his hand for only about ten seconds, there is no way you could have scoured through all his memories,” she argued.
“Well, let’s just say that I haven’t exactly been sun bathing for the past eleven months,” he offered up as an explanation. “Even I from eleven months ago would be surprised at the things I can now do,” he stated. There was no hubris in his tone, it was the matter of fact tone that one used when reporting on facts. “Take your time and think things through really carefully,” Dan said glancing to her. “Whatever decision you come to, you’ll be sticking to also, cause I don’t share,” he stated in a tone of finality.
“A bit ironic coming from you, don’t you think?” Chloe returned rhetorically.
“Well, next time, remind me not to choose to have two mates,” he replied unable to help the sarcasm in his voice.
“Touché,” Chloe conceded.
“How have you been?”
The question from Dan caught her by surprise. She couldn’t help the slight guilt and shame she felt. She hadn’t even bothered to try and find out how he had been for the past eleven months. Her only concern had been trying to make excuses for herself and justify her deeds. “It’s been both the best and worst eleven months of my life,” Chloe answered.
“What made it bad?” Dan posed glancing to her.
“Well, probably the fact that close to if not over ten million people, magical or otherwise, died in the process of ‘getting the world ready'” she stated. “And that was before I left the fight and chose to just fight for and protect my people,” she added. Dan’s jaws clenched his eyes closing at her words. Chloe needed no telling to know just how much he hated what she had just told him. “A lot of nations fought hard against us,” Chloe stated by way of explanation. “Before the two months were up, we knew we had to fight them all because in two months time, we would be coming up against Eldraen and everything else that came out of that portal,” she said. “After the two months were up, things only got worse. We now no longer knew when it is that the shields would come down. At any moment in time, the shields could come down and we would found not ready in any way. It also happened that after two months were up, resistance against us almost doubled, as more people believed us to be liars simply trying to gain power,” Chloe explained.
“At some point, the line blurred for me, I was no longer sure who I was fighting for and who I was fighting against,” she stated. “And so I left,” She informed him. “I’m not proud that I left my friends to fight alone but If I’d stayed to fight, I would have lost myself Dan, the person you would have met coming out from behind those shield, would have been a completely different person from the one that stands here,” she explained.
A sigh escaped Dan, “Believe me, I’m the last person that will condemn you for not participating in this,” He said nodding to the city outside the window.
“Actually, I was still with them when this happened,” Chloe awkwardly corrected. “This city was our center of operations so you can imagine just how many came at us from within it,” She explained.
For a moment, Dan seemed short of things to say whether good or bad. He finally settled for asking, “And the good?”
Chloe was silent for a while as she thought through her answer. “I promised to find you an army Dan,” she said. “But I went out and found a family instead,” she said causing Dan to regard her with an arched eyebrow. “They all know what is coming, and what role they’ll need to play in it so you have nothing to worry about as far as that is concerned. But… but to me they aren’t just an army Dan,” she explained. “The bond I share with my people is one closer than kinship Dan,” she explained. “It’s something I’ve never felt, even back when I had a family,” she said.
A small smile graced Dan’s lips. “Sounds like your search has finally come to an end,” he said.
Chloe smiled too. “Yes, yes it has, I’d initially thought that it ended with you, but, turns out it was my people that my tattoos were eventually trying to lead me to through you,” she said.
“I just hope that I’m strong enough to keep you all alive a week from now,” he said quietly turning back to the city.
“Look Dan,” Chloe said stepping forward. “I believe in you, I know that even if you do not win this fight, you will do absolutely everything within your power to fight for us, that is all I need or expect from you,” she thought offered.
“It’s not enough for me,” Dan returned. A sigh escaped him, “I need to be getting to Europe,”
“I won’t be coming with you,” Chloe offered apologetically. “I left my people suddenly to come to your aid when the shields started to come down, I need to get back to them,” she explained.
Dan nodded. “I understand,” he offered turning back silently to the window….
*******
Kirra paced her room, her mind racing at thousand thoughts per second. She was panicked confused, angry and in spite of herself, also a bit hopeful. She had felt it. She couldn’t mistaken that feeling with anything else. Even with the fact that it had only lasted for a split second, the feeling was all too familiar to her. She would have known and easily recognized it even if it had lasted for half of the brief time that it had! But then, this was impossible. There was no possible way she could have felt what she felt, and yet she did!
A frown marred her face turning to it as someone opened her door without knocking. Though his scent had already told her who it was, it still miffed her that he’d become so brazen. Michael had almost a whole foot on her, standing at over six feet tall. He kept his beard short bit not cleanly shaven. His eyes were also a unique mix soft silvery blue, it gave him the ability to make his gaze, appealingly warm and startlingly cold when he wished it so. He had an imposing stature to him, not only was he tall, he was also a large man. With a large barrel chest and well muscled body, he was the kind of individual one thought twice before engaging.
He was also her guard. He was the one that had kept her safe all for the past ten months. Once her connection to Dan had completely faded, she had been unable to do anything to harm any other person. Essentially, she had become useless. Not only was she unable to help in the war that broke out, but worse still, she was unable to defend herself in any way. She had always while evading every attack, been trying to calm her attacker down and get them to make peace. It had been pathetic! She shuddered just thinking about it! He had been among the powerful mages sensible enough not to stand in the way of Ember, Athena and all the rest. He had chosen to join the fight on their side. It had been Ember’s idea to assign him as her guardian and protector. He was there to protect her against what she could not defend herself from. A job he was lethally good at. Kirra had wondered at times, if he resented the fact that he’d been assigned to bodyguard duty over being allowed to have an active be part in the war. If he did, then he was a master at hiding it.
“Are you familiar with the concept of knocking?” Kirra asked. “What’s wrong Michael?” Kirra queried when his expression mirrored hers, a frown crossed his face at the sight of her.
“Nothing,” the man’s deep bass filled the room though he wasn’t trying to be loud or project his voice. “It’s just that this is the first time I’ve seen a frown on your face,” he answered with a measure of amusement in his voice. “What’s changed?” He questioned.
“Well, for starters, the war is finally here,” she said causing an eyebrow on his face to arch. “And the one at the center of all this drama is finally out from behind the shields?” She added.
“Dan?” Michael spoke.
The way the word came out of his lips was almost as if he was talking of some ancient powerful mythological creature. Kirra confirmed it with a nod. “If he’s out, then we need to start preparing everyone here, because war follows closely behind him,” she said turning and startling towards the door!
“You might wanna hold off on that just for a bit!” Michael who’d been leaning against the door frame with his hands crossed across his wide chest spoke. “We are about to have guests,” he informed her. “The doorway from New York, it’s opening,” he added explanatorily.
“He’s here,” Kirra muttered to no one in particular. Before she knew it, she had moved past him and was sprinting towards the hall where the doorways were. She pushed past the doors just as Dan stepped through the doorway. She couldn’t have neither did she try to stop the smile that crossed her face as she ran forward to him. Even without the fact that they were now in contact, the fact that Dan hadn’t made a back step to stabilize himself when she jumped into his arms, told her just how much of a rigorous training Dan had out himself through. He was a lot more solid, strong and stable than he had been when they’d parted ways eleven months prior. “I missed you,” she said emphatically holding him tight and letting his scent fill her nose.
She could almost hear the smile in his voice as he replied, “Not more than I missed you,” he replied returning her hug with just as much need and intensity.
It was a while before they finally let each other go. Dan’s gaze turned to her side causing her to look to her side too. Michael stood studying Dan with a critical gaze. It wasn’t in any adversarial manner, it was more of a curious yet also mildly wary way. “And you would be?” Dan finally broke the silence.
Kirra lightly smacked her forehead at her slight faux pas. “Sorry Dan. uum, this is…”
“Michael,” he cut her short extending out a hand to Dan. Dan received it and gave a firm shake. “I’m the one that’s been keeping Kirra here safe,” he added.
“A job he excels at extremely well I must say,” Kirra offered with a smile.
“He’s among the few powerful wizards that didn’t stand against us,” Ember spoke as she came to stand beside Dan. Elly also came to Dan’s other side with Claire beside her. The rest he’d chosen to leave behind not wishing to drag them all around wherever he went.
“Well, I do kinda like my head my head where it is, so the decision did seem to suggest itself,” Michael offered with a half smile at the phoenix.
Dan gave a respectful nod of acknowledgement to Michael. “I’m really thankful for what you’ve done,” he said genuinely.
“It’s the least I can do to play my part in the war to come,” Michael replied.
“Speaking of which, how long do we have before Eldraen and the rest get here?” Kirra posed.
“A week,” Dan answered simply to Kirra's confusion.
“What do you mean?” Karra questioned with an arched eyebrow.
“Perhaps we could talk while we walk,” Dan suggested.
“Of course,” Kirra offered turning and letting Dan step to her side before they started towards the door. Dan once again launched into an explanation of her encounter with Karra and how it is that she had managed to garner them anther week. “So if they are to be believed, Eldraen and the rest will not attack us because when they finally do it, they want to make a spectacle of it,” Dan at last finished just as they stepped out of the main building. His head immediately rose to what seemed to be an orange sky. It took a while for his eyes to adjust and see that it was Ember’s shields. It seemed to cover the whole of the sky. Dan turned to the phoenix with an arched brow.
“It’s the same thing Arwain did,” she confirmed his suspicion. “Against my brother and the other dark phoenixes, its nothing, but it should be able to keep a good amount of the other creatures from breaking through,” she added.
“I’m sorry Dan,” Kirra spoke in a tone that caused Dan to turn in her direction. “I should have known this would happen, I should have seen it coming,” she spoke in a hurt and contrite tone. Dan’s lips pursed, he’d forgotten just how attached to her other half Kirra was. From the pain in her voice, it was clear to see that she truly believed she bore equal responsibility to Karra for her actions.
Dan smiled at her. “You’re forgiven,” Dan returned. Dan knew that an attempt to convince her that she wasn’t responsible for anything wouldn’t yield much. He had no understanding of the kind of bond that ran between Kirra and Karra that made Kirra feel the way she did. Telling her that she was forgiven for whatever perceived transgression she had committed, would do a whole world more than trying to convince her that she hadn’t done anything wrong. “And besides, what either one of you does after you broke your bond is not the fault of either the other,” Dan added with a smile.
“That’s just it,” Kirra muttered. “I don’t think our bond is broken, at least not completely,” she added.
Dan’s brows drew together in confusion. “How? We all saw you break the bond,” Dan voiced his confusion. “I’m meant to believe that you were unable to fight in the war because without your bond to Karra you couldn’t hurt a fly let alone fight in a war,” he added.
“We did and I couldn’t,” Kirra answered both of Dan’s statements. “But about a little over an hour ago, I felnnt her,” she said to the shock of all around her. “It lasted for barely a second,” she went on. “But I’ve been bound to Karra for tens of thousands of years Dan, I would recognize that bond in less than half the time it lasted,” she stated firmly.
“The shields fell a little over an hour ago,” Claire pointed out.
“But then before the shields went up you couldn’t feel her at all, how could you feel her now through a broken bond?” Dan posed his mind trying to wrap itself around this new bit of information.
“Perhaps,” Ember spoke up. “It’s not that the bond wasn’t completely broken,” she suggested. “Maybe it’s trying to regrow,” she offered. “I mean think about it, neither one of you is a complete person without the other,” she explained. “You are perfectly good to an extreme that is neither beneficial nor healthy, and she is evil to an extent that can’t be fully encompassed by the word pathological. Both of you are way off balance. May be nature is just trying to restore the balance that’s been disrupted,” the phoenix tried to reason through it.
“You don’t seem believe that,” Dan spoke astutely observing the skepticism in Kirra's expression.
“It can’t be,” Kirra answered in a tone of voice that relayed her confusion at the whole thing. “Something that’s growing is slow and gradual and becomes more easily felt over time,” she stated. “This popped up for an instant the disappeared, it was every bit as strong as it had been before we broke it and then it was gone,” she explained.
“Look, whatever it is, doesn’t matter, right now we…”
“It does matter,” Kirra countered. “If we a re still bound then Eldraen can get to you through me,” she said. “I’m a liability to you,” she added.
“At this point that doesn’t matter,” Dan answered her. “We have only one week to make a difference on how this war turns out, if at any point the bond is reformed then let me know at once. Otherwise, we simply do not have the time to be paranoid about what could possibly happen,” he stated in both a firm but comforting voice.
His words seemed to return a measure of strength to Kirra who nodded once to him, the features of her face hardening with new resolution and determination. Dan finally turned his attention to the city of London behind him. Though it was nothing like he’d hoped it would be, it was in a way better condition than New York. A few of the buildings had cracks in them, a few had gaping holes left by missing walls, but most of the rest still stood fine. The few people that were outside looked either to be terrified of everything around them or like they were up to no good. The ones that stood out the most as looking for trouble had magic, that Dan could so easily tell. “Where is everyone,” Dan asked. Apart from the few that seemed to be skulking around, London almost looked like a ghost town.
Dan didn’t miss the sigh that escaped Kirra, it was all too clear that she wasn’t at all happy with herself. “Things got a bit out of hand,” She spoke unable to meet his gaze.
“What do you mean out of hand?” Dan asked.
“There has been a…. Uhh… well, what you might call a faction war,” she stated. Dan’s expression made it clear that she’d not succeeded in painting a clear picture. “It started with the werewolves and the vampires fighting over territory and it all went to hell from there. The vampires and the werewolves are constantly attacking each other. The ones with magic quickly forming large followings around those powerful enough to protect them. They constantly trying to kill those in other factions to gain more magic and power as well. Groups of humans have formed pretty violent and well armed gangs that have marked out territories which they protect as their own.”
“The largest and most unfortunate group are humans without power who won’t join the violent gangs and the weakest of the magic users than are of no use to any of the followings. They are caught in the crossfire between the different camps and there is very little they can do to protect themselves. Michael and I together with a few of the strong wizards and mages that chose to stand with us, have been doing the best we can to protect innocents. Sadly, our best has fallen short at times,” Kirra informed them in one long explanation.
“How the hell did all this happen without you letting us know?” Ember posed her ire unhidden.
“You were off fighting the war and I wasn’t exactly keen on showing just how useless I was and how little help I was going to be when I was needed the most,” she said shame and guilt marring her voice. “Plus you forget what state of mind I was in, I knew that if either Athena or you got wind of what was going on, there would be a blood bath, I hoped to prevent that,” Kirra added.
“And so your solution was to let innocents to die in the process?” Ember posed in a waspish tone.
“Don’t you thinks I know how stupid and illogical that kind of reasoning was now that I have some measure of evil back in me?” Kirra snapped back at the phoenix. Despite the tone of her voice, it was clear to see that much if her anger and harshness was directed at herself.
“So what you are telling me,” The ice that flowed in Dan’s voice caused them all to momentarily forget about everything else as they turned regard the livid expression that had etched itself onto Dan’s face. “Is that there are cowards here that chose not to fight for the sake of humanity but would rather kill each other senselessly?” his voice seemed to grow darker and colder with each statement.
Before any words could form on Kirra's lips, Dan had vanished in a burst of flames. About half a minute later there was another burst of flames as Dan reappeared, someone else was with him as dropped him on the ground and vanished once again. Kirra easily recognized the man, it was Yuri, a Russian vampire. He was the strongest vampire within the dome and therefore leader of the vampire faction within the dome. There was both confusion and anger in the vampire’s expression as his head quickly turned from side to side trying to get his bearings of the new change in situation. Before he was able to do much else, Dan reappeared in a burst of flames dropping another two individuals to the ground. Dan vanished once more. Their scents told Kirra who they were before her eyes did. There were to main werewolf factions within the protected area, Jasiri a north African giant of a man, and Rashid an Iranian were the two alpha’s that led the two factions. While the two saw eye to eye on very few things, they both agreed that they hated the vampires more than they hated each other. That was how the two had managed to stay so long without trying to rip the others' throat out.
It took only about a second or so for their noses to pick out the scent of a vampire and for the vampire to pick up there scent. Two deep growls ripped through the air as the wolves went into their half morph form. The vampire was immediately up off the ground his more feral side already risen to the surface. The trio however managed to do very little else as the all once again fell to the ground. This time however, it was as if there was a ten ton weight on top of them. Despite their ardent efforts to do so, they seemed to be unable to rise up from the ground. “I would remain in place If I were you,” from the cold rage that permeated Ember’s voice, Kirra knew that the phoenix was doing all she could to keep herself from killing them. Over the next five minutes, Dan vanished and reappeared each time bringing with him a leader of one of the ten factions within the dome.
Sara, the head of a coven of witches, Jordan, A master wizard with the second strongest following. Gerald, a warlock with the strongest following. Tony, The head of the second strongest human Gang. Maverick, a particularly nasty man that was the head of the largest and strongest human Gang. Cory was the last faction leader to appear. His was a peculiar faction, he had taken and brought together the rejects of all the other factions. On their own, the members of his faction were almost laughably weak. But with them united under his wickedly cold and sharp intellect, they had become a force to reckon with the man himself was a psychopath. He operated with a cold calculating and unrelentingly unforgiving manner. Each new arrival had become acquainted with the ground on arrival because of Dan and had stayed there because of Ember. The expression on Dan’s face when he finally threw Cory down with the rest, made the one on Ember’s face look like a kind motherly one.
“Lift the spell,” Dan spoke in a deadly calm tone, his gaze never leaving those that were on the ground. As soon as they were the spell was let up, a deep growl left Rashid as he made a move for Yuri. Everyone in the vicinity unconsciously winced at the sound of bones breaking. Rashid barely made two steps before Dan picked him up with magic and smashed him hard against the building behind them. Though he knew that the were would heal, the sight of bones sticking out through the skin at various point on his body, made Kirra wince. With magic still, the wolf was dragged across the tarmac ground to where Dan stood. There was a look of unbridled anger and pure disgust on Dan’s expression as he regarded the wolf at his feet. “Who else wants to try anything?” He asked in a glacial tone as he turned to look at the rest of them. Kirra wasn’t entirely sure whether Dan was aware of the fact that his eyes now burnt a fiery shade of red eerily similar to that of Eldraen.
Kirra could see it in the eyes of the faction leaders that none of them were the least bit happy at what had happened or that a boy was threatening them. Thankfully, they all were smart enough to realize that testing Dan wasn’t the smartest thing to do at the moment. None of them spoke up, and despite their best efforts to hide it fear was gliding an icy finger across their hearts. For a minute, Dan stared them down with a smouldering gaze almost as if part of him was hoping that one of them would do something stupid. However the longer he stared them down, the more it seemed to become clear to them that doing something stupid would probably be the last mistake they ever made. “In the past five minutes, as I retrieved the lot of you, I have gone through hundreds of different minds, both yours and those of the people around you,” Dan spoke ignoring the shock that crossed their expressions at learning that he had been in their minds. “So I am intimately familiar with the depth of your transgressions. What I want to know from you is to why I shouldn’t make your deaths as slow and as excruciatingly painful as possible for turning what I had intended to be a safe zone, into a battlefield,” He posed his expression relaying that he had every intent of seeing through on his threat!
Kirra didn’t miss it as an even deeper and more raw fear spread out over Sara’s face as a revelation of some kind seemed to dawn on her. “I... It’s you,” she stammered unable to hide her fear, directing all attention to herself. “You’re, him, you’re Dan,” she stated. At the mention of his name, realization dawned on the faces of others in the group as they turned back to him, a new wave of fear crashing over them.
“I am,” Dan coldly confirmed. “And the lot of you cowards declined to fight in the war that would save this world, that is why you have are here in the protected zone. How is it then, that you have decided to take up arms against one another?” he once again posed.
“The vampires are to blame,” Jasiri spoke in a heavy accent. “They are the ones that attacked us, we had no choice but to decent ourselves,” he explained.
“Shut your mouth you vermin, you dogs were encroaching in on our territory trying to drive us out,” Yuri shot back at the man who growled dangerously.
“We are the victims in all of this,” Maverick spoke. “Humans are defenseless and powerless to defend themselves against the scourge of magic,” he asserted.
“Victims my foot,” Sara snapped at the man. “Were you victims when you attacked my coven and killed twenty seven of my sisters?” she queried in a waspish tone.
“I would not have been dragged into this fight if Gerald hadn’t tried to make slaves of anyone who had any respectable amount of magic, I only sought to prote…”
“ENOUGH!” Dan cut off Jordan. The burst of flames that engulfed Dan threw the whole lot of them about three meters back. The fear which they seemed to have momentarily forgotten, was renewed as Dan came to stand before them alight. “I do not care who did what to whom where and for what reason,” He informed them. “Here is what you will do,” he spoke in a tone that made it clear that this was not a request. “All of your ten factions will converge here tomorrow. Peacefully,” he stressed. “Should even a single member of any faction, attack any other, I will personally erase that whole faction from existence, is that clear?” Dan asked darkly. None of the ten seemed to have enough courage to muster a response. Dan didn’t wait for one, all ten of them vanished in a burst of flames. Dan stood regarding the spot where the ten had been only a second before. Kirra got the impression that he was trying to push back his anger down into the recesses. He managed to let up the fires that had engulfed him but other than that, it didn’t seem to be working. “Can I count on you to bring the group that wasn’t part of any faction here tomorrow?” Dan questioned turning to her.
Even as she nodded, Kirra got the distinct impression that it hadn’t been a request…
