All Grown Up

[Emora Deen]

It occurred to Cyrus sometime after his conversation with Rai, that what he said really hadn’t been that mean. So why, at the moment he said it, did he feel this sudden shame for saying it? Could it have been her expression effected him? Well, the words Edan with a woman in a sentence could bring strange feelings to anyone.

She shouldn’t feel that bad. Many women had fallen for Edan, she wasn’t the only one who had…Then again, it was Edan…

Cyrus glanced back at the girl who was trudging along, yawning constantly as they wondered down the road towards a place he didn’t know. His head turned forward, back to the trail as they came rounding a bend in the road. It seemed to them that the past few days they had begun to smell the scent of ocean water as well as seen the white birds that normal lived along the shore of the beach.

It surprised them, however, what they found. The field of grass faded away into a sandy beach which faded away to the clear ocean that stretched out for miles. Around the shore on the other side of the bay was a large harbor and no the hillside there was a large dome like building. In the harbor there were many ships, mostly with the Arken flag flying.

“Not this place again!” Rai growled, stopping her foot into the dirt path.

“Been to the Slave Shop often?” Odoff asked curiously, glancing over his shoulder at her.

“Its where Edan sent me, before… he found such an interest in me,” Rai said softly, glancing around the shore line.

“It seems those ships are our only way off this island,” Cyrus said.

“There just going to take us back to Arken,” Odoff pointed out.

“Then we get out of Arken quickly,” Cyrus said.

“Get passed Edan?” Rai questioned, a bit of pessimism in her voice.

“As long as he doesn’t know we’re back in Arken then we have nothing to worry about. We just have to keep low, especially you…” Cyrus said, turning around to face her. “We’re going to have to do something to change your appearance probably… Maybe cut you hair?”

“Like hell your cutting my hair!” Rai snapped, grabbing her hair absentmindedly.

Odoff looked at Cyrus for a moment before he asked, “Got anymore ideas?” he asked the young man.
Cyrus turned towards the Slave Shop and put a his hand on his sword hilt. He thought for a moment as he saw the soldiers on the docks and a grin slowly formed on his face. “Yes,” he said. “Its about time we got her in better clothes anyway…”

Rai looked at Odoff and tilted her head. “What is he talking about?” she asked softly.

“Hell if I know…”

It wasn’t hard getting through the gate. All Odoff had to do was grab Rai by the arm and tell her to pull her hood over her head and act meek. She did as she was told and the guards at the gate simply thought she was a slave about to be sold.

Cyrus separated for them, telling them that he needed to get something before they found a ship to board. It wasn’t long before he returned to them with a bundle of black cloth in his arms. He led them towards a small shack built on the docks that seemed for the most part abandoned. It was built in the middle of a cluster of buildings that seemed to hold things to repair ships and such.

Cyrus handed her the clothing after ramming the door with his shoulder, almost knocking the whole building down into the water. She closed the door behind her and both Cyrus and Odoff stood with there back to the door, arms folded across there chest.

After several minutes a soft voice came from the inside of the building as the door opened proclaiming that what she was wearing wasn’t going to work either.

“What do you mean its…” Cyrus said as he turned around to face her, fading off as he noticed the problem.

Yes, the clothes were for a man, and they were large, but they still didn’t seem to hide the clear fact that Rai was a woman. The belt hung loosely on her hips and the shirt was large and one side hung off her shoulder even though it was tied as tightly as possible. It couldn’t hide the fact she was well endowed either.

“Yeah, I can see the problem,” Odoff said, grinning.

“Of course you can!” Rai said loudly, pulling the shoulder of the shirt back on her, but it only slipped off again.

“Hey! What are you doing in there?” yelled guard down at the end of the docks. He was a slim looking guard, smaller than the usual ones, and it seemed as if the Thar had dropped him down for them.
“Oh, we’ll be there in a minute. Just trying to coax this beauty out to play… Hey! Why don’t you come help?” Odoff yelled back at him.

The guard staid there, and since his helmet was pulled down over his face it was hard to tell which expressions the guard was making. But, he came forward and walked towards the door, passing Odoff and Cyrus and stepping into the shack.

Odoff and Cyrus stepped in behind him as he pulled off his helmet to get a better look at Rai. “Strange clothes,” he said, a grin tugging on his lips. That was, however, all that he would be saying. Odoff brought his fist hard into the side of the mans head, sending him sprawling out onto the floor.

“Now… that should fix the… busty problem,” Odoff said, chuckling as he unbuckled the armor chest plates and shoulder plates and walked to Rai, helping her buckle them and tie them onto her.

When they stepped out she didn’t entirely look like a man, but she looked as close to a man as she ever would. She had the armor covering her chest and shoulders and legs. She had a helmet over her head and her hair bundled and hid underneath it.

She didn’t see how this was going to work though. The people on the ship would eventually find out she was a woman, unless she kept to herself on the ship… Faked a sickness and stayed down bellow for a while… Something like that maybe? But, then again how would Cyrus and Odoff explain staying in the same room with another man?

It seemed they had that thought out already. She walked on board as if she owned the place, and they thought nothing of it since she was an Arken guard. Cyrus and Odoff led the way down bellow the decks to try and find a place to stay and where it would be easy for her to hide.

However, the soon discovered that the only private room was the captains room. Everyone else slept in one large room with small cubicles separated by a thick curtain that pulled across the front of the private box. Most of the cubicles had bunk beds and few had single beds in them.

Cyrus looked at Odoff. “I guess I’ll take this one with David,” he suggested, motioning for “David” to go in first.

“Maybe I should,” Odoff offered. Knowing how well Cyrus and David got along at times, he thought it best is someone who could keep his mouth shut stayed in a room with her. The last thing they needed was a giant fight between Rai, who was supposed to be a guy named David, and Cyrus to give away who they were.

Especially if they decided to fight over Edan.

Cyrus didn’t feel like arguing and if anyone walked in on her in the middle of the night he knew well that Odoff could silence the fool before he could utter a word to anyone. Not that it would seem strange for a girl to be on a ship. But, every guard in Arken was probably notified to be on the look out for a girl with curly brownish-blond hair and blue gray eyes traveling with two men with their description.

Rai didn’t care who slept where as long as she could take the helmet off her head. How did people breath with it! No wonder guards were so slow! They were afraid they would suffocate.

Days passed and no one seemed to notice that Rai was a woman. She stayed inside her cubicle mostly, trying her best not to get motion sickness. She was fine if she was allowed a breath of air every now and then. But, to do that she had to put on all the armor and wear the helmet just to go up on deck to breath. It wasn’t worth the trouble.

Rai laid on the top bunk with one arm thrown above her head and the other arm fanning herself constantly. It was unbearably hot down bellow the deck, but there wasn’t anything she could do about it. The curtain was closed and she had her shirt pulled up a bit to where her stomach was exposed. Her men’s pants were rolled up almost to her hips and her hair was pulled back with a leather string.

She didn’t expect anyone to walk in on her anytime soon with Cyrus sitting outside the door, bored to death apparently. Odoff was napping bellow her, seemingly unaffected by the hot air. Rai threw an orange towards the curtain and hit Cyrus in the shoulder. He closed his eyes tightly and clenched his jaw, forcing himself not to yell at her. Finally he sighed and opened his eyes.

She would have called out to him, but someone listening might have heard her voice. He poked his head in through the curtain and she motioned him over. He didn’t seem to be bothered by her revealing look, but then again it wasn’t really that revealing and she didn’t even notice the way she looked.

Cyrus stepped forward, close enough she could hang off the side of the bed to whisper to him. “I’m hungry,” she whispered.

“You just threw an orange at me…” Cyrus muttered, glancing at her as she brought her face close to his again to whisper.

“But, I don’t want an orange. I had those this morning and last night… I’m sick of oranges and I’m sick of being in this place!”

“Keep your voice down before you get caught,” he warned in his deep voice. His crystal gaze fell on her again and for a moment his eyes were unreadable. “Fine,” he said to her. “I’ll get you something to eat…”

“Thanks,” she said and rolled back on the bed, smiling at the ceiling above her head.

Cyrus left the cubicle, closing the curtain behind him as he did so. Most of the crew and passengers were above deck like sensible people, enjoying the fresh air.

“Sad,” Odoff muttered, sitting up in his bed and putting a hand on the top of his head.

“What is?” she whispered, leaning over the side of the bed. Her hair hung down in a pass of curly locks tied up in a leather string.

“You have him wrapped around your finger and he doesn’t even realize it,” Odoff said, a grin forming on his face.

“I don’t have him wrapped,” she said, narrowing her eyes. “I don’t know him well enough and he doesn’t even like me.”

“Cyrus pretends not to like everyone,” Odoff explained in a whisper, glancing up at her with his eyes that matted Cyrus’s perfectly.

“Why?” Rai whispered, tilting her head.

“Sit up before you fall out,” Odoff ordered as her face gradually went red. She sat up and he stood, turning around to face her. “He pretends not to like people so he won’t let them get close to him.”

“That sounds familiar,” Rai muttered, thinking of how Soran used to act.

“He has a job that he is determined to do. That job is to kill Edan one day. He thinks that anyone he gets close to will get in his way eventually. So he chooses to stay close to only me,” Odoff explained.

“I was right then?”

“No,” Odoff told her. “He can like you, but he won’t let himself admit it to you or anyone else.”

“So he does like me?”

“I don’t know,” Odoff grinned.

“What will he do… if he kills Edan?”
“Well, we were thinking of opening up a little tavern together or something. Since I enjoy drinking… and I ain’t the smartest person in the world, I need someone to help out. So he promised he would help me do it,” Odoff said. “And Cyrus ain’t one to break promises.”

Rai smiled and said, “That’s nice,” just as Cyrus came through the curtain with a wooden bowl of jerky, cheese, and bread. “Thanks,” she whispered and gave him a small smile as he handed it up to her.

He didn’t say anything to her, he just glanced at her before he turned around. She knew now that he didn’t mean anything by his mean antics. He was just trying to push her away. She wouldn’t take anything to heart from now on. She wouldn’t get in the way of his goal either.

In fact, she thought, I’ll help him.

[Emora Deen]

“I am so happy we’re getting off this boat,” Rai said, almost a bit too loudly. She jumped off the top bunk and grabbed up her armor. She pulled it over her head and strapped and buckled it too her. Odoff handed her the helmet and she held her curly hair up and pulled it on her head to hide her face and hair.

“Well, now comes the hard part,” Cyrus said, stepping through the curtain. “We need to get through Arroes.”

“David” nodded his head. When ever Rai pulled on the helmet that’s who she became. David. She didn’t care for being David at all. Everyone thought David was short, bonny, and a mute.

They walked up on deck and waited there turn to walk down the gangplank, back into the city of evil.

To get to Arroes one would have to walk up what seemed a mile of stairs from the docks to the city built on the cliffs. Then you would have to go through a gate to get into the city where guards watched for anything suspicious.

Rai walked a head of Odoff and Cyrus to try and seem as if she weren’t associated with them. They made it through the gate easy enough, the guards didn’t bother to even glance in her direction. Sort of like how they had done to Odoff and Cyrus when they first snuck into the castle.

Both Odoff and Cyrus pulled there hoods up over there heads to sort of conceal there appearance just encase someone was tipped off to how they looked. The further they went the more Rai had an urge to rip the helmet from her head. How those stupid soldiers did it she didn’t know.

“Cyrus,” Rai whispered as they walked out from the crowed. “I can’t breath in this stupid thing!”

“Shh…” Cyrus said, glancing around for a place to take her so she could remove the helmet. “Down that way,” he said, motioning towards an alley.

She turned and they turned behind her. As soon as she was in the seclusion of the alley she reached up and pulled the helmet off, taking a big breath of air. It wasn’t as bad as all that, but she still couldn’t stand the suffocating feeling of having that helmet on her head.

She leaned against the wall of one of the buildings, rather odd looking in the bulky armor. It didn’t suit her at all, but it was enough to cover up of the fact she was a woman.

“Better?” Cyrus asked, glancing over his shoulder to make sure no one was looking in.

“Much.” Rai gave a nod and sighed.

“I’ll be back, idiot, I’m not going to leave you to guard that stupid gate on your own,” a voice said from up a head as someone turned down the alley towards them.

“Get that thing back on!” Odoff growled, turning around to try and block her from view until she had it on her head.

However, it was too late. The guard was standing at the end of the alley watching them. One could tell that he had already spotted them. He stood there, contemplating the same thing that they were thinking.

The guard turned on his heal quickly as Cyrus raced towards him to try and cut off any warnings that guard might give about them.

“She’s here! Tell the prince she’s here!!” Cyrus drew his sword and plunged it into the guards back, dragging him down into the alley before anyone could see.

He hoped no one had heard the guards yell, but he doubted that he had stopped it from reaching ears close by to them. Someone had heard and it wouldn’t be long before they were being hunted down.

“We have to get the hell out of here!” Cyrus said, grabbed Rai’s wrist and heading towards the dead end.

“You do realize we can’t get out this way,” Rai protested loudly. It looked rather funny to see an Arken Guard being dragged around like a rag doll.

“We can,” Cyrus said coolly stopping at the end of it and getting on a knee. “Climb up…”

Rai sighed and did as she was told. She got on his knee and then his shoulder and grabbed a hold of the top of the brick wall and pulled herself to sit on it. “There is a persons backyard down there.”

“And I care because?” Cyrus asked rhetorically.

“You aren’t getting my on your skinny chicken leg Cyrus,” Odoff protested.

“No, your right…” Cyrus said and stood up. “Your going to kill me for this, but…” Cyrus twitched a finger in Odoff’s direction and a gust of wind flew down the alley, lifting both Cyrus and Odoff up and over the wall. It took Rai too and landed her gently on the other side.

“Why didn’t you do that in the first place?” she asked once they landed beside her.

Cyrus merely shrugged as he walked towards the back door to the house. “I didn’t think about it,” he added as he peered into the window. “Seems abandoned…”

Rai looked around the stone back yard and could tell really. There was dirt and trash all over the place. The plants were dead and the tree in the middle of the yard was dead as well. Looking in through the windows one could see that the house had tattered curtains and the windows were covered in dust so thick it was hard to see through.

“Leave it to Arken idiots to leave a house like this in such disrepair. Well no use standing out in the open…” Rai muttered to herself as she pushed Cyrus out of the way and kicked the door open.

Cyrus and Odoff glanced at each other for a moment before they followed the girl in. Sometimes the girl just surprised Cyrus to the point that he was at a loss for words. This was one of those times he was at a lost for words.

The inside of the house was dusty, dark, and the air was musty. Rai looked around. The boards under her feet creaked and groaned as she stepped across them. Every once and a while she would put her foot on a board that felt as if it wouldn’t hold her weight up.

“Man, someone hasn’t stayed in this place for a while!” she said and sighed, running her finger over the top of a table. The dust covered her finger in a dark black smear.

“Well, we could hide out hear until its night. It will be easier to move when it’s night.”

“Why is it daylight here anyway? I noticed it when I was here last time. The light and dark seem to be natural… I thought there was some spell on this place to keep it dark most of the time…” Rai said, moving a chair around on the floor to make sure it was sturdy enough to hold up her weight.

“Well, I don’t know for sure… but I think the spell is only in action if she is here,” Cyrus explained as he found another chair and took a reluctant seat. He didn’t know if it would hold his weight so he tried to sit in such a way that his full weight wasn’t in the chair.

“Is it safe to stay here? I mean… Edan will come looking for me and he’ll come here,” she said.

“Well, its not safe to be wonderin’ around now that the guards are on alert that you’re here… They’ll probably make it mandatory that every guard walk around with there helmets off… One walking around with it on and with two peasants with them will look a bit weird, aye?” Odoff said. He still hadn’t taken a seat for fear he might break the wobbly looking chairs and have one fall out from under him.

“So we’re just sitting ducks waiting for Edan to come walking through that door?” Rai growled and stood up.

“What else would you like to do princess?” Cyrus asked. “Go gallivanting through the streets?”

“No.” She sent a chilling glare to him. “And stop calling me princess!”

Cyrus glanced up at her as she stood there in front of him, her bright blue-gray eyes a blaze with aggravation. His eyes froze there, caught up in her gaze. Slowly the aggravated fire in her eyes died down and she was just looking at him.

“Uh… you two can snap out of it now,” Odoff said, feeling a bit left out.

Rai shook her head and then looked away for a moment. “Well, I’m going to go see if there is a bed I can curl up in,” she said softly and went towards a crumbling staircase.

[Emora Deen]

It seemed like a month had passed since he had last seen her. He knew it hadn’t actually be that long. However, he grew more and more agitated at the fact no one seemed to be able to find her. Were there that many incompetent fools in this world?

Edan pulled his black robe on as he stepped out of the door to his room. As usual he wore nothing but black pants and the long black flowing robe that billowed with even the slightest step he made. Strands of crimson hair fell in front of his face as he swept down the curved steps, heading towards the thrown room. His piercing green eyes looked around the room to find the source of the voice calling out his name.

“What?” he asked the guard who came running to him. His voice was demanding, cold, and aggravated.

“She’s been spotted, my prince,” the guard said as he dropped to his knees panting from exhaustion. He had run all the way from the gate to tell the prince the news. Maybe he would be rewarded for his deed?

Edan’s eyes widened for a moment and he grabbed the guard by the shoulders. “What? Where?!”

“In the city, my prince,” the guard muttered quickly, nervous under his princes grip.

“Where in the city, idiot!” Edan demanded, his eyes glowing.

The guard faltered for a moment and shook the slack look from his face. “Uh, by the gate coming from the docks… That’s all I know. Someone killed Jameson before he could tell us more…”

“You will be rewarded for this,” Edan said to him, letting the guard go. “Send for my best soldiers… I want her found.”

“Yes, sire,” the guard said and turned quickly to leave the prince and do the duty set upon him.

~

The house was much bigger than Rai originally had thought. It was three stories high, counting the basement which strangely had a wood floor that might have something beneath it, but there wasn’t a door downwards . The house had a huge hole in the third floor as if someone had actually fallen through the crumbling wood. She had wandered around the house for the first hour, to board to sleep. She had slept far too much on the ship since she had nothing better to do than that.

Cyrus was lying on one of the beds on the second floor “resting his eyes”, but Rai knew better than that. He was sleeping soundly, even making cute little snoring noises every now and then. Odoff was still sitting in his chair, his arms folded across his broad chest. His balled head was bowed, he too was sleeping. They must be real tired for staying up most of the time to make sure no one walked in on her while she was in the cubicle.

It seemed Rai was the only one with the energy to stay awake. She guessed that it was good that she hadn’t fallen a sleep. She could watch to see if anyone would find there hideout. It was the most likely place to Rai, but Cyrus and Odoff seemed to be fine with it.

She guessed it had to do with being closer to the scene of the crime. Maybe it seemed likely they would stay close to where they had been spotted. Still, there was the tremendous level of danger with it. What if they found where they were?

Rai had long since taken off the bulky armor and walked around the room in the comfort of her overly large clothes. It was getting dark so Rai went around lighting a few candles and lanterns. She knew it probably wasn’t the best idea, people would think that an abandoned house was now inhabited. Anyone who had been in the neighborhood for a while might think that they were there, so she kept the lanterns and candles around the back of the house so no one would be able to see them from the front and the wall in the back would hide the light from anyone.

She listened to the silence that filled the house. It was an eerie silence. She had never been one to like silence at all. She remembered being terrified of dark silent houses. She always expected some monster of demon to come out of no where to attack her.

It was burned into her mind that every time she was alone something bad would happen. It always seemed to happen when she was alone. Then Soran or Mizuki would come rescue her from the evils that plagued her.

She sat down in one of the chairs, staring at the simple flame of a candle, reminiscing of old times. Of Soran and Mizuki. She remembered the first time she met them. She remembered how Soran tried to act all closed off and impersonal, but from the beginning she had felt a close connection with him.

Mizuki on the other hand. She remembered having a connection with her… But, when Blade came along she seemed to grow more and more distant to her. Well, she was child after all and things like that come easy to a child used to attention. She didn’t love her adopted mother any less.

Rai was jolted from her thoughts at the sound of a bang on the door. She stood up slowly, peaking around the corner of the room towards the front door. Shadows moved in front of the window and she just now noticed torchlight.

“Shit!” Rai yelped and ran towards Odoff, who was still sleeping in his chair. “Odoff wake up!”

Odoff groaned as Rai shook his shoulders roughly. He blinked several times as he grew more and more aware and finally looked up at her. “What is it?” he asked in a groan.

“Edan’s here!” Though she really didn’t know that for sure. She was just guessing. Who else would come looking for them though?

“Wha-!”

Crash!

The door broke open and fell to the floor as foot steps filed in.

“Go get Cyrus! Now! I’ll hold them off long enough for you two to get out of here…” Odoff said, shoving her towards the steps.

“But!”

“Go!” Odoff growled, drawing his sword.

Rai grabbed a lantern and bounded for the steps, running across the creaking and groaning rotten floor. She turned to go up the steps when one of the boards broke from under her, sending her crashing to the floor. She lost her grip on the lantern and dropped it close to a pile of rags and the curtain to a window. The lanterns smashed across the floor, sending fire that was fueled by rotten wood, trash, and kerosene.

“Shit!” she cursed again and pulled her leg from the hole in the floor, running up the steps as the fire spread behind her. It engulfed the curtain, floor, the ceiling above the window, and spread up the stairs quickly as it ate at the rotten wood.

She turned to the room that she had last seen Cyrus dozing in. From the glow of the fire spreading through the house she could tell that Cyrus was no longer in the room sleeping on the bed.

“Cyrus!” she yelled for him, but heard no answer.

Where the hell was he?

~

Odoff held his sword out in front of him as soldiers with helmets like demon heads filed into the room one by one. The fire spread across the floor and up the wall, blocking the staircase unless you were brave enough to step through it. One by one nine of Arken’s finest soldiers set foot into the room, followed by none other than Edan himself.

The prince was walked with an air of confidence that sent Odoff’s blood boiling. “Edan,” he hissed in anger as his crystal gaze hardened into a cold glare.

The princes crimson hair began to glow like fire against the light from the burning walls. His eyes glowed as well, but possibly not from fire. Odoff moved his sword out in front of him, readying himself for the attack that might come from one or more of the nine soldiers.

No attack came from them, however.

“Where is she?” Edan asked, though he didn’t need the man to tell him where the girl was. He could find her own his own. But, he needed to do so fast… The fire was spreading quickly. It had spread across the whole room.

“Fuck off,” Odoff growled.

Edan lost the smirk that had been forming on his face and his hand shot out. Odoff’s large body went flying through the window behind him. He skidded across the stone backyard and rolled into the wall at the far end.

~

Rai ran from room to room, having to kick open some doors to look for him. Where was he, though? Why couldn’t he hear her? Why wasn’t he answering? Rai turned into a room with an open door. She saw him across the large gaping hole in the floor. Fire burning around the room from the ceiling bellow the floor. It lit the room with an eerie glow that Cyrus didn’t seem to notice.

“Cyrus!” she said as she ran across the room, the floor creaking, wanting to give out from under her as she made it to his side.

He was kneeling on the floor with his hands on the floor beside him. His eyes were closed and his lips moved with a silent chant.

“What a time to practice your stupid magic!” she cursed him. She grabbed his shoulders and shook him roughly to try and snap him out of the trance that might get him killed. “Cyrus wake up!”

He didn’t seem affected by her antics. She shook him hard, but it didn’t seem to phase him. Finally she reared back with her fist balled up. “I’m sorry for this,” she said softly and plowed it into his face.

He fell over backwards with the force of the blow and for a moment didn’t stir. “Did I knock him out?”

Cyrus growled and pushed himself up into a standing position as he looked down at her. By now the fire had broken through the floor by the door and was blazing up the wall. It surrounded the door frame and began to spread across the floor as if the whole place had been drenched in kerosene.

“What the hell is going on? What did you do?” He looked up at the door as a figure that was shadows by the light of the fire stepped through the doorway, neither flinching or ducking to avoid the flames. “Edan…”

Rai stood up and turned around as Edan walked closer to the hole in the floor. The flames were so high that they now were spiraling towards the ceiling of the second floor through the hole. The floor creaked and groaned and shifted, the fire eating away along the middle of the room so that the fire had eaten away a large crack, separating one side from the other.

Rai felt hot anger surge through her as she met his eyes. She had the strongest urge to kill him. She wanted to see his blood spilled on the floor. She didn’t know why, but she had a clue. She wasn’t the only one that wanted to spill Edan’s blood. Cyrus was using everything he had to hold him back. But, Rai didn’t have that sort of self-control.

He felt a strange sensation of lightness around his belt and found that Rai had pulled his dagger free from his belt. She turned and ran towards the hole. Cyrus knew what she was about to do, and knew she wouldn’t make it. He quickly jumped forward and wrapped an arm around her thin waist, hauling her backwards against him.

The damage was done though. Her bounding and his quick movements had given it all it needed. The floor shifted, groaned…

“Don’t… move…” Cyrus whispered into her ear as he wrapped both his arms around her and pulled her against him encase she decided to get anymore bright ideas.

It was too late. The floor broke away from under him. He fell backwards through the second floor, then landed on the first floor. For a moment he thought there decent was over, but the floor broke out from under them and they fell through into the basement. The basement floor refused to hold them as well and they fell through that, landing onto the stone flooring bellow that secretive basement floor.

Cyrus stared up at the blazing inferno above their heads for a moment. He stood her up as he did so himself. But, neither really expected what happened next.

He was just about to tell her to help him find a way out when it happened. To Rai she saw everything happen in great detail. In slow motion. The beam across the ceiling broke loose swinging down and landed on the basement floor. It slid forward towards Cyrus. Before she could do anything to warn him it rammed into him, smashing him into the stone wall as the floor and ceiling and walls crashed down around them. As the world fell down on top of her.

~

Edan could kill the fool for snatching her back. She so clearly wanted to come to him. Wanted to be his. She was running to him. Running to join him when that bastard snatched her back from him.

It is unclear really where Edan got his delusions from. His father wasn’t completely delusional, his mother either. Maybe it was his grand mother? Or his great grandfather? Either way, he must have inherited it from somewhere.

Edan watched as she fell with the fool through the floors of the burning building. He knew he didn’t have much time in that place. If the fall hadn’t killed her then surely the fire would. He couldn’t allow that. His hands came out to either side of him, palms up.

He clenched his fists and the fire around him and under him and above him withered. It hissed, withered, and shrank until it was nothing more than smoke. The damage was done, however, and when he moved the rest of the house began to collapse.

The floor began to fall out from under him as fiery wings ripped through the back of his robe and spread out around him in blazing glory. They moved, dragging his body with grace off the crumbling floor and through the crumbling roof. It took him high above the crashing building and as he looked down at the remnants he knew that she was dead.

[Emora Deen]

Odoff was used to being knocked out. He was used to waking up in strange places. He was used to the constant pounding in his head afterwards. He hadn’t expected to go down so easily. As his eyes swam around in his head he could only pray that Cyrus and Rai had made it out before Edan could get to them. If not… then he had failed.

Cold water splashed across his face suddenly, sending his eyes snapping open quickly as his body was forced to awareness. He sudden smelled the horrible scent of burning flesh. The scent of smoldering wood and hot metal. Distant screams filled his ears as his eyes glanced around the room quickly to find where he was.

It was more like a cave like structure with cells going high around the wall to the ceiling above his head. A large roaring fire was in one corner and tables made of metal with thick chains and manacles on them to hold someone down. Large brutish men wondered around implementing acts so horrible that Odoff couldn’t really name determine if they had a name or not.

Screams of women and men filled his ears as he realized where he was.

Shea’s torture chamber…

Odoff realized he was standing up right and when he jerked in either direction to figure out how he noticed his arms were chained up by a long chain that reached from the ceiling to the floor where he was, holding his arms into the air. He had been stripped of his shirt and shoes and belt. All that he had was his pants.

“Wake?” a gruff voice asked and stepped around to stand in front of Odoff.

“Eh?” Odoff asked drowsily and shifted his feet into a more comfortable position.

“He’s awake my prince!” the oaf looking man stated to someone above his head. He turned to look up two floors towards a man seated on the wood railing.

He was propped up on the railing with his fiery wings still extended. His robe flowing around him as he flapped his wings back and forth. He stood up with ease, the rickety railing cracking under his weight as he calmly stepped off. His wings caught him and lowered him to the ground. As Edan stepped towards Odoff they slowly shrank and folded away, disappearing again into his back.

“Where is Cyrus?!” Odoff asked quickly, wondering if his younger brother had been caught.

Edan didn’t look at all happy. His face was dark and his eyes glowed furiously. His expression was one of twisted anger that seemed to contort his handsome features. He seemed to grow more angry at the mention of Cyrus’s name.

“Dead,” Edan said, a smile twist of a smirk creeping onto his face. It soon disappeared. “Burned alive.”

“Bastard! You fuc-” The oaf rammed a mallet into Odoff’s gut, cutting off his words with a sick thud.

“I thought you might enjoy hearing that,” Edan said as he came closer to Odoff. “But, one thing about the situation I don’t like… The girl died with him.”

Odoff gasped for air as the words stung him. They were both dead? How could that be? Did they get trapped in the house?

“Too much of a coward to rescue her?” Odoff said between pained breaths.

“She tried to come to me. But, your dead brother snatched her back,” Edan said and grabbed the mallet from the oaf next to him. He began to hit Odoff repeatedly in the stomach.

Finally the prince regained his composure. He stood straight and stepped away from Odoff, handing the mallet to the Master of Pain.

“Death by torture would be a pleasant way for you to die I think,” Edan said and a grin curled onto his face finally. “Don’t kill him too soon… Maybe a week of it? Maybe more.”

Edan had better things to do than this. He turned and left the Masters of Pain to there jobs.


~


The building was nothing but rubble piled on rubble. From the top it looked as if every nick and cranny was covered in boards and ash. How could anyone possibly live through that? It smoldered, but wasn’t hot to the touch. Thanks to Edan.

Down below the mound of rubble, in the small hole bellow what had been the basement, was a secret room of sorts. It was just a hollowed out stone walled place that was almost a tunnel under the house.

Yes, Rai should have been dead. A house fell around her and that was clear enough evidence for her to be dead. Though, no one seemed the care to look in that basement, or look bellow the rubble. If they looked they would find that the way the building had fallen it left a considerable amount of room.

Thanks to the floor bellow the basement and the hard stone walls it held up most of the building. Only a few pieces were rammed down into the tunnel under the house. It was dark and smoky. Little clean air could be breathed in down there. It was damp, cold… Not at all a pleasant place to be. But, it had down a good job of sparing their bodies from being crushed. Well… Rai’s body at least.

She was curled up against the wall where she had fallen when she thought the house was coming down on her. A board had come down and smacked her in the head, knocking her out for a good while and she was just now regaining consciousness.

“I must be in the World of Darkness…” she muttered as the smell of smoke filled her lungs. Her eyes fluttered slowly and with a sore move she sat up. Her eyes glanced around, her vision clearing to reveal she was in a dark place… with only one beam of light shining through a hole somewhere above her head.

It shined down on one spot in particular as if the God of Light himself was guiding her to find him. He was braced against the stone wall with one of the long beams from the roof pressing against his middle. At first glance it didn’t appear that serious… It just looked like he was using it to help him stand… Cyrus’s head hung low, and his tanned skin looked a bit paler than usual. His arms were lip at his sides and his eyes closed as if he were sleeping upright.

Rai stood up and moved slowly towards him, glancing along the feeble looking burned board as she grew closer and closer to him. She saw the pool of dark liquid around his feet.

A gasp escaped her lips as she noticed what it was. She ran to him, ran the rest of the short distance and tilted his head up with her hands. “Cyrus?!” she asked him quickly, putting her hands on his neck, her fingers to his pulse.

It was faint… so faint. He was dying. She had to heal him.

But, there wasn’t a way to heal him while that board was rammed through him. It was to long and heavy for her to simply back out of the wound… No, she had to think of something else…

Rai glanced along the pole, knowing she didn’t have much time and she saw a weak spot. A place where the beam had been burned more than any other spot. It was thin, but not too thin. Not thin enough for her to break with out help.

Rai knew that it wasn’t the best idea. She knew what she was about to do might kill him. But, letting him stand there and bleed to death would do the same thing. She looked back at Cyrus, her hands still on his neck and face, holding his head up. He looked too peaceful like that… It was to eerie to see him like that.

“Hold on Cyrus,” she whispered and grabbed his sword, pulling it from its sheath.

Rai held it like an axe over her head and brought it down on the beam’s weak spot. She winced every time she saw it jolt and thanked the Gods that he was unconscious to feel it. She brought it down over and over, blunting the edge of the sword as it tried to break through the beam and split it in half. Every time she moved it was with aggravated anger.

Why was it every person she knew suffered because of her? Why? She growled and brought the sword down one final time with all her might. With all her strength, all of it fueled by anger. The beam split in half finally.

The rubble above her head fell a few inches and for a moment she thought she was going to be crushed by it. But, it stopped and with no time to loose she rushed to Cyrus as he slipped forward, the beam no longer in his middle.

She placed her hands over his wound, not caring what it would do to her. She didn’t think about how weak it would make her to bring him back from such a fatal wound. She didn’t think about the fact that both of them would be vulnerable and lying under a pile of unstable wood.

The only thing that she did think of was saving him.

Cyrus laid there with pale flesh. His eyes closed and a small drop of blood seeping from the corner of his mouth. Her hands were being covered in his blood as she pressed on the wound to stop the bleeding long enough for her healing to begin.

Light appeared from under her hand, a soft light blue glow that spread around his wound and seeped in. The blood from her hands and around him seemed to seep back into his body slowly as his veins, organs, muscles, and flesh healed from her magic. As his wound closed it seemed it reopened on her. The black fabric of her shirt became shiny and sticky with blood.

“Ahh…” She cringed and pressed harder against his wound as it slowly but surely closed and healed totally.

Rai pressed one of her hands to her stomach, pressing hard to relieve some of the pain. It was a futile attempt and if it did anything it only caused more pain. Rai cringed and held her breath as the full weight of what she had done took over and her head swam and her world went dark.

She felt her body shift and fall over landing beside Cyrus, one of her hands resting lightly on the bloody spot where his wound had been. She closed her eyes and gave into it.

Cyrus felt himself becoming more and more aware as the seconds and minutes passed. He was so cold, he realized, but his body grew warm from the warmth being shared by the body close to him. His limbs felt heavy and weak, his mind drowsy. He felt it strange to have feeling at all since he knew he had to be dead. Was he dead? His eyes opened slowly to find darkness above his head. He didn’t move, to weak and tired to do that. Strangely though it felt as if his strength was returning very slowly.

He pushed himself up, wondering what the strange pressure on his abdomen was. He glanced down and found a small hand resting on a bloody spot. His eyes widened, wondering why there was so much blood on him and he was still alive…

Like lightening the images flashed through his brain of the building roaring with fire. The beam coming towards him… and then the pain. But, why wasn’t he dead? Why was he breathing? Moving…

Why was her hand on him?

Cyrus looked over beside him and found her lying next to him. Her skin was pale, not the usual color. Her eyes were closed, but her expression was anything but peaceful. It looked as if she were in pain.

“Rai?” he asked quickly and rolled her onto her back. He moved to where he was kneeling next to her and he pulled her gently into his lap. “Rai?”

If anyone had been there to witness Cyrus act such a way they wouldn’t believe it. If they knew him he would appear to be a totally different person from the person he really was. Cyrus didn’t do these sort things. He didn’t care for people. He wasn’t the type to care for someone.

Yes, he pulled the girl into his lap and cradled her there as his eyes found the blood on her stomach. His piercing blue orbs widened as he felt there, felt the warm wet feeling of blood. The same place as his…

He laid her gently on the ground. “Forgive me,” he whispered and grabbed the edge of her shirt. He needed to see the wound, but there was no hole in her shirt for him to do so. He pulled hard and the shirt ripped open just enough for him to see the blood on her stomach. He gently dabbed it away with one side of her shirt. It was large enough to do so. There wasn’t any wound at all. Nothing. Her flat stomach wasn’t harmed at all and there was no possibly place from which the blood could be coming. But, just as soon as he dabbed away the blood more blood appeared.

Cyrus slowly lifted up the front of his shirt and saw that there was no wound. His stomach was just as it had been before the building fell down around him. And there were no scrapes or scratches from the fall… No burns or anything…

She healed me?

Cyrus stared down at her with a perplexed expression. He couldn’t think of anything to do for her. Except bandage a wound that wasn’t there… He quickly decided that was what he would do. He ripped the edges of her shirt that he had already destroyed and used that to wrap around the wound. Then he unbuttoned his shirt and draped it over her. She could pull it on when she woke up. What if she didn’t wake up? What… if she died?

Cyrus didn’t want to think of that. He wouldn’t think of that. He wouldn’t have her death hanging over his head…

But, deep down inside Cyrus knew that wasn’t the reason he didn’t want to think of her dying.

[Emora Deen]

Chapter 20

Weakness had been something she had always despised, even as a young child. When she was small and evil attacked she was always told, “No you can’t hold a weapon, your too small.” and when she tried to fight evil off she wasn’t strong enough to do so. Yes, weakness had always been Rai’s worst enemy.

Now flooded by it she couldn’t help but get aggravated. She wanted to emerge from this pool of blackness she was swimming in to make sure she didn’t wind up back in Edan’s castle. She wanted to be strong enough to fight someone off.

But, the blackness refused to let her go. No matter how hard she struggled for consciousness it refused to let her wake. Her eyes fluttered violently, her fingers and toes twitched…

Cyrus tried to nudge her as she tried to force herself awake, but nothing seemed to work. He noticed her struggling from across the room.

“Rai?” he asked, his voice softer than she had ever heard.

It broke through her blackness and through her darkness to bring her to the light. To bring her awake. Her eyes slowly opened and she saw him kneeling next to her, his hand on her forehead.

She blinked several times and sighed as she looked around above him at the house that was hanging above them from several burned boards that would give at any moment and crush them. She moved to sit up, and to her surprise Cyrus put a arm under her back to keep her from falling if she didn’t have the strength to stay sitting up.

“How long was I out?” she asked softly, still feeling sluggish and tired.

“I while,” he said, though he didn’t know for sure. “Feeling okay?”

Rai looked at him and gave a smile. “Okay as I can be,” she told him. “Odoff?”

“Haven’t seen him… or heard him…” Cyrus’s expression fell to one of worry and sadness, fearing that he had lost his brother in the fire.

“He’s probably knocked out somewhere,” she told him, trying to reassure him in some way…

Cyrus only nodded, sitting back on his heals, his hand still lingering on her back. “Yea,” was all he could seem to say about the situation. He didn’t want to get all worked up over nothing.

“Its not safe to stay down here…” Rai’s voice said, breaking through the invisible wall that had been his thoughts.

Cyrus glanced up at the barely stable building above there heads. It could fall any moment he knew, but in her condition she probably couldn’t move fast enough to get through before it fell.

“We should stay down here, until your feeling better…” Cyrus for once appeared compassionate to Rai. It was so startling, that for a moment her expression made him falter. “I mean, I did all of this to save your tail, I’m not having you die on me on the way out.”

Rai smiled at him, and it made him falter even more. Strangely for the first time he noticed how truly beautiful she was. How pretty her smile was, and how her eyes sparkled.

This is why he remained closed off to everyone. This is why he chose not to have feelings. It distracted him from the things he needed to do. It made him weak towards his goal. If he started having feelings for her he would worry for her, and he would make a mistake. One that could cost him his life as well as his goal.

He removed his arm and hand and stood up to get some distance between them. He walked towards the far end of the wall, where his sword lay on the ground, the blade bent in spots and dulled. For the first time he realized it was there and he spotted the wood that had been cut in half.

“Tell me, do you know how to use a sword?” he asked and bent to pick his weapon up.

“Yes,” Rai said, her arm trembling as it held her up. “I wouldn’t have used it for that purpose if I would have had something else to do the job. But, you were pinned to that wall and dying. So I used what was here for me to use. Sorry about your blade. I’ll fix it.”

Cyrus had his back to her, but his eyes lowered and his head turned slightly for him to see over his shoulder at her. Stop thinking like that, he ordered himself.

She hadn’t noticed the state her clothing was in. But, she did realize for the first time that Cyrus didn’t have his shirt on and she remembered him having… She glanced down and saw it pooled at her hips. She saw the tattered shirt she wore and the fabric that had once belonged to her shirt was wrapped around her waist. She took the hint and while his back was turned to her she took the remaining shirt off and pulled his on, buttoning it up the front.

Several of the boards cracked and Cyrus rushed to Rai subconsciously and wrapped an around her and pushed her head towards him as if he were going to shield her from the crashing building.
“Shit! I almost fell through!” a voice came from the top, above there heads. Cyrus opened his eyes and loosened his grip on Rai.

“Who is it?”

“I don’t know,” he said, still hovering over her.

“They can help us out,” she whispered.

“They could be soldiers looking for our remains…” Cyrus pointed out, glancing down at her. He was mere inches away from her, his head hovering a foot over hers since he was kneeling and she was sitting. He tilted his head downward for a moment, and with a clenched jaw forced his eyes away from the deadlock with hers.

“I don’t think we’ll find anything of value around here,” another, totally different voice said. The voice was high-pitched, but still a man’s voice.

“Yea, I guess your right…”

The boards around Cyrus and Rai creaked and groaned as the people above them moved across top.

“Thieves,” Rai offered.

“Yea, but still…”

“Look, we might not get out of here without there help.” And Cyrus knew that was true. “Either you call for them or I do.”

Cyrus sighed and looked up. “Hello?!” he called to the people above them.

“If they are soldiers you can kill them when they get down here…”

Cyrus looked back down at her. “If they come down here. They might just peek in and then go run and tell Edan…”

“It’s a chance we have to take.”

Cyrus knew that was true too.

“I could have sworn I heard someone…”

“Hey!” Cyrus called back. “Down here! We’re trapped!”

“See! I told you I heard something! Someone is down there. We should help the poor lad out!”

“Oh alright…”

The sound of boards being moved and boards creaking and groaning could be heard for the next five long minutes. The light grew and soon sun and dust sparkled down into the room. A head peeked in and looked at them.

It was a thin face with big green eyes and curly blond hair hanging down around his head. “Ello! What do we have here? You two okay?”

“I am, but she’s hurt,” Cyrus said, moving to where he was on one side of Rai instead of practically on top of her. He reached his arms out, placing one behind her back and one under her knees.

“I could walk you know,” she commented to him, a smile playing on her face.

“Then it wouldn’t be as fun,” he said, no smile on his face, but the amusement showed clear in his blue eyes.

He lifted her with ease, since she was small and light, and carried her towards the man with his head poking down into the hole. Cyrus took his time, assessing the situation and when he was close enough could see whether the man had an Arken uniform on or not. He didn’t, but that wasn’t reason enough to trust him.

“Here, try and pass her up and I’ll pull her through,” he said and held down his arms.

“I could do it myself,” Rai muttered and reached out when Cyrus brought her close enough. The man took his hands and placed them under her arms. Cyrus helped him haul her up and they both passed her two the man next to him.

The other man was a bit larger in weight wise and it was clear why the boards had been creaking as much as they had been. The larger man sat her down. Rai was beginning to feel very much like a doll. She didn’t think she was THAT weak. So, once she was sitting she tried to push herself into a standing position, but only accomplished falling flat on her back.

The boards creaked and groaned and the house fell a few inches over Cyrus’s head. He ducked, covering his head to try and protect it as best he could. After about a minute or two they managed to pull Cyrus from the rubble as well. He immediately walked to Rai to check on her, making sure she was okay and to see if the wound that wasn’t there was bleeding more than it should.

The thicker man was kind enough to show them to his house where they could rest and told them he had a spare room. Rai was reluctantly carried the whole way there. Cyrus warned her one to quite complaining or he would leave her on the street corner. Of course she knew he was lying, since he wouldn’t dare leave on a street corner.

Rai leaned off the back porch of the small shack that was crammed in between two buildings. She no longer wore Cyrus’s shirt, since the woman of the house had landed a small dress she had worn in her younger years to her. Even then it was a good deal larger than the size she would normally wear. The man and his wife were anything but normal size people.

Rai folded her arms across her chest and shivered slightly as a cool breeze blue. Hot… cold… couldn’t Arken make up its mind what it wanted to be?

Though, she was probably still cold do to the loss of blood.

Cyrus stepped out on the porch wearing a new shirt and a thick black cloak over it. He didn’t seem to look much better than he had once had come back from looking around for Odoff.

Rai could only imagine how he felt about not being able to find his brother. Not knowing whether he was dead or alive… She truly didn’t know what to tell him, since she didn’t know what could have become of him.

Cyrus came to stand beside her, not saying anything to her. Rai glanced side ways, noticing the troubled expression he wore. He probably couldn’t decide what to tell her. So, she was contempt with their silence.

Cyrus glanced towards her, noticing the slight movement out of the corner of his eyes. She was rubbing her arms as if she were cold, though they air did have a slight chill to it he didn’t think it was cold enough to make someone shiver. But, he didn’t think he should let her catch a cold just standing out here waiting for him to say something.

After several moments of thought he opened his cloak with on hand and draped and arm over her shoulder, pulling her closer to his side so she could stand in the warmth of his cloak with him.

“It would have been easier just to give me your cloak,” she said and smiled.

Cyrus thought for a moment. “You expect me to get cold because of you? I think not. This way we both benefit from its use.”

“If you say so,” Rai said softly and they both stood there in silent thought.

[Emora Deen]

“So what do you think could have happened to him?” Rai asked, sitting down on the porch with Cyrus’s cloak draped over her shoulders. He had given it over to her soon after pulling her closer.

She had no problem being close to him, since she didn’t think she had anything to fear from him and it was nice to see him being something other than closed off.

He stood leaning against the pole beside her, his arms folded across his chest and his eyes narrowed at the ground. Rai could tell by the feeling he gave off that he was troubled.

“I think Edan has him,” Cyrus muttered. “In fact… soon I’ll know for sure…”

Cyrus walked calmly out onto the patched ground. It was half grass and half dirt, but mostly dirt. He dropped to his knees into a kneeling position.

“What are you doing?”

“Finding my brother,” he muttered again, closing his eyes and beginning to chant softly as his finger tip drew a small symbol into the ground.

Rai didn’t really know what to say about that. She had never understood most magic, though coming for a family with Soran there was understandable. Soran hated magic. He always had, to Rai’s knowledge.

Though, he had good reason to hate magic. It had taken away his memories. It had hurt his family. Magic users were mostly untrustworthy in Rai’s point of view. Take, Edan, Shea, and a few others for example.

Rai walked around in front of Cyrus. He had his eyes closed. His back straight. His fists locked. Rai knelt down in front of him and tilted her head curiously at him. His features were dark in troubled thought as he entered some realm that was rather like the one she had found him in last night when the house was on fire.

She thought better not to disturb him now. He needed to do this to save his brother. To find out whether his brother was alive or dead.

After several seconds, to Rai it felt like hours, Cyrus began to show some sort of reaction. A low growl escaped his lips and she noticed his fists turned white and trembled. His face was hot with anger, his eyes narrowed and his forehead wrinkled. He looked terrifyingly angry.

He screamed a loud foul curse that made Rai jump back in startled fear as his blue blazing eyes shot open and with every bit of strength he had he restrained himself from striking out at the nearest person, which would have been a girl. Which would have been Rai.

“What?!” Rai yelled, though afterwards she figured it would have been best if she would have kept her mouth shut.

“He has him… He has him!” Cyrus leaned forward and his hands laid flat on the ground as he put his face close to hers, his hands fisted, bringing dirt into his grasp.

“Edan?”

Cyrus couldn’t escape the image of his brother in some unimaginable pain. He couldn’t escape it no matter how he concentrated on Rai’s startled lovely face. But, all he could see was that image burned into his mind.

“What’s happening to him?” she said, her voice faltering when she tried to tear her eyes away from his.

His were unblinking. Those blue orbs, she realized, could burn holes in you. “He’s torturing him…”

Rai’s mouth opened to say something, anything to comfort Cyrus, but she couldn’t think of anything at all. She blinked and glanced around, trying to avoid his accusing glare. She realized suddenly that she was almost lying flat on her back and Cyrus was forward, hovering over her legs with his face close to hers. She took her hands and pushed herself backwards until she was out from under him and this slight movement seemed to break him of his hold.

He bent forward and put his head on the ground, unclenching his fists. “Must my entire family be wiped out by him?” he said to the ground. “Will I too be wiped away by him?”

“I will get your brother back, Cyrus,” Rai said softly, reaching out with a hesitant hand and touching his hair. She ran her finger tips through it in a soothing manning, knowing it calmed ones nerves.

“How?”

“I will turn myself in,” she said softly. “In exchange for him I’ll go back to Edan…”

Cyrus didn’t move. He didn’t say anything. He just knelt there. Finally after several moments his head lifted up and his blue eyes, which were more piercing and more crystal clear than she had ever seen them, gazed right into hers.

Cyrus knew what she would be giving up for that. Cyrus knew what Edan would want from her. Cyrus could tell by looking in her eyes she would rather burn in fire than be touched by Edan.

“That day… when I got so touchy about them guys… When I mentioned you and Edan… Why did it affect you so?”

Rai blinked and looked confused at him. She didn’t understand the question and what it had to do with giving herself up for Odoff.

“What does that have to do with saving your brother?” she asked him, her voice shifting slightly.

“Because I need to know.”

Rai didn’t answer him right away. She really hadn’t understood why it made her so upset besides the fact it brought back a memory. One she wanted to forget.

“It just brought back a memory I want to forget,” she said softly, her eyes looking down in shame.

Cyrus put a dirty finger to her chin and tilted her head up. “What memory Rai?”

“One I don’t wish to tell you,” she said, her voice more forceful.

Cyrus had to know. He couldn’t let her do it with out knowing. “What memory Rai?”

Rai shook her head, closing her eyes and her mother like she was a child again and refused to speak.

“What memory?” he said forcefully.

Rai shook her head and finally he seized her by the shoulders and brought her closer. “What memory?” His voice was hash, yet husky.

Her eyes opened in a flash of blue. “I _ with him….”

That wasn’t the answer he was searching for. It wasn’t the one he had expected. He had expected rape, or something like that. Not this.

“But, I never wanted to!” Her head fell and her eyes closed tightly. “I never wanted to. I don’t know what happened. I couldn’t think… I couldn’t think about what was happening and before I knew it… it was over and he was telling me to except it. He was telling me that inside I didn’t find anything wrong with it. You know something?”

Cyrus couldn’t speak. He didn’t know what to tell her.

“He was right.”

Cyrus was getting all of these things that he hadn’t expected. From the way she was reacting he hadn’t got the desired affect. All he wanted was a simple answer to know whether he could give her to Edan. What foolish thought ever made him think of that idea? He knew. The anger of his brother being tortured because of her.

“He said it was the evil in me that made me give in and I believe him,” she said. Cyrus snapped into reality when a sparkling tear trailed down her cheek. “So? Is that what you wanted to hear, Cyrus? That I’m nothing more than a simple whore? Happy?! I never wanted to give in to him. I never wanted him to touch me!”

“Calm down Rai,” he told her softly.

“I will not calm down!” she yelled at him, jerking away from his grip. “I don’t want to. I’m the reason your brother is being tortured Cyrus. I will do what I must to save his life.” Her words were finally calm. Cool. Collected.

The way she spoke had a sort of creepy calm and ease in it.

“No,” he refused. “I can’t let you go through that again. I didn’t realize…”

“Of course you didn’t realize,” she snapped. “Because your vengeful heart refuses to let you think clearly. You don’t care how you hurt people, as long as what you need to do gets done. I could have not told you but you pushed me until I did. I have to do this. Odoff is such a kind man. I have to do this, Cyrus.”

“Then I will help you,” he told her, his hands reaching out and taking Rai’s hands. “If we’re going to do this we need a plan. We need a way to communicate…”

“Magic.”

Cyrus nodded. “Magic.”

“I send you information some how.”

“And I’ll know if you’re safe.”

“Maybe, just maybe… we could all leave this place?”

Cyrus looked at the ground. He couldn’t let it go. Not now. Not since he had come so far. “Not without Edan dead.”

“Then we need a plan.”

~

No darker object could grace the shores of Arken than her ship. It flew across the ocean on some magical unfelt wind that raced it towards the capital. The sun sparkled around the city, but would not for long. Behind the ship roared darkness, thundering behind it and stretching out over it touching everything in site. The ship slowed to a stop and the darkness of night covered Arken in seconds.

The gang plank fell down and a woman with long blood colored hair and dark eyes stepped up to it, looking over her city and her home. She wore her usual almost nothing clothing, and over her shoulders was a black cloak made of velvet and the hood was pulled over her head. Her dark eyes cast a glance to the captain of her guard and he followed behind her as she made her way up the steps and towards her city to speak with her dim witted son.

Peasants scurried and ran for cover and before she had even reached the gate the streets were empty and desolate. The soldiers stood in a line on either side leading all the way to the palace gate to protect there queen from any attack.

Edan stood on the steps, the fire spewing from the demon heads on the door. His robe billowed around him as he waited to great his mother who came in the dark.

She entered through the gate, her guard fast behind her. He saw no sign of his father, guessing he had stayed to carry on the business at hand.

“Mother,” Edan said to her, as she glided up the steps towards him. “What brings you home so soon?”

Shea’s dark smile could be seen from under her hood. “My son and his ill advised vendetta to get one girl back into his grasp.” She stood before him, though inches shorter she had the air of great power about her.

Edan knew other wise. His mother may be known as invincible, but he and his father knew different. There was a way to destroy her. If the time came when Edan grew tired of waiting for power to be given to him when his mother died then he would bring it upon himself to make that long awaited day happen.

“Mother,” he said, acting innocent. “I get so bored in this place. I needed something amusing.”

“So you sent half my spies out in search for her? Do you know how much information has slipped through our fingers?” Shea’s voice was calm, but a threatening edge hung over every word.

“I am sorry mother,” he lied, using very tactic she had ever taught him to his advantage. “A lapse in judgment on my part.”

Shea looked for a moment as if she would take that as the excuse, but instead she blew him backwards with a burst of power. “You arrogant boy!” she raged and stepped forward to go to him. “You think you can fool me with these tricks? These lies? I’m the mother of lies!”

Edan laughed as he picked himself up off the ground. “The Mother of Lies, the Mother of Whores, the Mother of Darkness, the Mother of Hate, Rage, Pain… You’re nothing but a cover up for who the real bringer of that! You think you’re all of these, but you’re none of them mother. You may be known as the Mother of Lies, the Mother of Whores, the Mother of Darkness, the Mother of Hate, Rage, and Pain. But, really you’re just human.”

Shea glared at him. “Human? The God of Darkness is my father-”

“Grandfather.”

“FATHER!” Shea’s eyes glowed almost with rage. She had no human father. She had no father but Verin. No other father she knew and no other father she would claim. He had raised her as his daughter. He was her father. His blood ran through her veins.

Shea had to steady herself, or risk killing her only heir. He was a pain and she knew that she was young and could live long enough to create more heirs. Maybe a girl worth ruling Arken?

“Have I hit a nerve mother?”

Shea cooled herself, pushing back the hood of her cloak. “No,” she said evenly and glanced back behind her. “Be very careful son. Your father and I enjoy very much what it takes to create a child. You could be replaced so easily. Anymore of this and I will replace you.”

Edan narrowed his eyes, knowing that was a threat his mother was always willing to carry out. Though he thought maybe his father would be more reluctant to throw away his sons life.

Edan remembered long ago his mother showed the love a mother would have for her son. He remembered her having that love. But, the more power he gained the more she fell away from him. She was proud of him, then envious. That is when he realized he was more powerful than her. She realized it too. And she feared it.

He often wondered if his father noticed how envious she was of him. She was the daughter of a god and he held more power than her. It was because he was the son of the daughter of a god and the son of a pure demon. Together with both of those powers and the study of magic combined to make him. Someone who could destroy her and everything she worked for in an instant. Who wouldn’t fear there own demise?

[Emora Deen]

Rai woke that next morning used to seeing sunlight. But, all she saw was darkness. She stood up and went to the window, thinking that maybe the day was going to be very cloudy. But, the stars shown brightly and this made her confused.

“Maybe I didn’t sleep as long as I thought I did?”

“You slept forever,” Cyrus groaned from the floor. She had forgotten he was there.

He was lying on the floor with his hand propped up on his hands. He was staring at the ceiling with a completely bored expression across his face. “And its dark because she’s back.”

“She?”

“Shea.”

“Back?”

“Early this morning. The darkness came with her and it covered Arroes in seconds. She paraded through the streets and came right in front of his house before heading towards her palace.”

“Why is she back from wherever she went?”

“Probably to give her delusional son a talking too.” Cyrus sat up and grabbed his shirt off the floor behind him where he had been resting his head.

For a moment Rai’s eyes lingered on his muscled chest and abs. She felt completely foolish and turned around and faced the window again. Cyrus didn’t notice it as he pulled his shirt on and buttoned it up the front.

He stood up and walked towards the window coming up behind her.

“Odoff wouldn’t want you to sacrifice yourself for him,” Cyrus said to her. She shook her head.

“You would sacrifice yourself for me if I didn’t want you to. You would sacrifice yourself for him if he didn’t want you to. The point is. We don’t always do what people would want us to.”

“He’ll try again. If your going to pretend to be in love with him long enough to find out his weakness then he will most definitely try again. If you claim you love him you wouldn’t refuse to make love to him.”

Rai shivered. “But, it’s the only way. Either way, whether I pretend to love him or give myself up in the hopes he might free Odoff, he will try again… But, I’m clever enough to get out of it…”

“I hope you are,” Cyrus said lowly.

“And when I go back to him, I’ll act like I completely adore him. I’ll seem fascinated and ask him all these questions…”

“That will really not make him touch you,” Cyrus growled.

For some reason the thought of Rai being touched in an inappropriate manner by Edan made him want to take on every Arken guard to get to that bastard to kill him before he could touch her.

Rai turned towards him and her blue-gray eyes flashed to him. He faltered strangely, which was abnormal for him. He usually wasn’t distracted by such things. Cyrus shook his head for a moment to clear his mind.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“Well, something is,” she said, folding her arms across her chest. “Your eyes always do this twitchy thing when you realize something.”

“They do not.”

“Oh, yes they do and how would you know anyway? Can you see your face?” she asked, smiling.

Cyrus almost rolled his eyes at her, but instead he just turned away and went and sat on the bed.

“What if he… You can’t protect yourself,” he said, still trying to take her out of it.

“You don’t know me well enough. I can protect myself just fine,” Rai protested, unfolding her arms and placing her hands on her hips.

“Sure you can,” Cyrus said, smirking.

“I can!” She seemed a bit outraged at the idea she couldn’t handle herself.

“Okay, show me,” Cyrus said, wanting to know if she really could or not. “I’m going to attack you and you have to fight me off. Okay?”

“Fine,” she said, lowering her hands to her sides.

Cyrus waited a moment and watched her. “Aren’t you going to get up a fighting position or something?” he asked, smiling slightly.

“Why? If Edan attacks me it will be by surprise. I should prepare now by not being ready.”

“If you say so…”

He walked towards her casually, for Edan would never run to attack her. It would give her time to react. When he was close enough he grabbed her by the arms, but surprisingly she pushed her leg out and twined it around his, jerking before he could react to lock his knees or anything and he tumbled backwards onto the floor.

She laughed, but he reached up quickly and grabbed her hand to try and pull her down, she twisted her wrist around and flipped him over casually before stepping around to where her back was no longer against the wall.

“What the-”

“Told you I could handle myself!” she said and laughed again at his expression.

Apparently so… Now he wouldn’t go easy on her. He had gone easy on her so he wouldn’t hurt her, but now he saw that she was pretty good.

He pushed himself off the floor and went for her. She brought her hand around to hit him out of the way, but he glanced at it and it flew in the opposite direction. He grabbed it quickly as her other hand came towards him and he caught that to. She tried the foot trick again, and it tripped him up, but only succeeded in making him fall on top of her on the bed.

Rai’s eyes widened as did Cyrus’s when they landed in an awkward position on the bed with Cyrus holding her wrists on either side of her head. For a moment they stayed that way staring at each other and subconsciously without his consent his head slowly lowered towards hers, his eyes gazing not stop into her blue-gray eyes. For the first time he noticed how truly beautiful she was. Well, he knew she was beautiful... But…

Closer… and closer until his lips almost touched hers. Then it hit him what was happening and he jumped away like she had the plague.

“See, you can’t protect yourself,” he said to her, trying to change the subject quickly.

She sat up, looking flustered. “You cheated!”

“No I didn’t.”

“You used magic, you cheated,” she protested.

“And Edan wouldn’t?”

Rai shut her mouth quickly. He had a point.

“So you can’t go.”

“I have to!”

“No you don’t. You couldn’t handle it. What if he hurt you? You said it yourself you didn’t want him to touch you! He will do it again.”

“Your brother is being tortured because of me, Cyrus. I’m not going to leave him in there when I can do something about it. Don’t you care about him? What is happening to him?” she asked him, striking every nerve in his body.

“I care about him, but I care about you too!” Shit

Rai’s eyes shot open wide as she heard the words that didn’t seem right at all coming from him. But, they had come from him and he seemed just as surprised.

No, I can’t care about this woman. I can’t. I only need to care about Odoff. She means nothing to me and it will remain so. She will only get in the way… like she is doing now.

“Fine,” he said to her, glancing up. “If you want to go to him, go. Find out his weaknesses. But, I can’t stop him from whatever he might do.”

“How will I be able to tell you?” Rai asked, hearing a chill in his voice.

“I’ll find a ritual that will link us in some way… It will take me some time,” he said and walked back to the bed, sitting on the bed.

“I’ll turn myself over in exchange for your brother Cyrus…” she said.

Cyrus didn’t say anything, he just closed his eyes, trying to think of some way to keep in touch with Rai.

“Edan will try again,” Cyrus told her, giving her one final warning. “And I won’t be there to stop him.”

[Emora Deen]

Cyrus sat with his back against one of the beams holding up the roof of the back porch. He folded his arms across his chest thinking. Too many thoughts troubled him this evening. Thoughts about Odoff, thoughts about Rai, thoughts about what to do, thoughts about what not to do. Too many thoughts period.

He growled under his breath and picked up a rock and threw it across the yard.

If she wants to give herself up for Odoff then I’ll let her. There isn’t anything I can do to stop her. Fine. I’ll let her go…

He resided himself with the fact she could handle herself. But, before she went they would need a way to communicate. Just to find out Edan’s weakness of course.

Cyrus opened a small book he always kept hidden in his boot. Tiny words began to appear as he flipped through the pages.

“So that’s how it works?” he asked himself. “Looks like I’ll be taking a trip to a jewelry store.”

After an a few minutes or so Cyrus returned with two objects; two necklaces with a vile attached at the end. The vile was no bigger than a thumb nail and made from some sort of stone that was white and red swirled.

He bowed his head to the man and woman so kind to give them shelter. “I thank you again for all that you have done.”

“No need to thank us. We enjoy helping people.”

Cyrus continued on up the stairs to both his and Rai’s room. He didn’t bother to knock on the door. Though afterwards he would wish he would have. He didn’t think there was a need of course.

Barging into the room was the worst thing he could have done at that moment. Rai was standing up in the tin tub they used to bathe. She was pulling the towel around her, but not fast enough it seemed for as soon as he walked in he caught a glimpse that burned into his memory and mind.

Then came a piercing scream as she jumped back, startled. Rai tripped over backward in the tub as Cyrus shut his eyes to not cause himself and her anymore embarrassment.

“Shut the door!” Rai screamed.

At first he didn’t register until she repeated it, hiding under her towel as well as behind the tin tub.

“Sorry…” he breathed, apologizing as he closed the door.

Cyrus wasn’t one to stay embarrassed long, but for some reason it wasn’t working now. He looked rather strange coming down the stairs, almost like he had seen a ghost. He sat down stiffly in a chair and glanced at the man and woman.

“You could have told me she was bathing…” he said taking a seat.

“Oh, we didn’t think it would matter since your married and all…” the older woman said.

“What’s the matter boy? You look like you’ve seen a ghost… If her body that bad looking?” He chuckled loudly, patting his fat belly.

“Fred!”

“What? I was joking!” he grumbled. “No one understands me…”

Cyrus still sat there a little shell shocked. He couldn’t get the image to stop replaying over and over in his head. No… her body was anything but bad looking. That… was the problem.

After an hour he decided to go and make amends. As he grew closer to the door he heard a soft sound. It almost sounded like someone crying. Cyrus paused, leaning in towards the door. He could hear the sound more now.

She was crying.

Cyrus knocked gently. The sound abruptly stopped and was followed by quick movements and sniffling. Finally silence.

“Come in.”

Cyrus stepped in and found her sitting on the edge of the bed. Her hands were folded on her lap and she didn’t look very happy at all.

“Its time we arranged our form of communication,” Cyrus said, trying to ignore her puffy and sad looking eyes.

“Oh.” Rai looked up at him. “Okay.” They both seemed to feel a bit uncomfortable. Rai more than Cyrus.

“I’m sorry about before. I didn’t mean to walk in on you. I’m sorry if it upset you.” No matter how hard he tried he couldn’t be mean to her. The idea of someone hurting her in any way made him furious. It made him feel a strange hollow sensation when he thought it might be his fault.

“Oh… It’s not that,” Rai said, blushing slightly. “That, while traumatic, isn’t enough to make me cry.” Rai already knew he knew she had been crying, there wasn’t any point in trying to cover it up.

“Then…” he began, but couldn’t think of what to say afterwards.

“Let’s just get this over with.” Rai didn’t feel like going into detail about how she was still sad about Steel or how she was worried and afraid of going back to Edan. She had to remind herself that it was all fro a good cause. She was going to save Odoff’s life some how.

“Okay.” Cyrus nodded.

He led her outside into the seclusion of the back yard that was surrounded by buildings with no windows on the side facing the yard. He took her to a place where a good deal of sand was.

“Stand there for a moment while I prepare,” he said and grabbed a stick.

“You need a stick to prepare?” she asked in a joking voice.

Cyrus glanced up at her for a moment as he bent over, but chose not to respond as he began to draw an intricate symbol in the ground, following the directions in the book. He stepped back and admired it for a moment.



“Looks alright…”

“What is it?”

“Its part of the ceremony to bind us together. We’ll be able to communicate, but only if we’re fairly close together. I’ll have to probably stand outside the palace gate. If I’m close enough we might even be able to feel each others emotions…” he said and looked up at her, his hair getting caught by the wind and blowing around his face. “Now kneel in that par there.” He pointed to a circle hanging off on side of the larger circle.

Rai did as she was told and knelt in her little spot, looking a bit skeptical about it. Cyrus knelt down across from her in his own circle. He set the book, that was truly to small to red out of from a distance, down beside him.

“Give me your hand,” he said as he set a bowl down on the middle of the X that was inside the circle. In each half divided by the X was a symbol in some language that only Cyrus knew.

Rai held out her hand as he did his last minute touches, putting one necklace in her circle and on in his. Cyrus pulled his dagger out and grabbed her hand gently. “This is going to sting,” he told her, putting the tip of the dagger to her palm. His eyes caught hers just as she looked up. He didn’t blink or warn her, he drug the dagger across her palm. She hissed and winced as it broke the skin and blood seeped out through the wound. He held her hand over the small bowl in the center of the larger circle between them and let her blood drip into the bowl.

“Keep holding your hand over the bowl,” he said and held his own hand up, staring at his hand as he sliced through the palm that, for the first time Rai noticed, was all scarred up.

His blood dripped into the bowl with hers as they held there hands next to each other, watching as there blood fell in together and mixed.

“Well, this is a morbid way to spend the night,” she said and smiled.

Cyrus glanced up and a small smile crept to his face. “Now…” he took her hand with his bloody one, holding it so there palms touched as if they were going to shake hands.

“Really morbid,” she muttered at the contact.

“Shh…” he said, his icy eyes warming again as they looked at each other. “Now is the time for silence.” Rai nodded as he continued to hold her hand. “Agar a’ agar. Haba ar’ led. Alye’ nu i’ kalina ar’ mori, coia ar’ gurtha. A’ elea ar’ lamya. Vaira alya. Sii’!”

Light wrapped around there hands, twining up there arms, around there bodies. The circle glowed to life. What little bloody that was in the bowl spun around in the bowl. The light around them slithered like a snake circling them an a white looking rope of energy. The rope slithered away from them, dying with the light around their hand.

Cyrus let her hand go and when she looked at it only a scar was left. He took the bowl and pored the blood into one of the vials. Then he pored the other half into the other tine vial. Some blood was left over, but it wouldn’t be needed.

“Put the necklace on me, and I’ll put this one on you,” he said and stood up, walking over to her as she stood. She put the necklace on him, tying it around his neck. Then she turned and he put his necklace on her, tying it around her neck.

“I don’t feel anything,” she said and then the necklace glowed softly. She felt a rush of strange emotions as if something alien was invading her body. It felt a bit like the Raith ability that the boy had placed on her, except she felt in control and felt comfort.

“Now we are bound together,” he said and smiled.

“I feel what you feel sometimes?”

“If it is a high state of emotion. If I am really sad, you’ll know I’m sad. If I’m really happy you’ll know I’m happy. Etcetera.” He sighed. “it’s a long story to explain.”

“I understand…” Rai said and smiled. “Well… I guess tomorrow…”

“Yeah,” Cyrus said. Rai felt a serge of emotion suddenly. Anger and acceptance.

Cyrus blinked, suddenly realizing that he would need to keep his emotions under control for a while. He didn’t want to let her in too much. Especially onto how he felt about her.

“Tomorrow,” he said softly. “I guess you need your sleep.”

“Yeah, I guess so…” Rai glanced around. “Well, good night.”

“I’ll be up in a minute,” Cyrus told her as she turned and walked back inside the house.

He stood outside a moment longer, looking up at the starry sky. Looking up at the night. He didn’t want tomorrow to come. For her sake. But, he wanted it to come more than anything for Odoff’s sake.


* * *


Rai took a deep breath, breathing as if air wouldn’t come. She flexed her fingers nervously as she walked towards the gate to the courtyard as if she had some higher purpose. The hood was pulled over her head, concealing her face in darkness. The black cloak billowing with quick pace and the wind help toss it around.

She glanced back at him, he was hiding in the darkness of shadows just under a buildings low over hang. She could feel that he was worried for her. He didn’t want her to know he was worried for her, but he couldn’t help but let her know now.

‘Good luck,’ he told her.

‘Luck…’

Rai turned and went through the gate uninvited. Large hands grabbed her form and jerked her around behind the wall. It took everything he had to not rush and help her. Cyrus balled his fists up until the knuckles were white. His nails, that weren’t very long at all, dug into his skin.

Rai could feel that rush of anger, and he could feel her rush of fear. They pulled her hood down and revealed her face.

“You don’t just waltz in here like that!” he yelled at her.

“I think the prince would want to see me,” she said, trying to jerk out of their grip.

“Oh, you do?” he asked her.

“I’m the one he’s been looking for.” Rai stood up straight. “Ask him yourself.”

The guard eyed her suspiciously. It could be an assassination attempt. “Search her,” he said to the two holding her. One held her still and the other searched her body for any weapon.

Rai gritted her teeth and tried not to lash out. She needed to get into the palace. She needed Edan to see her and realize who she was.

“She hasn’t got a weapon,” one of them said.

“Please, take me to Prince Edan…”

The man looked at her suspiciously for a moment and then he nodded. The two began to drag her across the courtyard. They passed four statues. One of Queen Synestra, one of Queen Shea, one of King Praxis, and one of Prince Edan. They went up the steep steps and Rai tried to look back to get one last glimpse of Cyrus, but she couldn’t see him.

The large doors with the gargoyle heads that breathed fire groaned and slowly opened. She felt as if she was going into a place with no oxygen. She felt as if going in would suck her soul, her life, her breath from her. She even held her breath as they drug her over the threshold and into the dark palace.

‘I’m with you,’ Cyrus said to her as he felt her distress.

Rai let out a ragged breath. She felt calmer suddenly, but slowly panicked. She slowly felt his presence diminish to barely nothing.

‘Cyrus?’ she asked, but she received no answer.

The doors slammed behind her

[Emora Deen]

Edan sat on his mothers throne. It was his just as much as it was hers. It would be his one day soon… Maybe… if his mother died. Though, it was possible his mother wouldn’t die for some years to come. The blood of a god running through her veins made it possible for her to live a very, very long life. Edan would hate to wait that long to be king.

The doors to the throne room creaked and groaned open as someone stepped through. Edan calmly raised his head, peering through the strands of crimson hair that hung in front of his piercing green eyes. His eyes fell on three people, coming towards him through the darkness. A smaller figure in the middle that was being half dragged.

“Rai…” he whispered as his eyes fell on her face, her expression forced calm.

“Where did you find her?” he asked, standing quickly and descending the steps to meet them half way as they brought her up.

“She was coming through the gate,” one of them said.

Edan didn’t respond. He just looked her over a moment to find no great harm had come to her. She was covered in bruises and scratches. He saw the arms holding her as if for the first time. “Release her,” he ordered strongly.

The guards did as they were told and released her arms. Edan tilted his head downward to look at her face as his hand come up, tilting her chin upwards. “You came back to me?” he asked, his voice a bit husky. His eyes flashed at the guards and they turned to leave, walking the long distance back to the double doors that led into the hall.

Rai swallowed and forced a smile that was soft and gently. “I couldn’t stay away for long,” she told him and he grew closer, his finger tip tracing her jaw line lightly.

“Of course not,” he said as his finger tips trailed down to her neck, where his fingers and hand wrapped around it gently, so small under his grasp. “But, why did you leave?”

“I didn’t want to,” Rai said, trying to sound convincing. “They forced me… Pushed me out the window…”

“You stayed with them,” he told her.

“Because I thought you would come looking for me… and you could find them and punish them for stealing me from you.” Her eyes flashed up at him, sparkling in the strange luminous light above there heads that shown down on the throne.

“Is that the truth?” he asked, his grip on her neck growing tighter slightly as he leaned forward.

“It is…” she said, a worried look crossing her face for an instant.

“What’s wrong? Afraid I might choke you again?” he asked, moving in closer. “I will never hurt you unless you give me cause.” He tightened his grip a little more until she could feel the hard pressure of his thumb pressing against her neck bone.

“Have I gave you cause now?” she asked quickly. “If so I am sorry…”

Edan smiled and moved closer until his lips brushed hers. “No cause,” he whispered and kissed her, feeling her stiffen a bit under his touch. He ignored it, thinking she was just nervous.

Nervous. Yes, that was right, but definitely not in the way Edan was thinking.

“You look thin,” he told her and moved away. “I will have them bring you food…”

Rai smiled slightly. “They didn’t feed me much…”

Edan nodded.

“I see the dog found her way home,” his mothers voice range out, echoing hauntingly through the room as she materialized at the bottom of the throne steps.

Rai turned around slowly, knowing who it was. She hadn’t seen the woman since she was a child… Long, long ago. Shea was just as beautiful as she had been long ago to Rai. However, not as tall and imposing as she had been when Rai was smaller.

Shea tilted her head and narrowed her eyes. “Do I know you girl?” she asked suspiciously.

Rai went to open her mouth, but Edan beat her too it.

“No, I don’t think you do… You can’t know everyone mother.” Edan grinned. “Just some girl that caught my eye… She might have potential if someone trained her,” he said and wrapped his arm around her waste.

“Just a play thing to you,” Shea said, smirking.

“Yes, mother, just like all the men you ever had.”

Shea frowned slightly and folded her arms across her nearly bare chest. She still wore the same clothing as ever. Her figure was nearly the same as it had been before having Edan so there wasn’t any need in wearing clothes that would hinder her abilities.

“Have fun with your little games, son,” Shea said in a bored voice as she turned and began walking away, slowly disappearing with every step she took.

Edan laughed slightly, turning Rai around to face him. “You almost gave it away,” he told her, pushing back her hair.

“Gave what away?” Rai asked, a bit confused.

“The fact you’re the girl she tried to sacrifice to bring back a great and powerful demon,” he said to her as if she were a child and knew nothing. “She would probably kill you at the reminder of that failure.”

Rai hated to admit it, but Edan was probably right about that. For now she would keep that secret.

“Yes, you’re right…” Rai couldn’t remember if she had told Edan this or not. Maybe she had, maybe she hadn’t. Either way he knew who she was.

“Come on, lets told somewhere more secluded… and comfortable…” He wrapped both arms around her and jerked her close to him until she was closely pressed against him. Rai felt the strange sensation of being pulled upward and heavy pressure on all of her body before she found herself in the most horrible place.

Edan’s room.

Rai began to grow worried, afraid of what secluded and comfortable now meant to Edan. Rai let her knees buckle and Edan caught her with ease. He lifted her up and set her on his bed.

“I got dizzy,” she said, forcing another soft smile.

“Probably hunger,” he told her and stood up straight. “I’ll go see about getting you something to eat.”

Rai nodded and smiled as she watched him leave to room.

‘If he wasn’t so freaking psycho he might would make a nice guy,’ she thought to herself.

‘Psycho, evil… What difference does it make?’ she heard Cyrus’s voice in her head.

‘You can hear me now?’ she asked.

‘You’re by a window now, so its not solid brick all around… I can’t connect with you unless we’re in the same building.’

‘What difference does that make? There is still brick.’

‘But, then there are wooden doors.’

‘I give up, this is too confusing,’ she muttered inside her head.

She heard Cyrus’s mental laugh, if that is what it’s called.

‘Cyrus?’ she asked.

‘Yes?’

Rai thought for a moment. ‘Never mind,’ she told him, sighing.

Cyrus leaned against the wall and looked up at the tower where she was. His eyes narrowed, wondering what thought was going through her head. He folded his arms and sighed as well.

‘When can I get in to get Odoff?’ he asked her.

‘I’ll create a distraction for Edan… and Shea… Somehow…’ she told him.

‘Don’t get yourself killed,’ he told her strongly.

‘Worried about my Cyrus?’ Rai smiled to herself.

Cyrus didn’t say anything for a long moment, though Rai could feel this strange feeling radiating off him. ‘You can handle yourself, remember?’

Rai smile grew. ‘So you are worried,’ she told him.

Cyrus sighed and stood up and began walking away. ‘Tomorrow, when the moon is at the top of the tower, have a distraction. I’m coming in with or without one,’ he told her ask his voice faded off into the distance as he did.

Rai knew he was trying not to get attached, Odoff had told her that. She didn’t blame him, getting attached to her meant that it might jeopardize what he was after, and that was saving his brother.

Rai moved off the bed and went to the window to look out it. It had been fixed, no sign of glass where they had fallen through.

“Memories bothering you?” his voice asked as he opened the door.

“I guess,” Rai said and shrugged.

“So what happened to the little creature I had in my room?” Edan asked as the maid behind him set a tray down on the lounge chair.

“They made me leave the poor creature behind,” she said, which was a little bit of the truth. She really just forgot about it.

Edan came up behind her and pulled on her arm. “I’ve brought food for you,” he said as Rai turned around. She caught the maid role her eyes and she smiled, though Edan must have took it as a thank you smile and he smiled back at her.

Rai sat down and picked up a piece of bread and took a bite. She really wasn’t hungry. Though she hadn’t really been in the mood for food since they got off the ship upon arriving in Arroes.

“Shea… I mean Queen Shea, seems a bit upset with you,” Rai said, poking at something to try and give a hint as to what her distraction could be.

“She’s always been upset with him. Ever since my powers started growing. She’s too envious of me,” Edan said, taking a seat in his chair and floating it around to face her.

“Oh,” Rai said. If he had been any other person she would have felt bad. If Shea was envious of Edan for his power than he wasn’t someone to play lightly with.

“She’s afraid of me I think,” Edan said and grinned. “I could steal her throne from her… Oh, how I want to be king.”

Rai tilted her head. A family feud would be just the distraction she needed. “Why don’t you?”

“Because though I am powerful my mother is still someone to be reckoned with. I don’t want to wish loosing my life when I still have a very long time to live,” he said and sighed.

“There isn’t any other way?” Rai asked, prodding further.

Edan sighed and closed his eyes, thinking. “There is one, but I doubt my grandfather would go for it,” he said and grinned. “Though, he hasn’t been too happy with her as of late. Ever since she married my father. He might…”

“Might what?” Rai took another bit of her bread. There was more on her plate, but she seemed only interested in the bread.

“Well, my Grandfather once stripped my mother of her powers because she wanted to wed a demon he hadn’t chosen for her. But, he gave them back once he learned she was with child. With someone… Ah.” He seemed to have stumbled upon something he had forgotten. “Because she was with child. He wanted me to be born so I would be king.” Edan laughed.

“So you will go to your grandfather and ask him to strip your mother of her power so she will be vulnerable and able to be killed with ease?” Rai asked, tilting her head.

Edan grinned at her. “Yes,” he said and nodded. “That is exactly what I’ll do.”

“Won’t your mother find out?” Rai asked him curiously.

“No, she won’t have time,” he told her and stood up, walking casually towards her.

“Oh.”

Edan sat down next to Rai. “I’ve missed you,” he told her, leaning in close to her. “I’m so glad your back in my room…” He grinned and eased in closer as she moved back. She was trying to put distance between Edan and herself, but it seemed to Edan she was just making herself more comfortable.

“I don’t feel well,” she said, coming up with any excuse to keep him from touching her.

“I’ll make you feel better,” he told her and kissed her neck, biting slightly.

“I really don’t feel well,” she mumbled worriedly, pushing her hands against his chest, though he didn’t seem to notice or care.

“Shh…” He kissed up to her chin, then her lips.

‘Cyrus! Cyrus do something!’ But, Cyrus wasn’t there to hear her. Was he? She didn’t feel him… He had left her.

“Edan will try again,” Cyrus told her, giving her one final warning. “And I won’t be there to stop him.” The memory flashed through her head.

Rai had known the risk, from the moment she had stepped in front of the gate. But, Rai was coming to the harsh reality of the risk she was taking. Someplace deep in her subconscious it had told her that Cyrus would always be there to protect her. Now, she knew the truth.

‘Let it be over soon,’ she told herself, closing her eyes. ‘Let me not feel it.’


~


Cyrus had a strange feeling come over him when he was half way to the place that he and Rai had been staying. It was this horrible feeling that something was wrong, terribly wrong. He stopped shortly as if someone had hit him in the back of the head. He glanced over his shoulder at the dark street leading back to the palace.

“Damn compassion,” he muttered as he turned on his heal and began to run back towards the palace. “Damn caring.” He turned to run faster as the feeling of distress flooded him. The feeling of hopelessness. “Damn feelings.” He turned the corner, slipping on wet brick. He caught his balance and came to a stop in front of the gate.

‘Let it be over soon. Let me not feel it.’

Cyrus didn’t think she meant for him to hear it. He didn’t think she knew he could hear it.

“And damn you.” He muttered out loud to the woman he was beginning to feel for. The woman he had been feeling for. He felt compassion and caring and strong feelings for her. Damn her for making him weakened by those feelings.

He was hit hard by sudden fear, feeling it run through his veins and knew that he wasn’t afraid so there was only one person it could be coming from.

His mind raced as he tried to think of something he could do for her… Anything. Something that would cause Edan to stop. ‘Faint,’ he told her. ‘You have to faint.’



~



‘Faint, you have to faint.’

Rai’s eyes shot open when she heard Cyrus’s voice. ‘Faint? I can’t faint…’

‘He’ll try and make love to you if you don’t do something!’ Cyrus yelled at her.

‘I can’t make myself faint!’ Edan was pulling at her clothes now and she was panting with panic. “Edan, I really don’t feel good…”

He didn’t seem to care at all.

‘Then I’ll make you,’ Cyrus growled.

‘Make-’ But she didn’t have time to finish the thought. Cyrus said one silent word and Rai felt all feeling in her body go and her eyes forcibly rolled back in her head. She went limp under Edan, which confused him greatly.

Edan sat up, looking at her disheveled appearance. She really must have been speaking the truth and had been ill. He had thought she was only trying to avoid contact with him in this way, but know he knew she had been sick.

Edan grinned and moved so he could carry her to the bed. He laid her down gently, feeling her forehead for a fever. He found nothing. Why would she have fainted unless she was truly sick?

“Tomorrow I will make my dream come true,” he whispered to her. “Tomorrow I will become king.” He moved further down. “You will never be my queen, but you will make a lovely consort.” Edan moved around to the other side of the bed and stripped his robes off. He climbed in next to her and wrapped an arm securely around her waist so she wouldn’t go anywhere in the middle of the night.

[Emora Deen]

Rai opened her eyes and sat up quickly as if she had a bad dream. Wasn’t Edan just molesting her right now? Wasn’t she still trying to convince him she was sick? Oh god, what happened this time with out her knowledge!
Rai looked down suddenly and felt all around her body to find her clothes were still intact, though very loose. She sighed in relief, glancing down at the lump of fabric next to her. She followed the object upwards, tracing the outline as it reached the headboard and found a handsome face sleeping peacefully, crimson hair strewed across the pillow top.
As if he felt her eyes on him his opened and his green orbs looked directly at her. “Awake this early?” he asked as he sat up, wrapping his fingers around her arm and pulling her close to him.
“I don’t even remember falling a sleep,” she muttered as her heart pounded. ‘Oh, God… not again…’
Edan pressed his lips a bit harshly against hers, crushing her lips against her teeth. She tasted the bitterness of blood, but not to much.
“You passed out,” he said, pulling away. “I guess you were sick… How are you feeling today?” He asked as he pulled her closer towards the head board and rolled over on top of her, sitting up and hovering over her.
“Still a little sick,” she said as her heart pounded in her chest. She knew he could probably hear it, feel it, something.

“Not too sick I hope,” he said, forcing her arms on either side of her head. She felt rather uncomfortable in this position. Vulnerable.

“Edan...” she said, trying to sound convincing. She didn’t want to have to be with him like this ever again. She didn’t want to have to be intimate with him ever again.

“Shh...” he ordered rather forcibly. “You know you want me.” He grinned, his green orbs burning a hole into her as he lowered his head down for another kiss. Rai had to do everything in her power to keep from turning her head away. She had to play like she wanted him.

She rose up to meet his kiss. She was revolted by the feel of his tongue sliding around in his mouth. She tried to hide her displeasure from him, his hand sliding to her neck, unbuttoning the blouse she wore. She thought about fighting him, but then again, she couldn’t... Unless...

Rai bit his lip slightly hard, bringing a very forced playful smile to her lips. She just wanted it to seem like she was playing around. When really she was stalling.

Edan rose up to look at her, his smile growing into a grin. His green eyes piercing. “In a rough mood this morning?” he asked lightly, pulling her shirt off her shoulders slightly. “Want to play?”

Rai nodded softly feeling completely afraid that this plan wouldn’t work. She pushed on his chest, trying to push him up and off of her. He refused to budge, saying she would need a little more than that to help her move him. So she tried to wrestle with him, tried to push him off.

His hand grabbed the necklace around her neck and ripped it from her, throwing it across the room before she could realize it had happened. He forced her back down on the bed and proceeded to pull her clothes off as they continued the little play fight.

~

Cyrus sat propped outside the gate, thinking, and thinking... and thinking. He couldn’t think of a single way to get them out of there... to get in himself and get them out of there...

Getting in would be the hard part, getting out the harder part... But getting out with a wounded man and a woman that the prince had the hots for was nearly impossible. Unless he could manage to actually kill Edan... It didn’t seem likely. If his plan worked it might be possible, but then again was he strong enough?

He looked over the edge of the rock wall surrounding the palace to view the guards stationed at various points of the court yard. The only way for him to get in would be to do what they did last time, which was one pose as a criminal and the other pose as a guard. There was only one of him and he didn’t have any guard clothes at the moment.

Finally he decided. The only way to get in was to get in as a criminal. Rai could come set them free later...

“Hey, you sons of a bore’s ass,” he said as he stepped around and into the courtyard, drawing his sword. “I’ve come for the Prince’s Whore!!!”

His crystal blue eyes looked around at the shocked stances of the guards circling the courtyard. They thought he had to be crazy. Had to be drunk.... He had to be something.

“Get him,” one said. He had far more markings than any of the guards in the courtyard. “The prince will be happy we found the man who has been causing him so much trouble.”

Cyrus didn’t even put up a good fight. He thought he would just be taken, but no it seems they wanted to beat him until he was senseless so he couldn’t attack the prince.


~



Rai couldn’t stand it. The feel of his hands on her was driving her to a point where it might blow her cover.

“Have you forgotten what you told me last night,” she said in between his kisses. “About becoming king?” she asked him.

He froze for a moment, leaning back to look at her. “I haven’t forgotten,” he said. “I’ll get to it.”

“People always say that,” Rai said. “They put things off and put things off until they never do them.”

“Do you doubt my ability to do something?” he asked darkly.

“N-no...” she said, his hands squeezing her waist tighter.

“Good,” he told her. “I’ll get to it as soon as I’m done here...”

It seemed his charm had warn off and his patients warn thin. He wanted her for this one purpose only. No longer was it to corrupt her, turn her into something more interesting, it was to ravage her... Use her for his own personal gain. Just like he had done to Cyrus’s sister in the end.

Maybe it was because he had waited so long to have this girl. Now... he would have her. She seemed a bit scared at his words. But, he knew better. Inside she wanted him. Just like that first time.

He put his hands on either side of her head again and leaned in for another kiss...

A knock pounded at the door. Edan growled, his eyes altering and glowing green for a moment before they settled. “Yes?” he asked to the door, sitting up over Rai.

“We caught the final kidnapper...” a dark and loud voice said. He’s downstairs in the throne room.

“Okay, we’ll be right out,” he said and stood up, pulling on his black robe that flowed across the floor as he stepped towards the door. “Come on, we’ll see what to do with this fool.”

Rai sat up on the bed, looking up at Edan who seemed to be glowing with some dark light. Was it the fact that he would be king soon that drove him to be this dark? Or was this natural. Yes... this was natural.

Rai got out of bed, buttoning up her shirt. She wasn’t used to wearing that necklace yet so she didn’t even know it was gone. She didn’t think to look either. She walked towards the door, where he took her arm and led her out of the room. She combed her hair with her hands, trying not to look too disheveled and make Cyrus worry too much. They went down the stairs and through the halls until they came towards the large doors that led to the throne room.

Rai grew worried, wondering if this was part of his great plan. She also wondered why she couldn’t feel him if he was so closer. She reached up to her neck where the necklace was. She didn’t feel it there. She almost cursed Edan out loud, but restrained herself from doing so.

The doors opened by themselves it seemed, or maybe it was just Edan’s power making them do so. Towards the throne knelt a bruised and bloody man with neck-length chestnut colored hair. His hands were tied behind his back, his head bent over as bloody spots fell onto the stones.

Rai’s heart froze in her chest at the sight of him. He looked so hurt. Edan led her around, to stand before him. She clenched her fists to keep from rushing towards him and to keep from begging for his life. What if they decided to kill him here? What if they did!

“So this is the stupid fool who thought to take my plaything away from me?” he asked, tilting his head down towards Cyrus.

“You’re brother is down bellow right now, screaming in pain... You should join,” he told Cyrus.

“What do you think?” he asked, pulling Rai in front of him and putting his hands on parts of her body she would rather not have Cyrus witness. Rai looked away for a moment. “Look at him.”

Rai forced herself to look at Cyrus. “I agree,” she said softly, her eyes wanting to tell Cyrus something.

Cyrus raised his head to look at Rai. She had removed the necklace. She stood there before him, looking at him like he was nothing. Was she acting... or did she mean it?

“I agree,” she whispered and turned away.

Edan laughed and leaned his head over her shoulder. “Good,” he told her and pulled her close to him. “Now go back to my room.”

“Where are you going?” she asked softly, trying to seem like she didn’t want him to go.

“To pray,” he said as he turned away, his crimson hair falling in front of his eyes as he bowed his head to look back at Cyrus. “Take him to his brother.”

The hauled Cyrus off the ground and began to drag him away. His eyes looked up to find Rai, standing next to the throne, a beam of light falling on her. She looked like the normal Rai... But, was she Rai?

She mouthed something to him. He had never been one to read lips so he had no idea what she was trying to say. The doors closed and he could no longer see her.

Rai ran as fast as she could up to the room. She ran to the room as fast as she could, almost busting down the door to get in. She had to get that necklace back.

She slid to a stop. There wasn’t nearly enough light in this room... She walked around the room, ducking under things to try and find it. She stood up, glanced around, trying to think of some place it might be. Time was going by, the more time she took to find this damned necklace the less time she would have to help Cyrus and Odoff.

And the less time she would have to kill Shea...

“Please,” she said closing her eyes. “God of Light.... I beg of you...” She stepped forward to head out of the room when she stepped on something that caused her foot to slip slightly. She looked down and all hope she had lost came flooding back into her.

She ran to the door, slung it open and in the hall was a woman scantily dressed, long red hair cascading down her back.

“If anyone needs me,” the woman said to a male guard who was broad shouldered and heavily armed. “I’ll be on the roof.”

Rai hung back, hiding in the room until she noticed Shea was gone. “I’ll get to you later,” she muttered as she went in the opposite direction once she reached the staircase.


~


Verin’s temple was located down a long dark spiraling staircase. It was lit by torches every now and then to keep people from falling over the edge and into the darkness bellow. The temple’s door was made of metal and a huge circle was held in the side of the door with a lock just above it. But, as long as the family of the God of Darkness resided in the palace the temple would always be unlocked for the followers.

Edan opened the door and stepped into the dark room, it was pitch black. Nothing could be seen as of yet, but with a casually wave of his hand and concentrate thought the torches in the temple roared to life, blazing and lighting the whole room up. He room was very open, empty really. There was an opening at the front of the room, a hallway with a dead end. But, when active it could be a gateway to the word of the Gods.

In the middle of the room was a large stone throne that was facing the empty dead end hallway. Various pots of offerings were sat in front of the hallway, that was about it.

Edan took the seat in the throne, leaning to one side and propping himself on the arm of the chair. He thought for a moment... Wondering if he should do this. After this there was no going back. He couldn’t change what would happen. Should he kill his mother?

“Yes,” he told himself. “If I ever want to be king I need to.”

So, Edan took a more formal stance. He sat upright in the stone chair, putting his hands on each arm of the chair. “Grandfather,” he said, closing his eyes. “I must speak to you. Come to me quickly...”

Before Edan had even finished his words a light began to glow at the end of the hallway, growing brighter as a tall, broad-shouldered, figure began to walk towards him. Edan knew who it was, and even if he didn’t he wouldn’t be afraid.

“What do you want, my grandson?” he asked, not even visible yet. The light faded from around him. It was a blood read colored light, not bright and happy of course. That wouldn’t match the God of Darkness at all.

“If I tell you will you grant my wish?” he asked, being cautious of course. His “grandfather” might actually have feelings for his “daughter”.

“I would grant anything for my most favorite child,” he said to him.

Verin, the God of Darkness, was a handsome man. Of course, he was a god, why wouldn’t he be handsome. He had black eyes, though, eyes so dark and full of sin. His hair was as black as his eyes. His skin darkly tanned. His smile greatly demonic. He could assume any shape though. If he wanted to have blue eyes, he would give himself blue eyes. If he wanted to have blond hair, he could give himself blond hair. If he wanted to be a fly on the wall, which rarely he would, he could make himself a fly.

Gods can do just about anything.

“How much do you care for mother?” Edan asked.

Verin grinned. “Care for a woman who disregards orders, who disobeys me before mine and other gods eyes... I care for nothing but the day I’ll be rid of her. A day, when you will be king.”

Edan grinned, his smile matching his grandfathers. “I want to be king, very much... But, mother is still too powerful for me to beat on my own,” he said and looked at his grandfather. “Would you do me a favor... To help me be king?”

“What is the favor?” Verin asked, looking inside a pot before carelessly throwing the offering across the room. “He’ll die tomorrow...”

“I can defeat my mother if she hasn’t got any powers to fight me with.” Edan said, walking towards Verin.

“Oh,” Verin said and smirked. “You want to cheat?”

“Yes, I want to cheat,” Edan looked at his grandfather, not understanding why he wondering why he would have a problem with the fact he wanted to cheat.

“No, that is more like it,” Verin said and put his hand on Edan’s shoulder. “I wish you would have asked his sooner... But, its against the rules to do anything without someone asking. Then the game wouldn’t be fun.”

“I really never thought about it,” he said. “And deep inside I never thought you would do it...”

Verin laughed. “For a better ruler... one who seeks to destroy good... I’d do anything,” he said and let go of Edan. “It will be done momentarily.”

~

Meanwhile....

Rai came up behind the guard dragging Cyrus down the hall. She slipped her necklace on and grabbed a pipe off the wall silently. Cyrus was up ahead so he probably didn’t hear it. The screams coming from the room at the end of the hall were loud enough to deafen any sounds she made.

She grabbed the pipe with both hands and held it tightly as she ran forward, kicking up the sand that covered the floor.

The guard didn’t even notice she was coming until it was too late.

‘Duck,’ she told Cyrus in her head. Cyrus’s head was about level with the guards, so it would be bad if she missed and hit Cyrus.

Cyrus lifted his head at the sudden connection with Rai, at the sudden feeling of closeness. Cyrus didn’t even ask. At hearing the command he ducked forward.

The guards head went sideways with the powerful blow from the pipe she held in her hand. When he hit the ground she hit him again, just encase he might not be totally knocked out.

Cyrus slammed into the wall when he began to fall with the big brutish man as his body went limp. Cyrus pushed himself off with his shoulder, turning around to see Rai with strands of golden hair hanging in front of her face.

For a moment the two said nothing, for a moment they just stayed there, staring at each other. Finally Rai was the first one to move. She dipped and got the keys for the cuffs that held Cyrus’s hands. She unlocked them quickly.

“Get Odoff out of here,” she told him as she looked up into his eyes. She paused for a moment on the second lock, but finished the task soon after. “I have something I need to do,” she told him.

Cyrus didn’t say anything at first. “Where are you going?” he asked her, as if they had all the time in the world.

“To end something,” she told him. It was the only way she could put it with out making him worry. “It won’t take long.” Hopefully.

Cyrus narrowed his eyes on her, wondering what she meant by the fact she had to finish something. But, his main priority at the moment was his brother. “Just don’t get yourself killed,” he told her.

“If you do the same I’ll kiss you,” she said with her soft smirk. She handed the pipe to him. “See you soon.” With that said, and what she guessed was the last she could really say, she turned and began to jog down the hall.

She glanced back one more time and he was heading down the hall, not noticing the fact she looked back at him.

Maybe she wouldn’t live? Could Shea’s magic really be taken from her? Did she have more skill in fighting than Rai?

[Emora Deen]

Shea closed her eyes as she looked at the night sky. The breeze gently tossed her blood red hair. The breeze tossed her barely nothing clothes around her as three guards stood along the back, covering the entrance and exit to the roof. She really was the most beautiful woman in the world. Skin milky white, blood colored lips and hair, dark eyes.

Behind them the door to the roof opened gently, without a sound in the world. A figure dressed in pants and loose button up shirt crept forward, holding a thick pip in her hand. She went up to the middle guard and swung the pipe with one hand as she grabbed his sword with the other.

The pipe connected with his head, a sickening sound. The guard fell to the ground with a thud as the other two turned to her. She went for one, blocking is swing with the pipe and stabbing upwards with the sword, running him through. She dropped the pipe, grabbed his sword as his hands let it go and whirled around just as the other guard was bringing his sword down upon her. She swung both swords towards one another and sliced through his arms and neck, decapitating his head.

Shea heard all this, but never turned around. She just stared at the sky.

“I thought I recognized you,” she said quietly. “When I first saw you, you looked so much like that woman I tortured... You’re mother was it?”

Rai turned towards Shea, holding both swords out beside her, both dripping in blood. She raised her head slightly, her curly hair pulled back into a loose braid, strands of curls hanging in front of her face.

“Soran still alive?” Shea asked with a grin as she turned around to face the woman who had faced her as a child. “How is it you seduced my son?”

Rai didn’t say anything, even though there were so many things she wanted to say she said nothing. Nothing but this, “I’ve come to kill you.”

Shea laughed as if she found that very amusing, and she probably did. “You?” Shea asked with a wicked grin. “And what army?”

This time Rai smiled.

~

Cyrus put his back along the wall and scooted down alongside the wall until he got to the opening at the end of the hall where he could peer in to see if there were any guards around that would give him some trouble. Of course there were the normal torturers and he didn’t know if they were skilled in anything more than causing pain. But, he wouldn’t risk it. He held the sword he had gotten from the guard and readied himself.

He whirled around, making himself visible. They seemed to caught up in causing a poor defenseless woman as much pain as possible. He realized that the screams he had heard down the hall were hers. A while ago, before he had gone on this stupid adventure he would have done nothing to help her, only going for his brother. But, lately he found himself wanting to help others more and more. Was it Rai’s influence? Her insistent need to help those she really couldn’t, and probably shouldn’t?

But, Cyrus knew that he couldn’t stand by idly while this woman was being tortured. What if it were Rai? Would he stand by and watch her?

This froze all the gears in his brain. Hadn’t he partially wanted to just use her to get Odoff out of here. But, he was tried of being that way. Now, he was going to save this woman.

“Hey, ass holes,” he said casually, looking at the blade as he held it out with one hand. Simply inspecting it, as if he had nothing better to do. He had to conserve his magic if he wanted to face Edan.

The tormenters of the woman stood up straight and looked in his direction. They seemed angered that they had been disturbed.

“I think he’s had enough,” he commented coldly, glancing at the bruised, broken, and bloody woman chained down to the table.

One of the men nodded to the rest and they turned around with weapons in hand. It would be easy to take them since there weapons consisted of mallets, knives, and one managed to get a sword. What sort of torture they were using that for he didn’t want to know.

They came at him, but skilled in various ways of fighting it was simple. The first brought his mallet down, and Cyrus brought his sword up, slicing through the arm holding the mallet. Then his foot came up and he kicked the screaming man over.

The second brute came at him with knives slicing back and forth. One would think he would have learned his lesson after his first comrade had fallen. But, it seems they were as thickheaded as they looked. Cyrus dodged the first knife swing and the other and lunged forward, using both hands to propel the sword forward and up through the man’s rib cage.

He pulled the blade out and side ways to block the sword swing. Now, this would be more difficult. He blocked and swung hard to try and force the built man back. He swung hard again, actually forcing the man to stumble backwards.

“Skittish,” Cyrus commented as he faked a lung, spinning around until his blade when through the side of the tormenter, half-way into his middle half.

Cyrus pulled the sword out and finally turned towards the last of the men that had been torturing the woman. “Would you like to die now?” he asked, a strange smirk coming to his handsome features.

The torturer picked up the last of the objects on the table, which was a pair of pliers. He looked from the pliers to Cyrus, and back again. Finally, making his decision, he turned and fled through the opening that Cyrus had come through. But, Cyrus knew he couldn’t let the man get away. He would surely bring help, and Odoff was probably too wounded to try and help fight off twenty men. He stooped and picked up one of the knives, hoping he still had good aim, and maybe using a bit of magic, he through it at the torturer, hitting him square in the back of the head.

The tormenter fell forward in mid-run, skidding across the sad and sawdust ground until he came to a complete, dead, stop.

Cyrus’s first reaction was to run and find Odoff, but the poor woman on the table needed to be set free. He raised his sword and brought them down on the chains, breaking them, and scaring the woman out of what was left of her sanity. She probably thought he was going to cut her head off.

He helped the woman sit up, thankfully she didn’t try and attack him. When his conscience was sure she was okay he turned and began to go door to door at each cell, breaking locks and looking for Odoff. He knew, down on the inside, that he was probably letting the bad ones out with the good, but at the moment he really didn’t care.

Finally, at the end of the long ling of cells he found Odoff. It wasn’t surprising he would be at the end. He was probably the last prisoner to brought into the dungeon. Odoff was lying on the straw floor, his back against the wall, his head hung, blood dripping down his bare chest.

He was a built, broad-shouldered, heavily muscled man. But, he looked very weak in this state. Almost... fragile. It was something Cyrus rarely thought of Odoff as. He had never been fragile in Cyrus’s mind, never in is life had he ever appeared so. Seeing his strong willed brother in this shape only drove Cyrus’s hatred for Edan more. Maybe that would help when it came time for him to do what he needed to do? Hopefully he wouldn’t need anymore stimulation to strengthen his abilities.

“Odoff,” he asked calmly.

Odoff groaned, his head slowly rising to look up at the blurry form in the doorway. “Aye,” he said in a grunt more than anything else. “Cyrus, that finally you?”

Cyrus smiled. “Its me,” he said, coming into the room and swinging the sword down, breaking the chain holding Odoff’s leg to the floor. By now the sword was dull beyond use. At least it had made it this far. Cyrus threw the sword across the room and reached down to help his brother up.

Odoff got up slowly and shakily, groaning with the effort of it all. He glanced up at Cyrus. “Rai...” he groaned out the words, breathing with the effort.

“She’s safe. She just went to handle something,” Cyrus said.

“No...” Odoff breathed as they went for the door. “Edan...”

“Edan’s praying,” Cyrus told him as they exited down the steps towards the opening that led out of the dungeon.

“He... kill... her... He...”

“Don’t pass out on me, Odoff. I can’t carry your big ass out of here,” he growled as he practically dragged Odoff along. They made there way down the hall in a hurried manner, along with all the weak and freed prisoners.


~


Shea laughed as if she found that very amusing, and she probably did. “You?” Shea asked with a wicked grin. “And what army?”

This time Rai smiled. She held the swords by her side as she began to walk in Shea’s direction. Shea took her hands and held it by her own sides, moving them to meet them in the middle. She pulled one hand away and from an invisible wall and long thin sword appeared gradually as she pulled her hand away from the other.

She held the sword in front of her, her eyes narrowing on Rai’s form as she put on foot in front of the other and slowly, but surely the pace quickened. Rai brought her sword up to block the blow and Shea’s power hit Rai through the sword, knocking her back into one of the six pillars that surrounded the edge of the flat roof. Luckily, it hadn’t been a few more inches away. If it had been she would have been falling to her death.

Rai pushed herself to her feet, using both swords as a brace. She winced as she straightened her back.

“Silly human,” Shea commented as she tilted her head to the side slightly. “I told you it would take an army.”

Rai growled and ran for her. Shea simply held her one sword up to block. Rai, however, had been planning the attack the whole time she had been recovering. She faked a swing, redirecting it away as her other sword came under Shea’s block towards her mid-section. At the last minute Shea realized what was happening. She turned quickly, the edge of Rai’s sword scratching her smooth skin.

Shea growled and through one hand out, a shimmering ball of purple roaring towards Rai. Rai doves sideways to miss it. But, another one came at her. She rolled, hopped, dove, flipped, turned every-which-way she could and still the power kept coming. She kept her mind clear though, she didn’t need her plans to be foiled. Not now. Not when she was so close.

Rai skidded across the ground as Shea’s power hit her in her gut. She slid, sliding across brick and scraping her arms, and the side of her face. She gasped, trying to gain the air that had been knocked out of her as she slowly pushed herself to a sitting position. Her eyes catching a slight glimmer in the night’s sky towards the east.

Shea laughed, not noticing the slight glimmer in the sky. “Had enough, child?”

Rai winced as she pulled herself up, dragging on sword up with her, then the other. “Not in the least,” she whispered, holding the two swords up. She gained her composure as she slowly, but surely charged forward.

“Then, I guess you need to die to learn this lesson,” Shea said simply. She brought her hand up, the sword glowing purple. She swung it, aiming towards Rai. The purple ripple flew with lightening speed towards Rai. Rai crossed the swords in front of her, hoping it might block it.

She closed her eyes tightly, but nothing ever happened.

Shea watched in angered amazement as her power withered and died as it reached Rai. “What magic do you have?” Shea growled.

Rai opened her eyes and saw Shea staring in awe. Was it working? Rai grinned, blood trickling down her face from the deep scrape. She pointed towards the east.

Shea turned around to look at the glow she could now feel painfully on her back. Shea’s eyes widened as her nightmare unfolded before. It had been a long time since she watched the sun rise. But, it had become her fear. The sun.

Now here her fear was, rising faster than she could imagine. Rai walked forward as Shea stared in angered awe. She raised her hands to try and conjure a cloak, a sheild, the night itself.

Rai dropped on sword. Shea turned around at the noise, wondering if the girl was giving up. The edge of the sun crested over the horizon of the sea. At seeing Shea’s face one image drove Rai on and guided her hand. The image of her beautiful mother, withered, dying... and the image of Shea’s smiling face as she slit her Rai’s mother’s throat. Rai screamed as she shut her eyes. Shea raised her hands to stop it. To call her magic forth, but nothing happened.

She felt the pain of the blade drilling through her gut. She felt the tearing sensation as her flesh ripped open, her guts torn to shreds. She sucked in air quickly, her eyes widening as the wind tossed her shimmering red hair.

Rai and Shea locked eyes as Rai twisted the blade, more images of the pain she had seen through her years. Memories of all the evil she had seen in her time caused by this wicked woman. Rai twisted until Shea screamed. It shocked her into reality. She blinked and looked at Shea.

Shea looked more human than she had ever, will blood spilling from her wounds and dripping from her mouth. It was a sight that Rai was surprised by, shocked by... and strangely she felt sorry for the woman. She didn’t know why and she didn’t understand it.

Shea didn’t say anything. She didn’t have anything to say. The strangest thing she could think of at the moment was seeing Praxis’s face one last time. A tear rolled down the side of her face as Rai pulled her sword away.

Shea’s skin smoked lightly as the sun rose more and more. She stumbled to turn around to face the sun, holding out one hand to shield her burning eyes. As if some invisible force pulled her, her body fell straight forward, over the edge. The sun rose faster now, moving faster and the faster it moved the more Shea’s skin smoked and slowly it fell just as she fell through the air. She screamed, realizing what was happening. She was so angry.

She never lost. She couldn’t loose. This wasn’t happening.

Her skin burned away, her body turned to ash and as the sun reached the middle of the sky she hit the ground, the dust swirling to form an image of the dead queen. The image of a woman screaming silently as she covered her eyes and head. Then, the wind took the image from all who gathered around, and from all who saw.

Rai walked to the edge, holding the sword before her. She saw the thousands of people gathered in the streets at the amazing sight of the sun rising so fast. They couldn’t understand how it would rise so fast. Not until they saw the sight of Shea’s beautiful body falling and turning to dust.

Who could have pushed the queen?

They looked up to see a small image to them. It was barely noticeable and the only thing they could really make out was long golden hair blowing in the wind.


~

Edan walked down the hall smirking as he saw the light grow outside of the windows. Usually it didn’t fill the palace with use light. Usually it was still dim. But, oddly the halls seemed to glow a happier hue.


He entered the throne room, which was the hub of the castle really. It was the center of the palace and the place where Arken’s most vital decisions were made. He came out of a hallway leading into the throne room from the side.

He motioned for some guards to follow him as he headed towards the main hall. As if fate destined it, for whatever purpose it could have been, at the moment Edan was heading for the hall Cyrus and Odoff came stumbling up from the steps that lead down to the dungeons. Odoff was a heavy man, but Cyrus was also a strong man. Not as strong as some, but still strong. However, he had been helping Odoff walk down steps, through halls, and up a long spiraling staircase. So he was tired.

Just as Edan motioned for the doors to open, fate decided to stick his hand in again. Odoff crashed to the floor when his knees buckled. Cyrus closed his eyes. He had hoped to get Odoff out without any problems. But, it seemed he would face Edan before he wanted to.

The question was...

‘Am I ready?’

Edan turned around, tilting his head at the sight of Cyrus and Odoff. “Now, how did you two get loose?” he asked with a smirk.

Cyrus looked helped Odoff up. “Go over there and wait for me,” he told his weak older brother.

Odoff didn’t seem to be in all of his senses. If he were he would have stayed with Cyrus when he wanted to face Edan. However, Odoff hobbled over to the side of a pillar and slid down, his head bobbing around.

Cyrus sighed and pulled out a piece of paper. It would be heard to fight and read, but it was the only way. The quicker he said these words the quicker it would be over.

“Elements come to my aid,” he began.

“Oh, come on... Don’t you know sorcery by words is something used by people without the true gift? You must be a weak one. Here I thought it would be challenge,” he growled and called forth fire from his finger tips.

Cyrus brought his hand up and called forth a shield. He couldn’t use it for long, it would take away from the energy of the spell he was trying to make. The fire broke through and Cyrus jumped to the side just in time. the fire singing the hairs of his arm.

“Sun, sea, earth, and sky,” Cyrus continued, coming to his feet to face Edan. “I am strong... and unafraid.” His voice was loud, strong. Truly he was strong and unafraid. That was, until she came down the steps.

She was carrying a sword, and for a moment she didn’t notice them until her eyes swept the room. She saw Edan preparing an attack on Cyrus while he was distracted by her. “No!” she yelled and jumped on Edan’s back, the fireball going off course and hitting the roof.

Edan growled and through Rai to the ground at his feet. “I sort of knew,” he said with a sadistic grin. He kicked Rai in the gut.

“No!” Cyrus screamed and charged forward.

“Ah-ah...” Edan reached down and lifted Rai up by her neck. “I wouldn’t step any closer. Elf’s even half are tiny... I could snap her neck easily.”

Cyrus stopped in his tracks. He didn’t want to risk the chance of getting Rai hurt.. Or killed.

Rai reared back and tried to hit him, but he grabbed her hand. Then his hand squeezed around her neck.

“Evil forces die,” Cyrus whispered.

“Come on,” Edan said and squeezed harder. “You’re magic won’t work against me. I’m half god, half-demon.”

“Half.... hum...an...” Rai muttered

Edan’s eyes flashed in her direction. He lifted her up and through her towards on of the pillars. She hit, and hit hard, falling to the ground.

Cyrus yelled and ran to her. Edan was just chuckling as Cyrus knelt down. Cyrus rolled Rai over to find she was unconscious.

“Bastard...” he growled, smoothing her hair slightly as he rose and whirled around towards Edan.

Edan chuckled lightly. “I was growing tired of her resistance anyway, a pity though. She was wonderful in bed.”

Cyrus clenched his fists. “Thy curses and thy sorcery are powerless to injure me.”

“Want to bet?” Edan asked and a wall of invisible magic slammed into Cyrus, knocking him into the wall behind the pillars.

“By, earth and sun and sky and sea, I give thy curses back to thee...” Cyrus growled and swallowed, sucking up the pain and continuing. His hand came up as if he were telling Edan to stop. “Return, return, by law of three. Return to Edan by my will it be.”

Edan tilted his head downward, his crimson hair falling in front of his eyes. “You’re taking too long, mage.”

“You’re curses and you’re sorcery,” a blue light began to emanate from the palm of his hand. “Are powerless to injure me.”

“I think you lost you’re place,” Edan said and readied a ball of black fire, the light glowing in his hands.

“I now invoke the law of three,” Cyrus whispered and closed his eyes.

“Now, you die,” Edan said with a grin. He let his magic lose. The black fire connected with the blue light. But, the blue light became to bright for him. He shielded his eyes, but caught a glimpse of a black dot growing larger, coming straight towards him. Then he felt the searing pain of having his body being ripped apart by his own magic.

The light from Cyrus enveloped the room. It spread through the palace in every nook and cranny. It broke through the windows and out into the sky. And then, disappeared as quickly as it had come.


* * *


Cyrus blinked, groaning as he moved to sit up. The spell had taking a lot out of him, as well as trying told back that last bit of magic Edan had through at him. Cyrus, remembering his task, looked over at where Edan had been standing.

There wasn’t anything there.

Cyrus couldn’t help but wonder if that spell would have done the same thing to him... if he had been in its path. He glanced over at the still figure lying on the stone floor next to him. He reached over and shook her gently to see if that would wake her. She didn’t do anything at first, but slowly as he knelt over her eyes fluttered and opened.

She blinked her eyes shut tightly. “I got hit by a bolder...” she muttered.

Cyrus smiled and helped her sit up, putting his hand behind her back. In the distance he could hear a loud roaring sound, though he didn’t pay much attention to it. Probably the guards yelling about what they had witnessed.

“Where’s Edan?” she asked quickly, looking around to see if they were thrown in some dungeon.

“He’s gone... for good,” Cyrus told her.

Rai looked up at his eyes, noticing something different about Cyrus. It was as if a load had been lifted from him. Like he was free of something. “Odoff?”

“Here,” a gruff voice said from the other side of the room, straight across from them.


Cyrus looked over at him and smiled. “Good to see you’re more awake,” he told his brother.

“Heh,” Odoff muttered. “Blinding light can wake a person up, or in your case put you to sleep.”

Cyrus got to his feet and pulled Rai up, who limped. He pulled her arm over his shoulder and helped her walk over to Odoff. “Gods I’m surrounded by cripples.”

Odoff chuckled, but managed to pull himself up using the pillar, however he had to lean on Cyrus to walk.

As they grew closer to the large doors that led outside, which at the moment were wide open. They could hear the sound of people cheering, which they thought very odd.

“What’s going on out there?” Rai muttered as they grew closer.

The sun was so bright they had to shield there eyes from it for a moment. But, finally they adjusted as they stepped into the light of the sun, and out there door.

The courtyard was filled full of people who were cheering at the top of there lungs. Even some of the soldiers were cheering. At the sight of the woman they had seen on the building top they cheered louder. A few of the people were pulling down the statues of the women in the courtyard, and of the two men. In a corner some of Arken’s loyal soldiers were being beaten down by a group of peasants.

Rai looked over to Cyrus.

“What does this mean?” she asked him, his face turning towards her.

“I guess... the beginning of new things.”

Cyrus looked at her, and for some reason in this light he saw her differently. For some reason in her he saw his future. But, he couldn’t go back on his promise. He never went back on promises. Even ones he made long ago. No... He would keep his promise to Odoff.


* * *


Bells rang out through the city. The streets were bright... and the once dark and frightening palace was tall and strong now. Sun filtered in through the windows, making the new throne room bright with a certain cheerfulness.

A crowed stood on either side of a red carpet leading to a white throne at the end of the long room. Behind the thrown was a large stained glass window. It was a room that had been created specifically for this day. It was a symbol for a new beginning as well as the coronation.

At the end of the room two doors opened and in there way a woman dressed in a long white flowing gown trimmed in gold stood. Around her head was a gold crown. Her curly golden hair was braided behind her and fell down her back.

She smiled as she spotted Soran and Mizuki standing in the front, Blade and Siren beside them.

Down bellow in the courtyard Cyrus readied his horse as Odoff came out of the front doors. “And we’re not going to the coronation, why again?”

“Because that will make the good-bye harder,” Cyrus justified.

Odoff looked down at Cyrus as he climbed the horse. Cyrus seemed to be troubled beyond belief, a new weight on his shoulder. Odoff narrowed his eyes and then sat up looking at nothing.

“You know Cyrus,” he told his brother. “I’m not that interested in a bar anymore...”

Cyrus looked up at Odoff. “I was thinking last night... maybe I’ll take up Rai’s offer of being captain of the guard?”

Cyrus narrowed his eyes on his brother. He didn’t say anything at first.

“So that means you better get your ass in there and make nice with the Queen before I loose my job,” Odoff said with a grin.

Cyrus didn’t say or do anything, he only stared at his brother. He had too many feelings circulating in side of him. Did he want to stay here with her? Did he want to stay in one place finally? Was he ready for that? And as Cyrus looked towards the sky, and towards the palace... and where the statues once stood he knew.

Slowly a grin came to his face as villagers began to file into the courtyard, praising the new queen with screams. He let go of the horse and turned towards the steps.

“Took you long enough!!!” Odoff yelled at him.

Cyrus turned up the steps once inside the palace, almost running into someone who was painting. He ran up and towards the closed doors to the new throne room. He pushed hard with both hands and they flew open, causing a loud banging noise to echo through the room.

He winced slightly, since he hadn’t meant for that to happen. Everyone in the room turned to look at him and he felt completely exposed. Rai was standing in front of her throne, a bit shocked at first. Then a smile came to her face. The smile grew soon into a grin.

Cyrus went forward, but the guards stopped him. “Let him pass,” Rai said, still not used to the fact they had made her queen just because they saw her push Shea over the edge.

The guards let him pass and he walked what seemed like forever to her. Rai was almost laughing at him she was so excited. “I didn’t think you were coming,” she told him. “I thought you were going to leave.”

Cyrus’s crystal eyes were intense. Which wasn’t old. They had been that way for the past week. But, he always seemed to try and ignore it. He would look away, would walk away. Now... here he was, standing before her and not looking away.

“Odoff ordered me to get my ass in here so he could keep his job,” Cyrus said with a smile.

Rai’s eyes fell. “Oh,” she said softly. She had thought he was going to tell her something else.

Cyrus wasn’t going to be cliche and say something clever like he had read in books. It was already become all too corny for his likes. Too happy. But, for right now he wanted happiness. Both of them had too much sadness in there life. For now they would be allowed peace.

He grinned and quickly put one arm around her, pulling her close. Her eyes got wide with surprise, but she relaxed. His lips touched hers, and she embraced the kiss. It was something he had wanted to do... since the day before she had left to join Edan.

If they hadn’t been so caught up in one another they probably could have heard the sounds of cheering behind them... Well, maybe not Soran. He really didn’t want to see his little girl grow up, becoming Queen of Arken... and have a boyfriend... Not the boyfriend part, yet, at least.


Fin..... Or is it? Muahahhahaha