Skedaddle

[Soran Nightblade]

Adonis glanced at her, nearly losing focus on the spell he was controlling. Had Telanis not told her? She could be healed, but not if she was dead. He winced as something felt sprained inside his mind. He threw himself back into the spell headlong, fighting for control of the power sweeping through him. There wasn't time to kill this thing slowly. He had to go for it now, or he wouldn't make it to the end of the spell. He forced his nerves wide and channeled a huge burst of power, choking out the incantation swift and hard.

The vampire wailed in pain. He moved to swipe at Laya's throat, but his body contorted and his piercing nails dragged across her chest instead. He couldn't move for another strike. He started screaming instead, curling over her in uncontrolled spasms.

Adonis squinted up at the power swirling like a whirlwind in the room, and wondered if the others could even see it. He leaned forward on his hand on the floor for support against the blazing energy. Hi lips groaned the final words of the incantation. A flood of pure blackness....no, it was more than black, it was definitively and absolutely evil... washed through him. The power tugged his body like it would pull him into pieces. The spell struck the vampire like a molten arrow, smoldering his body to a husk. It was fast, and ugly. Blood and fury and pain filled the room like poison. In the midst of the blur, Adonis could see his brother backing away from the doorway. He caught a glimpse of Laya, noting that she was alive. He barely managed to acknowledge the beginnings of triumph in his mind, mixed with the intense need to scream. That was the last thing he was aware of.

The stone on his forehead shattered apart, leaving behind a blackened star, and he collapsed onto his side.

[Emora Deen]

Laya screamed when the nails drug across her skin. It cut through the fabric of her blouse and tore open the flesh above her breasts. She watched in horror and a tinge of glee as the vampire was removed from existence by a force she had never witnessed before.

When it was over, she rolled over and crawled wearily towards Adonis.

She called his name, but it didn't seem like he could hear her. She clutched at the gaping ruin of her skin, blood spilling over her hand. "Adonis," she shook his shoulder. She checked his pulse. A bloody hand touched his forehead wear the black star was.

"Oh gods," she breathed. "Telanis..." She didn't know what to do. She didn't know how to help. Laya wanted to curl into a ball and cry all the bad out and at the same time she wanted to help Adonis... But she didn't know how.

[Soran Nightblade]

Telanis struggled to stay standing. He could barely hear or see Laya through the bloodsickness in his system. He pushed his legs to carry him toward her, but they nearly folded under him. Fear for her safety and for his brother welled up in him as he forced himself forward. *Everything will be fine,* he breathed as he pushed toward her. *Let me see your wound.*

[Emora Deen]

Laya fell over, rolling onto her back. She removed her shaking hands from her chest, looking at all the blood. Laya blinked, her vision blurring. Her mind was shutting down, and she didn't need it too. She had things she needed to do. She needed to help Adonis, and get rid of all the blood so Telanis wouldn't fall ill. She had no time to be frail.

[Soran Nightblade]

Telanis didn't let himself kneel next to her, because he was pretty sure he couldn't get back up. He stretched his horn down to the center of her chest, closed his eyes, and was lost in the art of his magic. Over about half a minute, the wound slowly closed. Telanis murmured calming words into her mind, some in her language and some in others, until the wound was closed. He touched the soft fuzz of his nose to her forehead tenderly. The magic cleared his head somewhat, though his body was reeling. There was just too much blood here. But he needed to get them both out of this house. *Can you climb on?* he asked her.

[Emora Deen]

Laya pushed wearily to her feet and stumbled forward. She was covered in blood, and couldn't see why he wanted her on him. She used his body to help her move, and when she was in the right spot she dragged herself onto his back. Her actions were slurred and slow, and she felt like she as moving through quicksand.

Her half naked body shook from the icy winter wind blowing in from the open door, and the ordeal that she and Adonis had just been through.

[Soran Nightblade]

Telanis breathed tensely as she made it up to him. He tried to focus on her warmth on his back, and not...anything else in the room. He turned and made his way to the front door like he was swimming through nails. *It'll be fine,* he soothed her quietly as they crossed the threshold and he shakily stepped outside. *I think I destroyed your door,* he tried to keep her engaged, to keep her mind from going to what he knew had just happened and what was still lying inside. He looked around the yard, remembering how cold she got, and decided to go for the shed. He reached the small building and melted to his knees just inside it. Everything swam together for a minute, his muscles locking up stubbornly now that he'd finally allowed them to hesitate.

[Emora Deen]

Laya rolled from his back to curl up in the center of the dusty forgotten shed. She wrapped her arms around her knees, her teeth chattering. She closed her eyes, focusing on warm thoughts. "Adonis," she whispered. "He needs help."

[Soran Nightblade]

*Soon,* Telanis said longingly, willing the strength back into his legs. *He is still alive.* The thought of his brother waking up in that bloodbath, unable to move or even speak, was overwhelming.

He gave himself a minute or so before finally straining to his feet. Now that he had some distance, the bloodsickness had subdued, though he could sense the blood that stained his white fur like a bad smoke around him. He collected his thoughts and transformed back to his human form in a flash of light. He almost fell over as he readjusted to the human legs. *I'll get Adonis out of there, and then I'm taking you in to town, okay?*

[Emora Deen]

Laya simply nodded, to tired to argue that her home was still safe or ask why he thought she needed to go into town. The threat was dead. She had to believe that. She needed to believe that. She closed her eyes and waited for him to return.

[Soran Nightblade]

Telanis went back toward the house, his whole body rigid with the need to go the opposite direction. He forced himself through the door and looked at the gory mess in the doorway standing between him and Adonis. He frowned, thought through his options, and decided that he'd just go into paralysis if he tried this slowly. Gathering his resolve, he burst into a sprint across the house, through the doorway and too his brother's side. Adonis was lying still and unconscious when he reached him. The scattered fragments of the stone he'd been wearing had scorched tiny holes into the floor around him.

Telanis looked at the blackened star on his brother's forehead and scooped his body up into his arms, leaning against the wall for support.

He'd been too slow. The blood overtook him. He struggled forward with his brother's light weight in his arms and gasped at the wrenching ache the blood tugged through his system. It was frustrating to be weak against the thing he most wanted to protect the others against. He couldn't go any further. He couldn't cross that spot a second time, it was too much. He turned instead to the window at the side of Adonis's room. The black unicorn had inscribed some sort of seal on the latch, in blood. How had his brother bent his nature this far? He switched open the latch, struggling to stay on his feet, and tugged the window open with his good arm. He lay Adonis half in and half out across the sill and then slid out past him weakly. He dropped to the grass outside with no feeling in his limbs.

Looking up at his brother hanging halfway out the window, he sighed in pure exhaustion and tugged himself up on a trellis that was next to the house. He reached up and pulled Adonis out into his arms and staggered back to the shed. He collapsed to his knees inside with Laya and set Adonis's body next to her as gently as he could, panting. Fear was finally setting in, but it took him a few moments to notice why. He'd felt his brother's presence before, as open as it had been when they lived together years ago, but he felt nothing from Adonis now. Nothing to really prove he was alive. He squinted at Adonis through his blurry vision and tried to tell if he was breathing. "Laya...can you please check him?" he murmured.

[Emora Deen]

Laya blinked her eyes open. She hadn't even noticed him return. She sat up slowly and scooted closer to Adonis. She pressed her quivering hand to his neck. Now that her heart had slowed she could pay attention to other things. She looked closed her eyes and bent to bring her ear close to his lips.

"He's alive," she whispered softly, looking up at Adonis. "He over did it... He shouldn't..." Laya faded off as she finally noticed what was different about his face. His jewel was missing. She put her thumb to his forehead and brushed it across the black star. "That has to mean something... but what?"

Laya looked up at Telanis, finally noticing he was naked. She averted her eyes, not mentally ready for a nude man yet no matter who they were.

[Soran Nightblade]

Telanis released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. He glanced from his brother's unconscious features to Laya. Her discomfort seemed natural given the situation, but it didn't occur to him that it could be stemming from him or the way he was(n't) dressed. He placed a hand on her head and looked her over. "You lost a lot of blood. When I get my senses together, I'll go find water and blankets." He paused, like something was occurring to him for the first time. "You could stay here, if that would be easier for your body," he said quietly. There was a silent footnote to the words that there was no way he or Adonis could stay in that house, as it was, for more than a few moments. Of course, they were used to the outside.

[Emora Deen]

Laya leaned back against the wall. She looked around the room. "If you think we should go into town then I'll go," she told him. "If not, I can stay here, I don't mind. I just need something to keep me warm." Laya pulled the remnants of her shirt closed. "Thank you for your help... If I had known this would have happened to Adonis I wouldn't have asked it of him."

[Soran Nightblade]

Telanis shook his head. "I don't want to force you to town. I know you treasure this place," he looked outside at the house she'd spent all morning cleaning. "I just want to be able to care for you, and right now, in there...it's just too much blood." He looked at her apologetically. "As for Adonis, I believe this was what he wanted. He wouldn't have spent all night studying that spell if he thought he'd be able to cast it. It was his desire to protect you, so don't begrudge him that when he wakes up." His mouth pulled up with the trace of a smile. "He is truer to his nature than he admits."