Warcamp Park Square, Third Ring

If Tharia were a goddess, her domain would be repression. Just a few minutes into the warcamp, she was already happily humming along with songs of bloody murder targeting amongst other things, her. Annabelle shot her a glance with a raised eyebrow.

“What? They’re catchy songs, Annie”

Tharia resumed humming after her outburst. She hadn’t seen this many people in a long time. The warcamp filled out a Park of roughly two kilometers diameter. The snow had piled up in random corners. Long rows of tents formed avenues of their own and even here, there was a strict hierarchy to things. The edge of the camp had the expected group of people - a lot of somewhat nude folks, desperately clinging to a bit of fur and huddling around firepits, going about the oldest business. After that came various craftsmen and quartermasters. It all led to a circle of large tents in the middle. Which is where they were headed after dropping off their crates. Ravid slinked into the carriage and took seat opposite of them.

“It’s good to see you again, even if one of you looks quite different”, he said and then spread out his arms, “Quite the nonsense, isn’t it?”

“Are they really preparing for war?” Tharia inquired with raised eyebrows. She had trouble believing that so many people would rather fight each other than to try and survive.

“Somewhat? Eh, what do I know? Some of those folks have hated the Verholdens for generations. Here, let me show you something”, while speaking, Ravid pulled out a notebook from a satchel and threw it towards Tharia.

“You’re gonna love this”, he said.

Tharia caught the notebook and opened it. It started with a list of names, some of which she recognized from history books. She turned several pages and the list went on and on.

“A list of people the Verholden have wronged throughout history”, Ravid explained and then pointed to the middle part of the book, “There’s a kill list too. Everyone that has ever worked for y-... their family is on it”

The human woman browsed through the notebook and reached a part with especially large letters. These were the names of her immediate family. There was her father, Augustus and her elder sister Celestine. Of course, brother was there too but they only gave one of his two names: Frederick. She leaned back. He did have another name, didn’t he? Somehow, the memory eluded her and she just shrugged. It didn’t matter. He would not be getting a grave from her, although she’d help him into it.

What surprised her, however, was that her own name was lacking from the notebook. She raised her eyebrows and then shot Ravid a questioning glance.

“Hm?”

Tharia pointed towards the name of her family. Ravid took a look at the page and offered an apologetic smile.

“Oh that. Interesting, isn’t it? There’s some rumbling about a younger sister but she has been struck from all records. No, but what I wanted you to see was the end. Someone got really creative there.”

She skipped the pages while Annabelle watched with a passing interest. Soon, the pages were filled with descriptions of herbs. Some of which she knew for their healing property, back when she had thought she could be some sort of miracle healer. Tharia felt the spark pulse in her chest and suppressed a smile. With Annie’s gift, she was. After the herbs came instructions for torture, carefully and meticulously planned out to keep the agony going for a pretty long time.

“This is something they make every new recruit copy by hand”, he added and then averted his eyes.

“People hate the Verholdens”, Tharia said and shrugged her shoulders, “So do I. When I get my hands on my brother, there’ll be little left of him. Admittedly, it won’t be as colorful as this. Still, why show me this?”

“Well Fraulein Linde, if I ever come across a Verholden, you now know what I will have to do”, Ravid added while pursing his lips.

Quite the way to tell her to hide who she was. She had gotten the message the first time and it was made all the clearer by seeing those people strung up. If she hadn’t understood it by the time colourful songs sang about their dismemberment, this warning wouldn’t help either. Annabelle suddenly leaned closer and whispered three words into her ear.

“He wants forgiveness”, she said.

Forgiveness? What for? Tharia exchanged glances between her love and the young boy that had played knight and was now a soldier. Suddenly, realization dawned upon her. It had nothing to do with the notebook, that was just a way to incite negative emotions from her. He wanted to be hated, something she understood on a deeper level. And now forgiveness? What manner of convoluted thinking was this? In a way it made sense to her on a remote level, mostly by applying her own twisted logic to it. Something had made the boy hate himself, thus he now worked to get others to hate him as well but what he really wanted was someone to tell him he was alright. She had been in that position in the past.

“Where are the others?” Tharia asked on a hunch.

Bullseye. The young boy locked up and wrapped his arms around his chest. He remained silent.

“Tell me what happened to you”, she insisted and the boy finally relented. His shoulders sagged and he sighed.

“Got them all killed. I fancied myself a leader, propped everyone up in armor and promises of glory”, his voice cracked, “the fields ate three of us. More died to the Hybrids before they became observers.”

Tharia was in a predicament. Truth be told, she found herself uncaring. Everyone had been through a bad time and the suffering of a young boy wasn’t relevant to her. At the same time, she found herself unable to not care. He had helped them and even lied for her. She moved over towards him and pulled him into a friendly embrace. The world was a shit place and she was a shitty person, but sometimes that’s all there was available.

“Shh, it’s okay. You did what you could”, Tharia said and patted his head. She shot an apologetic sideglance towards Annabelle but the goddess showed her a weak smile.

“Ja, I did the best I could. Got the rest killed in a clash with survivors in the fourth Ring”, he said, “It was a stupid misunderstanding. We found this huge hole in the ground with creepy sounds coming out of it. Some young girl shot an arrow at us, I think it was supposed to be a warning but we struck back. When that old lady died, it became a massacre.”

He hid his face in his hands. Sobbing could be heard from within. Tharia simply kept patting his head and softly rocked his body as one would do with a child. In a manner of ways, he still was a young teenager. It was just easy to forget with how quickly he had to age. She mulled what she heard over in her head and came to a simple conclusion: that old lady had been Mayleen and her not so merry band of survivors.

“And so you joined these folks?” Tharia inquired while pointing towards the warcamp rushing by outside.

“They aren’t good people, but I didn’t want to be alone anymore”, he sobbed in reply, “Since then I’ve killed a dozen or so.”

She got the meaning he wasn’t talking about monsters. Still, what was she supposed to do now? None of her societal masks was prepared for any of this. In the end, all she could do was to be herself. She gave him a friendly hug and then pulled back.

“You know Ravid, I could tell you everything is going to be alright and that it wasn’t your fault. It’s what everyone always does in these moments, isn’t it? But let’s be real, it’s just a different word for leave me alone with this, deal with it yourself. I’m not going to do that.”

“No?” he said, his voice filled with confusion.

“Nah. I’m a cynical piece of shit that lucked out with the girl of my dreams. Truth is there’s no easy way. You could bottle it up inside, bad way, I tried”, she offered a shrug along with her words, “Or maybe you’re a death seeker. If you ask me, that’s stupid. Well you are asking me, so here’s my three-point plan to deal with messes”

Tharia got up and switched back to Annabelle’s side. She then wrapped an arm around her lover and leaned her head against the shoulder. Too late she realized it wasn’t exactly clean but who was, at this point in time? She then held up a hand and counted on her fingers while explaining.

“Step one. Find the root of the problem. Realize where you went wrong. Step two. Try to be better. Avoid your mistakes. Step three. Create good memories, for you, for others.”

She wouldn’t win any prizes for that speech. Others would have filled it with pathos and hopeful messages. Well, it was the end of days and the boy Ravid would have to deal with his problems on his own. In the end, she wasn’t sure the way was working for her either.

“Thank you Tharia”, Ravid said after a while, “I’m not sure I get it, but you tried”

A consolation price. She showed him a wide smile and saw him blush in response. It didn’t take much to recognize he was developing a crush on her, so to cut it short, she quickly kissed Annabelle and then said.

“I love you. You’re the only thing in my world”, in the direction of the silver-haired beauty. What had started as a way to discourage a young man’s blossoming emotions, soon turned into an obsession as she couldn’t stop smiling. If the price of her dream coming true was the end of the world, for her that was a fair trade to make.

**

The carriage stopped in the center of the park. It had moved at a snail’s pace in the end as more and more people blocked the path ahead. Tharia reached for her staff and then gave Sisi a quick examination. The sprite was still out cold and before Ravid could get any more interested, she quickly covered up the cage and then stepped outside. Annabelle was already standing there. She had dismissed all of her weapons, save for a single Warfan and a ring on her finger that Tharia hadn’t seen before. It glinted golden, so she automatically assumed it was something divine.

Those divine weapons and items made no sense to her. With each measure of power Annabelle absorbed, a new kind of item manifested. Yet what gave them their shape? It had seemingly nothing to do with the essence Annabelle took. To her knowledge, that Eleanor woman had never had contact with Turesai, yet one of the most exotic weapons of their culture found their way into Annabelle’s hands. Similarly, nothing about the slimy Lord Farian had suggested strength like those gloves did. A short phantom pain reminded her of the time the goddess had tried to gently push her with those things on.

Allowing her mind to wander got her into bad water. Literally. She suddenly found herself covered head to toe in muddy snow as the carriage moved on without them. Ravid looked her over and suddenly laughed. At least one person was getting something out of this. No, Annabelle laughed too. Two people were happy and the more grumpy she looked, the more they laughed.

“Can we got somewhere warm before I discover my violent urges”, she said and wrapped her hands around the staff in a mock threat.

“Ja, let’s meet the big guy. He should be in”, Ravid said and gestured towards a large tent. Red and golden in color, it easily dwarved the other tents around it. A constant stream of people entered and left. She even saw a handful of Turesai, although she only recognized them thanks to their family tattoos. Not that she was one to talk with her living plant thing. Ravid led them inside and even from quite some distance away, she heard the loud voice of a man drown out everyone else.

She liked the tone. It had a good-natured tone to it and was often interspersed with laughter and a joke. It was quite a different atmosphere from the realities of a warcamp outside. The owner of the voice was a bear of a man. He stood on top of a rug that looked like some of the monsters Tharia had seen in the outer districts. His size was what stood out most to Tharia. If she were to stand on her toes, she might be lucky to reach up to his belly. She had always been a bit on the small side, all things considered, thank you very much. But this was something else.

“You will be well rewarded, Captain”, the large man said, “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m seeing another reason to keep this war going”

The large man focussed his eyes on Tharia and Annabelle and with him, the rest of the camp did as well. One shady looking bugger to the side suddenly wolf-whistles at the sight of Annabelle. Truly, not even blood and gore in her clothes could take away from her otherworldly looks. Yet the large man did something that baffled Tharia. He stepped off the monster rug and then knocked the shady bugger out with a punch straight to the face. That went a bit too far, in her opinion.

“Ah, that’s no way to treat guests”, he bellowed and then grinned towards the two women and Ravid “You brought us new friends. We always like friends. Come, let’s talk.”

Tharia found herself in a chair that must have been made for the large man. She looked like a child in comparison and half-disappeared on it. The other two didn’t fare much better though, which was a small consolation. They had been led to a sequestered part of the tent. It even helped in keeping the noise of the camp outside.

“Name is Shal-rin”, the large man said. A set of scars ran along his face and now that she looked closer, she recognized that they had roughly the same trace as Turesai family tattoos. Shal-rin fixed his gaze on Annabelle, looking her over with mild but not sexual interest and then did the same with her as well.

“What do you say your name was?” he said in Tharia’s direction.

“Tharia Linde”, she quickly lied.

“Smart girl. Why are you here?” he further inquired.

“To kill what’s left of the Verholden family”, Tharia said without hesitation. The large man suddenly leaned towards her, his presence dwarved her so easily, that she suddenly felt insignificant in comparison. One of his hands could easily crush her in two.

“I like people with brains. Ravid, friend, you’ve only been with us for a short time, but you’ve given me a wonderful gift already. Can you introduce them to me, please?” Shal-rins jovial manner set Tharia on edge. He snipped a finger and young Ravid shuddered as if woken from deep slumber. Something about Shal-rin seemed familiar to her, like a distant memory that slipped out of her grasp. A sudden fear rose in her chest.

“T-they are Annabelle and Th-tharia L-L-inde”, Ravid stuttered during his lie but got more self-assured when he stuck closer to the truth, “They helped me with Lord Farian.”

Shal-rin let out a sigh and leaned back in his large chair. The poor wood groaned under his massive weight and his fingers tapped onto the table. He let out a frustrated groan and clicked his tongue.

“Try again, Ravid. I like smart people. Be smart”, he said.

“Annabelle and Tharia”, Ravid began again, “They helped with Farian. It’s the truth.”

“Loyalty is a good as well - although I’m always envious of when people are loyal to others and not me. Let me introduce them to you instead then, dear Ravid. May it educate you”, Shal-rin said and stood up. He walked over towards Annabelle and placed his massive hands on her chair. His fingers dug into the wood and it cracked underneath his pressure.

“Annabelle. The last remaining goddess on this whole wide world. And what a goddess she is, don’t you feel her lure, little boy? She is obsession personified. But this one is more interesting to me”, the large man said and walked over towards Tharia. Her heart rate jumped to erratic levels. She had to calm her breath. He only needed to slap her once and she’d be dead. His hands dug down into the chair she sat in.

“This one, dear Ravid. Let me ask you one more time. Be smart, boy. Who is she?” he said and looked at Ravid.

“She is my good friend Tharia Lin...”, the young man replied but was interrupted by Tharia.

“He knows, Ravid. He does. I’m Tharia von Verholden. The unwanted child with evil blood in her veins. A tomboy and troublemaker, broken toy of Frederickus von Verholden, I’m the cripple in the golden cage and the murderous cunt that will murder her own brother for the joy of it. Now, the question is, who are you, Shal-rin?”

The large man suddenly let go of the chair and walked back to his side. His facial expression didn’t tell Tharia anything. Fine sweat had formed on her forehead. Any chances of keeping this hush-hush were gone in a moment of glorious Tharia self-sabotage. Yet, he really did know so keeping the lie going would have just angered him. Probably. She felt like she was walking on the edge of a blade and that blade had the most winning smile she had ever seen.

“Oi wai, good question there. When you were born, some said I was the father”, he said grinning, “Your mother had a taste for infidelity. But, well, let’s just say one look at us and we can conclude we’re not family.”

He was right about that. Yet she wasn’t quite sure what the large man was getting at. His grin widened even further.

“Go ahead, be honest with us. Continue your introduction, your claim to fame is rather... peculiar”, the man said.

Tharia narrowed her eyebrows. What precisely was he getting at? She had been locked up and shunned all her youth. Shal-rin placed all his fingers together and the grin disappeared. His voice took on a low tone.

“She’s an inspiration to us all. The first in centuries to successfully kill a Verholden. Tharia, the bastard child that killed her mother.”

No, no, no. She hadn’t. Absolutely not. Her mother was on a diplomatic mission, wasn’t she? Hadn’t she been gone for a long time? Surely her mother was alive but why couldn’t she remember her face anymore. She quickly pushed those thoughts aside.

“What will you do with us now?” she said and Shal-rin started to laugh.

“Not so fast, little one. If you don’t tell them, I will”, he said and cracked his knuckles, “Don’t worry, I won’t kill you. You’re our patron saint after all. So go ahead, tell them. They don’t seem to know this side of you.”

She had not killed anyone. There was no way. Except she had killed already. The first time she took care of Annabelle in the fifth district, there had been human survivors she had stolen from. It was a question of who got to eat and she much preferred to eat something herself. While they had not been harmed directly, they would have to deal with hunger in a place where barely anything was left. She held up her hand and saw an ivy circle around her outstretched fingers as if it was constricting them.

Suddenly, she felt like a child again. One that had been broken. She was all alone with no one that cared for her. Her only friend had given her the divine spark and then left her to die. One night, she heard her brother come for her. With the memory and pain of her shattered spine fresh in memory, she had grabbed a dull kitchen knife and waited behind the door.

When a figure walked in, she stabbed the dull blade into the person with a shrill scream. Not once, not twice. She could count up to ten back then and she had far exceeded that. She remembered years of being beaten up, years of being abused, years of having no worth, being left alone, with no one to give her warmth. All those repressed emotions, the cries for help, the bitter tears she cried at night, the pain she suffered, the agony she woke up with every morning, they pushed to the fore as she kept stabbing the knife into the body. It was the reality of being blamed for what had happened to her, the truth of seeing her brother praised for his accomplishments when he had stolen from her, it was envy of being the ugly one, the suffering of being called a boy because her figure wouldn’t grow womanly, all the that pushed her over the edge. Bit by bit, an eternity of repression opened up at once.

Large hands had picked her up from the floor back then, she remembered a face adorned with family tattoos. An exceptionally large man took the knife from her hands and then smeared the blood on his clothes. She remembered the mess of flesh on the ground. It wasn’t her brother. Yet worst of all, in her mind they all deserved a familiar fate. None of her brood had ever treated her as anything but garbage.

“You were there”, she said with a hollow voice, “You’re right. When I tried to defend myself from my brother, I’ve killed her instead. I remember you now, you looked different back then. That night, you left and I remember the hounds and riders going on a manhunt.”

Shal-rin finally leaned back in his large chair and wrapped his arms around his chest. He grunted and then spoke, “So you do remember me. I took the fall for you. In a way, you woke me up. Day in, day out I had seen what those beasts did to you and all the others. It’s a shame to me and my people that never once I dared stop them. That night, I saw the chance to do right and took it. Since then I’ve sworn to end your dynasty.”

Not a single feeling was inside of her. She was just empty. Familicide, the priest creature had said. It hadn’t been wrong. She really was a murderer and had managed to repress it all. Now that it had come back out, all that was there was emptiness and apathy. Annabelle had a look on her face that could also be found on a statue. Ravid, however, was utterly dumbstruck, his face was pale and he looked like he had not just seen a ghost but also made a pact with it.

“Do you regret what you did?” Shal-rin suddenly asked. Tharia mulled the question over in her mind. He could have asked if she was a good person and her answer would be the same.

“No. Maybe I did back then but now I’m here to end it all. They threw me out to die and in turn I became Death”, Tharia said and wrapped her hand into a fist. In the meantime, a blue corpse flower had bloomed on the back of her hand. It was curious how the movement only happened when no one looked at it. She felt a soft hand touch hers and when she looked up, she noticed Annabelle’s face show concern for her. Tharia pushed her lower lips forward and let out a sigh of exasperation.

“I’m sorry, you’re right Annie. Truth be told, I don’t really know. Back then I snapped. All things considered, it was self-defense from my abusive family. But today, I’m here for two reasons. To help my love and to end my brother. I’d like to say I’m a good girl but I’m really not.”

Shal-rin rested his massive had on the back of his hands. He kept his gaze on Tharia with slightly raised eyebrows and wrinkles on his forehead.

“In this camp, you’re Tharia Linde”, he finally said, “And I’m happy you’re here. Your presence has rekindled my purpose.”

“So you will kill us now?” she asked. Shul-rin shook his head.

“This war is a stupid thing. When the fall came, I tried to rally people to fight back against the monsters. Too many died to petty arguments and bickering”, he said and scratched his chin, “There’s one thing only that unites humans. It’s war against other humans. I don’t really want those people to die but take a look around, they’ve got a purpose now. There’s food for everyone, shelter, many of them haven’t had a life this good in long months of fear.”

“But those notebooks?” Ravid interjected.

“It’s imperative for a war that people consider themselves the good ones and the others the bad ones. Little boy, I really like you, so let me tell you something. Those folks we string up every day, they’re as innocent as you and me. Well not me. It’s what war does to people, they need a target for their impulses. My notebook does that. Half those names are made up too. It’s just that this insanity is better than the insanity of a slow decline at insurmountable odds.”

Congratulations, Tharia thought by herself. They had found the one nutjob left on the world that was more messed up in the head than she was herself. Tharia fell back on her hollow emotions. There was a curiosity that had taken root inside of her. She saw a clear line of guilt starting from her having lost it, directly to this war that swallowed up innocent people. Her mind recognized it but for the first time in a long time, she couldn’t see herself as the one guilty for it. This wasn’t her fault.

Shal-rin stretched his arms and yawned, “I’ll be honest with you girl. If those people out there realize who you are, it won’t be pretty. So here’s my offer. You’ll stay here until you’re rested and I’ll keep them away from you. Should you wish to strike down your brother, we’ll give you a diversion in two days earliest. I’m sorry for not stepping in back then. No child should suffer as you did.”

Hours had passed but Tharia still didn’t feel a single thing. There was nothing when they had been given a warm meal and no reaction at all during her shower. She was now sitting next to a sleeping Annabelle and was still filled with apathy. Her eyes lingered on Annabelle’s shape and she soaked in how parts of Annie’s pale skin peeked out from under the blanket. She barely noticed the thick tent around them. It worked surprisingly well to keep the noise outside and it was their own personal space in this camp.

Tharia averted her gaze and looked once more at her own hands. They looked delicate, small and if it weren’t for the living plant tattoo, she’d call them normal. Yet those were the hands of a murderer. Once on impulse, whatever consolation that was, but soon it would be premeditated killing - cold and uncaring murder of an illness upon the world. Who was she to begrudge the warcamp around her, when her own path was one of bloodshed?

Yet whenever she played the scenario through in her head, she couldn’t do it. There was a difference still between acting on blind instinct and doing it with intention. What would happen if she were to meet him again? She suddenly wrapped her arms around her naked chest and shivered. It had been cold for a while but this chill came from deep within. Meeting him would break her. She knew that much. With the chill came other emotions: Vulnerability and solitude. For all her bluster, she really was just a frail young woman.

Tharia rested herself next to Annabelle and then, with a quiet chuckle, snuggled herself underneath the hair-kraken. She really loved the silky touch of it on her skin, even if it occasionally strangled her or woke her from her slumber. Being this close to her love brought a bit of warmth to her but it wasn’t anywhere near enough. She snaked an arm under the blanket and traced her cold fingers along the skin of an arm.

The warmth grew inside of her, fascination became an obsession and urge. Tharia realized her hands had started to wander from the arm to the chest and it’s here where she stopped herself for now.

“Annie”, she whispered into Annabelle’s ear and barely resisted the urge to nibble on it.

“Hmmm?” came a sleepy reply.

“Can I ask you something?” Tharia said.

“You’re already doing just that”, Annabelle replied with a touch of grumpiness. She turned her head and slapped Tharia with a silvery curtain of hair in the process. A shiver ran through Tharia. Now that her love was awake, the warmth had spread like wildfire.

“Let me touch you”, Tharia whispered and finally leaned in to wrap her soft lips around the earlobe. Annabelle blinked in surprise.

“What?” came her sleepy reply. Impatience took hold of her, she wanted more and she was fairly sure so did the picture of perfection right next to her.

“I want you”, she tried again but kept her approaches to a minimum. The fire was everywhere inside of her. She had become sensitive to the smallest touch of wind and just feeling the soft touch of the ear was enjoyable already.

“For what?” Annabelle said with a flat expression.

“Oh, gods cursed bullshit. I want to screw your brains out you numbskull”, Tharia suddenly shouted. Moments later, she realized it was probably loud enough that anyone outside the tent could hear it too.

“What with?” the goddess continued with that same expression. Tharia groaned in reply and pulled her hand back. She turned around but before she could snatch up her own blanket, she felt a warm hand slide over her bare stomach. It traipsed soft fingers around her navel, causing Tharia to bite her lower lip. Soon, a second hand joined the first, this one traced her shoulders and merged with the sudden touch of lips on her neck. She heard a series of short sucking sounds but could do nothing but surrender.

The hand on her shoulder left a sudden wet trail, that made it all the more noticeable just where exactly it was headed. She felt the fine hair on her arms stand up, her breathing became ragged as the fingers circled in on her left breast. Tharia was frozen with anticipation. Touch it already. Please, she thought and closed her eyes. The touches came ever closer and when Annabelle shifted behind her, she felt two large pillows of soft flesh press against her back. Her voice cracked into a quiet moan, yet still, the fingers would not touch her breast. Just as she was getting antsy, Annabelle pressed her hand down on her body. Just... it wasn’t on her small breast - it was the other hand that had made sudden contact with her lower lips.

A strong urge pulsed from her nether regions and blanked her mind momentarily, she didn’t even notice she was biting down on her own hand until the subtle pain told her a second later. This was too much. She forced herself free from Annabelle’s probing hands and then quickly turned around. The way her lover gazed at her with slightly parted lips drove her bold. With no patience at all, she shoved Annabelle on her back. The pale beauty looked at her with wide eyes that Tharia could not resist. She quickly inched closer and straddled her. They locked eyes for what seemed like an eternity. Annabelle was on the floor, her quick breathing moved her breasts in intoxicatingly small circles. Tharia wasn’t looking at them directly, but she noticed. With sudden greed, she pressed her right hand down on Annabelle’s curves, her index finger ever so casually brushed along the tip.

Seeing Annabelle shudder from the touch, she just had to tease her again. She teased the nipple a second and a third time but when the reactions grew more subtle, Tharia lifted her bottom and slid down along that wonderfully pale flesh. Teasing was wonderful, but she wanted to taste and to consume.

Her lips sucked in the other nipple. Annabelle arched her back with such force, that it nearly threw Tharia off. Just the sight of her reaction made her shiver as well. With renewed vigor, she firmly re-wrapped her lips around the tip and then teased it with the tip of her tongue. Annabelle’s fragrance was quite subtle but it was a taste that was so quintessentially her, that Tharia couldn’t help but taste the sweetness of it in her mouth. She let go with a loud pop but her tongue still touched the flesh. Like that, she ran her right hand along Annabelle’s belly and pushed her flat palm between the legs she had spent hours fantasizing about.

With a trail of kisses, during which she never once allowed the tongue to leave the skin, she had soon reached Annabelle’s abdomen. The sounds that came out of her lover had taken on a needy tone that pushed her to action. She lowered her head further and let her tongue reach the edge of where she was headed. There she stopped with a teasing smirk on her lips. That, however, was a tease too far as two strong hands grabbed her short hair and pushed her head further down with urgent need.

When Tharia woke up the next morning, she had no idea just how long they had been at it. Her voice was hoarse and so was Annabelle’s. She felt a numb feeling in her jaw and when she stretched her arms to yawn, she noticed an adorable trail of fingernails along her naked chest. A sudden squeaky voice from a place at the edge of the tent drew her attention.

“You fucking rabbits”, Sisi said and let out a long and exasperated sigh. Tharia shuffled over and lifted the curtain of the cage to see a groggy and very disheveled looking sprite.

“I hope we didn’t keep you up”, Tharia said with a smirk that signaled she only half meant the apology.

“Me and the whole bloody camp. We’re going to see a lot of odd faces today.”

This finally got Tharia to feel a bit of guilty conscience. She looked back at the nude and snoring body of her lover and forgot all about it that second. Screw guilty conscience. She’d do it again right this second if Annabelle was awake. She shook her head. Maybe that really was the Lust aura talking. Returning her attention to the spirit, she tilted her head and looked at it.

“Are you alright? I’m sorry for what happened and... I’m really thankful for what you did to me”, Tharia said and bowed her head in appreciation. This time, she really meant it.

“It’s nothing. I’m fine. Just got zapped by a bunch of very ugly memories. Your mother, she...”

Tharia nodded, “I killed her. I know. I’m sorry you had to see that.”

Well, that was one way to spoil the mood. Tharia sighed and sat down on her heels. She looked up at the ceiling of the tent and breathed in deep. Deep within, she had hoped to have more time to prepare for her confrontation with her brother, maybe face a few more nightmarish monsters to be ready to take on the worst of them all. Yet everything suddenly came crashing down on her. Memories, old sins and the ties that bind.

“I hope I can go through with this”, Tharia said and formed a fist.

“You can’t. I’ve been inside of you and I yes, I do realize after what I had to hear last night, your mind instantly went there – but girl, this will eat you alive and spit you out to rot. You’re not ready. I will tell Annabelle you’re not ready and if you insist on going, I will sabotage you every step of the way.”

“Sisi, am I just a puppet?” she said in reply to the sprite.

“What? No”

“Then don’t treat me like one. All my life I’ve tried to walk my own path and every single time it turned out I was still someone’s plaything”, Tharia explained with a raised finger. A small part of her felt silly for talking to a small fairytale creature inside of a staff.

“I know full well myself I’m not ready for this, but look Sisi - you saw how broken my body is. Tell me, Sisi, was I ever ready for that?”

The elemental grew quiet and then shook its tiny head. Tharia continued.

“No one ever is. I appreciate that you’re looking out for me but this I must do. Either I find a way in time, or I will fail – but both options happen on my accord, my rules, and my decision. Okay?”

This time Sisi replied with a curt, “Okay.”

And after another moment of silence, the squeaky voice rang out again, “Oh, do you reckon she still has her brains?”

Tharia held her breath. Sisi couldn’t have been awake for that, could she?

“Don’t tell me you...”

“Fucking rabbits”, the elemental said and tugged close the curtain. Annoyed grumbling came out of the small cage. Maybe no one else had heard it. A loud cough from outside drew her attention. She quickly wrapped a blanket around her chest, checked to see if Annabelle was covered and then hurried towards the entrance. Ravid stood outside with bright red ears. He handed her a tablet with two cups of tea.

“For the voice”, he said while trying to hide his embarrassment.

Gods be cursed.

End: Calm before the slaughter | Coming up: Into the fog, once more