The Arwain Chronicles: A plan...
He rose off his bed stiff and in a kind of pain that would have broken many. The same address left his lips as had numerous times before in the past three days. Only this time he was in too much pain to offer any more in the way of sound other than an anguished whimper. His body remained stiffly still for a long while before the pain finally began to ebb. This was the longest that he'd ever defied the universe. And not without good reason either. In the thirty five thousand years of his service to the universe, he had always been in a shop of some kind. Whether made of mud, sticks, logs, corroded iron sheets, brick or even stone, he had always been in a store of some kind. Never once in the whole period of service, had he been asked to deliver anything to anyone. Whoever the recipient, they'd all had come to him, whether king or peasant, nobility or commoner. Now for the first time in thirty five millennia, the universe was asking him to leave his shop to deliver something to someone. Not just one thing, but everything, and not just to one person, but to two people.
He slowly got off the bed, the repeated attacks by the universe had left him considerably weak. He silently muttered to himself in in continuously changing languages some of which had long gone extinct his mind slightly inebriated from the attacks by the universe. He continuously and absentmindedly gave voice to the many and disorganized thoughts that buzzed around in his head as had become habit of late. Moving at a slow pace he moved towards the front of the shop. He came to a stop before the counter his eyes fixed on it. He had been running the shop for thirty five thousand millennia, and whether an item left for less than a day or more than a century, they always found their way back into the shop. Given this fact, he knew every item that had ever been in the shop by heart. The item that now sat atop the counter was one he had never seen before.
He wanted to take a step forward, but as it had been a number of times over the past three days, he found himself unable to move any closer to the counter. His eyes were fixed wearily on it, it was another chest. Yet this one somehow felt different. The chests designed by Lord Arwain were made in such a way that whatever, magic that was inside it was sealed in shut and couldn't in any way, be detected from outside. However, even from where he stood about two meters away from it, he could feel the power coming off whatever creature was inside. That was the other thing, every other chest had three creatures inside it, from this one, only one magical signature could be felt. Inside it, there was only one being. From the magical signature of any creature, the old man could usually tell whether the owner was good or evil. This one however, gave no such clue, only the fact that it was powerful, more powerful than anything he had ever seen or felt. Powerful enough to inspire fear within him, something that no being had ever done. Wherever this thing had come from, one thing was for sure, this item wasn't Lord Arwain's handiwork. It had been thirty millennia since he last felt it, but for the first time in a long time, he was actually curious as to what was inside the chest. He however wouldn't even dare to try and find out. Partly because he knew better but more largely because of his fear of whatever it was that resided within the box.
Gritting his teeth, he finally tore his gaze away from the box as he turned to regard the shelves lined with chests and spell books. Though he was yet to admit it to himself, a part of him knew that he was scared. Scared of what his having to deliver everything within the shop could possibly mean. Had he finally come to the end of the road? Was his long service to the universe finally at an end? What would that mean to him? Would he die? It surprised him to find that even after thirty five thousand years of life, the prospect still scared him.
Closing his eyes, he forced himself to take a deep calming sigh. When he opened them once again, he with a wave of his hand, cast the same spell he'd cast so many times before. Like clockwork, the chests and spell books started flying into the boxes that had materialized out of thin air. His head turned back to the chest on the counter, he was afraid to bother it in the slightest. It took him a while to muster up the courage to raise his hand towards it and cast the same spell as with the others. The universe expected him to deliver it to someone, which must have meant that he could move it without coming to any harm he reasoned. This line of reasoning however, did not stop him from sighing with relief when the chest moved into a box without doing anything to him or reacting in any way.
Though he knew there would be nothing on them, he studied the now empty shelves just to make sure. His eyes moved back to the boxes. "Now how exactly did you expect me to move all these boxes?" he posed to no one in particular as he regarded them. His brows rose when he heard neighing just outside the store. Looking in the direction, he found a carriage attached to a white horse. The steed seemed to emit light from within it as it stood serenely calm. The wings attached to its side folded neatly along its side. The question had been rhetorical and the old man hadn't expected a reply from the universe. And though he didn't know how he knew, there was very little doubt in him that this was indeed the universe's doing. His eyes turned to the roof almost as if he expected to find some manifestation of the universe there. "How am I supposed to fit all these boxes into only one carriage?" he asked his eyes still scouring the roof. He wasn't sure he would be indulged a second time, but saw no harm in trying. His gaze was drawn back down as the boxes rose off the floor and one by one moved through the door which opened on its own and into the carriage. Whether they were shrinking in size or some form of magic allowed them to fit into the back of the carriage, the old man didn't know but every single box vanished into the back of the carriage. The old man looked back up to the roof for a second before a resigned sigh escaped him.
It was only now that the strange chest was off the counter and out the store, that he could muster the courage to actually walk up to the counter. Reaching below it, he pulled out the large orb and placed it on the countertop. As clearly as he could in his weakened state, he spoke out the address he'd been given by the universe. However, unlike every single instance before this, the orb did not show a location. Despite his shock, the old man closely studied the two faces that appeared from the green fog within the orb. The boy, he easily recognized, he had already been in his shop once before. He was however, clueless as to who the face of the girl beside the boy's face belonged to. When the faces faded from sight, he had burned their every detail into memory. His hands, which had been reaching forward for the orb to replace it where it was supposed to be curled tightly into fists. His heart hammered in his chest as he watched the green fog that the orb itself had turned into, fade from sight. The orb was gone! A clear message from the universe that he would no longer be needing it, his service was indeed almost at an end...
*******
Whatever move she made happened too fast for even his eyes to catch. The result of it however, was all too clear to be felt as the ground disappeared from beneath his feet. His body did a three sixty degree flip before hitting the ground hard on his back. Had he been any younger, it probably would have knocked the air out of him. He sprang off from the ground and landed on his feet to find her bouncing on the balls of her feet regarding him with a playful expression on her face. The smile on her face relaying that she was quite enjoying herself.
Though they'd been fighting for about six hours now, she looked and moved as if they'd only started. It was fast becoming clear to him that if he hoped to kill Ailin, then a direct attempt was off the table. Whatever things she had been doing for the past two millennia, slacking off was definitely not one of them. The Ailin that stood before him now, was far deadlier than the one he'd known from two millennia ago. She moved with a nimbleness and agility that would put most cats to shame. Her moves were executed with such air-lightness and liquid grace that they left the one on the receiving end both mesmerized and in pain in equal measure. Korzak knew he was lucky that this was only training, had it really been a battle he doubted that he would have lasted ten minutes. If half of the moves she had made had been done a little bit faster or with just a little bit more force, then they would have left him a corpse. No, a direct approach would definitely not work.
"Come on Charles, could you at least try and make this hard for me," Ailin teased with a smile. "At this rate, I'll only be able to fight eighty year old arthritic grandmas," she went on as she once again started circling him.
"Four thousand five hundred year old arthritic grandmas," He corrected good naturedly though through gritted teeth.
It was taking all of his willpower not to lose himself in her smile. He had hated her for the past two thousand years, her death had been his sole purpose for living all this time, he had done all he could to rid himself of any feelings he'd had for her. However, it was fast becoming clear that she still had the same place in his heart that she'd had for the two millennia that they'd been together before she betrayed him. She was a wild flame, a flame that burned bright with life and vigour. A flame that enamoured him with its allure like a hopeless moth. A flame that had already once before. And a flame that threatened to burn him once again if he wasn't careful.
Though he didn't like it, he had to do it. Every time he felt that he was slowly losing himself to her, he forced himself to remember, he forced his mind to go back to the place and time. He'd woken up to the taste of salty ash in his mouth, an odd thing in and of itself. Being a two thousand five hundred year old vampire back then, losing consciousness was not a thing that happened too often, or even at all. Things had only gotten weirder then worse from there. It felt as if someone was repeatedly pounding on his head with a blunt axe as a splitting headache threatened to put him out of consciousness once again. He hadn't had a headache since before he'd become a vampire two and a half millennia before. He would have been worried about if his mind hadn't immediately moved to the one he'd cared most about. "Ailin!" He'd called out his face screwing up as he cringed in pain from the splitting headache that tormented him.
Silence met his call prompting him to try and look round about himself. His sight was blurry, another thing that hadn't ever happened to him while he was a vampire. With a mix of both annoyance and frustration, he'd shaken his head ignoring the excruciating pain from his headache as he tried to get his eyes to focus. It did not do much. His usually pretty sharp eyesight had been useless at that point. His other senses however, had still been as sharp as they'd always been.
His ears caught it a second before his nose did. Screams of pure fear and agony. Fear, cold and unrelenting, had wrapped an icy grip around his heart and squeezed hard. He recognized the voices. His fear had only intensified as his nose picked up wafting through the air, the acrid odour of burning human flesh. He'd immediately taken off in the direction the screams and acrid odour were coming from. Owing to his diminished sight, he kept running into tree after tree. The frantic urgency of his pursuit only increased with each subsequent fall. He covered the three kilometers between him and the burning village in about five minutes, twice the amount of time it would have normally taken him to do so.
The sight that had met him had floored him. His whole town had been up in flames. The few still living people were running in utter terror. Some of them were covered in flames which they've futilely tried to extinguish as they've simultaneously sought to escape an unknown threat. Those that weren't covered in flames were covered in blood. A good number of them were maimed so badly that they've would most likely bleed out before they've got away from whatever it is that threatened them. In all his life before and after, Korzak hadn't ever felt such a deep and pure rage as he had in that moment. It had burned right down to his very core.
Whatever it was that had done this, he would make it rue the day it ever stepped into his town. He would make it curse whatever it is that had given it the idea that it could harm his family and get away with it. In that moment, the tight control he'd maintained over his feral side ever he'd become a vampire, was lost. His feral side had taken over, seeing only red and seeking only death. Moving at superhuman speed, he'd charged into the burning village seeking out the perpetrator of this mass murder. Seeking out whoever would be the first victim to his feral side.
Korzak's jaws unconsciously clenched as he remembered the moment he saw her. The one person even his feral side didn't wanna hurt. There she stood, covered in the blood of his family. Korzak could still see it clear as day. The cruel, sadistic smile that had been playing on her lips as she watched the mayhem she had caused unfold before her. "Ailin?" he had dumbly called out. His confusion had been evident in his voice as his mind struggled to wrap itself around what his eyes were seeing. It still sent a shiver down his spine, the pure and utter cruelty and unbridled malice that had saturated her gaze as she turned to him. What had made it even worse was the fact that he recognized that this wasn't her feral side. He'd had enough encounters with that side of her that he would have immediately known it had it been the one in control. No, Ailin was still very much in control.
"W... why?" He'd managed to choke out, the pain that was threatening to overwhelm him bringing him to his knees.
Her lips had tilted on one side in a merciless smirk as she coldly regarded him. "What did you think would happen?" She had posed in a voice void of all emotion. "Did you actually believe that you had tamed me? That you had made me into your pet to do with as you pleased?" her voice seemed to grow more malevolent even as cold fury burned in her eyes.
"I... I thought we loved each other, that you loved me," was all he had managed to pathetically stammer at the time.
A cold laughter had dragged a thousand blades across his heart, had erupted from her. "What do you take me for? Some silly human girl that you can woo with your vampiric charm and do with as you please?" she had cruelly questioned. "You've sorely underestimated me Korzak, and it will be the last mistake you ever make," She'd said walking forward to where he knelt. The look in her eyes one he was all too familiar with, it was the look she had when she was intent on the death of someone. Korzak hadn't made any move to defend himself let alone fight back. He hadn't done so, not because Ailin was a whole millennium and a half older than her and would have ripped him to shreds if he had tried. He hadn't done it because in that moment, death had been a welcome respite from the pain that had been slowly eating at very soul. In that moment, death had been a preferable fate to the pain that was mercilessly hacking away at his insides.
The kick Ailin had delivered squarely in his chest, sent him flying through the burning house behind him. His fall as he emerged on the other side was broken by a decapitated body. Even without seeing his face, Korzak immediately recognized his son's clothing. Any residual human part of him, had been crushed and lost forever in that moment. He'd given himself over entirely to his feral side. Whether he lived or died ceased to matter, all he wished to inflict was pain, extreme and unending pain. However, his rage and pain hadn't changed the fact that she was still way older than he was. Their mostly one sided battle took them all around town as she rained blow after blow on him, sent him smashing through walls and into the ground multiple times. The fight did not stop until he was at the very brink. A final definitive blow from her was all it would have taken for her to end him. To put him out of his pain and misery.
Ailin had had her finger wrapped around his throat like a steel vice. His feet's only contact with the ground was the thin but steady stream of blood that flowed down from his big toe to the ground below. He'd still been weakly and futilely trying to pry himself free of her grip, his feral side simply failing to understand that he'd lost the battle. His eyes had still been fixing the most vitriolically hateful glare he could possibly muster. He'd watched as Ailin drew back her other hand to strike the blow that would end him. It never did.
She didn't do it.
Ailin held him in the air with her hand drawn back for about thirty seconds not doing anything. She at last let him fall uselessly to the ground. Any other person would have seen it as an act of mercy, but he saw it for what it was, cruelty. She wanted him to have neither peace nor respite from the pain she had caused him. No. she wanted him to suffer slowly and surely. With one last hateful glare from her, Ailin vanished from sight. Leaving him bleeding and in pain of more than one kind on the ground. Both his bones and soul broken.
Whether minutes or hours passed by while he was there on the ground he didn't know to this day. In that time, however, all his pain crystalized into a pure and unadulterated hatred. Hatred for the one he had loved for the past two and a half millennia. It was there on the ground in the middle of the burning village that he had vowed to make her pay. She would meet her deserved fate for what she had done to him. He would make her pay even if it was the last thing he ever did...
"I certainly hope you don't intend to do that in the middle of battle," Korzak was drawn out of his reverie by Ailin's voice.
His expression hardened as he regarded the vampire before him. He couldn't afford to let himself be deceived a second time. The one that stood before him and the vampire that had killed everyone that he'd ever cared about were one and the same person. She was the very same person that he had every intention of killing.
"Do what?" he posed.
"Zoning out and disappearing to wherever it is in your mind you go to when you zone out," Ailin answered.
"Believe me, I plan on being very alert in the coming battle," He spoke ominously. "You should be more worried about yourself," he added in a slightly challenging voice injecting a bit of playfulness so as not to arouse any suspicion from her.
"Well clearly, I can hand your ass to you six ways to Sunday even in my sleep. I think I'll be okay,"
For a split second, he saw it. A gleam in her eyes that communicated that she meant she meant more by her words than she was letting on. Could she have... no, no she definitely didn't. if she knew that it was Korzak standing before her she would have decapitated him already. Whatever it was she was implying, he was still unaware of, but would have to make a point of finding out. "For your sake, I hope you don't believe the phoenixes are anything like me in battle," he said.
"I hope not, otherwise I might snore through the whole thing," Ailin returned with an easy smile...
*******
Claire stood regarding Jim as he went through the motions she had just demonstrated to him. They had three training sessions each day, one in the morning, and one at noon and one in the evening. Their noon session was not had due to Dan's arrival. This was now their evening session. The hunters were now currently occupying one of the areas in New York where Two and the others had managed to create a safe haven. "You might wanna be a little more relaxed and fluid," she called out instructively. "And a little bit less. I-wanna-put-my-fist-through-my-brother's-face tense," she added earning a sideways glance from him before he went on.
Claire had not missed the change in Jim since Dan came back. His demeanour had become sourer and his gaze darkened. It did not take one who knew of what had gone one between the two of them, to see that he was not at all happy about the fact that his brother was back. "So, what's your plan here exactly?" Claire questioned when the tension in his movements started to grate on her. Jim paused mid-high kick and turned to look to her. Even the way he looked at her had changed, she couldn't help but notice. "You going to sulk for the rest of eternity? Cause I've been told that it's a pretty long time," she offered unable to help the sarcasm in her voice.
Jim slowly lowered his leg in no apparent haste. "He killed my mother," He spoke in a tone that sent a chill down Claire's spine. "You may not understand a relationship to a parent means seeing as you had to be enslaved into one, but you don't just get over someone killing your parent," He added in an abrasive tone.
Despite her jaws clenching and her eyes narrowing at him, Claire chose to ignore the unhidden attack at her. "Yes, he did kill his mother," Claire conceded. "The question is what are you going to do about it?" Claire posed looking him straight in the eye. Her question remained unanswered in the stretch of silence that followed as she had expected. "Because the way I see it, you have either one of two options," she went on never flinching from the dark gaze he was directing at her.
"You could one," Claire said raising her right index finger. "Mope around and sulk till you are dead and buried," she offered. "Or you could try and do something about those feelings that you are harbouring within you," she went on. "In which case, you'd be going against one of the most powerful beings on the planet with zero scenarios in which your chances of coming out on top are anywhere past zero," Claire offered candidly. "And even if Dan himself did nothing to you, I promise that you do not want to fathom what anyone from Ember, Athena, Elly or any of the others loyal to Dan would do to you. And that's only if I don't get to you first," Claire spoke in a tone that left no doubts or questions about exactly what she would do to him. Her demeanour only adding emphasis to what her tone was already communicating.
"That's it," Claire declared. "Either die miserably, or die an excruciatingly slow and painful death," she stated in a tone that though hard, wasn't cold. It was a tone that simply reflected the reality of things. Though he wasn't at all happy about it, Claire could see it in his eyes that he saw the truth of her words. A sigh left Claire as she let her hard demeanour fade. "Look, I didn't say that getting over the death of your mother, much less the fact that it was your brother who was forced to kill her, would be easy," she said a bit more empathetically. "But it is the third and only option you have before you that offers true peace and closure," Claire said.
"So, what you are saying is, simply because I can't do anything to my brother, I should just forgive him for what he did?" he asked. "Tell me this Claire, did you forgive your father?" he posed.
"I would tread very lightly if I were you," Claire warned momentary empathy she'd felt for him fading and her hard demeanour falling back into place.
"That's what I thought," Jim stated ignoring her threat. He turned away from her once again and resumed his training.
"Well for heaven sake keep your body relaxed! Dan doesn't need your body on his conscience as well," Claire found herself snapping at her trainee as he once again resumed his stiff motions. Turning away from him, Claire stared walking away from Jim, mostly to keep herself from becoming too frustrated with him.
She walked over to her new office. Even back in the town where she had previously been in\, earlier in the day, it had been and was more of a room where she could go to be alone and think than it was an actual office, seeing as there was no office work of any kind to be done. "Conrad, my office now!" she spoke authoritatively to the hunter standing at one of the guard posts, as she continued down the hall towards it. "Take over for him Keith," she instructed another guard who'd been passing.
Inserting the key into the keyhole, Claire opened the door and walked in. "Lock the door behind you," she instructed as the hunter walked in behind her.
Claire moved over to her desk. But rather than move around it to her seat, she moved the chair before it and turned to lean against the desk. She regarded him as he turned around from the locked door to face her. Claire regarded him for a while the same conflict she'd had over the past several months once again rising within her. A sigh left her before she muttered the spell beneath her breath. With a slight glimmer of light the illusion fell like a veil being pulled back. Where only a second before had stood a young twenty something looking guy, now stood her father. Where there had previously been a largely neutral expression, was now an expression that was filled with nothing but pure and absolute hatred.
She calmly regarded the man who as far as everyone else knew, was dead. The irony and hypocrisy of it wasn't lost on her. While she was trying to convince Jim to forget what had happened and put the past behind her, she hated herself and was tortured by the fact that she hadn't put an end to the vile man before her.
"Why am I still alive?" His father's voice broke the silence.
Claire couldn't say anything in reply. It was a question she had herself so many times over in months past, she was yet to come up with an answer. Or more accurately, to come up with an answer that she liked. The truthful answer to the question was that she simply couldn't do it. When the war had started as a result of Ember's announcement to the world, everyone in the old order of hunters and everyone that supported it had been killed. Not because Claire had desired it to be so, but every one of the old order had had her as their number on target. It had been a simple matter of killing them before they killed her. And yet, when it had come to her father, she had simply been unable to do it.
There was no question about the fact that she hated the man, he had made her life a miserable existence and more times than she could count, she had fantasized about the many ways in which she would kill him if the chance ever presented itself. Now... now he was at her mercy and yet she'd done nothing. With the fact that he was already bent to her will, when the moment of truth had come, she hadn't been able to do it. She had disguised him and she now had him serving as one of her hunters.
"I guess even after fifteen years of torture, you failed to make me into the monster you so desired me to be," Claire quietly answered her tone contemplative.
A scoff escaped her father. "I doubt either Ronald or Agatha would see it that way" he retorted.
"They sealed their fate when they decided to try and kill me rather than join me," she stated unfazed.
"So, no part of you enjoyed it?" her father questioned in a tone that relayed that it wasn't really a question, he already knew the answer. "You did not enjoy running your blade through Agatha?" he further asked. "A deep dark part of you did not feel a deep satisfaction when you watched the demon rip out Azira's heart from her chest right before her father's eyes?" Her father's tone rang with a malevolent pleasure as he looked deep into her eyes. "Was that not a smile I saw playing on your face when you watched the phoenix make short work of Ronald, as if he was some child without the faintest notion of battle?" he pushed.
"And how many do not have fathers, sons, daughters and mothers because of hunters like you and all the rest that died?" Claire threw back at him. "They all got what they deserved, and I wouldn't change a thing of what happened to them if I had to do it all again," she declared in a firm tone.
"Not my question," Her father calmly replied causing Claire's jaws to clench. He might have been bent to her will, but his mind was every bit as sharp as it had always been. Her evasion had been all too obvious to him. Lying would be of no use, her father would see right through her lie as he'd always seemed to be able to do. They both already knew the answer to the question, much as she hated to admit. "And let's not act like you and all the remaining hunters are saints," he spat back at her. "How many fathers, sons, daughters and mother have fallen by your hand?" Her father questioned.
"Only because you enslaved my will you sick bastard!" Claire shot at him harshly unable to help her rage.
"That fact changes nothing of what you've done," he replied not even remotely bothered by her outburst. "How you felt or feel about what you did will not bring the countless that are dead by your hand back. What you would have wanted to happen is irrelevant, you have killed just as I have killed, just as every other hunter has killed," he said coldly.
Claire's jaws clenched in both rage and hatred. She knew he was right. How she felt, whether present or past, changed nothing of what had already happened. "I hate you, I really do hate you," Claire spoke in a voice thick with loathing.
"Why? When you and I are so alike," He posed.
"I am nothing like you," Claire spat at him.
"Oh really," Her father questioned as if amused by her denial. "I'm a killer, you are a killer. I enslaved you for fifteen years, you plan to enslave me for life, or at least until you grow enough of a spine to kill me as you so desperately want to," an almost disappointed sigh left her father. "It's a good thing your mother is not alive to see your weakness," he said more to himself than to her.
Claire's eyes widened, her shock superseding any rage she might have felt at his remark. "You've never spoken of my mother, not even once," she found herself saying. Her words seemed to bring the fact that he had indeed spoken of her mother, relaying it to Claire that it hadn't intended to. She watched his face harden into an unreadable mask clearly not intending to say anything further. "I have my reasons," he said stonily.
"And those would be?" Claire asked. Her question however, was met with silence. "You are already bent to my will Arthur," she spoke threateningly. "You can either tell me of your own free will or I could make you tell me, it's your choice," she offered. "But I strongly recommend you choose the former," She added her voice only getting darker.
"I never told you about your mother because I'm not blind," Her father said to her confusion.
"What do you mean," she posed.
"I could see it you know, even while you were still bound to me I could see the hatred that burned in your eyes every time you looked at me. How much you loathed the very fact that I existed. Every time you looked at me I could almost see the many ways in which you were probably killing me over and over in your head. I could almost hear silent prayer you made for even the slightest of chances to present itself for you to put a blade through my heart," he said candidly. "Or my eye, whichever one hurt more," he added off-handedly with a mirthless chuckle. "You might so vehemently deny it, but we are so similar you and I, at the very least in this one respect," he said after a short pause. "You don't know how many times I stood over you while you slept or after I'd knocked you down in training, with a blade in my hand and thought to myself, 'I could end it all right now, I could put both you and I out of our misery'. A dagger right through your heart, or just slit your throat and it would all be over. But like you presently, I just simply couldn't do it," he admitted a bit of shame in his voice. "Much as I hated myself for being too weak to do it and you for not being as I wanted you to be, you were still my child, you were my daughter," he admitted in as close to an emotional tone as Claire had ever heard coming from her father.
"Am I supposed to feel sorry for you?" Claire coldly questioned. "Was I supposed to get all emotional, cry and let you go?" she further questioned her voice thick with sarcasm.
"I wouldn't advise it, you'd be dead within ten seconds of that mistake," her father answered unfazed by her tone. His matter of fact tone making it clear that he meant what he said.
"I asked you about my mother not some sob story about how my childhood was hard for you," Claire reminded in a hard voice.
"Your mother remained unspoken of to this day because I didn't want to shatter whatever fantasy you had of her," he at last told her. "You were a child, you didn't need to know that the probably loving and caring mother you probably had come up with was a figment of your imagination. And you most certainly didn't need to know that she was your first victim, the very first person you killed," he said causing Claire's eyes to widen in shock and disbelief.
"That is not true! I would have kn..."
"Your mother died at child birth Claire," Her father cut off Claire's vehement denial. "And just in case you were wondering, no you don't have any siblings," he added humorlessly. Another mirthless chuckle left her father. "Oh, the irony," her father said more to himself than anyone else in particular. "Your mother had come up against, demons, warlocks, vampires, werewolves, wizards and witches of all kinds and the thing that did her in was a bundle of about five pounds of helplessness!" he spoke the pain he was trying to hide still permeating through his voice.
Claire was barely of aware of the fact that her head shaking from side to side as tears welled her eyes. "No, you are lying?" she denied weakly though she could see the truth of it in her father's expression.
Her father regarded her tears indifferently. "Do not cry for her," he said stoically. "Your mother would have slit your throat the moment she found out that you were a blue blade," he callously informed her. "She would have killed you and not even thought twice about it after," he said.
"You're lying!" Claire found herself shouting at the man before her.
"Then force me to tell you the truth and see if my answer changes," her father easily rebutted not even slightly bothered by her emotions. "Believe it or not I was the more humane of the two of us. Of all the hunters I'd ever come across, your mother gave life and meaning to the word cold hearted rivalled only by Ronald," he explained. "Had it not been for the love that we shared, I would have honestly believed her a psychopath," he said quite seriously. "The double irony is that out of she and I, came the emotional mess that you are," he added coldly.
Claire's jaws clenched as she tried to force back her tears. She hated herself for letting her emotions get the better of her before him. She however couldn't help agreeing with him. A big part of her wished that he had never said anything about her mother...
*******
"You haven't said a word to me since we came back," Chloe spoke regarding Kurt.
He was now standing beside the pillar to the right of the archway before the door to her castle. He had his back to her watching as the other necromancers gathered before her castle. Kurt remained silent not moving in the slightest. It was almost as if he was hoping that if he didn't say a word, she would leave him be. Chloe didn't miss the curious glance from Raven as she regarded Kurt then her. For the first time since meeting her, Chloe saw an emotion in Raven's eyes that wasn't either annoyance or boredom. She couldn't be sure seeing as Raven turned her head back towards the gathering crowd a second too soon, but by the looks of it, it was... a glimmer of hope.
"Kurt," Chloe called out hating that she had to use her authoritative tone to get him to turn to her.
"Yes, my queen?" her second in command replied in a tone that was equally as stoic as the unreadable expression that was etched onto his face.
"I told you not to refer to me by that title!" Chloe snapped before she could stop herself. This was not at all how she'd hoped the conversation would start.
"I'm sorry Chloe," he apologized in a tone that was even colder.
A sigh left Chloe as she regarded her second in command. "No," she said. "It is I who should be sorry. I let you believe something to be true that wasn't, and in the process hurt you. Now as I look back, I'm horrified at just how blind I'd been to your feelings, and how only concerned with my own pleasure and gratification I'd been. Words cannot even begin to describe how sorry I am for hurting you Kurt," she explained. "You are a dear friend to me Kurt, I would have never dreamt of hurting you. It tears at me that I did. If I could take it all back, I swear on all that I hold dear Kurt, that I would do so in a heartbeat?" she said.
"But we can't take it back, can we?" Kurt finally spoke up after a while of silence. His voice was no longer cold as it had been, it however, was still void of all emotion. It was clear to see on his expression that he no longer held it against her, but she had also lost his trust as well. She had lost her friend. "But you are not entirely to blame," Kurt unexpectedly said. "It appears that," he went on, glancing to Raven who despite her best efforts to hide it, was regarding at them from the corner of her eye. "I was naive," Chloe winced at the self-disgust that infected his tone as he admitted his fault. "I am, naive," he added as he turned back to regard her. Chloe's jaws clenched, hating herself for the self-disgust that quadrupled in Kurt's tone as he turned to her.
"I do however, have no intention of ever letting myself be such ever again," he spoke in a hard tone. "I will serve you faithfully to either mine or your last breath, in whatever position you deem fit for me. You can count on me as advisor protector and confidant if you so wish, but nothing more," though he spoke calmly and quietly, the finality in his tone was unmistakable. Chloe hated the silence that followed his words, but nothing came to mind that was an even remotely appropriate reply to what he had just told her. "Your people wait to hear from you," Kurt spoke up at last tuning away, making her aware of the fact that all the necromancers in her care were now gathered before her castle now regarding the two of them.
Chloe took a deep controlled breath forcing herself to push down the deep disappointment that she felt as she took a step forward to talk to her people. "Eleven months ago, I set out to find an army," she began in a voice loud enough to be heard by all. "I knew nothing of my role or responsibility to you. I didn't know who I was to you or what you were to me. What I set out to find eleven months ago, was an army, what I found was a family," she said. "A family I swore to do all in my power to protect and from whom, the promise was reciprocated,"
"Well now, that family, MY family, is threatened," she said. It was almost as if it was instinctual, despite it not having been her intent, rage sparked in the eyes of all those before her. She was more concerned with their safety and wanted them to be as well. She however had very little doubt that the rage was as a result of the thought that something possibly threatened their queen. "Everyone standing here before me, swore to me that come the day when we were needed for the battle to come, they would stand by me in the fight. Well, that day is at hand," she announced.
"I do honestly wish there was a way I could keep you all from having to be part of this war," Chloe spoke up after a while of silence. Her tone conveyed it that she really did wish they didn't have to be part of what was to come. "However, the force we are up against, will not stop at Dan. It will not stop at America, Europe, Asia or even Africa. Its evil will spread to and infect every corner of the planet. It will not spare man, woman or child, living or non-living thing, this force will not stop at nothing until this whole planet is a wasteland!" she explained.
Chloe could see the rage in their eyes be quickly replaced with fear as comprehension of the reality that was before them dawned in each of them. Chloe very much preferred it this way. At least now they would be cautious and face the danger ahead with the wisdom and battle strategy it required rather than just blind rage. "A few must and will be left behind to protect the children and the exceptionally weak among us but everyone else will go to war," she declared. "There is a very real chance that most if not all of those who stand here right now, will not see the end of this war," Chloe spoke grimly still abiding by the principle of not lying or sugar-coating anything.
"But from what I can see, we are left with either one of two options. We can cower and die like dogs with our tails between our legs. Or we can show those that come after us the grave error they made when they thought that we would be subdued without putting up a fight that will be remembered for all of history!" she stated barely aware that the strength and vehemence in her tone let alone the rage that was rising with each word. "Now I do not know about any of you, but I am no dog! Now will you join me in showing whatever fool that thought they could take us without a fight, the grave error that they made?" Chloe posed. The unified shouts of assent intertwined with rage rose high into the air. The same resolve that burned bright in Chloe's eyes to fight with everything she had, quickly spread out to every one of her followers...
*******
She wasn't nervous about most things but somehow, she found herself feeling nervous as she stood before the door to his office. A number of people were going in and out of it in a rush. War was no light matter and most likely, for almost all the rest of the week it would be like this. Being Chloe's second in command, he was the one that dealt with the details of her orders and desires, a job he seemed to supremely excel at. Raven was acutely aware at how inopportune this time was. Not only was he ridiculously busy, but she was supposed to be as well. She knew she had people waiting for her back at her own office and that they would be seeking her out for the rest of the whole week. But then, there was a very real chance that if she didn't do this now, she would never get the chance to do it again. Her chances at any kind of success were outlandishly abysmal, but all the same she just had to try, for her own peace of mind.
Initially, she had been waiting. Baiting her time hoping that over time, Kurt would come to forgive her, or at the very least not hate her. But then Chloe had stepped into the picture and all her hopes evaporated. She had seen it right from the very start, Kurt had been star struck by their queen. Any and all hope that she'd had that he would be hers, had been lost on that very first day, when he'd been so ready to kill her just for not speaking to Chloe in a tone that he liked. Mow however, it seemed that he and Chloe not going to be together after all as she had thought they would. And so here she was, standing outside his door not sure what she would say just that she had to say it, whatever 'it' was.
"He's asking for you?" it took a while for the words from Kurt's father as he stepped out of Kurt's office, to register.
"What?" she found herself dumbly asking as her nervousness ratcheted up a few notches.
A knowing smile crossed his face as Kurt's father, it was almost as if he could see right through her. It took every last bit of her self-discipline not to blush. "He asked you to come in," he said.
Raven regarded the door to Kurt's office hesitantly, for a second, considering just turning and walking away. "Thank you," she said to his father as she forced herself to step forward. She didn't allow herself to stop until she'd walked into his office. A number of heads turned to regard her from around Kurt's desk.
"Please excuse us," despite the fact that it was as calm as could be as he said it, his tone already told her that she was about to engage in an uphill task. "So," Kurt spoke up once the other necromancers had left the room. "What's so important it has had you standing outside my office for the past thirty minutes at a time like this?" from the way he asked the question, it was clear that he knew that she didn't have anything pressingly important to deliver to him. At least not on official matters.
"I just wanted to see if you were okay," she offered trying and failing to not show how nervous she was.
A half scoff half chuckle escaped him as the side of his lips tilted in a perfect hybrid of a smile and a smirk, he saw right through her. "Translation," he spoke looking up from his desk. "You heard Chloe and I talking, and know that she will probably never be anything more to me other than my queen. And so now, you've come here to see if there was any possibility of me somehow conveniently forget that my best friend is dead because of you, so we can sail off into the sunset together," once again, his tone was completely calm and completely void of any emotion, still somehow, it felt as if he was trying to cut through her. "Does that about cover it?" he posed.
A sigh escaped her. "Not quite," she said. "You missed the part where I will forever be sorry for what happened with Leonard. I was a young and stupid nineteen year old that had been alone almost all of her life. What I had with you was special. I'd never had or felt anything like it in my whole life, and so I got scared that like everything else in my life, I would get attached to you and then lose you. Hooking up with Leonard was the dumbest thing I ever did, and I can't tell you how much I still regret it to this day. I only did it because I was trying to lie to myself that I was still in control and that I wasn't as attached to you as I was scared I was. I thought Leonard and I were just having fun, I had no idea that he was going to get as attached to me as he did. Or that he would come to see you as an obstacle to he and I being together," Raven wasn't sure where it had all come from as she herself had avoided trying to look back at all that happened. It was all too painful for her. But somehow, she knew all she had just said was true. She'd had something good with Kurt and she'd been scared that she would lose it and so she'd gone and messed everything up.
"When he attacked, and tried to kill you, two things immediately became clear to me. One was that I'd gone too far with Leonard. Second was that, the very thing I'd been so desperately trying to deny the whole time, that I loved you Kurt. I was deeply and hopelessly in love with you. I... I couldn't let him do it, I couldn't let him hurt you. And so, I fought back in your defence," Raven paused her heart tearing up all over again as she replayed the scene once again in her mind.
Of the three of them, Kurt had been the weakest as far as magic and combat went, and so even if he had fought back, he would have lost either way. However, the betrayal by his best friend and the one that was supposed to be his girlfriend had completely caught him off guard and knocked him out completely. In that moment, the very will to live let alone fight, had vanished from his eyes all replaced by nothing but pain. Had she not stepped in, there was no doubt in Raven's mind that Kurt would have let Leonard kill him, if only to escape the pain. "I'd honesty thought that once he saw that it was you I wanted to be with, and that I was willing to fight for and defend you, he would back off. I couldn't have in my wildest dreams thought that he would try to kill us both. I took and still take no pleasure in the fact that I had to kill him to protect the both of us," she said.
"Had to kill him?" Kurt repeated, the first inkling of emotion infecting his voice. Raven didn't miss the way his right hand repeatedly opened and closed tightly enough to shake. Or the vein that had slowly become more and more prominent along his right temple. The scorching rage that seemed to spark in his eyes was like nothing Raven had ever seen in him before. "You stand there and tell me about how you used my best friend for your own selfish ends with complete and total disregard for the fact that he might develop feelings for you and the conclusion you come to is that you had to kill him?" He posed. The laugh that escaped Kurt bore no mirth, not even in the least. "You know, for two people who don't get along, you and Chloe are one of a kind," Raven had never had so much spite in a person's voice. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm trying to ensure that our race is not wiped out in the coming war. I suggest you get to doing the same," his tone clearly indicating that he had dismissed the very fact of her existence altogether.
Raven swallowed hard forcing all her emotions back down. "You also missed the fact that I love you," She said to Kurt who barely looked up. "That I will always love you," she added more quietly as she turned and walked out of the office...
*******
Elly lay silently beside Dan on the bed. He was peacefully asleep with Ember on his other side. His hands circled them both, holding them close to him. She had been torturing herself since the previous day for how she had acted towards Dan. She couldn't help but cringe inwardly at how petty and how absolutely self centered she had been not to see that Dan had done what he had to, to keep both the ones he cared about and the rest of the world alive. If she had been in Dan's position, she wasn't sure she would have done even marginally as well. In fact, she was almost sure everything would have gone to hell by now. The portal had been open for eleven almost twelve months now. Yet the world had still not yet been completely obliterated by the dark phoenixes and whatever else it is that crawled out of the portal. Even with the fact that it wasn't as optimal as it could have possibly been, it was still nothing short of a miracle that it still even was! Dan had definitely done a lot more and a lot better that most others would have.
Elly raised her head placing her chin on his chest as she regarded his face. It was almost heart breaking to look at him. It was only when he was asleep that his face truly relaxed. When he wasn't trying to hide just how much the burden of the responsibility that had been placed in his shoulders, was truly weighing down on him. It was only now that it really struck Elly just how young the boy beside her was, and just how much he'd been forced to grow in the past year. She was two whole centuries older than him, yet he was far stronger than she ever could hope to be. Not only in the physical or magical sense, but in character as well. The power of a whole planet had been given to him and yet he hadn't grown arrogant and vain in any way, form or manner. The weight of the world had been placed on his shoulders and he hadn't cowed from the daunting task. Even with the fact that he'd never asked for it or even been prepared in any way for it. He had instead stepped up to the plate and borne it to the best of his ability without complaint.
How it is she had even allowed herself to then turn around and attack him for doing what had he did, was beyond her. Even the fact that her wolf had been cut off from him for the past eleven months and thus a lot less reasonable, no longer seemed like reason enough for to allow herself to be so utterly inconsiderate. The fact that Dan had not turned her away as she had feared he would when she'd come to spend the night with him, only added to her guilt. The boy beside her was an amazing, one of a kind person, he had deserved neither her words nor accusations.
'He's not the kind to hold grudges, I'm sure the two you will work it out,' Elly's head turned in Ember's direction as the phoenix's voice filled her head. She must have woken up without Elly noticing.
The edges of Elly's lips tilted up slightly in a small smile. 'He's also not the kind to sleep in in the morning,' she returned. Dan's deep breathing had changed rhythm at Ember's mental communication. His sharp mind most likely picking up on the on goings around him even while he was still asleep.
"He also happens to be present in the room," Dan spoke softly and slightly sleepily a small smile on his lips. "And it's been almost a year since I last slept let alone had my two beautiful mates with me," he added pulling them both closer to him. His comment bringing a smile to both their expressions. "I think I've earned at the very least one sleep in," he said.
"Yes, you sure have," Ember agreed with a smile nuzzling in closer to him if that was even possible her head once again lying on his steadily rising and falling chest.
Elly's smile straightened a bit as she resisted the very tempting urge to just avoid the topic all together and just nuzzle into her mate. "I'm really sorry Dan," she quietly said. "I was childish and selfish. I turned something that was probably just as hard for you as it was for me, probably even more, and made it all about me," she said. "I accused you of abandoning us, of abandoning me, when all you've done so far is put everyone else before yourself. It wasn't fair and I'm so sorry," she finished.
A long sigh left Dan as his eyes at last opened to regard her. Elly fought the urge to turn her gaze away from his intense one as he regarded her. There was no rage or any negative emotion in his eyes as he regarded her. It instead in a way it reminded her of the gaze that she usually got from her father when he was trying to see past a mistake she'd made. Another sigh left Dan before he spoke. "Look Elly, I love you and I know love me, but that doesn't mean we will always see eye to eye on everything. In fact, we may very well see differently on a lot of things," he said. "However, I need to know that I can count on you to have my back in whatever situation we find ourselves in. That I don't have to worry about you turning around and becoming one of those attacking me. You gave me your word eleven months ago that come rain or shine, you'd stand by through it all, I need to know that promise means something to you," he said.
Elly's jaws clenched intensely hating herself for the fact that she'd allowed him to doubt that she had his back even in the least. "As you said Dan, I love you, I love you more than I love breathing," she said hoping he could see just how much she meant every word. "And sometimes, my emotions may make me say and do stupid things," she admitted. "But please don't ever doubt that you can count on me, I would die a thousand deaths for you Dan. Even if we don't see eye to eye on everything, I'll always have your back even to death and back Dan," she stated with a note of finality making it clear that she meant all she had just said.
Elly watched a smile grow on Dan's face. "Then all is forgiven," he said raising his head off the pillow.
Elly's eyes closed as their lips met, electricity flowing between them as they sealed their reconciliation with the searing kiss. "Hey, where's my kiss?"
They both laughed when they turned to find a pouting phoenix. Pulling her to him, their lips came together in what would have most likely been a passionate kiss. However, before their lips met, all three heads turned towards the door to their room as it parted to reveal Athena. "It's time," she announced. A sigh escaped Dan as his head fell back on the pillow his eyes closed in displeasure. Elly's lips pressed into a straight line as she watched the transformation in his expression take place. The few minutes he'd had to just be Dan, were over. He was no longer just Dan the boy, he was now Dan, the one on whose shoulders the fate of the world rested. She watched as all emotion faded from his expression as it morphed to an expression that revealed nothing of what went on behind it. Elly's head turned in Athena's direction when Dan vanished in a burst of flames. Though he'd disappeared from the bed naked, he reappeared all dressed. "You guys can sleep in if you want," he offered with a small smile.
Elly's head turned to an empty bed as Ember too disappeared and reappeared all dressed beside Dan. "And let you have all the fun, not a chance," she replied returning the smile.
"Now you guys are just showing off," it was Elly's turn to mock pout, they both smiled at her. "I'll catch up in a minute," She said getting up from the bed in all her naked glory. Dan nodded once in acknowledgement before he turned around and started off...
*******
Dan walked between Athena and Ember through the hallway and into an office at the end of it. It wasn't anything within the office that held their interest but rather, the balcony it was attached to. Though he'd already seen in Two's mind and been told by Athena the number that had chosen to stand up and fight, he somehow was still not prepared for the sight of thousands upon thousands of men and women standing at attention in perfect rows and columns stretching as far as the eye could see. They were now in Nairobi. Dan had decided to keep on trying to catch up with all what had happened while he wasn't there. He'd take half the day here in Africa before he went back to Europe to address the gathered factions and everyone else that showed up. Then it would be back to New York to meet up with Chloe and her necromancers.
Nairobi had apparently been levelled in the battle that had taken place while he was still behind the shields in his home town. Right now, only one building stood within a five hundred kilometer radius of the place, the one they were now standing on. Athena did not allow her soldiers any comfort beyond the bare necessary. A column of tents large enough to hold at most two people ran in between each column. This clearly was all the comfort Athena deemed necessary, he doubted any of the soldiers would dare complain to her. The weight on his shoulders doubled as he regarded the whole army before him, they didn't stand a chance. They had all signed up to die at his behest.
"Dan," Ember called out concerned when he stood still and remained silent a moment too long.
"I can single-handedly kill this whole army," were the words that quietly left Dan's lips his eyes still surveying the endless rows of people standing still as statues. Given what she knew of Athena Dan knew they would stand as they were the whole day if they didn't receive any instruction to do otherwise.
The others seemed to understand what he was getting at. "Me too," Ember spoke up. "Of course, not half as fast or as easily as you could, but given enough time, I could wipe them all out," she added. "But then, whether they fight or not, their fate is sealed either way," Ember stated. "If they fight, they will most likely be killed in battle. But your following is nowhere big enough to stem the hordes that will come from that portal, we would all too be overwhelmed and overrun. And that is of course if we are not all too preoccupied trying to not get killed by my brother and the other dark phoenixes," Ember explained. "At least this way, they get to die with some measure of dignity. They get to die fighting to defend all what they care about, and not dying slow cruel deaths at the hands fangs and claws of whatever monstrous creatures come from the other side of that wretched portal. This is the best you can offer them Dan, you have to see that," The phoenix urged.
Dan's jaws clenched at her words. Despite the intent behind them, they offered him no solace. "My best was not enough," he said resignedly as he took a step forward. Before he closed himself off within the fort behind the shields, he wouldn't have thought this to be within the realm of possibility let alone try to actually do it. Lord Arwain however had been nothing short of a cruel and sadistic maniac in his training methods. Taking a deep breath, Dan let his eyes close as he opened up his mind. One person, two people, twelve people, seventy seven people, three hundred and sixty one people, four thousand people, fifteen thousand people, eighty three thousand people, two hundred and nineteen thousand people, seven hundred and ninety eight people... the hive mind was formed!
It wasn't until his eyes opened as he involuntarily took in a deep breath, that Dann realized just how tightly his teeth were gritted. His knuckles were white from how tightly he was holding on the balcony railing, the task was only half complete. It took a substantially longer while to get every all mind to align all thoughts with his and keep them from overloading one another by broadcasting their thoughts. A mind would be burdened by the thoughts of ten other minds, severely strained by thoughts of a hundred other minds, completely scrambled by a thousand minds, anything past three thousand minds would be almost instant death.
'Look at me.'
Dan watched as thousands of heads in perfect unison turned towards him in response to the mental order he'd given. It was done.
Dan was silent momentarily at a loss of words. Now that he had the attention of the people he was sending to their deaths, he couldn't think of anything that felt even remotely appropriate to say. What was he going to say, 'thank you?' For what? For agreeing to die at his behest? "In six days, a fight for the world we live in will begin," he began. "Essentially, I am what you would call, your champion because at the end of the day whether this battle will be won or lost, rests almost entirely on my shoulders," Dan could see his name pop up in many of their minds, clearly, they'd heard of him. "But while, I bear a large portion of the burden of the survival of our world, I do not bear it all and I most certainly can't do it without all of you by my side in battle. The fate of each one of you is sealed," he went on to say. "And while I can promise to do all that is within my power to keep you all safe, I would be lying if I told you that most of you will survive what is coming, because you won't," Dan stated. Despite his bluntness, it was clear to all wo could hear his voice within their heads that it wasn't a fact he was happy about.
"Know this however, your legacy will not be forgotten. Your sacrifice will be honoured for all time and your names remembered throughout the ages, for generations and generations to come. You have shown courage where billions of others failed to," Dan said relaying it to every mind that he was connected to that he meant every single word. "Whether we win or lose come next week," Dan spoke up after a short pause. "The world owes you a debt of gratitude that can never be fully paid back," Dan finished feeling like he still hadn't said enough to relay just how much he appreciated their commitment, valiance and sacrifice. But then he doubted that anything he said could ever possibly be enough. He started pull back from their minds.
It was another two or three minutes before he had safely pulled out from all minds and delinked them from one another. Dan turned to find a look of both shock and slight fear in the eyes of Ember Athena and Elly as they regarded him. "Did you just link up over a million minds?" despite her best efforts, not even Athena could hide her shock.
Dan would have smiled if it wasn't for the fact that he felt like he'd just sentenced those same minds to death. "Let's just say, that lord Arwain is a sadist," he offered as an explanation. "I wanna meet your best soldier," Dan instructed her as he walked past them.
*******
"What's your name?" Dan posed regarding the soldier. He was now leaning back against a desk in what had become Athena's office back inside the building somewhere in Nairobi. The soldier before Dan looked to be about thirty years or so. Standing in a completely black attire, from his head to toe. He was currently standing almost stiffly at attention. His gaze was fixed unmovingly at a point just to the side of his head. Dan got the impression that the soldiers didn't make a habit of looking Athena in the eye. Given what she knew of his demon, Dan could understand why.
"Richard," the soldier answered in a calm but strong tone of voice.
"Well Richard," Dan spoke up. "You do not have to be so formal with me," Dan offered with an easing smile. After a second of uneasy indecision and a sideways glance to where Athena stood, the soldier relaxed a bit from his rigidly upright stance. Dan's smile widened. "That's better," he offered accepting the slight change. He seemed to be ready to snap back into his former stance if this turned out to be a trick of some kind. "Now, Athena tells me that you are her best soldier," he more of said than asked.
Despite the slight smile that crossed his face, Richard didn't exhibit much else in the way of pride. "No disrespect meant to mistress Athena, But I'd put it more like, the guy who wants to survive the most," H answered.
"Mistress?" Dan reiterated turning an arched eyebrow at the succubus who stood against the wall to the side of her office. A cocky smile unapologetically crossed the demon's face. With a slight chuckle, Dan turned back to the soldier choosing not to pursue it. "Do you have any family Richard?" he asked.
"No, none whatsoever," he replied.
"Anyone who's close to you," Dan further asked.
"Apart from the soldiers I fight beside, no one," he answered.
Dan could clearly see that he was telling the truth. And while it made what Dan was about to do that much easier, it did also leave Dan wondering. "Why exactly do you fight?" he asked. "I would imagine that most of those out there have chosen to fight because they have someone they want to protect. What about you? Why do you fight?" Dan posed once again.
-Richard actually seemed to consider the question and his answer. At last he looked back up to Dan. "If I don't, who will?" he answered with the question. Dan's brows rose as he regarded the man before him. Whatever range of answers and reasons he had expected from him, a simple and pure genuine sense of duty hadn't been one of them. He was both humbled and impressed. "If I can ask?"
"You want to know why you are here," Dan said already knowing what he was about to ask. The soldier nodded. Dan sighed as he stood up straight. "You are here because I need to borrow your body," he answered.
The confusion didn't appear only on Richard's face. Ember, Elly and Athena all regarded him with an inquiring expression. "I'm sorry, I'm not sure what exactly you mean?" Richard voiced his confusion.
"I mean I need to take control of your body, not permanently, but you might miss the war," Dan explained.
His answer didn't seem provide any illumination to the faces that regarded him. "Can I ask why?" Richard queried.
Dan's lips pressed into a straight line. "I'm sorry, but no, you can't," Dan replied.
A slight resigned smile crossed the soldier's expression. "Do I actually Have a say in whether you do this or not?" he went on to ask.
Dan considered the question for a while. "Yes, you do," He at last answered to the soldier's surprise.
There was silence from Richard before he finally asked. "Will it help us win this war?"
"It might mean the difference," Dan answered.
"Then do it," The soldier stated a look of determination in his eyes.
"Thank you," Dan offered quietly as he slipped into his mind and all too easily took control.
"Well can I at least know why you have to take my best fighter?" Athena posed
"Because in a short while," he answered his eyes not opening and a slight glow coming from his hand which never left the side of Richard's head. "I'll have in his place a fighter even better than myself," he said digging deep into Richards mind.
"What are you talking about?" Elly posed regarding Dan questioningly.
"Arwain," ice flowed in Ember's voice as she spoke up in reply to the werewolf. "He intends to anchor Lord Arwain's mind in Richard's body," she finished just as Dan finally pulled his hand away from the side of Richard's head his eyes opening.
From the smile that spread across Richard's expression, no one needed telling to know that it had worked. "So, what? Richard's gone now?" Elly asked regarding the soldier warily. "Is lord Arwain going to be separated from you permanently?" she additionally posed.
"No on both counts," Though it was Richard's voice that filled the room, they all knew it was Lord Arwain talking. "Dan and I are still very much linked and as for the soldier, it's more like he's locked away deep inside his own mind," he explained.
"Kind of like what he did with me when he took over my body a year ago," Dan explained. "Except without all the pain," he added leaning back against the desk once again.
"And so, he can't hear, see or feel anything?" Athena posed her head tilting slightly to the side.
"Nothing," Lord Arwain confirmed. "It'll be like he fell into a deep dreamless sleep when he finally wakes up," he added explanatorily.
"Good!" Barely a second after the word was uttered by the succubus, she'd moved faster than Dan's eyes could keep track of. All that registered with Dan was the sound of her fist connecting with the side of what was now Lord Arwain's face. Lord Arwain would have smashed hard into the wall on the left side of the room from where Dan stood if not for the fact that Ember came from that side also moving at superhuman speed. Dan's jaws clenched unable to keep himself from wincing at the sound of bones breaking as Lord Arwain smashed hard into the wall on the right side of the room.
Dan calmly watched as Lord Arwain rolled over on the floor onto his back. His nose and jaws quite obviously broken along with both his hand and leg on the side with which he had hit the wall. A groan of pain left Lord Arwain, he forced himself to stretch on the ground as the phoenix healing kicked in almost instantaneously. There was a loud pop as he snapped his jaw back into place. In spite of what had just happened, a smile reformed on his expression. "Now that we've got that out of our system," he said opening up his hands. "Group hug?" he posed smiling as he glanced between Ember and Athena, both of whom seemed to be fighting the almost overwhelming urge to decapitate him. "No?" Arwain queried after a while managing to feign disappointment. "May be later then," he said the disappointment fading fast as it had come. "May be later then," he offered smiling at them.
"How the hell did you stand him for an entire year?" Elly posed. Though, there wasn't a hate similar to the kind in either Ember or Athena's eyes in Elly, her gaze conveyed that she wasn't particularly fond of him. Dan suspected it had to do with lord Arwain taking over his mind a year prior.
In spite of himself, Dan smiled a bit. "Lucky for me, he was too busy cracking my bones to crack any jokes," he replied. "But we need to get serious now," Dan added as he rose off the desk. "And I need to be getting back to Europe."
"What's wrong?" Dan along with everyone else in the room turned to lord Arwain. His tone relayed that he was no longer joking.
Dan arched an eyebrow at him. "What do you mean?" he queried.
A half scoff half sigh escaped Lord Arwain as he rolled his eyes. "I live inside your mind Dan, unlike them, you don't have the luxury of hiding anything from me," he said causing the other three to momentarily forget about lord Arwain and to turn to him with questioning looks. "Something's bothering you, something's been bothering you since you came out from Eldraen's castle, what is it?" Arwain reiterated his question.
"You mean apart from the fact that the entire world might very well meet its end in about a week's time?" Dan returned unable to help the sarcasm in his voice.
"I can see how that would bother somebody," Lord Arwain offered with a mock thoughtful expression. "Except it's not what's bothering you," he went on to say. "I've been in your mind for quite some time now Dan. I can tell the difference between when you are worried about something bad happening and when your mind is obsessively trying to unravel something it doesn't understand. This fit more of the latter than the former," he explained. "So, what is it?"
"Dan, what is it?" As in her expression, all ire had faded from Ember's voice, all that permeated it was concern.
A sigh escaped Dan. He had wanted to keep this all to himself. Everyone was counting on him, if what he feared was indeed true, then all hope was lost. Closing his eyes, Dan reached in to Ember, Athena and Elly's mind replaying the scene for them from when the dark phoenixes attacked him to when they all vanished. "The dark phoenixes," he at last spoke up once again opening his eyes. "There's something odd about them," Dan expressed his contemplative expression betraying that a thousand gears were turning in his head.
"You mean apart from how they talk," Lord Arwain said offhandedly.
Dan smiled weakly. "In fact, it's how they talk that gave me a clue to it," he replied.
"Now, I'm genuinely confused," Lord Arwain said.
"The way they completed each other's statements and thought trains," Dan stated. "It's almost like... like..."
"Like they were reading each other's minds," Elly suggested.
"Yeah," Dan said a bit sceptically.
"You don't think that's the case?" Lord Arwain asked picking up on his scepticism.
"Think about it, if you were a being as powerful as a dark phoenix, would you let other beings of a similar strength to you, possibly even stronger, play around in your mind to know what you were thinking?" he asked.
They all paused and considered this. "I definitely wouldn't," Athena at last answered.
"My thoughts exactly," Dan almost distractedly muttered quietly his gaze fixed unseeingly at the air as he contemplated the situation.
"Well I don't need to be in your mind to see that you've already come up with one, so care to share whatever explanation that's playing in your mind?" Lord Arwain queried.
"I've only ever seen that kind of synchronization once before in my life," Dan offered. "When we were in the phoenix realm, when the..." Dan explained.
"Actually," Lord Arwain cut in. "You went to the phoenix realm alone Dan," he informed him. "When you burnt up, I went back to the 'bottom of the sea' existence," Lord Arwain explained.
"Oh," Was all Dan could find that was appropriate to say. After Lord Arwain had explained how he existed in the minds of his descendants, especially those in whom his power could be awakened, Dan had assumed that Lord Arwain had been privy to every moment of his life. He wasn't sure why it felt so good to know that there was a space of it that he alone knew of. This even though there was nothing to hide about it. Dan launched into an explanation of all that had taken place in the phoenix realm after he burnt up, highlighting only the important parts and breezing through the rest.
"And so, this potion, it links up different minds into one?" Lord Arwain asked contemplatively.
"Yes," Dan confirmed.
"And this is what you think Eldraen and the rest have done?" Ember questioned her expression clearly showing that it was starting to dawn on her what this all meant.
"Yes, and they've taken it one step further," Dan replied causing an inquisitive look to cross Lord Arwain's expression. "When I was blocking the attack from the dark phoenixes, I didn't notice it at first but after a while I realized I could differentiate the four distinct magical signatures from the fire that was barraging against my shields," he explained. "What's odd is that, all four magical signatures seemed to be coming from four different directions," he added his confusion clearly showing on his face. "Try as I would, I can only come up with only one explanation for this," Dan stated.
"They didn't just link their minds," Ember said picking up on Dan's line of logic. It slowly settled in her expression, what he had hoped to keep from them. The realization that there was no way in hell they were going to win this battle!
"No, they didn't," Dan returned. "Their power is linked and merged into one as well. And whatever they did, they made it permanent," he further added.
But isn't the potion meant to make whatever is merged one uniform thing, how could you then differentiate between one and the other?" Lord Arwain's tone was not sceptical but rather genuinely curious about the question.
"I'm not sure, but I believe the potion is meant to link minds, not powers, that's why the power could be differentiated," Dan offered his tone betraying that he was not all too sure that this the right explanation.
"You're right." Ember answered. "The potion was meant to be used for Merging minds and for only a short period of time. It would do as good a job in uniformly merging powers.
"You seem to be missing the significance of that," Elly offered after a while of silently observing him.
"And that would be?" Dan posed, his own brain unable to find anything that he'd missed.
"If what you are saying is true, then you blocked an attack from the equivalent of sixteen dark phoenixes," she stated clearly impressed. "Doesn't that mean that you are far stronger than just four of the?" she posed.
Very little changed in Dan's expression as he considered this new thought. "Be that as it may," he at last spoke. "There is a whole world of difference between fighting someone and just standing at one point and holding up a shield," he stated.
Elly's lips pursed as he considered his counterpoint. "Touché," she at last offered with a sigh.
Dan as he thought it all through once again. "Turns out that even if I'd fought only one of them, I would have still lost," he said solemnly.
"Wait," from his expression and the smile that was quickly spreading across his face it was clear to see that Lord Arwain had an idea.
"What is it?" Dan pushed he stayed silent a second too long, gears obviously turning in his head.
"I believe the expression is, it takes two to tango," Lord Arwain cryptically replied with a smile.
"What are you getting at?" Dan posed when Lord Arwain's answer left him no clearer as to what he was getting at than before.
"Whether you know it or not Dan, you are the most powerful being on the planet right now," he stated. "Apart from the power passed down from me to you, you are also a male phoenix that has already been through five of the worst burns possible," he said. "You have power beyond imagination,"
"What exactly are you getting at?" Dan asked.
"We simply replicate what they have done," Lord Arwain said shrugging as if it was self-suggesting. "Recreate the potion they used and use it ourselves," he continued. "Heck, if we pull this off, the army wouldn't be needed. With your kind of power, those in your following alone would be enough to turn back any tide that came out of that portal," he stated.
"Except that I can't make the potion," Dan said having already considered this.
"Why not?" Athena asked.
"The main ingredient to the potion is the phoenix lotus," Ember stated already seeing the problem that Lord Arwain's plan presented.
"I've never heard of such a flower," Lord Arwain stated his expression relaying the same.
"That is to be expected," Ember relayed. "Given the fact that it only grows in the phoenix realm," she added explanatorily.
"Well, clearly the phoenix realm and whatever realm it is that the portal I opened leads to," Dan added onto Embers answer. "I have no way of reaching the phoenix realm and as far as the realm Eldraen and the rest come from, well... let's just say that that I'm not in any hurry to visit that place any time soon," Dan stated.
"I wouldn't advice it either," Ember spoke up. "Evil of that kind would corrupt you in a matter of hours if not minutes," she stated, unease at the prospect clear to be heard in her voice. "Not to mention the fact that it is highly unlikely that Eldraen and whatever other monsters there are over there, would let you just walk on by to go pick a few flowers," she added.
"So, the realm Eldraen is from is out, that leaves the phoenix realm," Lord Arwain spoke up a smile once again gracing his expression.
"Uuh, did you miss the part where I don't have any way of getting to the phoenix realm?" Dan said in reply.
"Sure you do, you just need to die," Lord Arwain stated.
A laugh that bore no mirth, escaped Dan. "You know, the way you said that, it sounded a lot like you said I needed to die," he repeated despite the fact that he'd heard Lord Arwain clearly.
"Not permanently of course," Lord Arwain answered. "Soon as you get what you need, you find a way to come back, you do have a war to fight after all." For a while, Dan found himself with nothing to say to the man who now stood regarding him as if he'd not just asked Dan to die and find a way to resurrect in time for the war that was only six days away. "While I don't exactly see that she would be enthusiastic about it, I believe Athena here would be capable of taking off your head if you gave the order," he added almost as an afterthought.
"Apart from the fact that that is probably the dumbest plan I have ever heard of," Dan's gaze turned to Ember. All the rage and hatred for Lord Arwain had returned as she regarded the man with a deathly glare. "You don't just die and go to the phoenix realm, even if you are a phoenix," She stated. "There are only two ways one gets to the phoenix realm, that is either by burning or by a natural physical death, it's why my brother and the other dark phoenixes didn't reappear in the phoenix realm when they were killed," she stated. "And in case you missed the memo, I don't have any more burns left and Dan isn't scheduled to burn for about another nine thousand nine hundred and ninety nine years, our natural deaths are even farther out than that!" she additionally argued.
"Well..." Dan spoke up his mind racing as he thought through every possibility. Much as he hated it, Lord Arwain's suggestion was the only viable plan of action they had. "According to the books in your study, there is one way a phoenix can burn out of cycle," he stated knowing that it would not be received well.
Incredulity mixed with pure rage marred Ember's features as she turned to regard him. "First off, please tell me that you are not actually considering this mad man's ramblings as an actual plan!" she half pleaded, half scolded. "Secondly," Ember spoke in a tone that could have very easily frozen water solid. "If you are suggesting what I think you are suggesting, then don't even think it!" she snapped.
"What exactly is he suggesting," Elly queried the concern and fear in her voice unhidden.
"Do you honestly believe that I am at all happy about this?" Dan questioned turning a gaze to Ember that answered the question. "If you have a better plan, then by all means make it known to the rest of us. But as things stand right now, everyone in this room knows that I'm not going to win in the coming war. You're right, it is the worst plan that could possibly be conjured..."
"Hey..."
"But right now," Dan went on ignoring Lord Arwain's interjection. "It is the only plan that actually leaves us with a remote chance of coming out on top and maybe even saving a couple billion lives while we are at it," he argued.
"I already killed you once Dan, I am not doing it again!" the phoenix shot at him in a tone that relayed that she had no intention of budging.\
"What?"
"What is she talking about?" Athena's exclamation at Ember's words was quickly followed by Elly's horrified question.
"Would you rather Eldraen did it?" Dan quietly posed ignoring the questions from both Elly and Athena.
"That is not fair Dan," Ember shot back at him.
"That is reality Ember!" Dan replied. "Unless a third option presents itself, we remain with only these two choices. Either we can let Eldraen kill me ion a week's time or you can do it before then,"
"What The hell are you guys talking about?" It is when Elly's voice both sharp and terse voice filled the room that they both turned to her. The rage was clear to be seen in her eyes. The fact that they had turned crimson only further stamped down the fact. Clearly both she and her wolf were not even remotely amused by this new line of talk.
"The curse of unregeneration," Ember spat the words as if they left a sour taste in her mouth. "He wants me to spell him with the curse of unregeneration," she stated with a sharp look at Dan.
"And just what exactly is that?" Athena posed her tone already relaying that she didn't at all like the sound of it.
"While they might have been the worst, it wasn't only the male phoenixes that sometimes became rebellious and destructive, sometimes female phoenixes did so as well. But unlike the male phoenixes, there was hope of actually redeeming them. And so, the curse of unregeneration was cast on them, either before or after they had been killed for the particularly bad ones, the curse works either way," Ember explained.
"What does this curse do exactly?" Lord Arwain questioned.
"The curse causes the one it is cast on, to suffer all the burns that they are yet to endure all at the same time," in spite of themselves even lord Arwain and Athena were both horrified at the phoenixes words.
"That would mean you going through fifteen burns all at once," Athena spoke up in a tone that shook at the prospect of what was being proposed.
"That is not all," Ember added grimly her eyes still fixed on Dan. "There is no coming back from the curse, once one is dead by the curse, not even the flame of rebirth can bring them back," she stated. "And even I with all my years of gathering knowledge cannot see how exactly it is you hope to get around this not so insignificant hurdle. Not to mention the fact that you can't exactly carry things in and out of the phoenix realm," she said, her gaze clearly demanding answers from him.
Dan was silent for a while before saying. "Those are things that I'll just have to figure out."
Ember's eyes went wide with incredulity before rage that had her tightly clenched fist shaking took over. "So, you mean to tell me," she spoke in a whisper that shook with that shook with the same rage. "That you would have had me kill you, without any knowledge of how it is you would get back?" Dan doubted that the phoenix that was now regarding him with fiery red eyes, was aware of her own voice rising as she spoke each word. "Essentially, you wanted me to murder you?"
"Believe me, if I had the option, I would have had someone else do it, but only a phoenix can cast this spell and I happen to be rather short on phoenixes right now," Dan replied in a tone that was just as hard.
"The fact that it is would be me doing it is not the issue and you know it!" She shot at him. "You want to die Dan! You are looking to die! That is My problem!" she snapped.
An exasperated sound escaped Dan as he in frustration ran both his hands down face. "I don't have a choice in my death Ember!" Dan spat unable to keep himself from shouting at the phoenix. "Either I die on my own terms or by Eldraen's, there is no third scenario here," he stated through gritted teeth. "Now you guys need to decide here and now. We can go with option a, let me die sooner than is inevitable so we at least have a shot of winning this battle. Or we could go with b, let me die by Eldraen's hand in a week's time and that is only if he is feeling particularly charitable and doesn't choose to drag out my death over the course of centuries," he offered. "Now decide!"
A long silence followed his words. They all knew and understood perfectly well that the two options he'd presented them with were the only options they had. They would be the only options they got! The thought of the second option filled them with fear pain, rage, and left a sick feeling at the pit of their stomachs. The first option however, wasn't any easier for them. One way or the other, they would have to choose, because even by choosing not to decide, they would have decided.
"Uuh... I vote for you to die sooner," Lord Arwain broke the silence.
Lord Arwain ran into the wall at twice the force he'd initially met it with the first time around as both Ember and Athena once again merged their fists with his face, this time simultaneously. Before he could fall to the floor Elly was upon him. With one swipe of her hand, half of Lord Arwain's neck went missing. Her other hand sunk though his ribs over half of which were already broken, his still beating heart was extricated a second later.
All three of them turned to him as his phoenix healing raced to catch up with the damage dealt to Richard's body before he could bleed out on the floor. Rage burned hard in their eyes, and something told Dan that it wasn't all directed entirely at Lord Arwain. "Fine then," Ember spoke up. "I will kill you," she stated. Despite the coldness in her tone, it was clear to see that she wasn't at all happy about it. "But only under one condition," she added.
"Name it," Dan returned without hesitation.
"Come up with a plan of how you'll get back to us," she said. "If you want me to kill you, then damn well better come up with a way of getting back from the phoenix realm. Short of that, we'll just have to figure out another way of winning this war," She stated in a tone that made it quite clear that this proposal wasn't negotiable.
"Geez... you guys ever heard of anger management?" lord Arwain posed through gritted teeth, a pained expression on his face. "So," He went on forcing himself to take a deep breath as the last of his ribs healed. "Go to Europe to address practically almost all of humanity, then back to New York to meet up with Chloe and all the rest of her necromancers. Somewhere along the way figure out a way to come back from the phoenix realm. Get killed and actually sent to the phoenix realm, find a way to not get killed on sight by Ember's mother, obtain a phoenix lotus and create the potion we need. Get back here, fight and win an epic battle, save everyone and put the world back in order," he said counting off his fingers as he made the list. Lord Arwain at last looked up at him with a smile. "Where do we start?"...
*******
So a number of things before we hopefully meet next month God willing...
One is that, apparently, the Wattpad app from Windows Store apparently doesn't recognize the smart quotes from Microsoft Word or the three dots for that matter. When I copy pasted from word to the app last month, these two failed to appear and hence their absence. I have rectified the issue and so I believe the previous chapter is worth a reread if you can manage to do so.
Secondly, Facebook has closed my account or more accurately is holding my Facebook account hostage until I produce some my national ID to it coz apparently IceheartPhoenix is not a real name. At first, I thought "no" but after thinking about it for a while, I came to "hell NO". And so I'm essentially locked out of my account and my Facebook page. If you are on my fb page the you can unlike it and if you are my friend on their then you can unfriend me coz both will essentially go dormant indefinitely. I have decided to move over to twitter and so if you are on there, you can follow me at @IceheartPhoenix for any important updates. If you are on Instagram you can also follow me at the same handle that is @IceheartPhoenix I don't post much to do with the writing on Instagram, it's mostly posts about myself, so you won't be missing much by not following me there.
Last is that, on average, about one thousand people read each chapter of the story. But on average each chapter gets about 100 stars. which leaves me to wonder what's up with all the rest of my readers? If you can read somebody's work chapter after chapter and enjoy it, is it really too much to ask that you click a button and like it? Or that maybe you go a step further and leave comment?
