The Arwain Chronicles Book III

Chapter Six

The Arwain Chronicles: A traitor...

Chloe felt hollow. It felt like somebody had disemboweled her and left behind a shell. A shell that felt nothing at all, not out of apathy but more from the inability to feel anything apart from the all encompassing pain that she was currently drowning in. A thousands blades were mercilessly running through her heart as she stood frozen. She was still where she had been while he was still with them only a few moments before and not the pile of ashes that now marked the position he had been in. She remained immobile both from the shock of watching Dan burn to death and secondly a small part of her fearing that if she did move, there would be no going back, that this would be it. Dan would indeed be dead and gone.

It was all up in the air now. Though every bit of her protested against the very thought of it, her mind struggled to grapple with the thought that this might very well have been the last time she saw Dan ever. Much as she didn’t want to even consider the possibility, there was a very real chance that Dan’s plan would fail and he would be unable to come back. This was not like the first time where being a phoenix, he had a time window within which he could come back. A window that he only managed to make it through by the skin of his teeth. This time he was dead, period! No window within which to come back, this time he would literally have to cheat death if there was any chance of his returned. Chloe felt numb just considering it, her brain overloaded with both fear and anxiety to a point that it really couldn’t process much else.

Her father had finally let her go and Elly was on her knees half crying half howling in a grief-ridden tone. There seemed to be a struggle for control within her. Part of her wanting to just cede control to the wolf and just get as far from the pain as she possible could. Another part of her however, seemed to be doing its best to keep control of the animal within. Her best friend was on the floor with her arms around her best friend tears also flowing down her face as well. Right now, Chloe too wished she had a close friend to comfort her that wasn’t equally hurt if not more by Dan’s death. The one friend that fit that description however, she had hurt. She was neither clueless nor callous enough to expect Kurt to comfort her over Dan’s death. This was one that she would have to ride out alone.

Her eyes turned to the one Dan had left in charge. Ember looked broken. In her eyes was a mixture of disbelief and despair. Her screams of grief and remorse had ceased, yet somehow the silence they’d left behind communicated just as much pain as they had. Pain bled even the very way she regarded what was left of her mate. While it did hurt Chloe that Dan was gone, the necromancer knew that what she felt was no where near a fraction of what Ember was feeling at that moment. Even though necromancers didn’t have mates, Chloe couldn’t imagine what it would be like to see one’s mate die, worse still, to be the one that killed them. The phoenix looked like the rug had been pulled out from under her feet and now everything was upside down. Like the necromancer, Ember seemed overwhelmed to such a degree that she couldn’t much other than regard what remained of Dan in the disbelieving and despairing way that she was doing.

Chloe’s attention was caught by the soldier that had apparently been under the control of lord Arwain. With Dan’s death, Lord Arwain was probably also gone as well. The confusion in the soldier’s eyes was understandable as they regarded his own arms then his body before turning his gaze to the ashen form that had previously been Dan. Chloe too would have been confused had she lost awareness of the world of everything and everyone around her only to come back to find yourself amidst a grieving group and the one that was supposed to fight for you, dead. It was a lot to process, disorienting to say the least. “I…” even the single syllable from the soldier conveyed his utter shock and confusion at the situation he now found himself in. “ I’m… I’m still here,” he spoke. At the words, Chloe did a double take of the soldier, the shock on her face mirroring the one on the soldier’s. Much as her mind couldn’t understand how in the world it was possible, there was also very little doubt in her mind, Lord Arwain was still very much among them. “I… I can’t feel him, our bond has been severed,” he stated still in shock.

A number of things happened almost simultaneously at this moment. Ember Athena and Kirra got over their shock at almost the same time, they all attacked at almost the same time as well. About ten balls of phoenix fire flew in Lord Arwain’s direction within the next fraction of a second. Athena was suddenly covered in flames as she morphed into her full fledged demon form, she too going on the attack. In about the same time frame, Kirra too had morphed into her tiger form, and with a roar that rattled about every bone inside Chloe’s body, jumped at Lord Arwain ready to tear him to pieces. What happened next was equally sudden and unexpected. Chloe saw it and despite the fact that less than two seconds had passed since Ember threw the first fireball, everything felt like it was moving in slow motion. Lord Arwain held up both his hands and from both, a shield spanned out effectively blocking Ember’s attack and stopping both Athena and Kirra in their tracks. It however did not stop there. The shield kept expanding and pushing both Athena and Kirra backwards. Chloe’s eyes had closed readying and bracing herself for impact with shields. Her brows drew closer to one another however, when she felt the shields but didn’t move a single inch.

Her eyes opened when she heard the impact of three bodies against the walls of the room. She wasn’t alone, no one else in the room apart from Ember, Athena and Kirra had been moved from where they’d previously been. It was almost as if the shields Lord Arwain had formed were fully permeable to everyone else but completely impervious to the three he now had pressed into the walls using his shields. The whole altercation took about five seconds.

“You did this,” Ember accused. “You got into my mind and made me do it! You killed Dan,” she shot at him with a murderous glare despite the tears flowing down her face.

With a burst of flames Ember disappeared from in between the shield and the wall reappearing at the center of the room just as Elly rose to her feet turning a gaze that scared even Chloe, to Lord Arwain. “Is it true?” she asked. “Did you make her kill my mate?” she posed in a dangerous tone.

“Unlike you,” Lord Arwain spoke in a hard tone of voice regarding Ember. “I only did as Dan instructed me,” he answered.

His answer seemed to be the only thing needed for Elly to lose all control to her wolf side. In the next two seconds she was in her wolf form. With a deep growl she pounced at Lord Arwain. That however, was as far as she got as her form froze mid air, held there by unseen forces. Her jaws which would have no doubt closed around Lord Arwain’s neck, still open, her claws still drawn. Lord Arwain himself seemed to be barely sparing any effort despite holding both Athena and Kirra against the walls with the shields he still had up and now holding Elly in mid air. It was clear to all within the room that he’d also retained all of the power that had initially been passed down to Dan. His gaze turned from the wolf in mid air to Ember who judging by her gaze, seemed to be taking time to plan her next move now that they all knew that they weren’t dealing with a simple human. “Tell me this,” he posed. “Did you feel me invade your mind a second time?” he posed. “While not nearly as powerful as Dan had been or as I am right now,” Lord Arwain spoke not bothering to veil the very obvious threat. “You’re still are among the top ten most powerful beings on the planet, does it not strike you as odd that I would have control of you less than two seconds after you chose to go against Dan’s wishes?” he posed rhetorically. “How do you think that is,” he queried in a tone that not only conveyed that he already knew the answer but suggested that she too should have known it too.

Despite the fact that she didn’t seem to want to, Ember was clearly pondering the same question. “He never withdrew from my mind?” she stated pain permeating her tone as she did.

“Ding ding ding,” Lord Arwain sounded. “Ten points to the phoenix,” he went on to say. “And why do you think that is?” he asked.

“He knew I wouldn’t do it,” Ember spoke in a tone that bled with pain. “It was a failsafe in case I was too weak to do as he asked,” the phoenix answered her voice breaking as she did.

“You are on a roll today,” Lord Arwain answered her. “Now, you can all keep attacking me and we’ll see just how useful a grieving method it is,” he offered in a voice that held humour and threat in equal amount. “Or we can maybe do something useful in his absence,” he went on to say as he dropped the shields. His gaze turned to Elly who was still in midair . his gaze locked with the animal’s, quickly infiltrating its mind, Lord Arwain pushed back down the animal forcing Elly to morph back to human. Threads formed around Elly as Lord Arwain conjured the same clothes she had been in around her. Though Elly regarded her with unhidden animosity, she also knew that another attack would be just as futile and fruitless as the first had been. “Now Dan left you in charge,” Lord Arwain spoke directly to Ember. “But I think it would be a fair assessment that you aren’t in a leading frame of mind right now,” he stated. “So how about handing over the reins to me, at least until you are better disposed to take over leading a whole army into war,” he offered.

“That’s it, isn’t it?” Elly shot at him. “You wanted Dan out of the way so you could take both his power and position,” she accused.

“One war wasn’t enough for you, was it?” Ember chimed in. “You got a taste of victory once and just couldn’t help yourself but try at it a second time, could you?” She too went at him.

Lord Arwain regarded the both of them silently for a while. “Is it really that hard for the two of you to believe in your mate’s virtue?” he posed. “Can neither one of you believe that he would actually of his own accord put the well being of others above his own?” he posed without a trace of humour to be found anywhere on his voice. He actually sounded a mix of surprised and sad.

“Believe me, no one more than I know just what extents Dan would go for those he cares about?” Ember spoke up. “And I have no doubt at all that he did what he did because he believed it would be for the greater good. That much is not debatable to me,” She stated in a tone that relayed as much. “What I do not share his confidence in, is the integrity of the voice that was whispering into his ear,” she stated taking a menacing step towards Lord Arwain. “Whether that voice really thought that the thing that would tip the scales in our favour in the war to come really was obtainable from the phoenix realm or it just want to be rid of the one thing that stood in the way of it gaining all the power it now possesses,” Ember laid the accusation.

“Of course that was my plan,” Lord Arwain answered the to their complete unexpected surprise. “Steal all of Dan’s power and get him out of the way so I could have all my old powers back for all of the six days that I would have it before the dark phoenixes made an ash tray out of my skull,” Lord Arwain spoke in a tone that wasn’t in any way suffering a shortage of sarcasm. “Evil mastermind, aren’t I?” he posed in a severely unimpressed voice. “You can call me a spineless traitor and all, but could you please not insult my intelligence while you are at it?” he added.

The shock faded from their features and suspicion quickly flowed back. “No,” Ember answered him.

“Oh,” Lord Arwain sounded at the unexpected answer to his rhetorical question. “Well then please refrain from being angry with me if I choose to ignore y…”

“I will not relinquish my authority to you,” Ember expounded on his answer cutting Lord Arwain off. “I’m in charge, that’s how Dan wanted it, that’s how it will be!” she stated in a tone of finality.

“Oh,” Lord Arwain once again sounded except this time it was due to understanding rather than confusion. “Then by all means,” Lord Arwain spoke up with a theatrical bow. “Lead away,” he offered.

Ember, Athena, Kirra and Elly glared at him for a long while before Ember turned and started off. Everyone followed soon after, all except for Athena who stood in the same spot still glaring at him. “Why am I still here?” she growled when Lord Arwain allowed her speech. It wasn’t out of choice that she was still there but more the result of the spell Lord Arwain had silently cast to hold her in place. His hands came up reaching for the nape of his neck. When he pulled them back once again, he was holding the chain he’d had around his neck between his hands. “You can have this back now,” he offered picking her hand from her side, placing the chain on her palm and closing her fingers around it. “You might want to get back to Africa though,” Lord Arwain added opening the only doorway in that hall that currently functioned, the one to Nairobi. “Ember doesn’t seem to be in the best frame of mind to handle treachery either,” he noted almost offhandedly. “She’d most likely flay you if she found out about what you’ve done. So you might want to be a continent away when she does. At least until I can talk some sense into her,” From the way he spoke he already knew that there was very little chance of that.

Lord Arwain watched as shock, fear, confusion then suspicion crossed both Athena’s gaze and expression as she listened to him. “Why would you help me?” Athena hated the grateful note in her voice. But it was undeniable, if Lord Arwain knew all what she had done and was choosing to let her go or at the very least give her a head start, then he was essentially saving her life.

“It’s what Dan would have wanted,” Lord Arwain replied quietly with a small smile.

“Dan is smart on a lot of things, but his judgment is muddled by feelings and emotions when it comes to those he cares about,” Athena spoke up forcing herself to rid all emotion from her voice. “Forgiving a traitor is something he would do, as he has already proven once before. You on the other hand, do not suffer from the same weakness,” She stated in a hard tone of voice. “So I’ll ask again, why are you helping me?” Athena posed coldly. The smile on his face widened, whether from amusement or a more hidden reason, Athena could not tell.

“Like I said, evil mastermind, eh,” he said with a slight chuckle before walking around the demon and starting after the rest.

Athena watched him go till he disappeared around the corner into the hall. For a moment she considered staying and facing whatever came her way. The thought fleeted away just as fast as it formed. Turning around, she walked through the doorway….

*******

Both Victor and Carol were silent. Victory was seated in the middle of the bed with his back against the headboard. Carol sat right in front of him leaning back against him, her back in full contact with his torso even as her head lay back on his right shoulder. Their fingers interlocked even as Victor and his arms around her torso holding her close to him. They were both fully clothed, neither one wishing to provoke their wolves. Still this was far more than they’d been able to do a year prior. They had slowly trained and helped their wolves get used to having each other around without immediately going for a dominance fight. The fact of the war and that their mate could be taken away from them at any time had helped the process along.

Something had changed. Ever since Carol had brought up the fact to him that may be they were focusing a bit too much on the missing bond and not enough on the relationship that they did actually have, however platonic. From since, Victor had stopped thinking about the absence of the bond and focused solely on the intimacy of their interactions. Despite the fact that it had only been a few days prior, he had started to feel a shift. When they were together, he felt at peace. All was right with the world when he saw her laugh, smile or even roll her eyes at his teasing from time to time. Even their wolves seemed to have calmed down a lot in the days since Dan’s return. Maybe his declaration that war was coming in a weeks time had something to do with it. She was a special in every sense of the word, and it was fast becoming clear to him that bond or no bond, he just couldn’t do without the girl in his arms. While being very primal creatures, even their wolves seemed to understand that there was no point in being at odds all the way to the grave. They’d chosen to hold their peace, to the extent that they could, and call it a truce for now. Now that he had stopped obsessing over it, he realized that he was more content to have his mate than a bond.

After leaving the hall where Elly had just forced herself to watch her mate die, they’d taken her to her room. The room she’d used as her own for the past eleven months before Dan had come back. They’d all been disinclined to use the same room as she had used given the memories it must have held of the past year and the situation they currently were in, Elly however, had objected to being taken to any other room. When they’d gotten her to her room, she’d asked to be left alone. His mother however had flatly refused the request. She’d indicated that everyone else could leave if they so pleased, she however was staying with her daughter. Even in her present state of mind, even Elly had seemed to understand that this wasn’t going to be a debatable point. His father had decided that they would take turns watching after her. So as to allow the others rest. They’d all been for the idea, except that neither Victor nor Carol was willing to leave their mate with one that could go rogue at any time. They’d agreed that they would take both their watches together. Both his parents would have wanted to do the same, Victor knew, however, the weres that would fight on Dan’s behalf looked to Raymond as Alpha and leader. He would have to be there to lead and guide them lest the tendency of were to start squabbling for dominance, arise at this most inopportune of times. While he watched their daughter, His mate would stand in his stead. For the rest of the time, Both he and Carol would be looking after her. As their mother had indicated she would, she was presently taking first watch.

“She’s strong, she’ll make it through this,” Victor quietly spoke. He was well aware that the very same thoughts that were going through his head were also running through the his mate’s head as well. But while they tortured him, he hated the thought of his mate feeling as he did.

“I wouldn’t,” Carol quietly stated in reply. “I wouldn’t be able to survive losing you Vic,” she went on her voice shaking slightly. Her hands unconsciously tightened their hold on his even as he pulled her closer to him.

Victor pulled her closer to him and held her tighter. “You won’t ever have to,” he assured her…

*******

Ember’s gaze turned to him in an adversarial manner as he entered the room. She was in the room along with Claire, Chloe, Kirra, Valerie and Ailin. Elly had left them on their way to the office as her family disappeared with her down another hallway. Valerie and Ailin on the other hand had joined them as they moved towards the office they were in right now. It was the office Two had uses as her own when she was in charge. “Where is Athena?” She questioned when she noticed that the demon wasn’t with him. When Athena hadn’t moved when the rest of them did, Ember assumed it was because she still wished to have a go at Lord Arwain. The demon’s rage had in more than one occasion before, put her in trouble. There was no way Athena would have won any battle against Lord Arwain, none of them could, a fact she bitterly resented. Ember however, dreaded to imagine that Lord Arwain could have killed the demon. Which in and of itself was an irony given the fact that they’d been trying to kill him only a few minutes before. With the coming battle they couldn’t afford to lose any allies, especially now that Dan was… no! Ember immediately pushed away the thought. Dan was coming back to her, he just had to!

“I suspect that she is back in Africa by now,” Lord Arwain answered with a shrug and a small smile.

Even from the brief answer, it was already clear to them that there was something that he wasn’t telling them. Whatever it was however, they didn’t have a chance to find out as a hunter sprinted into the office. “We have a perimeter breach!” he announced.

“Who or what is it?” Claire immediately questioned turning the hunter. “Speak!” Claire snapped at the hunter when he seemed a bit hesitant to convey the answer.

“An old man on a flying carriage,” he answered turning slightly red as he did.

For a moment, there was silence in the room. “Santa is attacking us?” Lord Arwain broke it. “Oh come on, that joke was dying to be made,” he expressed when all eyes in the room turned an unimpressed gaze in his direction.

“Why is a perimeter breach by an old man on a carriage being reported to us,” Valerie questioned her confusion evident. “Are the hunters not up to task to take care of that?” she posed regarding the hunter with an arched eyebrow.

“That’s just it, none of our weapons can even touch him let alone cause any real damage. We’ve tried everything from Magical spells to snipers and bazookas nothing goes any closer than five feet of him. Odd thing is he doesn’t have a shield of any kind protecting him, it’s as if something else outside of himself is protecting him,” The hunter explained.

“If this is some sort of joke, then I assure you that you’ve picked a most inopportune time to test my pat…” Ember was cut short by the neighing of a horse as a carriage in descent flew past the outer glass wall behind her causing all eyes to turn to it. Without preamble, Ember vanished in a burst of flames and reappeared just outside the building and started her descent after it.

Chloe wordlessly held out her hands just as Ailin zipped off from the office at superhuman speeds. Everyone else quickly held on to Chloe or someone in contact with her. In the next two seconds a pitch dark cloud left the office. Lord Arwain’s lips pursed as he neutrally regarded the empty room be before him for a second before he turned and in no apparent haste turned and walked out of the office through the door.

Chloe materialized once again into her solid form as she once again she touched the ground, she however, didn’t let go of anyone till they’d all fully materialized. Ember was already on the ground and Ailin arrived about half a second later. Her eyes studied him closely as the carriage came to touch the ground. For one who had just been under a flurry of attacks, the old man didn’t seem to be all too bothered an any sense of the word about anything. He was humming some strange tune as he landed the winged horse on the tarmac. From how calm and serene he was, Chloe wasn’t even sure it had registered on his mind that he had been under attack. When the Carriage finally came to a stop, the old man of Asian descent judging by his look of him, turned a smile to all of them. Chloe immediately saw it in his eyes, a strong and wild fire burned within them. While the outer shell of the man may have been old, the man’s spirit was still as young and as vibrant as the best of them. And his mind still sharper than most.

“Hallo Santa,” Chloe couldn’t help her eyes closing her brows knitting slightly at the sound of Lord Arwain’s voice coming from behind the group. Chloe was actually surprised to hear laughter coming from before them. But while her eyes opened to find the old man laughing, the sound her ears were picking up wasn’t that of an old man. His voice was deep and strong loud enough to easily be heard by all within the vicinity. “See! He gets it,” Lord Arwain enthused.

“Who are you and What do you want?” Ember asked in a hard tone of voice that almost bordered on adversarial as she ignored Lord Arwain.

Though still chuckling slightly at the joke, he turned a smile in Ember’s direction and answered. “I am the keeper of secrets, and I’m here for her and one other,” he answered in a perfect American accent. Chloe wasn’t sure she would have been able to hide her shock had she been trying to, when the old man pointed directly at her. She was perfectly aware of the inquiring looks from those around her seeking some sort of clue or explanation as to what it possibly could be that the old man was after. It however was just as much a mystery to her as it was to them.

“Keeper of secrets?” Ember reiterated the words as a question. She was the only one that hadn’t shifted her gaze from the old man.

“Yes, I keep secrets,” he answered simply with a smile causing Lord Arwain to burst out laughing.

“Secrets, for who?” Ember pushed.

At this point the old man looked up at the sky studying it keenly, it was almost as if he was either looking or listening, waiting for some sort of verification or approval that he could answer the question. Was he communicating with someone? A smile crossed his lips as he looked back down at Ember. “The universe,” he answered. From the looks that crossed everyone’s expressions, out of all possible answers to the question, this had been the least expected.

“The universe?” Ember found herself skeptically repeating. From both her tone and expression, it was clear that Ember was questioning the man’s sanity. The old man nodded once.

“What do you want from me?” Chloe posed when Ember seemed to be momentarily at a loss on what to say next.

“Nothing,” The old man answered simply before turning around to face his carriage. While she knew that the next words he murmured were the words to a spell, Chloe didn’t recognize the language he was using. Arcane tongue had a very strict syntax and semantic to it, you couldn’t just utter anything and expect magic to come of it. There were thee main arcane tongues on the planet with few and very slight variations from region to region but largely the same. The tongue he was using wasn’t among the known three.

Chloe didn’t miss the glance shared between Ember and Kirra. “That tongue was lost to the world over thirty thousand years ago,” Ember expressed in a tone that left everyone unsure as to whether it was a statement, a question or an accusation.

The old man turned to her with a genuinely surprised expression to her. It was clear to all present that Ember’s words were news to him. “Interesting,” he said with a small smile as if it was a neat fact that he was speaking a language thirty millennia out of date. The threat assessment of the friendly seeming old man went up several notches for all gathered. Any being that manages to survive thirty thousand years is by no means a weakling. If he turned out to be hostile, they would be in for quite the fight. Oddly enough, she couldn’t sense any magic coming off him. Most likely he was masking it, however Chloe could see no visible ornament on him like Dan had in the form of the chain to hide his magical signature and prevent any of his magic from being felt by anyone.

All eyes immediately switched to it like lasers when on object emerged from the back of the carriage, moving through the air and coming to a stop before the old man where it hovered in the air. Chloe did not miss the way Ember and Kirra were eyeing the miniature chest with raging hatred in their eyes and though they hid it well, Chloe also saw some of the fear they were trying their best not to let show. She also noticed the confusion in Lord Arwain’s eyes as he regarded the box. It was almost as off he didn’t recognize it. An odd thing given the fact that it was he who made them all. “And just what the hell do you intend to do with that?” Ember posed in a cold and harsh time of voice. It however, seemed to have no effect on the man

“Give it to it’s owner,” the old man answered simply. With a flick of his wrist, the chest floated forward and came to a stop right before Chloe.

They could all feel it, the magic that emanated from within the box. Whatever beast it was that was trapped within the box, it inspired more fear in Chloe than the old man before them. “What is this? What’s inside?” She posed looking up from the box to the old man.

He shrugged in response. “I don’t know,” he replied.

“I thought you said that you were the keeper of secrets,” Kirra stated more as an accusatory question than an actual statement.

“Yes, I am the keeper of secrets, not the knower of secrets,” he offered in response.

“I like this guy,” Lord Arwain spoke up offhandedly saying it to no one in particular.

“How can guardians be ‘secrets' as you put it?” Claire questioned him more out of genuine confusion than anything else. “I mean at one point they were the ones that ruled the world., weren’t they?” she posed with a glance at Ember then back to the old man.

“They did,” The old man concurred. “And at that time they weren’t secrets. But then, he came along and changed all that,” he stated indicating Lord Arwain.

“How did you know who I am,?” Lord Arwain posed with an arched eyebrow seeming genuinely curious about it.

“I’ve been handling items with your magical signature for the past thirty millennia,” he answered simply. “You see,” the old man continued turning back to Claire. “The vast majority of those alive live under and subject to the whims of the universe, every once in a while, on very rare occasion, there comes one such as I who actually directly serves the universe and does it’s bidding. But on even more rarer occasion than that, there comes along one with enough power or force of will to change up everything and force the universe to adjust to them rather than the other way around,” he explained. “He was one such man,” the old man stated glancing towards Lord Arwain. “Possessing enough will rise up and put an end to the reign of magic and magical beings. A reign that had lasted for hundreds of millennia before you ever came to be and had continuously been growing stronger since its inception, yet you, one man, you became the architect of its demise,” the old man didn’t seem to be in any way inclined to hide the respect in his voice. “But then, you didn’t stop there. When the same corruption that had infected the magical beings before, started infecting your people, you essentially purged the world of magic. All magical beings that you hadn’t killed, you imprisoned. You stripped not only all magic but any trace that it had ever existed,” he explained. “You, forced the universe to adjust,” he stated.

“And for the next fifteen thousand years, there was no magic in the world. In a sense, even the beings that you had entrapped within the boxes, ceased to exist in that time period, Th...”

“Hold up a second,” Ember cut him short. “We have never spent fifteen thousand years within the prison realm,” she refuted.

“The last and longest time we spent in the prison realm was two and a half millennia, and it was torture. I believe we would have noticed it if we spent six times that amount of time within the boxes,” Kirra also added in.

“True, and not true,” the old man answered. “A simple way to verify my words would be a simple question, what was the world like anywhere from forty nine to thirty six thousand years ago?” he asked.

Ember’s mouth opened to answer but then, no words came out. Confusion flowed into her expression quickly followed by alarm. Did she really have a fifteen thousand year gap in her memories. “How is it possible that I’ve never realized this before,” she asked unable to hide the horror in her voice.

“In that period, you came as close to inexistence as one possibly can,” the old man answered. “It’s like someone who loses consciousness then wakes up without memory of ever losing consciousness,” He explained. “In your case, you lost consciousness for fifteen millennia,” he informed them. “I came along fifteen thousand years after you and the universe chose me to be the steward through whom it would slowly introduce magic back into the world,” he went on.

“Why you?” Lord Arwain posed.

“I’ve pondered the same question for a long time myself, and still after thirty millennia, I’ve come up short on an answer as to why,” he replied simply. “Nonetheless, from then till now I have been an instrument of the universe, however it seems that my service comes to an end with your former master,” he informed them seeming ambivalent as to whether to be happy about it or sad.

“You said you came for Chloe and one other, who is the other?” Valerie spoke up for the first time.

“The boy,” the old man informed them. “Your former master,” he further elaborated.

“He’s dead,” Ailin too broke her silence.

“Dan is not dead!” Ember replied to the vampire’s blunt answer her eyes blazing with rage. The vampire wisely held her peace clearly seeing that it was a raw subject for the phoenix.

“What happened to him?” the old man queried his surprise at this new bit of information unhidden.

“None of your business,” Ember snapped at the man.

However, once again she might as well not have bothered as all her rage seemingly went almost unnoticed by the old man. He regarded her neutrally for a second or so before he looked back up at the sky. He looked back down to them. “My instructions remain the same so I guess I’ll be staying a while,” he stated. “It just remains to be seen whether your descendant possesses the same strength of will that you did,” He added with a glance at Lord Arwain.

“Dan is a hundred times the man this two faced double crosser ever was!” Kirra spoke in a hard tone of voice meaning every single word.

“For his sake I hope he is,” the old man said. “The universe is ruthless in testing those that would contend with the order that it has set in place,” he enigmatically added. “Hurdles like death are not so easily overcome,” he stated.

“He did it once before and he’ll do it again,” Ember spoke in a tone that clearly relayed that that line of discussion was closed and nothing further was to be said on it. The old man smiled keeping his silence.

“What exactly am I supposed to do with this?” Chloe asked when no one spoke for a while. She was perfectly aware that it was a dumb question. But then again, she hadn’t gone seeking out a guardian. She was already a powerful queen of a whole section of the magical community, what was she supposed to do with a guardian. How would having a guardian serve her? Give her a new person to lord over?

“Clearly, I’m not the genius of the group, but I believe you should open it,” Lord Arwain spoke. “That’s generally how you release the guardian inside,” he added.

“Whatever else the thing inside that box may be,” the old man spoke up warily eyeing the box. “It is no guardian,” he stated.

Chloe looked back down to the chest with a bit of trepidation. “Well,” she spoke after the short bout of silence that followed the old man’s words. “That’s comforting,” she offered unable to help the sarcasm in her voice…

*******

In all of the fifty three thousand years of her life, she had never at any point been even remotely suicidal. Even with the fact that she was the darker, more pessimistic half of the duo they’d been split into. She had always been willing to face whatever it was that came their way, head on. Either that or die trying! At this moment however, Karra would have happily let death take her. She had pushed herself to the limit and beyond in the first leg of her journey towards New York. She was slightly past midway there before her paw became utterly unusable as it was too painful to do anything other than slow her down. The oval patch that had been formed by Eldraen’s thumb, had now spread out to cover the whole sole of her paw. The progression of her burn was slow, Karra had been at the time unsure whether that was a good or a bad thing. Part of her wanted to live as long as she could and get to Dan as soon as possible. Yet another part wanted to die, to end it all, to end the excruciating pain and agony that she was in. Still, she had persisted on three limbs knowing that she was still much faster on three than on two legs. She pushed quite a ways in before this option too was taken away from her. When her paw caught fire, she had within a second of it morphed back into her human form. Flames and fur did not mix well. Yet even with her fast reaction the fire had been a little bit faster than her managing to burn a trail up her forearm nearly reaching her elbow. Even with her high pain tolerance, she had screamed in pain even as she held out her hand far away from the rest of her body to keep herself from accidentally touching any other part of herself with that fire. It had taken everything within not to lie down and let herself die instead she broken into a sprint now in her human form.

The fact that she was currently within the city was of little import to her, in fact was almost entirely lost on her. The pain from her burning eclipsed almost every other thing. She’d been attacked a few times as she traversed through various territories within the city, she however had made short work of any that dared. Even apart from the fact that she was split from Kirra her conscience, her current state didn’t allow the patience to explain that she was only passing through. Still she did her best to keep from touching anyone with the burning hand. Not even she was willing to put anyone through the kind of pain she was in.

“STOP!”

Karra was only vaguely aware of the order shouted to her by the lead hunter who stood a step ahead of the others, some all of whom had automatic rifles pointed at her, others with swords held at the ready, others bows and still others with much shorter blades. Her eyes rose just above their heads to the building directly behind them. It was five buildings away from where she currently was, or three depending on how one looked at it. There was a building on either side of the hunters then two directly behind the first two. The building she was interested in, was the one that came after these four. It stood by itself as the odd fifth point to the pentagon they formed all formed. Through the agony she was in, she forced herself to open her senses as she scanned the building with her eyes, ears and nose. It was her nose that was first to confirm their presence before her ears gave her an idea of which floor they were on. Her eyes found them on a floor near the top of the building.

“I SAID STOP!”

The second shouted order did indeed bring her to a stop as her eyes came back down to the hunters before her. A small part of her mind realized how weird she must have seemed standing with one hand clenched in a tight fist and held high above her like a burning torch. But then given how fire works, this was the best way to slow down its progress as much as possible. Karra’s gaze turned down to her other hand as she raised it before her face. Her brow knitted as she forced herself to ignore the pain and focus on the two things at once. Her right hand, the one that wasn’t burning, morphed into a paw with her claws drawn just as a shield formed around her.

Bullets and arrows started to bounce off the shield less than a second after it was formed, she barely noticed. Without preamble her knees bent as she sprang off the ground high in the air in the direction of the building to her right. Her feet morphed as well in midair into paws with their claws drawn. As she drew near to the building, her shields opened partially so that they only covered her back like a turtle shell. Her claws easily dug into the concrete of the building even as she seamlessly merged the first jump with the second towards the building opposite to it. Her shields closed around her soon as she was off the wall, only opening when she was at the building opposite to the one she had initially landed on. Greater force was invested in third leap even as she leapt diagonally to the third building . With every jump she was climbing higher and higher such that by the last jump from the fourth building, she was moving through the air on a trajectory for about three floors below where Ember and the rest were. This trajectory however changed as an explosion from behind on her shields, most likely the result of a rocket launcher aimed at her, sent her flying like a canon ball straight for them…

Chloe was the first to notice it, or more accurately, have it brought to her attention by her tattoos. They were back in the office with the old man and the chest he’d offered her. She had placed it on the desk before them still not having opened it. Her reaction had been almost immediate. Bursting into a pitch black cloud, she quickly moved around the room subsuming everyone into the cloud. All except for the old man, not because she didn’t want to but she couldn’t. He somehow seemed to be immune to her magic, her cloud couldn’t even come close to him. When the sphere finally breached the glass wall sending glass shards flying everywhere within the room. They were all in cloud form and untouched by it. The old man somehow, remained similarly untouched by it despite being fully solid.

There all re-solidified their eyes on the sphere which was obviously shields which were, around someone. They all cautiously approached it just as the shields faded from around whoever was their conjurer. They all stood in absolute shock when Karra appeared from behind the shields and even more so with her left arm burning. “K… ke… keep up my hand up,” she barely managed to just audibly whisper before she fell backwards seemingly losing consciousness. The moment of shock passed and about five different attacks including her own corruption spell landed on the cyan blue shields that formed around the were a split second before any attack. The blue hue of the shields were all too familiar. It was the same colour that rippled outwards from the point of contact when someone touched his otherwise colourless shields. Murderous gazes turned to the most likely culprit for forming the shields.

“Why are you protecting this traitorous bitch?” Kirra was the first one to snap at him.

“What is the meaning of this,” Ember growled turning to the ancient warlord.

“This may not make sense to you right now,” Lord Arwain spoke. “But she is on our side,” he informed them.

“Really, well then I guess I must have imagined the fact that she turned her back on us and chose to side with our enemies,” Chloe spoke with no shortage of sarcasm dripping off her voice.

“Well yes, she did turn her back on us and did side with our enemies…”

“In my books, that is the definition of not being on our side!” Claire snapped at him.

“It is, but she did it all under orders,” He told them.

“Who’s orders?” Valerie questioned.

“Uuh, before I answer that question, please remember that I’m on your side,” he requested.

Eyes around the room narrowed at him except for the old man’s who just seemed to be watching with keen interest. “What did you do?” Ember posed in a dangerous tone.

“When Dan came back from the phoenix realm and decided to send you guys away, who was the only one that was calm about it all?” Lord Arwain posed.

“She was,” Kirra nodded at her other half, her anger in no way abated. “What the fuck does that have to do with anything?” she asked in return.

“She was calm not because she was okay with being sent away, but rather because she thought that it was a part of a larger plan by Dan,” Lord Arwain explained. “I hadn’t revealed myself by then so to her, it was Dan giving orders to her when I asked her to meet me on top of one of the four hills around town. You see, being inside Dan’s mind I’d already known that he intended to go to the pack compound, and had already narrowed it down to either one of the four hills, just as you guys eventually did,” he went on. “When Dan finally set off to find the pack I made sure he passed through the hill on which I was to meet with her,” Lord Arwain didn’t miss how Ember’s eyes narrowed at her at his words. He however pushed on. “When we met I explained to her my plan, that I needed a spy within our enemies ranks if for nothing else to figure out who was the traitor among our ranks.”

“Had Karra been lying or faking her desire to be dissociate with us in any way, I would have been the first one to know it, and in the very same second that she decided to do it,” Kirra objected in a hard tone of voice.

A weak smile crossed Lord Arwain’s expression. “She raised the very same objection,” he answered. “So I told her she had to severe ties with us… all ties,” he explained turning his gaze in Kirra’s direction.

The were's eyes widened as she turned to regard her other half the turned back to him. “You are the one that told her to severe our link and separate herself from me!” she spoke in a tone that left everyone unsure whether she was more relieved that Kirra hadn’t chosen of her own volition to separate from her or more angry at Lord Arwain for asking her to do it.

“Well two things about that,” Lord Arwain answered. “First, to her, Dan asked her to severe your link and gave her mission, not me,” he stated. “Secondly… you two were never actually separated, your link was never severed,” he said to Kirra’s confusion.

“Well, I guess I just imagined the past year where I could do nothing I deemed evil due my other missing half,” Kirra let out sarcastically.

“It nearly killed her,” Lord Arwain replied. “That night on the hill, when she made the first attempt to separate herself from you, she nearly died. In fact had I not been there she most likely would have,”

Kirra’s confusion at his statement was evident to all. She could quite clearly remember the feeling of their initial separation, It had been intensely uncomfortable but nowhere near life threatening, most especially not for a being like her. “How can that be?” she posed.

“I’ve thought about it a lot myself and the only possible explanation that I can come up with is that, the one from who me the two of you came was more good than evil. Making you the more real half of the both of you, and the one more likely to survive a separation of the two of you,” Lord Arwain answered.

“Wait, but we did actually separate that night,” Kirra spoke up her brows knitting in confusion.

“Once again, no you didn’t,” Lord Arwain responded. “The first attempt had made it crystal clear that their was no separating the two of you without killing Karra,” He informed her. “So instead, I forcefully made myself the third part in your link. Not so as to link myself to either one of you, but rather, to keep either one of you from even feeling the presence of the other much less temper each others' proclivity towards either good or evil. I essentially made you into two different individuals without ever separating you two,” He explained.

“Let’s just say that for a split second, we believe you and that she only turned her back on us because she thought Dan had instructed her to,” Claire spoke up. “No one here is that easily lied to, yet we all were there when she turned on us. We all watched her say the things that she did to Dan. Even if she is a master at lying and somehow managed to pull the humans among us, I doubt she’s good enough to pull one over Athena and Ember much less Eldraen and the other dark phoenixes. So explain to me how exactly it is that you believe she did,” she posed.

“She did because she didn’t,” Lord Arwain answered to their confusion. “We both knew that the plan was all meaningless if no one believed her. So after the plan was set out, I locked away the memories of the meeting and our plans within her mind, making it so that they would only unlock if and when she completed her mission,” he went on to clarify. “”So when she turned her back on us, she really did believe that it was her own idea and that it was she that wanted to and for Dan, it was something out of the blue. She managed to pull off the lie because to her it was truth.”

“And what if she hadn’t completed her mission?” Valarie spoke up.

“Then she would have stayed with the enemies till either their or our demise. And before you ask, yes, she was perfectly aware of this possibility. If I remember, her exact words were ‘This war comes with risks all around Dan, we may not all make it to the other side, but the most important thing is that we win it!” He relayed.

“Karra would have known that Dan would never have asked her to put herself in harm’s way?” Kirra objected.

“And what was she supposed to think, that a fifty thousand year old ghost from the past had possessed Dan and come up with the plan?” Lord Arwain posed. “If I remember right, none of you faired any better in figuring out my presence up until I revealed myself,” he added.

“When the shields fell I felt her, but only for a split second,” Kirra stated. “Was that you?” She asked.

“When the shields went up, They took up the my role of acting as an obstruction to the two of you when Dan breached the outer shield, I took its place as fast as I possibly could but for a split second as you put it, your link to each other was open,” Lord Arwain.

“Your plans with Karra, that all happened way before you revealed yourself,” all eyes in the room turned to Ember who was regarding Lord Arwain dangerously. “Meaning you were already manipulating events way before you revealed yourself,” the words came out as an accusation.

“I was,” He conceded quite plainly. “But only where I thought it necessary. Dan remains responsible for most of his actions,” he added.

“And just what else did you deem necessary?” Ember posed in a voice that grew darker and colder with each passing second.

“His accepting you, Athena, Kirra and Karra as his guardians,” he replied. Silence engulfed the room at his answer. The rage leeching out of all expressions leaving behind complete shock. The old man alone remained with a neutrally curious expression. “He would have rejected you,” Lord Arwain spoke after he’d given them time to process his words. “Just and every last one of the four previous descendants had, all four had been presented with the chance at magic, all four turned it down, all four died shortly after. I don’t know what it is, but it seems my aversion to the evils that magic can wreak flowed down my descendants so that some even without knowing much about it were never enchanted by it in the least,” he stated. “I was the one that made it feel like he would be letting go off his destiny if he turned you all down,” he spoke.

“That’s a lie!” Ember finally found her voice.

“Which part? The past where there were four others before Dan? The part where none of them chose accepted magic? The part where unlike every other master you’ve ever had before Dan did not jump at the chance to have three powerful guardians at his beck and call and instead had actually asked to think about it? Tell me Ember, which part do you suppose to be a lie?” Lord Arwain replied. “No matter how much she hated it, it was clear to Ember just as it was everyone else in the room that he wasn’t lying. “I neither fear you nor feel the need to be liked by you,” his tone wasn’t one meant to provoke, it was simply reflecting the reality of the situation. “So what possible motivation could I have to lie to you?” he questioned.

“Now you all may not like me that much and I don’t expect any gratitude from anyone of you, but none of you would be standing here if it were not for me!” Lord Arwain stated candidly. “And in case it hasn’t yet dawned on you guys, my one and only objective from the start has been to win this war. As things stand, Dan is our best hope of doing that, so no, I did not and am not trying to kill him and I am hoping just as much as any of you that makes it back!” Somehow the fact that he hadn’t raised his voice did nothing to diminish the punch of his words. “Now can we stop with the accusations and at the very least figure out how we’ll get through the next few days till Dan comes back,” he offered.

Silence met his words, none of them having anything remotely appropriate to say. “Wait, but if you were present and able to take control of Dan at will the whole time,” Ailin finally broke the silence. “Why then knock him unconscious with a good measure pain in the process in some grand reveal?” she posed.

“Well, for one, that just had much more flair in it,” he said smiling. “But secondly and more importantly, Dan needed to think that I’d only just taken over. I’ve lived in his mind for a long time now and have an idea of how it works. His is a brutally self-critical mind. Had I just made it known that I’d been there all along, it would have called into question everything he’d ever managed to accomplish. He would have taken apart everything he’d ever done trying to figure out whether it was really him. More than any of you believing in him, the boy needs to believe in himself if we are to win this war,” Lord Arwain explained. Much as they all disliked the thought that the pain Dan had been put through was needless, none of them could argue with the second reason Lord Arwain had offered.

“But if Karra was never the traitor,” Chloe spoke up.

“Then the traitor is still among us, they’ve been with us for the this whole time,” Kirra followed up her voice a mix of dread anger and a measure of relief. Everyone in the room glanced to each other, each readying themselves to react to anything. The only thing each was sure of was their innocence.

“And if Karra is back,” Ember spoke up her voice having a very different tone from the one it had possessed only moments before.

“Then she knows who the traitor is,” Chloe finished off.

“Well then heal her and let’s get to the bottom of this,” Claire spoke regarding Ember.

Ember’s jaws clenched her lips forming a tight straight line. “I can’t,” She stated.

“What do you mean you can’t?” Kirra posed, the fear and confusion in her voice clear to be heard.

“The phoenix that’s responsible for that burn is hundreds of times more powerful than I am,” Ember explained. “I could expend all my powers trying to heal her and it wouldn’t do a damn thing. Only another male phoenix can heal her,” she relayed.

“The only maple phoenix we know that isn’t trying to kill us is… presently indisposed,” Ailin rephrased her words at the last minute owing to the sharp look she got from Ember. “So we have to figure out something quickly because she doesn’t look like she’ll last that long,” she went on to add.

“Perhaps I could be of some assistance,” All eyes in the room turned to the old man who’d so far been silent. Moving forward in no apparent haste, he came to kneel right beside where Karra lay.

“Don’t!” the stern warning from Ember failed to achieve its purpose just as Lord Arwain’s shields did as well, as the old man reached forward for the burning hand. They all stood in shock as the old man picked up Karra’s burning hand in his and keenly started to study it all the while remaining unharmed. “H... how... how are you doing that?” Ember questioned unable to hide her shock.

A small smile crept onto the old man’s lips. “The universe is somewhat of a jealous mistress. She allows me no magic and in return, no magic can harm me. Nothing, can harm me. Not magic, not time, not disease, not death and not manmade weapons either. Only she can cause me any suffering, and when she does, believe me, she makes up for all the rest!” he offered with a slight chuckle.

“But if you have no magic, then how will you heal her?” Kirra asked.

“I won’t heal her,” the old man answered. “I can’t. The universe can, but she probably won’t, she absolutely staunchly refuses to directly meddle the order she has set in place to do anyone any favours. In her eyes you burn, you die,” he added candidly his eyes still keenly the burning arm “She won’t heal her, but perhaps I can ask her for something less,” he proposed closing his eyes.

They all watched as a golden bracelet materialized around the point where the flames had reached. Karra, who even in her unconsciousness had clearly been in agony, seemed to relax a bit. “There,” the old man spoke gently nodding to Lord Arwain who took over mentally holding up the hand to keep the flames away from contact with anything. “The bracelet will keep the burn from spreading any further and transfer the pain. With some rest, she should be okay,” The old man stated rising to his feet.

“Transfer the pain?” Kirra repeated. “To where?” She queried.

“To whom, would be the more appropriate question,” The old man replied with a smile.

Eyes around the room regarded him with both shock and disbelief. “How are you not writhing on the floor right now?” Ember posed she being the most shocked of all given the fact that she had an idea of the kind of pain he was presently in if he was to be believed.

“After thirty thousand years of constant torture at every message I received from the universe, one might say that I’ve grown quite used to pain,” he explained simply.

“Thank you,” Kirra offered genuinely kneeling down beside her other half.

“I don’t mean to sound callous and insensitive Kirra, but if she’s okay now,” Claire spoke up. “Then we need to wake her up to find out who the traitor is. The longer they are with us the more harm they can do and we absolutely cannot ride into battle with a traitor in out ranks,” she stated. Despite her displeasure with having to bother Karra in the state that she was in, she too agreed with the hunter.

“Let Karra rest,” Lord Arwain spoke. “Firstly, she’s already been through enough, wouldn’t you all say?” He posed. “But more importantly, I already know who the traitor is,” he stated to the utter shock of all in the room, except seemingly for the old man. “But,” Lord Arwain stated calmly but forcefully. “Listen to all I have to say, before you fly off the handle!” he stressed.

“It’s Athena isn’t it?” Ember asked in a cold and dangerous tone.

“Listen to all I have to say, before you fly off the handle!” Lord Arwain repeated more emphatically.

“I knew it!” Ember raged when no denial came forth from Lord Arwain. “I warned Dan. I told him he should let me kill her, it no, he had to play hero! Now the bitch has the gall to try and stab us in the back even after being offered a second…”

“Listen to all I have to say, before you fly off the handle!” Lord Arwain spoke even more forcefully the third time cutting off Ember. Despite the fact that they could all see that she was still simmering with rage, Ember clenched her jaws and remained silent. “A few days after I gave the task of finding our traitor to Karra,” Lord Arwain spoke after a while of silence. “I found out who our traitor was,” he stated.

“This was over a year ago!” Kirra stated her incredulously.

“It was,” Lord Arwain answered in a tone that clearly relayed that this fact meant very little to him. “When Dan interrogated Athena after rescuing her from the council, I immediately realized who our traitor would be. Athena loves and cares about Dan much as she may hate to admit it,” Lord Arwain went on ignoring the scoff from Ember and the rage in Kirra’s eyes.. “In that same conversation however it also became clear that she’s equally, if not more afraid of finding herself back in the fires of her home realm. Her solution to this dilemma had been to let the council kill her. I looked deep into her mind and believe me, had Dan not intervened in her plans, she would have been dead by now. Much as you would all much rather not believe it, she preferred death to betraying Dan. For most other creatures it could be dismissed as cowardice, but demons do not simply choose to die out of fear of anything or anyone. If she was willing to die rather than betray Dan it was because Dan really did mean that much to her.”

“The problem however, was that Dan wouldn’t let her die. Not by her own hand or any others'. Without any way out and with absolutely no intention of returning to the fires of her home realm, Athena would have betrayed Dan on her own terms, had I not intervened,” Lord Arwain said to their confusion. “Dan believes that he tortured Athena to the point of breaking her former bond, the truth is that, I put that memory in both his, Athena’s and your mind,” he said regarding Ember. “And wiped what actually happened inside that cell from all your memories,” he explained. The look that crossed Ember’s expression clearly relayed that she wasn’t at all happy about the thought of Lord Arwain having been in her mind. He however ignored it.

“The truth is, Dan did not lay a finger, metaphorical or otherwise on her. Instead, I did to her, something close to what your father did to you,” he said turning to Claire. “But unlike you, I had no need to bind her will to mine or anyone else’s. I simply split her personality giving full reign to each of the two conflicting desires. I made it so that, both were awake and active at all times but neither one aware of the other. In short while she did things that helped or supported Dan’s cause, she wasn’t aware of the part of her that was afraid being sent back to her home realm permanently. And while she acted in ways that were treacherous to Dan’s cause, she was unaware of any part of her that was loyal to Dan in any way. I made it so that one part could not remember any of the actions of the other. This made it so that when she was with us she was fully loyal to us and completely loyal to her master when she went to report to him. Making it practically impossible for anyone on either ours or the other side to pick up on the fact that she was some what of a double agent. Not even she knew that she was a double agent!”

“My plan from the start had been something akin to, better the traitor you know than the traitor you don’t know. I’d planned to keep an eye on her and undo anything that she might have planned or done against us. What I hadn’t foreseen was the fact that I would be locked away in the fort for a whole year. By the time it became clear that this was the only option open to me and Dan at the time, there was little I could do to mitigate the events I’d already set in motion. So I simply let it be and hoped that not too much damage would be done in the two months I would be away. I certainly didn’t expect that I would be spending almost a whole year trapped behind the shields, but then here we stand a year later,” he finally finished.

“Look, I like Athena just as much as anyone else here,” Chloe spoke up in a hard tone of voice. “But if you already knew she would be the traitor a year ago, then why the hell would you still send Karra to our enemies and why is Athena still drawing breath?” she coldly questioned

“Why did I not kill Athena then and there? Well for starters, someone who’s willing to die rather than betray their friends is no traitor! Had I not intervened then Athena had it fully set within herself to stop at nothing till she was dead, whether by Dan’s or her old master’s hand. The one thing she was fully settled on, was that she wasn’t going to betray Dan,” Lord Arwain informed them. “Secondly, while you all may be so quick to condemn her, you forget that Dan forgave most of you for worse things that the possibility of betraying him at some point in the future! Correct me if I am wrong, but most of you here including you Chloe, have tried in one way or another to kill him! Some of you having even succeeded,” he stated turning a hard gaze towards Ember. “You all still draw breath because Dan is not the kind to turn on those close to him, even when they turn on him. He cares to a fault about every single one of you up to and including Athena, whether you like it or not. If Athena should be dead for the fact that there was a high likelihood that she would have betrayed Dan, then more than half of you deserver far worse for actually trying to kill Dan!” He shot at them. Silence met his words, none of them having anything to throw back at him. They all knew he was right, if Athena’s crime deserved death, then theirs did as well.

“Thirdly,” Lord Arwain carried on when no one spoke. “As you should well know,” he said regarding Ember. “You cannot change a prophecy of stop it from happening! If it was prophesied that Dan would be betrayed by one in his following, then it would happen regardless of what anyone did! By the time I was doing what I did, Athena hadn’t yet betrayed Dan. Eliminating her would have only meant that Dan’s betrayal would have come by another, maybe even one of us here,” he stated candidly. “Like I said, better the traitor you know than the one you do not know!” he relayed. “As for letting Karra continue on the mission I’d set her on, the two simple reasons for it were one, the existence of one traitor does not exclude the possibility of there being another. If there was, then we would have needed to know! The second reason was as a failsafe, if for whatever reason, Athena turned out to not be the traitor or was eliminated before she could become the traitor, we’d similarly need to know who the new traitor was. And before any of you say it, yes, I had considered the possibility that she would become the traitor if Athena failed to, it was a risk that needed to be taken!” he stated.

“The Lord Arwain I knew would have killed Athena even despite all that,” Ember said, not as an accusation but more as an observation.

Lord Arwain’s lips pursed at the truth of the words.

“Clearly, Dan has had as much an effect on you as he’s had on us,” Kirra observed.

“Yeah well, I’m not sure it’s for the best?” Lord Arwain spoke more to himself than anyone else in particular.

“So what you are basically saying,” Ember once again spoke up. “Is that we have an army that’s been trained by someone who has a side that is entirely loyal to our enemies?” Ember questioned.

“Uuh, actually,” Lord Arwain spoke his serious demeanour breaking as he sheepishly scratched the back of his head. “We might not exactly have an army,” he reported.

There was a pause in the room all eyes turning to him. “Just what exactly do you mean by that?” Claire voiced what was on everyone’s mind.

“I first realized it when I was transferred into this body,” Lord Arwain explained. “All of Athena’s soldiers have an amulet around their necks,” he said.

“Yes, to draw power from. What does that have to do with anything,” Kirra posed not willing to let him stray from the immediate question at hand.

“Well, that’s one of the things it does,” Lord Arwain answered. “The other is that, it bends the will of all those who wear it to hers,” he informed them. “And much as I regret to inform you all this, I’m not sure that it is the side of her that’s loyal to Dan that trained what was supposed to be our army,” he stated.

“You’ve been in that body for more than a day now, and you are only telling us of this now!” Ember posed incredulously unable to help her ire.

“I wanted to tell you all, to tell Dan, but I couldn’t,” You see, up until a while ago, this body possessed no magic of its own, let alone enough to override the compulsion of a demon as powerful as Athena,” he explained. “Any time I thought to tell someone, the compulsion just turned my thoughts to over things and drove the thought to the back of my mind,” Lord Arwain explained.

“You were linked to the most powerful being on the planet and you are telling me you did not have enough power to override Athena’s compulsion?” Ember posed her ire clearly rising.

“The spell Athena cast made it so that no outside force could break the compulsion. Otherwise anyone powerful and keen enough, such as yourself would have found her out ages ago,” Lord Arwain explained. “The only way the spell could be broken was if the one on whom it was cast was one aware of it, which I can promise you the larger majority of the army is not. It is well hidden and only keen minds that are well versed in magic would pick up on it. Secondly, those minds would actually have to want the spell to be broken. Being a succubus, Athena knows just how to make one want what they shouldn’t want, like having their will bound to hers for example. And even if someone managed to beat these two hurdles, which none of those presently in the army have, they would lastly have to be powerful enough to override the compulsion on their own, and as you all very well know, no one in the whole army is that powerful. I was able to beat both hurdle one and hurdle two no problem, but u until a few minutes ago, hurdle three was an impossible one,” he related.

“If that army is not fighting for us,” Valerie spoke up.

“Then it is fighting against us!” Ember stated darkly. “We already have enough enemies as it is, when the war starts they’ll increase drastically. We cannot afford to fight this war on two fronts,” she said.

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” Chloe asked her tone relaying that she already had an idea of the answer and that she did not like it at all.

“We have to deal with Athena and her army immediately, is what I mean,” Ember answered her.

“Oh, so now it’s her army? Just a minute ago, it was our army! And if by dealing with them, you mean kill them, then absolutely not! I am unequivocally opposed to it,” she made clear. “Each and every single one of those individuals was ready and willing to fight for us knowing that there was a very high likelihood that they would die in the process. Yet we would be willing to slaughter all of them when they were no longer a useful tool on our side?” She scathingly queried.

“I’m with Chloe on this,” Claire spoke up calmly after a moment of silence. “We cannot turn into the very monsters we are trying to fight,” she repeated the words Chloe had said to her out loud. “They were all willing to fight and die for us, they don’t deserve anything less from us in return, least of all the very same treachery we accuse Athena of,” She added.

“Well then what do the two of you suggest then, huh? That we leave Athena with a whole army just a continent below where the rest of humanity currently resides?” Ember questioned.

“Athena can’t breach Dan’s shields, not even with the while army at her back,” Claire countered.

“She doesn’t have to? If any one of the dark phoenixes managed to get past us, which I’m sorry to say in all likelihood, they will, Athena will have a whole army at the ready for when the dark phoenix takes down the shields,” Kirra replied.

“Leave it to me,” Chloe answered. “My necromancers and I will deal with Athena and the army, you just ensure that none of the dark phoenixes leave this continent!”

“The hunters will fight beside you,” stated regarding Chloe.

“Uum, a few problems with that plan” Ember spoke up unable to help the sarcasm in her voice. “One, Athena has spent the past year in what we thought were practice sessions with the army, teaching them how to best kill us. With every practice session we’ve had they were probably learning our strengths, our weaknesses, our battle tactics and how best to counter anything we threw at them. I’m not even sure we would all come out alive if we all fought them let alone just the two of you,” She stated. “Secondly, even if you somehow managed to get part the army, Athena is not just some simple problem, that you can just ‘deal’ with! She is a seventy thousand year old succubus that is among the most powerful demons in existence right now!” Ember stated. “If she doesn’t snap both your necks within the first two seconds of your encounter, then it’s probably because she plans on ending your lives in the slowest most miserable was she could possibly conjure up!” she added. “So unless your plan is to get yourselves along with everyone that follows you killed, I suggest you find another plan!” Ember shot them down.

“Plus it doesn’t help that when she left I’d shut off any part of her that was even remotely loyal to Dan,” Lord Arwain added as an endnote once again garnering the incredulous gazes of all those in the room except for the old man.

“This is the part where you explain yourself,” Valerie stated. Her voice relaying that even her patience had started wearing thin.

“Athena was clear, if she did anything even in the slightest to knowingly contribute to the demise of her master, she would be forever sent back to her home realm forever. If I left any part of her loyal to Dan even in the slightest, she would have most likely done something that would qualify her for an eternity back home. Whether Dan will be willing to kill her or not, I don’t know, but it’s a decision he deserves to make on his own, not have it made for him,” Lord Arwain explained.

“So what you are saying, is that the only people that will fight for our side, are either in or around the building?” Ailin surmised.

“Technically… yes,” Lord Arwain answered…

*******

After spending millennia both as a hunter and the hunted, he could as easily tell when he was being watched as he could blink. He however did not allow his fear to show or himself to react with panic so as not to arouse any suspicion. Instead without opening his eyes he spoke. “It must be a dull day of you have no better engagements other than watching me rest,” he offered. It was only after speaking that he allowed himself to open his eyes and look up from the bed where he lay. Ailin stood over him looking down at him with her head tilted slightly to the side. He immediately saw it, something had changed about the way she was regarding him. Still while raising his guard, he didn’t let it show.

“The plastic surgery was a nice touch” she spoke. “But most of your mannerisms remain the same Korzak,”

In the next half second after her words were pronounced, Korzak moved at superhuman speed to the other side of the bed. A feral growl left him even as he let his vampiric side take over. The battle that was sure to follow would be one to the death. No part of him, not even his feral side had any illusions about how this fight would turn out. That however didn’t mean that he wouldn’t fight with everything he had. A small part of him was wondering why he wasn’t already dead as he soon would be. The vampire that stood before him though in the form of a younger girl, was way more powerful than he was, she could have just as easily taken his head off while he slept and asked questions later. Why he still drew breath was a mystery. Or why she too wasn’t taking on her vampiric form. She instead stood regarding him as the transformation took him over morphing his features.

Confusion filled him as Ailin went on to lie down on her back on the bed. Her hands met across her stomach with her eyes on the ceiling. Korzak however didn’t let his mind dwell on it too long and instead took full use of the advantage presented to him. Zipping around the bed he sunk his hand into her chest and wrapping his taloned fingers around her heart. He however paused once again his confusion deepening even as he regarded the vampire below him. She had made no move to defend herself let alone attack him. Instead, her hands remained where they met on her stomach, and her eyes remained closed in anticipation of what was sure to follow.

Ailin’s eyes opened to regard him when he hesitated to extricate her heart a moment too long. Of all reactions he’d expected of her, a small smile forming on her lips and the words. “Finish it,” were the least expected.

The confusion was finally unbearable, forcing him to ask. “Why won’t you fight back?” He posed not relinquishing his grip around her heart.

Ailin’s eyes which had once again closed, opened a second time, this time however, she didn’t look up at him, her gaze was lost somewhere on the ceiling behind him as she actually pondered his question. “When I was a young girl living two decades was all the life I was hoping for, I would have never in my wildest dreams have thought it possible that I would live this long. Now standing on the other side of the six millennia, I am not sure I deserved it,” she stated quietly. “Still, one way or the other, I got it and I have lived more than my fair share of lifetimes. Past a certain point, it all just gets tedious, It just becomes a pointless existence of endless killing,” she explained. “Besides,” she stated with a slight smile turning her gaze back to him. “Don’t tell me that after two thousand years of hunting me down, you are going to hesitate now,” she finished.

“You knew right from the moment you saved me, didn’t you?” he asked his surprise evident.

“Your mental barriers are impressive Korzak,” she offered with a smile. “But I’ve been reading minds for six millennia, I happen to have gotten quite good at it,” she modestly offered.

“Why haven’t you killed me?” he went on to bluntly pose.

A sigh left her. “Of my six millennia of existence, the best and brightest period of my life were the two millennia I spent with you,” she informed him. “I guess, part of me was hoping to re-experience a bit of that even if for a little while,” she explained. “Sadly, it wasn’t to be. I have bent and warped you so out of shape. The light in you that used to shine so bright, the light that turned a monster away from her bloodthirsty ways, that light I have snuffed. All that is left is the desire for vengeance, a rage, hatred and pain that fills you and flows out through your eyes every time you regard me,” there was genuine sadness in her voice as she spoke. “Maybe… maybe in doing this you will find some peace. Maybe you’ll regain some of that light,” she offered a slightly hopeful smile at him.

Korzak's jaws clenched as he listened to her. Did she really mean all what she was saying or was this another of her cruel ruses to trick him into trusting her. “Why?” he found himself asking, hesitating a while longer. “Why did you do it? I loved you with everything within me and I thought that you loved me! Yet without the slightest hesitation or reservation, you turned around and stuck a dagger through my heart,” he accused.

“The answer to that question, is not one you want to hear,” she said in a tone that was in no way evasive. She truly believed that he wouldn’t want to know. “Besides, it changes nothing of what I did to you, your loved ones are dead and will remain dead even after I offer you my reasons. No good will come of my explanations so we might as well proceed to you ripping my heart out,” she offered candidly not a trace of sarcasm to be found anywhere in her tone of voice.

How about you let me be judge of what it is I want to or don’t want to hear,” he coldly countered.

She sighed, almost as if to say, ‘I tried to warn you'. “When I killed your whole family, it wasn’t and act of cruelty or malice. I killed them as my revenge on you,” she explained.

Confusion marred his features as he looked down at her. “Revenge?” he repeated as a question his ire sparking ablaze infecting even his voice. “What the fuck did I ever do to you other than love you like a fool?” He posed his grip tightening uncomfortably around her heart so that it could only just barely beat.

However, apart from her lips pressing slightly into one another, she let none of her discomfort show. “Rather than tell you, why don’t I show you,” she offered. “Get inside my mind and see for yourself,” she offered. “You already have you hand inside my chest,” she said when he hesitated. “If I try anything all you’d have to do is squeeze harder and I’d be dead.” she stated calmly.

After a moment of indecision, Korzak acquiesced. It was a question he had pondered at for the past two millennia. How and why the one he had loved so entirely could turn on him in the way that she did. If there was but a chance that he could finally puzzle it out, he had to try. He could feel her mental guards come down even as he started to delve into her mind. Soon enough he found himself standing in the same forest where he’d awoken from unconsciousness two millennia prior. Ailin was standing right next to him her eyes studying her own memory with an air of wariness. Her expression closely mirrored the expression one who was walking down a corridor or an alleyway that they absolutely did not want to. Nevertheless, after a few seconds she forced both herself and her expression to become stoic.

“Korzak!”

Both their heads turned in the direction of the voice, both of them instantly recognizing it. Ailin from two thousand years before came into view once again calling out his name. “It had been a day like any other that day,” The Ailin whose heart he now held started to explain even as the memory version of her walked unseeingly past them. “Except for one thing, I hadn’t seen you for all of that day,” she stated. “Which in and of itself wasn’t an odd thing but if you remember, you used always tell me about any journeys you made,” she reminded him. “It was unlike you to leave unannounced, but nonetheless, I didn’t pay too much mind to it, that is until later in the day when one of the humans in the town we resided at came to tell me that you were in the forest on the outskirts of the town and that you wanted me to come find you. He was clearly under the compulsion of a vampire and I assumed it was you who’d done it,” she said. A bitter smile slowly crossed her lips even as they followed the memory version of Ailin through the forest. “In my stupid love struck mind, I actually believed that you’d planned some sort of romantic surprise for me and that’s why you left without informing me.

The two of them came to a halt just as the Ailin from two thousand years before did too as a figure zipped past her at superhuman speed. Ailin’s memory turned in the direction the figure had disappeared in. The figure however came from another direction still moving at superhuman speed. This time however, it made a full loop around her and disappeared in the same direction from which it came. Just as she was about to pursue it, Korzak watched as the memory of him from two thousand years ago emerged from behind a tree in the same direction the figure had disappeared to. A smile played on his lips even as her regarded the memory of Ailin. The smile however, inspired more unease than it did joy. “Are you trying to get yourself killed? I could have seriously hurt you!” Was a close approximation of what the Ailin from two millennia prior said to him given the fact that they didn’t speak English at this time.

“I remember none of this,” Korzak from the present time informed Ailin even as she regarded their past selves.

“I know,” she answered simply. “And I know why, but for now let’s just watch for now,” she added.

Korzak turned his gaze back to their memory selves just as his memory version answered. “You couldn’t touch me even if you wanted to?” he answered in the foreign language. Both Ailin from two thousand years prior and the present day Korzak were taken aback by the malice and contempt in his avatar’s voice as spat back at Ailin. The Ailin from the present day however, remained stoic as she heard it. Korzak couldn’t be completely sure but it was almost as if the words still hurt her two millennia after, she just didn’t let it show.

They both watched as confusion etched itself onto Ailin’s expression. “Did you knock your head on something?” Was the reply from Ailin’s avatar as she regarded her mate. “Because if you didn’t I can correct that!” she went on to add in the same tongue. The rage that was fast boiling up in her overtaking the confusion and completely surpassing.

A laugh of pure derision left Kodak’s avatar that even he could have never fathomed possible of himself. “Even now you still don’t get it, how thick does one have to be not to see their demise when it is right before their very eyes?” He answered.

“This is a lie!” The present day Korzak shot at her. “I would have never talked to you like that and you know it,” he snapped.

“I do now,” Ailin answered. “But I didn’t then,” she added.

“Just how sure are you of that assertion?” Was the reply Ailin’s avatar gave even as the transformation in her features occurred and her feral side took over. The transformation however was short-lived. Less than a second after Ailin zipped forward at her mate, she was stopped cold by an invisible wall that not only stopped her, but it threw her back hard against another invisible wall that she also couldn’t see. When she opened her eyes once again, Ailin surveyed the ground to find an ash and salt ring around her at around the exact distance where the figure that had previously just circled her at superhuman speed had been. Her gaze turned to her mate with shock mirroring the shock in present day Korzak's eyes as she regarded his mate from two thousand years before.

“What is the meaning of this Korzak?” Ailin’s avatar snapped at him rage now burning hard in her eyes. “If this is some sort of joke, then end it right now! It is not even in the least bit amusing!” she had warned in the old tongue.

“I assure you,” Both present day Korzak and Ailin’s avatar from two thousand years before turned towards the source of the sound. The look on past Ailin’s expression telling present day Korzak that she immediately recognized the voice. To him however the voice sounded familiar, as if he’d heard it somewhere before but couldn’t place where exactly, which for a vampire like him was an odd thing. Clearly according to Ailin, the scene playing out before him was where he’d heard it. The present day’s Ailin hadn’t turned in the direction of the voice, instead her gaze had remained fixed on past Korzak who in turn had his gaze fixed on past Ailin. It was almost like she was trying to find something in his expression. Maybe some sort of sign, any indication at all that he was doing what he was doing under duress or against his will.

“We have absolutely no intention of amusing you,” Korzak regarded the woman speaking in the old tongue as she walked from behind a tree also in the same direction where the mysterious figure had disappeared to.

”Viera,” Past Ailin spat the word with pure hate and vitriol in both her gaze and voice. At the mention of the name, Korzak did double take of the woman. Was this her? Was this Ailin’s sire? “Korzak get away from her!” Past Ailin snapped at her mate.

“Now why in the world would he do that?” The syrupy sweet tone of Ailin’s sire evoked more unease than it did comfort in Korzak. “After we spent such a passionate night together last night?”

“That’s a lie!” Both Ailin’s avatar and present day Korzak uttered the words together, past Ailin to her sire and Korzak to his former mate. But while Viera laughed scornfully at past Ailin, present day Ailin said nothing, her eyes closing at the words. Being in her mind, Korzak could feel the pain eating away at her at the words and despite the situation they were currently in in the real world he absolutely hated it.

Korzak now knew that this was no lie, or some fabrication meant to deceive him. Her pain made this clear. However, just because she could remember her sire saying it, doesn’t mean that it actually happened. “I would have never betrayed you like that!” he asserted.

“Wouldn’t you?” Ailin’s with a pain ridden almost despondent tone of voice asked. The question itself told him that the answer would soon be given. Her gaze never left the three avatars of her memory from two millennia prior.

“You don’t believe me?” Viera posed feigning hurt at her disbelief. “Korzak honey, tell her how bad we’ve been,” she instructed.

A sadistic smile crossed past Korzak's expression wordlessly confirming Viera’s words. Tears welled up in the eyes of Ailin’s avatar even as her head unconsciously shook from side to side. “I’ll do better,” Korzak’s avatar stated reaching ouch and taking hold of Viera’s arm.

Korzak wanted to object to it, he wanted to shout both to his own avatar and to Ailin beside her. He wanted to shout to his avatar to stop, not to kiss the bitch that was Ailin’s sire. He wanted to shout to Ailin that this was a lie, that he would never do this to her. But in both instances it would change nothing. And so the only shouting that was heard was that of Ailin’s avatar as she repeatedly and futilely tried to breach the invisible walls formed by the salt and ash ring to no avail.

A giggle left Viera once their lips parted. “Korzak you heartless beast,” she called out coyly. “You are such a bad boy,” she went on in what was all too obviously meant to drive the blades even deeper into Ailin’s heart.

“Oh, we’ve barely even began,” past Korzak’s words were soon followed by the sound of clothes tearing as he tore apart the garments leaving Viera standing naked before them all unabashed by her nudity. Korzak’s jaws clenched his eyes closing as his avatar pulled Ailin’s sire into another kiss, already knowing what would soon follow.

His eyes opened once again when everything suddenly went silent. The memory was frozen, as if someone had pressed pause on a video. “You fucked her,” Ailin stoically announced, putting every ounce of will she possibly could into not showing any of the pain she felt. “You made love to my worst enemy right before my very eyes,” she went on almost empty voice. “I cried, I shouted, I threatened, I begged but you never stopped,” she informed him.

“I… I…”

Korzak stammered having nothing that he could possibly say to her in that moment that would make what he had done better. Before he could figure out what to do or say next however, the scene before them continued. It was however clear that Ailin had skipped the bit she had just explained to him in not so many words. In the scene they switched to, both past Korzak and Viera were on the ground both of them breathing hard clearly having just finished having sex. Korzak was on the ground on his back with Viera on top of him. Ailin was also on the ground on her knees. She was silent the look in her eyes telling of the fact that her spirit was broken. She seemed hollow even as she regarded the one she had thought to be her mate.

Viera rose off Korzak his cum quite lewdly leaking from inside her and down her inner left thigh. “Now do you believe me?” Ailin’s sire posed a sadistic smile playing on her lips. Ailin did not answer, her mind barely even registering the question. “What’s wrong, oh please don’t tell me that you’re heart broken over this oaf of a man,” she went on to posed.

A growl left Korzak’s avatar. “I am no o…” the last word however, never fully made it out of his mouth as with super human speed, Viera zipped around to his back and snapped his neck causing him to fall to his knees then fully onto the ground on his front. Korzak’s eyes widened his lips pursing as he noted the fact that his head fell on the ash and salt ring. The detail may have not been important to Ailin but when he woke up the could distinctly remember the taste of ash and salt in his mouth. He now had the explanation for where it came from. It all started making sense now and piecing together. How Ailin had been speaking and answering him when he came to the burning town. Her comments about him thinking he had tamed her now made a whole lot more sense considering.

“He talks too much,” Viera said dismissively. Picking up on of his leg’s, Viera swung him around a number of times before letting go. Even with the fact that this was a, by then, five thousand year old vampire, it was still almost embarrassing to watch himself sail over the tree line and disappear from sight. “Now we can ta...” Viera stopped short when she turned back to where Ailin was supposed to be only to be met by a surprise as was Korzak. He’d been occupied watching Viera throw his unconscious body away that he’d failed to notice that in dragging him by the leg his head must have broken the ash and salt ring. The incomplete ring now sat empty with Ailin long gone.

“How can you remember this last bit if you’d already escaped?” Korzak posed.

“I wasn’t that far off. In fact as you very well know, I was in the town just three kilometers away,” she answered him. “I could still hear her,” she informed him.

The scene before them switched to one Korzak clearly remembered however this time he saw it in a totally different light. Ailin had him up in the air in a death grip the town burning down around them. “Why didn’t you kill me?” Korzak found himself asking now more surprised than anything else that she had let him live.

“I wanted to,” The present day Ailin studied the frozen memory before them. “Oh I wanted to end you so bad, but much as I hated to admit it I still loved you,” she said in a tone that relayed just how much she had struggled with the fact. “I.. I still love you,” she went on to say in a hoarse whisper. “So I couldn’t kill you,” she said as the frozen picture became animated and Ailin’s avatar let Korzak drop to the ground and zipped off. “But the story doesn’t end there,” she explained. “After I couldn’t kill you, I went after the one who I knew I would have no qualms at all with killing.” The scene once again shifted and Ailin was once again at the place where she had been betrayed. Korzak’s jaws clenched as she looked on at Ailin’s bloody form on the seated on the ground with her back against a tree trunk looking up with hate filled eyes at her sire. “But much like you, my sire way older than I was,” she said. “Nothing could change this fact, not my rage, not my pain, not my hatred of her, nothing,” Ailin went on narrating.

“Wh..” Whatever words Ailin’s avatar would have said were interrupted by her coughing up blood. “Why?” She managed to pose after the coughing fit. “What have I ever done to you?” she asked.

“You killed one of my own,” Viera had answered in the same sickly syrupy sweet tone. “I couldn’t just let that go, could I now? I have a reputation to preserve you know?” she said smiling in quite the sharp contrast to the scene around her.

Even in the state she was in, Ailin’s confusion was apparent. “I’ve not killed any vampires since I became one,” she stated.

“Oh, but you have,” Viera countered. “Don’t tell me you are so quick to forget. I mean, it’s only been what, two thousand years since you killed her?” she returned.

Ailin’s avatar’s eyes had widened with shock at this point. “My sister?” she posed incredulously.

“The moment I made her a vampire she ceased to be yours!” Viera snapped at her.

Ailin just stared unbelievingly at her sire, lacking anything to say in reply. How that statement even computed and made sense in her sire’s mind beyond her. The sense of entitlement one would need to have to believe the they could take one’s sister, ones own kin and make them their own, was of a kind Ailin couldn’t wrap her mind around. It was like a spoiled child that believed they not only could have but also deserved everything they wanted simply by the fact of wanting it. “You are jealous,” were the words that finally came out of Ailin as the realization hit her. “You are jealous of me,” she repeated more to herself than anyone else.

Despite the harsh laughter that left Viera in an effort to hide it, it was clear to see that the words rang true. “I’m not the one sitting on the forest floor bloody. What could I possibly have to be jealous of in a weakling like you,” she posed.

“That a weakling like me has someone by her side,” Ailin answered. “First with my sister and now with my mate,” she related even as her mind pieced it together. “I am every bit like you except unlike you I have someone to care for and to care for me,” she pieced together. “And that’s what hurts, isn’t it? You see yourself in me and what it would be like for you if you had someone by you,” Ailin’s avatar was clearly speaking as much for her own benefit as for Viera’s. Judging by her expression and the look in Viera’s eyes, it was clear that Ailin was right on the mark. “Problem is, you are too much of a vile, sadistic and cold hearted bitch for anyone to want to be with you for longer than the time it takes you to snap their neck,” she spat at her sire.

The smile completely faded from View expression, the words clearly cutting deep. For a moment Korzak thought she would attack but instead after a while of silence, an even more sadistic smile took up the place of the first. “They both put up quite the fight you know,” she informed her. “Your sister actually tried to outrun me,” Viera laughed. “Much as she wanted to become a vampire, your wishes meant a lot to her. She’d declined every one of the numerous times I’d offered to make her into one. When I finally decided to make her into one whether she wanted it or not, she actually fought me,” she relayed. “Or tried to,” she added off handedly stated.. “Once I’d made her into a vampire, she wouldn’t touch a human,” Viera said seemingly annoyed by the memory itself. “She was a starving new born vampire yet she was willing to endure it even to the point of death because you didn’t want her to be a vampire. I ended up forcing her to take blood to sustain her life. Like most newborn vampires, she lost control of herself in her first feeding and drained all the blood from her first and what turned out to be her very last victim,” Viera went on.

“In you walked less than a minute later after she was done feeding. Awaiting no explanation or defense of herself from her, you killed her,” Viera said the sadistic smile on her face widening. “Whether out of fear, or out of anger or both, you ripped her heart without so much as a moment of hesitation,” Ailin’s head had been all the while turning from side to side in horror as she realized the grave mistake she had made. “She’d been willing to die for you, yet you weren’t willing to allow her even the benefit of the doubt,” Viera further drove the burning spike into her soul.

Tears glistened in the eyes of both Ailin and her avatar. “I… I… you…” the pain that she felt reached down into her very core and reached up permeating through every fiber of her being.

“And this supposed mate of yours, I had to beat him to within an inch of his life before I could finally break through his stubborn will and take over his mind and will. Which given the fact that I’ve had more ease getting into the minds of and controlling vampires far older than him, was both impressive and supremely annoying,” Her sire relayed.

“That’s a lie,” Ailin’s avatar shot at her. “Vampires can’t control other vampires,” she countered though she had the sinking feeling that her sire was being completely honest with her.

In response to her denial, Viera got down on one knee looking Ailin straight in the eyes. A fog seemed to go over Ailin’s eyes, it was as if she was looking right through her sire, gazing right at her but not actually seeing her. Korzak’s eyes widened when her hand rose grabbing hold of a thick lock of before she went on to pull at it hard. It cane of her scalp with bits of skin still attached. Her hand dropped once again to her side with the detached lock of hair still in its grip. The fog vanished from Ailin’s eyes and her face immediately screwed up in pain as the blood streamed down her face. Her hand automatically rise to seek out what was wrong with scalp which had already started trying to heal. The hair however, would take much longer to regrow to the length of the rest. Confusion marred her features, her hand freezing mid air when she saw the lock of hair in her hand. Her gaze turned both disbelievingly and in horror to her sire. “H…how?” she posed.

“The gift you got with your age was the ability to track vibrations, I on the other hand got the ability to infiltrate and gain control of other vampires,” She answered simply. “Do you know why your mate held out for so long?” Viera posed clearly relishing the torture she was putting him through. Ailin remained silent not answering her sire despite the fact to her utter misery she knew the answer to the question. “You,” Viera announced. “He fought for his will to the very last second because he could not fathom betraying you, yet like your sister, he didn’t even merit any further consideration from you, at the first sign of it he was written off as a traitor to you and so everything he loved you have destroyed,” she stated with a Cheshire cat’s smile. “The best part is just like you, he doesn’t know, understand or remember why you’ve done what you’ve done!” Viera laughed even as Ailin screamed her pain into the night…

Korzak found herself standing in the room he’d initially been standing in before going into Ailin’s mind. Tears were streaming down both of Ailin’s temples given the fact that she was lying back on the bed. She’d turned a pale shade of blue owing to the fact that her heart could not quite so freely beat but then this fact seemed to barely register to her. If it did, she didn’t let it show. “All these years, why didn’t you ever tell all of this time?” he asked not understanding why she hadn’t done it.

“Well for one I knew that Viera would never let up on me. Somewhere in her twisted mind, she had decided that I’m supposed to be like her, alone and miserable and pretending I can take on the world on my own. If you and I reconciled she wouldn’t rest till she had once again split us up. I feared that in her next attempt she wouldn’t stop at just within an inch of your life. I couldn’t bear the thought of harm coming to you,” Ailin explained.

“That’s why you’ve always lived as a ghost since we parted isn’t it?” Korzak observed. “You weren’t hiding from me, it was your sire you were avoiding.”

Ailin nodded in confirmation. “I would never give her the chance to make another my victim!” she explained. “But even more importantly than the first reason was the fact that, I knew that there was a chance that if I told you all what had happened, you would forgive me,” She added to his confusion. “I gave neither you nor my own sister the benefit of the doubt or further consideration past the fact that I thought you’d betrayed me! How could I with any dignity or spine stand before you and ask you to offer me what I never did you,” Ailin spoke fresh tears gliding down her temples. “I deserved… I deserve the same fate and judgment as I meted out to both you and my sister. I deserve to have my heart ripped out as I did my sister’s. I deserve to have everything taken from me and far worse for all that I did to you. For all the pain and misery I’ve caused in the six millennia I have lived, I deserve far worse than death,” raw pain permeated her voice as she passed the sentence on herself. “But if my death can bring you some peace and solace from black mark I left in your life, then It is only a small part of what I should have done as penance for my mistakes.,” she explained.

“So do it,” Ailin spoke emphatically “Allow me to do this one good with my life and give you back the peace that I took from you,” she implored…

*******

Kirra stood to one side of the room regarding her as she lay on the bed. Despite the situation that they presently found themselves in, she couldn’t help the relief she felt washing over her. It wasn’t her, she wasn’t Dan’s traitor. Karra was still unconscious on the bed, her burning hand was encased in a glove like shield which in a way was mire like second skin than a glove. It’d been conjured by both Ember and Lord Arwain. Lord Arwain had made the skin-like shield and Ember infused it with some of her phoenix abilities to keep it the flames from burning right through. It would do for now, but in a few hours they would need to reinforce it to keep it from completely wearing away. It kept the flames from coming into direct contact with anything she touched and reducing it to ashes. Despite the fact that there was no possible way she could have known, she found herself feeling guilty for wanting to hate her other half for the past one year. The fact that she had quite literally incapable of it doing nothing to abate this feeling.

Kirra’s eyes widened as Karra snapped into a sitting position. “Dan,” was the first word that left Karra’s lips. Her eyes quickly scanned the room finding her. “Where is Dan?” She posed skipping over any pleasantries.

“You’ve been through a lot Karra, you should rest,” Kirra replied evasively. She wasn’t sure that it was the right time to inform her other half that their master was… gone.

With a burst of flames Ember appeared beside the bed. “You’re up,” Ember pleasantly observed out loud,

“Where is Dan?” Karra once again posed turning away from Kirra to Ember. “I need to talk to him, now!”

“We already know who the traitor is Karra. You needn’t bother yourself, rest up and regain your energy,” Ember replied in a calming tone.

“No, he needs to know that Eldraen's ultimatum has changed!” Karra said her annoyance at the attempt to get her to lie back down not in any way hidden.

“What are you talking about?” Ember posed her tone immediately changing.

Karra threw the sheets off her, and with some bit of difficulty pushed herself on to her feet. “I mean the war begins tomorrow!” She replied…
*******
I'm really sorry for how long this chapter took to come out.

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