LORE: Training a Hell Hound (MATURE)

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad's eyes flashed crimson as he suddenly saw Tenele thrown against the wall. She'd barely hit the ground before he teleported to her side. Kneeling, he touched her shoulders and called out to her, pressing his head in close to her neck to listen for her heartbeat over the rush of his own. He could hear its quiet rhythm, which calmed him for a second. At least she wasn't dead. If he chose to, the prince could easily put enough force into a shove like that to break her neck. He hadn't done that, but he had hurt her.

Why had he done that? Atul was old enough to know his own strength, right? Or had he done it on purpose? Would he hurt Tenele just to get to Verin through him? The anger that had budded so unwillingly in him before now seemed to lash out of control. He had the sudden urge to literally rip Atul to shreds. He was using them. He would forfeit them to his enemies just to win this war. Everything the two of them had gone through was just some sort of sick joke to him, a stepping stone on his ride to power.

Vlad swallowed dryly, still touching Tenele's shoulders. The anger swept through him like the scald of ice. He knew even as it happened that it was too strong; that it wasn't all his. He breathed deeply, trying to find a perspective as Verin's power swirled up and grabbed for control. "Tenele," he barely whispered, wanting her to wake up.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele didn't blink, didn't budge. Her head tilted to the side, in nearly the same spot as when she'd landed. It appeared for the moment she was out cold. Atul was finally shaken into action, and yelling to one of his guards, he begged for Fero or one of his healers to come. He scrambled to his knees, not even reaching out to touch her, afraid he might break her bones. "I'm sorry," he whispered, glancing to Vlad. "I didn't mean too. I-"

She groaned, deep and low. Breathing a ragged breath, as if she'd been holding it the entire time, she sucked in slowly. It must have knocked the air from her lungs when she hit the wall. Tenele was coming awake, though she couldn't entirely figure out what force was strong enough to bring her out of that blackness she was heading too. But, she could feel it. It was frightening, and full of rage.... full of evil. What ever connection it was, it was strong enough to pull her awake. She was a bit too dilerious to figure out what it was coming from, because she knew it wasn't her. She felt pain, and that was about it.

Her eyes shifted, still closed, as if she were fighting to wake up, and then finally they fluttered open. She closed them again, and another long moment passed as she fought to stay awake. Her head felt like it was split in too, and her back bone was broken in half. Okay, maybe not literally, but it felt like it. She wasn't even entirely sure what had happened, it all had been so fast. She willed her eyes to open and she looked straight up into the face that was hovering over her. He was blurry, but familiar. "Where am I?" she muttered softly, her head rolling as if she were going to go back to sleep. She jerked, and opened her eyes wide, knowing she couldn't sleep. Not yet.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad wanted to stop Atul from sending the guards away, wary that in another minute, it would take them all to contain him here. But he couldn't speak. He was forcing all his concentration on Tenele and controlling the battle that was growing inside him. The pressure seemed to build in his mind until he could barely see. He wanted to turn on Atul and pull him apart, and play with the pieces. The idea sent a sick pleasure through his spine.

"Tenele, you're with us," he forced the words, touching her cheek with a shaking hand. "Can you see me?"

He forced his mind like a funnel around Verin's power, channeling it into one place in order to preserve part of his mind for himself and protect Tenele from the brunt of it.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele blinked her eyes. "I can see you," she told him. "You're blurry, but I can tell its you." She shifted like she wanted to sit up, but felt the weight of Vlad's hand on her shoulder. She could feel his touch on her cheek. She seemed restless, and she was. This feeling growing was disturbing. She didn't want inside her, and it seemed hell bent on being there. Her hand reached out and grabbed his forearm tightly, her eyes flickering back and forth between the two blurry faces. She was scared, scared of whatever was trying to worm its way inside her. Or maybe it was worming its way inside Vlad, and she was feeling what he was feeling?

It was making the ache in her head nearly unbareable. She groaned again, her eyes trying to fixate on Vlad. She wanted to offer him words of comfort, but couldn't concentrate to think of any.

"Tenele, are you hurt anywhere?"

"My head.... its killing me. My back, it hurts to breath, but not as much as it does to think. What hit me?"

[Soran Nightblade]

"Atul hit you...by accident," Vlad said slowly, the words audibly strained. The anger glowed behind his voice, adding a dangerous edge to his tone. The pressure was so great now, he could swear his chest was being crushed. He drew a ragged breath and pulled up to his feet, breaking gently from Tenele's grip and backing away from both of them.

He corralled Verin's power with all his strength, but he could hardly remember at this point what he meant to do with it. He wanted to give in, to do anything to make the pressure stop, before his chest exploded. But he couldn't let the god all the way in. If he did, Verin would know of his intentions to spy, not to mention the fact that he would probably hurt or kill everyone in this room.

Vlad staggered to the wall far opposite Tenele and Atul, as far from them as he could get, and leaned back against it. He wrapped his arms tightly around his chest as if that could help control the pressure. He sought through the chaotic mess that was Verin's power, and for once, rather than trying to blindly flail at it, he searched for a channel and began slowly following it back toward its source. It was about as easy as swimming upstream in a waterfall, but he thought he could feel it working. His eyes glowed white hot as his power rose up at full throttle to resist Verin's unspeakably strong grip. If he could just focus, just keep the power coming for a few more minutes.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele didn't want Vlad to pull away from her, especially as she felt whatever was happening to him. She couldn't breath. She hadn't expected it to be painful, but it was, and she could only imagine how much more painful it was for Vlad. Her breath was short panic gasps, and Atul could only watch her. He didn't understand why Tenele was being hurt at the same time Vlad was. He wasn't sure why they were connected, and he suddenly realized that if this was the case... Tenele was suffering emensely.

"Vlad," Atul said quickly. He was about to ask Vlad if there was any way for him to stop now, or shut Tenele off. He didn't want to watch her wither in fear and agony. Vlad could handle it, and he was afraid that with Tenele hurt, she wouldn't be able to.

Fero came into the room, the guards closing the door behind him quickly. He glanced at Vlad across the room, but knowing well it was dangerous to address him, he for ignored the vampire and proceeded over to Atul. He came around to sit where Vlad had been, and he took one look at her and knew she wasn't alright. "Let's set her up, or role her over onto her side. I need to make sure she didn't break anything."

Tenele let out a painful gasp when they shifted her over to lie mostly on her stomach, her eyes finding Vlad. She tried to think happy thoughts for him. If he could feel anything from her, maybe that would help him. So she watched him with her watery eyes, green irises sparkling. Fero's oddly cold fingers touched her back, trailing down her spine, the dress having a low back to it in general. She knew he was making sure she hadn't broken anything, but she didn't want him touching her. She hated him with a passion that at the moment was not entirely her own.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad could feel a wisp of something warmer and stronger in his mind, and he realized after a moment that Tenele was helping him. It was very faint, but he could feel her strength wrapping like a warm hand around his shaking willpower and steadying it just enough, just barely enough. The room blurred around him as his full focus went into pressing deeper into the black, swirling tar of Verin's power, until he finally reached something so dense and terrible that he could only assume it was the god's core, or his mind, or whatever it was that gods had.

He tried lowering his strength and subtly as he could, not wanting to alert Verin to his presence. If he got trapped in there, he could only imagine the consequences. He closed his eyes and tried to picture himself threading like a needle into the god's defenses and weaving silently into his mind. He felt it begin to work, amazingly. Tenele's support pushed him through, and he found himself somewhere completely black and dense, like the center of a conceptual black hole.

Then something distracted him. A noise, and the sense of Tenele's strength giving way to anger. The vampire squinted his eyes open automatically, trying not to lose his focus. His eyes caught on Fero kneeling over Tenele, touching her back. Tenele's anger echoed into his own mind as he could suddenly think of nothing but getting that bastard away from her. And like a muscle curling around him, he felt Verin's power grow stronger. "Not him," he snarled breathlessly, trying to lean further into the wall to avoid launching for Fero's neck. Not because he would regret it, but because it would be too pleasurable. "Get someone else. Get him out." His eyes locked with Atul's fervently.

[Emora Deen]

Atul's eyes shot to Fero. He was torn now between letting Fero, who was qualified in medical knowledge, look over Tenele, or let her suffer just a bit longer for his own personal gain. Fero glanced up to him. "Almost done," he muttered to Atul, his hand moving lower while his other hand felt her sides for broken ribs. Tenele focused her thoughts on what she and Vlad had done earlier. She focused on that beautiful moment when nothing else existed but them as Fero's hand cupped over her side to feel her ribs through the thin fabric of her pale pink dress.

But, she could feel Vlad's anger growing and knew that Fero was the reason. "Don't touch me," Tenele whispered heatedly.

"Lady, this isn't a time to hold a grudge..." Fero told her as his hand shifted to her hair to feel her head for a wound.

Tenele choked on a breath when his hand touched the sore spot where her head had cracked against the marble. Her happy throughts shattered in that flash of pain, and then she grappled to get them back. "Its not for my sake you fool," she growled. "Get him out!"

Atul grabbed Fero by the collar, understanding what Tenele was getting at. He hauled him to his feet and walked him to the door.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad's head reeled with power and it was all he could manage to temper the roller coaster of anger he was flying through. If he'd been sadistic in his intentions toward Atul, his thoughts about Fero were far worse. Atul was finally getting the scumbag out of his sight, but it seemed too late. Fierce, irrational, inconsolable hatred kept growing stronger in his head, and he could only do so much while creeping through the god's mind. But then he heard it.

I've got him. Just a bit more. In time with the thought, an added rush of power forced through Vlad's mind. With a choking sound, the vampire fell to his knees, fighting tooth and claw for focus. He didn't care if he had to lie face down, if it meant keeping control. He had to suppress a growing panic mixed with triumph. He had just heard the God's thoughts, and they hadn't been meant for him.

Not that I need him anyway. Once they ride into an 'empty' city tomorrow, they'll never know what hit them.

That was it. That would have to be enough. Vlad's thoughts blazed with adrenaline as he struggled much too late to backstep out of the web he'd woven himself into. He slipped out of Verin's mind like a whisper, but that was the easy part. The god hadn't known he was there, so no effort went into stopping him. Closing the god from his own mind, however, was a different story.

[Emora Deen]

Atul was turning back to where Tenele had been laying only to find the woman was not there. He glanced over as he saw the color of her dress. She was using the wall to go around the room towards Vlad. Stumbling, weak, and probably unable to see straight, she was moving slowly and surely around to him. She'd covered good ground with his back turned, and he had half a mind to stop her. But, if Fero touching her had nearly made him lose control, he figured the man who'd got her hurt scooping her into his arms might not be a good idea. But, it wasn't safe for her to get near him... What if Verin came out? What would he do to her?

He was torn on whant to do, and before he could make his decision she reached him. She fell to her knees next to him, and wrapped her arms tightly about him, taking his head and bringing it against her chest. What was she doing? Did she think a hug was going to save him? Save her? He really had did a number on her head, she'd obviously lost it.

"I'm here with you," she whispered to him dizzily, her head dropping heavily against his. She felt so tired. So sleepy.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad's thoughts were beginning to overflow with alarm. It was becoming clear that his resources were tapped out, and it was getting harder just to resist, never mind break free. He was flashing back on the things he'd done under Verin's control last time. He knew he shouldn't and that it could only make things worse, but he did anyway. Reality seemed to crush in around him.

A warm pair of arms wrapped around him, drawing him forward into soft fabric that smelled of sand and, more specifically, of Tenele. Something clicked on inside him. This was Tenele. His eyes opened enough to see the blue fabric he was pillowed against and the soft skin of her arm.

"I'm here with you." The words were like a steady wind leveling the choppy waves that were breaking apart his mind. He lifted his arms and placed them lightly around her back, the simple embrace calling back all the love and intimacy of the time they'd shared a few minutes ago. It cleared his head just enough for him to grasp onto a lifeline of focus and drag himself in toward sanity. The mindless pounding drums of hatred didn't hold a candle to the quiet rhythm of Tenele's pulse. Verin thrashed inside him, confused and furious at being caged, but sure enough, he was.

And then there was just the two of them panting in silence, while Verin's screams went unheard in the innermost cell of Vlad's mind. "I've got him," he confirmed, his voice sounding hoarse as if he'd been screaming out loud and not just in his head.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele smiled softly. "Good," she whispered gently to him, her finger tips stroking his head as he rested against her. It might have sounded strange, but for all his danger, she felt safe with him. She felt safer with him, sitting close to something that could crush her with little effort, than she had all the way across the room. "I knew you could."

She pressed her cheek against him and sighed, almost content. "I bet he's really wanting to kill me now," she mused in a whisper. She could care less what Verin wanted, just as long as Vlad was not in pain anymore.

The pounding in her head was insufferable, but nothing could be done about it. It made her sleepy, and now that the presence wasn't there to pull her strongly awake, she wanted to sleep with Vlad in her arms.

[Soran Nightblade]

"You keep saving me. I'll fall behind," he said disapprovingly. He straightened himself up so that he was eye to eye with her. His head was too numb with aftershock to feel her clearly, but a subtle feeling of pain that wasn't his own was beginning to emerge in his head. He was finally getting a grip on what had just happened and realizing that her encounter with the wall had not been a dream. "You're hurt," he said quietly, brushing the sides of her face with shaky hands and studying her. "Where are you hurt?"

[Emora Deen]

Tenele smiled softly at him, her eyes heavy. "The back of my head. I hit it really hard I guess," she muttered, not even about to reach back at the sensitive area. She wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't bleeding, though Fero had not mentioned anything about there being a wound. She laughed. "Your still blurry." She looked as if she were going to cry, but happy tears, or maybe those were left over from moments before. She was happy, becasue Vlad was safe, and hadn't killed anyone. He wasn't going to be hurt by Verin anymore, not at the moment at least.

Fero popped his head in from the door and motioned Atul over, not even looking there way. He was learning, like a really disobedient dog. Atul leaned in as Fero whispered into his ear, and then with a sudden realization he turned and made his way over to them. "Tenele, don't fall a sleep, okay?" She defiantly leaned into Vlad, resting against his shoulder and tucking her face under his chin and against his neck. "If you hit your head as hard as we think, falling a sleep is a bad idea. You might not wake up again." Atul met Vlad's eyes, he knew Vlad wouldn't let her fall a sleep if that was the case. He could trust Vlad with Tenele, he cared more for her than Atul felt he could possibly imagine...

"She should be able to stay awake easier if you can keep her from falling a sleep right off the bat. Fero says she might have a concusion. Gods, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to shove her so hard," he whispered, putting a hand to his head.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad drew Tenele up further into his arms and looked at Atul. The rage he'd nearly let fly a few moments ago was sealed up so tightly now that he wasn't willing to squeak open the lid on it to let out even a little frustration at Atul. On the other hand, he didn't feel like consoling the prince, either. So it was with a blank, oddly drained expression that he met Atul's eyes. "How long are you saying I should keep her awake?"

He came across as somewhat baffled. After all his years of being undead, he'd come to see human ailments as mostly things that only healed through rest. Keeping her awake when she was this drained seemed counterintuitive, but then again, he thought he had heard something like this about head wounds before. Medicine was never really his area.