Chapter Three

Strain

‘Nalithor really does have a nice body.’ I watched the Adinvyr carry a heaping pile of broken branches from the cave mouth and to some sort of doorway in the back of the cave. ‘Why, exactly, is there a doorway in a cave anyway?’

This time, Nalithor didn’t fly out of the cave again upon reemerging from the stone “house”. Instead, he strode over to the fire and added a few branches from a nearby stack. He had his hair pulled up and away from his back, but much of it had gone astray while he worked.

It looked as though Nalithor had been working for a while. A fine coat of dirt covered much of his skin and he had dried blood in places. The amount was small, so I figured the underbrush in the valley below must have scrapped him. At any rate, he seemed like he was trying very hard to distract himself and keep busy.

I certainly didn’t mind that he’d chosen to go without a shirt.

After a few moments of silent observation, I glanced down at the blanket on my lap and then to my left. ‘Tea? When did that get here? I wasn’t that out of it…was I?’

I downed the tea in a few gulps and then rose to my feet, bringing the blanket with me. Despite my complaints about the heat earlier, I was freezing. The night winds drifting into the cave didn’t help matters, and the heat from the fire plus a blanket simply weren’t enough to combat it anymore.

The temperature was the least of my worries, for the moment, so I wrapped the fluff around my shoulders and then approached Nalithor and the fire.

“Are you alright, Nalithor?” I questioned with a small frown. “I didn’t mean to borrow your power—”

“Am I alright?” Nalithor pivoted to arch an eyebrow at me. “You mean to say that you weren’t in some sort of trance for the past few hours? The way you behaved was similar to when you released Ceilail.”

‘He sounds tetchy…’ I tugged my blanket tighter around me. “I was just really focused—I was mostly aware. Really though, I didn’t mean to draw on—”

“That you drew on my power is the least of my concerns.” Nalithor sighed and turned to face me fully. “We are hundreds of feet off the ground, Arianna, and you just strolled out of the cave as if it were nothing. I thought you were going to fall!

“And then to command Chaos Beasts to die? The magics you called upon—”

“I won’t deny that I was running on pretty much all instinct,” I interjected with a sheepish smile. “You didn’t answer me! Are you alright? I’m not sure how much of your power I took, let alone how much I used or returned, so—”

“I am fine but you are not.” Nalithor closed the distance between us and caught me when I staggered. “You shouldn’t push yourself so hard, Arianna. Alala informed me that you strained your remaining seals when you fought me in Draemir.

“Take it easy and rest while we can. I’m not certain how long we will be safe here.”

“I’m not ‘pushing’ myself, the seals are just holding me back!” I protested before nudging Nalithor’s chest with one finger. “You are covered in dirt. What is that thing you put in the back of the cave? What did you learn from the tribesmen? What—”

“Come, we can talk after we bathe.” Nalithor pulled me toward the back of the cave.

“Bathe? Bathe where?” I pointed over my shoulder at the cave entrance. “Wouldn’t we need to find a stream or a lake?”

Nalithor simply chuckled and drew me through the door I had seen him pass through several times prior. A cottage was the last thing I expected to walk into, yet there it was. Crystals aglow with Magelight hung from the walls and ceiling, illuminating what would otherwise have been a very dark little building. We passed a kitchen, giving me a glimpse of an oven, stove, and sink powered by fire and water crystals.

A small bath sat adjacent to the single bedroom of the cottage. I stared with fascination at the water crystals that rested above one end of the bath—water poured endlessly from them into the small pool below. How in the hells any of it functioned was beyond me.

“What is this?” I turned to look over my shoulder at Nalithor, only to find he had already stripped off the remainder of his clothing and was approaching the bath.

“A limited commodity,” Nalithor responded after a brief pause. His tail swayed through the water behind him as he thought. “Normally we only use Magitech like this when there’s an emergency; an unavoidable storm, severe injuries, and so on. I brought several such devices with me so that we can set up safe havens for ourselves across Falrrsald.”

“You didn’t need to waste on on—” I started, but fell silent when Nalithor turned to give me a sharp look.

“It is not a waste.” Nalithor faced away from me once more and growled. “You need to regain your strength. Preferably before we move on to investigate the Vulei River.

“If I can provide you with a safe haven to recover, then that is what I will do. Once I am satisfied that you have regained enough power, we will move on. For now…”

Nalithor trailed off and twitched in response to my hand coming to rest on his back. He shot me a questioning look over his shoulder when I reached around him with my palm facing up.

“You are absolutely filthy,” I informed him. “Hand me a cloth.”

“We can’t let anyone know that you borrowed power from me.” Nalithor sighed, handed me a washcloth, and then sat with his back to me. “Suffice to say that the Elders would be displeased.”

“I think our first order of business should be what I saw by the Vulei River,” I murmured while scrubbing the dirt from Nalithor’s back. “It struck me as familiar, but I couldn’t find anything in my memories that matched it.”

“Familiar?” Nalithor looked over his shoulder again. “Can I take a look?”

“Don’t want me ‘straining’ myself by giving you the images directly?” I shot him a pout.

“Something like that.” Nalithor pivoted to slide an arm around my waist and pulled me against his side. His gaze drifted down my throat and to my chest for a moment before he looked back to my face with a smirk. “Perhaps your mind wasn’t what I wanted to take a look at?”

“H-hey! That’s cheating!” My face burned bright. Nalithor chuckled and bent down to nuzzle my throat, lifting me partially out of the water in the process.

“Hmmm, silver and crimson magic?” Nalithor murmured into my shoulder. He pulled me closer to his chest before continuing, “As I said, you’re severely weakened. Taking a look at your thoughts is as easy as—”

“Oh hush!” I swept Nalithor’s feet out from under him and dunked him under the surface of the water. “You don’t have to rub it in! At least let me maintain some sense of— Eek!”

Nalithor’s tail coiled around my ankles and pulled me underwater as well. When I resurfaced, most of my hair had fallen over my face. After peeling my soaked curls out of the way, I almost wished I hadn’t. At least my hair would have hidden the color my face turned when I found Nalithor facing me fully in the bath. He had reclined against the edge and was watching me with a smug smirk.

‘I’m never going to get used to his comfort with nudity…’ I glanced away. ‘Where am I even supposed to look?’

“Your turn.” Nalithor lifted a washcloth in one hand and beckoned me with the other. “As fun as it may be to play with you in the bath, I should insist that we discuss what you saw first. I also wish to hear if you had any revelations during your meditation earlier.”

“Meditation?” I questioned before perching near Nalithor.

“I don’t know what else to call it,” Nalithor murmured, running his fingertips down my back. “Alala said that I shouldn’t bother you while you were in that state, but…”

“That tickles!” I interrupted, squirming away from his hand. “This isn’t conducive—”

Nalithor pulled me onto one thigh and nuzzled my shoulder, purring, as his grip relaxed. I bit back a shiver and did my best to keep my eyes from wandering down the Adinvyr’s body. For a moment, I thought that his intent was to feed from me. Instead, he just held me there and rested his head against my shoulder.

“This magic you saw—you believe it originates from somewhere west of here?” Nalithor asked.

“I can only assume so,” I replied with a short nod. “It was stronger to the west, but dissipating to the east. However, I’ve never seen magic that resembled veins. Or magic that is silver and red, or—”

“When we were children, and I could still see magic, we once came across silver and red magic.” Nalithor lifted me out of the bath and then offered me a towel before continuing, “If the stories are to be believed, a lost city known as ‘Drataemir’ ran off magic of ‘moonlight and blood’.

“Supposedly it is a place where Devillians and deities lived alongside each other—other stories claim that it is where the Elders reside, or that it’s a remnant from a previous world.”

“Well, it does seem odd to have a legend about something like that.” I frowned while drying myself off. “Since deities already live alongside mortals, I have to ask where such a legend originated.”

“You hated the stories of Drataemir when you were a child, too. You always claimed they were ‘wrong’ but you could never explain why.” Nalithor chuckled and moved away from me to dress himself. “Although I knew we would likely be in Falrrsald for a few weeks—even a few months—I never imagined we would come across so many strange things. Or at least, not this quickly.

“Shall we have dinner in the cottage? Or do you intend to keep watching me like I am your meal?”

“I wasn’t…” I sighed while fastening the buttons of my pajamas. “I want to take a look at the valley and the magics below, so I’ll eat outside.”

“You should wait until you’ve rested.” Nalithor paused and turned to me with his shirt undone, a small frown settling on his features.

“It isn’t that big of a strain.” I shook my head, approached him, and fastened the buttons of his shirt for him. “If it makes you more comfortable, you or Alala can stop me if you believe my seals are being tested again.

“Now then, what did you learn from the tribesmen?”

“They’ve spotted unusual deities wandering through Falrrsald the last few months,” Nalithor replied, displeased, as he led me to the kitchen. “The descriptions they gave were not of any Exiles I’m aware of. However, they didn’t match the descriptions of any deities I know either.”

“Do you think their memories were tampered with?”

“That, shapeshifters, or perhaps the ‘Elders’ failed to inform me that they created new gods.”

New gods seemed unlikely to me. That the false Elders had somehow made Nalithor the God of Balance was already impossible enough on its own. I believed that the Lari’xan, the true Elders, must have interfered somehow in order to give Nalithor the role.

Nalithor was, undeniably, the God of Balance. It wasn’t a title that he pretended to have or was tricked into believing.

However, the fakes I’d met thus far were just so…weak. There was no way they could have given Nalithor such a high role—and I doubted they could make anyone a deity. It seemed much more likely to me that they were taking credit for someone else’s work.

“Tea?” Nalithor’s question startled me into looking up at him. “Ah… You were in thought again? My apologies.”

“It’s fine.” I shook my head. “Tea sounds good. Are nights always so cold in Falrrsald?”

“The problem is that we are underground.” Nalithor moved away from me and over to the stove. “Also the fact that this cave is on a cliff face, I suppose. We are rather high up, if you didn’t notice during your display earlier.

“If you still insist on eating outside you should grab a robe. Hmmm…and some blankets for us as well.”

“Us? You’re coming too?” I tilted my head, watching as his tail jerked to the side. ‘Why did he flinch? Did something happen while I was reviewing my memories?’

“If I’m not invited…” Nalithor sighed, his shoulders slumping.

“That’s not what I meant.” I took several strides towards him and then tugged on his damp hair. “You seemed distracted and tense most of today. I thought you would want to relax where it’s warm. I think, by now, you should know that your company is more than welcome.

“Now then, how can I help?”

Nalithor turned to answer, but a variety of loud warbles form Alala interrupted him. The fuzz ball trotted into the kitchen, leapt onto the table, and then continued to make shrill noises at the Adinvyr. I glanced to the side at Nalithor when his tail twitched into my legs, and then I looked back to Alala.

They both seemed quite irritated.

‘Just how much does that fox eat?’ Nalithor muttered, striding away from the counter and over to Alala with a bowl of meats.

‘Don’t let her small size deceive you.’ I smiled at him. ‘She eats about as much as a full-grown one of her kind would.’

‘I suppose that could explain why she has been pestering me for food.’ Nalithor snorted, shaking his head. ‘I’ll carry our food and tea, you bring pillows and blankets for us—they’re in the bedroom closet.’

A short while later I found myself situated near the cave mouth. The winds were indeed strong, but the scenery before me kept my attention. Night had fallen in its entirety by now, illuminating the landscape with the light of Avrirsa’s triplet moons. Even from this high above the valley floor I could spot the corpses of the beasts I had slain earlier.

However, what struck me as most interesting was the dim red-orange glows bobbing through the forests.

“The tribes have started looking for us already?” Nalithor’s breath slid across my neck, startling me into turning toward him. “Well, you did use some interesting magic. It’s not every day someone uses the sky as a weapon. Illusion or otherwise, the poor bastards likely thought the world was ending.”

“Why would they be looking for us though? At night no less?” I frowned up at Nalithor as he pulled me away from the cave mouth and over to the pile of blankets and pillows.

“Unless something has changed in recent months, the tribes of the valley are people we should avoid.” Nalithor pulled me down beside him and then sighed. “They believe that deities are meant to be incorporeal, and that if a deity is found in the flesh it is because we were cursed. As such, they seek to return us to ‘our realm’ in order to gain our favor.”

“So, something has been eating magic near the border with Vorpmasia, the Vulei River has turned from water into darkness,” I began, counting off on my fingers as I spoke. “Strange silver and crimson magic stretches across Falrrsald like veins, we have to watch out for the massive creatures native to this region, and we have to be careful because of the tribes and their beliefs.

“Am I missing anything?”

“There are also the sightings of unusual deities,” Nalithor offered with an amused smile. “Not to mention we have to manage my hunger as well as yours, all while attempting to avoid straining your remaining seals.”

“And the fact you’ve been very tense since we arrived in Falrrsald,” I stated as he handed me a plate of food. “Care to share what’s bothering you?”

“I simply don’t like Falrrsald.” Nalithor shook his head and then leaned back against the cave wall beside me. “Dangerous creatures and people aside, my instincts tell me that there’s something here I need to deal with—as the God of Balance. The Elders, however, disagree. They do not want any deity in Falrrsald unless it’s to deal with Exiles or with political matters for the Rilzaan Alliance.”

“Hmmm, you sense something ‘wrong’ here too?” I murmured, stabbing a piece of meat with my fork. ‘Still… I can’t put my finger on it. Falrrsald just feels so strange.’

“Let’s hurry with our dinner so you can take a look at the magic like you wanted.” Nalithor slipped an arm around my waist and pulled me closer. “We shouldn’t linger here for long. If you agree to let me do most of the fighting, we can be on our way in the morning.

“I want to put more distance between these tribes and us.”

“I can still fight!” I huffed, turning to shoot him a look. “I don’t need magic to fight. I can hold my own just fine without—”

“I want you to rest more before fighting.” Nalithor shook his head, a small smile on his lips. “Yes, you can hold your own either way. However, the faster you recover the better. I refuse to feed from you while you’re weakened, or while your seals are so fragile…but I need to feed soon.

“Since you can see magic, I’m sure I don’t have to tell you, of all people, that.”

“Fine, I’ll take it easy for a day or two.” I sighed and nodded. “Can’t have you getting so hungry that you feed from someone else, after all.”

“From someone else…” Nalithor trailed off into a growl, drawing my attention up to his face again. “You are my ayraziis, I am your nylziis. Betraying you in such a way would be—”

“Not what I meant!” I shook my head and shifted to face him. “Eventually your hunger will grow to an uncontrollable level, won’t it? I doubt either of us wants that to happen, so—”

“That degree of hunger is still far off,” Nalithor interjected, lifting his hands to my face. “As long as it doesn’t take you weeks—or months—to recover, I will be fine. Otherwise…we may have to find somewhere safe to hole up for a week or two.

“If I must feed from you while you’re weakened I insist we remain somewhere long enough for you to recover.”

I was about to reply to Nalithor, but a strange sound caught my attention and made me shift my attention away from him. Whatever it was, it didn’t sound natural. However, I didn’t know how to describe the sound other than “deep”.

“What is it?” Nalithor nudged me when I leaned around him to look toward the cave mouth. “Careful, you’ll spill your food.”

“Hmmm…” I placed my plate aside and then rose to my feet. “You didn’t hear it?”

I heard Nalithor rise to his feet before following me. He draped a blanket around my shoulders and then fell into step with me while I strode toward the open air. A small sigh of relief escaped his lips when I stopped at the edge. For me, however, relief was the last thing on my mind.

“You need to see this.” I blinked at the valley below me, watching as the silver and red magic twisted, flowed, and strengthened. The movements reminded me of water on a stormy day.

“But—” Nalithor began to protest, so I simply grabbed his hand and shared my vision with him. “It’s…growing? The magic you saw by Vulei was dissipating. So, whatever the source, it must be— Arianna?”

“Nnngh, it doesn’t sound right. I don’t like it,” I muttered, raising my free hand to my head. “I want to kill whatever is making that gods-damned racket! Where is it even coming from?”

“Calm down.” Nalithor slipped both arms around my waist and pulled me several paces away from the ledge. “You can’t go hunt it right now, and I shouldn’t go hunt it right now. Yet, if you keep this up…”

“Need to recover, and need to gather more information… Right?” I gnawed on my inner cheek before continuing, “Let’s pretend, for a moment, that there is some truth to the stories about Drataemir. If the city itself exists, and is the source of this strange magic, who—or what—would be keeping the city running?”

Nalithor remained silent as he pulled me back to our seats. I could tell from his expression that he was thinking, so I did my best not to pester him for a faster answer.

“Do you remember what you said to me in Limbo, when I asked you where you would like to go?” Nalithor asked, pulling me down to sit with him once more.

“In Limbo?” I tilted my head, thinking for a moment. “I asked you what the point was, since you were merging the worlds back together soon—” I paused with a small frown and then looked up at him. “Something like that is quite major. Why haven’t I heard anyone talking about it? Or seen something in books referencing it?”

“You’re not going to ask if I was unsuccessful?”

“Why would I ask that? You were successful.”

“Can you be sure?”

“Obviously I’m sure!” I snorted at him, waving one hand. “You succeeded in merging the worlds back together. X’shmir likely reappeared because of your success, along with who knows what else. Drataemir, if it actually exists, is probably some other anomaly that was banished to another realm when…?”

Nalithor placed a hand on top of my head and smiled at me when I trailed off. “You truly are bound tight to your heart, aren’t you, Arianna?”

“Huh?” I tugged his sleeve, attempting to dislodge his hand. “What do you mean?”

“The reason you have heard nothing of it is because everyone else has forgotten.” Nalithor shifted his hand up to cup my face, a small smile still playing on his lips. “Most of the stories surrounding Drataemir changed in the time the world was split apart from itself.

“When we were children, the story was simple; ‘Drataemir’ was a city from legend that was said to serve as a home to deities, Devillians, and Angels alike.

“After what I’ll refer to as the ‘Split’ for simplicity’s sake…stories changed. The people believed that the Mages of Drataemir were responsible for causing the Split. X’shmir, half of Falrrsald, and dozens of other Human cities and settlements disappeared from Avrirsa—leaving nothing but craters behind.”

“And after your work was done?” I questioned, snuggling closer to him. “Did the stories change again?”

“For the most part, stories went back to the original we heard as children.” Nalithor kept one arm around my waist and reached for his tea with the other. “However, the Humans and Elves who were trapped in another ‘version’ of Avrirsa had other stories to tell—this is where the stories of it being home to the Elders or a remnant of another world come in.

“A third, rather unpopular, story is that it is home to the Exiles. However, any time I come across news of someone who has actually been to Drataemir…they conveniently disappear.”

“The Elders’ doing?” I offered, watching Nalithor nod. “Even the other deities forgot about the Split?”

“That’s right.” Nalithor nodded. “I’m not supposed to look into the matter, under the Elders’ orders of course, and Lucifer is aware of this. He is one of the few people I told about the Split, and the shifting story of Drataemir.

“I think he sent us here with such a vague mission so that I can look into the matter on Vorpmasia’s behalf. However, we still need to be careful. We don’t want to rouse the Elders into taking action against us. If you sense anything else strange, I want you to tell me immediately—and show me, if able.”

“Anything strange?” I murmured, considering it for a moment. “Okay, if that’s what you want. Hmmm, do you think that Drataemir could be connected to what happened to the Vulei River?”

“Unlikely.” Nalithor shook his head. “If the Mages of Drataemir are indeed responsible for the Split, we’re searching for bastards who practice Blood Magic. If that version of the tale is incorrect, we are looking for Exiled or Elder gods.

“Before finding you again, my assumption would have been that the Exiled Gods are corrupting the river somehow, and that they are the ones who reside in Drataemir. Now that I have further confirmation that something strange is going on with the Elders—”

“Let Djialkan and I worry about that.” I tugged the front of Nalithor’s shirt, making him look down at me. “You should try to relax some before we move on from here. You’re just going to exhaust yourself if you’re so on-edge all the time! Forget the Elders, for now.

“Our primary focus should be the corruption of the Vulei River, and making sure the Exiles don’t plan to attack Vorpmasian borders. As curious as I am about whatever ate magic along the border, Drataemir, and this oddly-colored magic… Our mission and the issue of Vulei are both more important.

“Furthermore, we both need to be alert and prepared. The tenser you are, the more it will impair your judgment and your ability to fight. I won’t have you getting your ass handed to you by beasts, monsters, tribesmen, or Exiles just because you’re—”

Nalithor cut me off with a brief kiss and had an amused smile on his face when he withdrew. “I know, Arianna. It is easier said than done, but I will try. We should both get some rest, and then we can quit this place in the morning.

“Take the blankets and pillows back in with you, then get some rest. I will take care of everything else and then join you.”

“But—” I started to protest, but Nalithor just ruffled my curls and then helped me to my feet.

“I won’t be long.” Nalithor smiled down at me. “Go, get some rest. I’ll try not to wake you when I join you.”

Reluctant, I made my way back into the cottage with a pile of blankets and pillows in my arms. I glanced back at Nalithor and shifted my vision to see his magic, for a moment. What I saw baffled me. Shadows and my cobalt flames swirled together with his pale, blue-white power. The mixed energies spun and slipped around both of the crystalline hearts within his chest, intermingling with each other in a way I’d never seen before.

‘Did that happen because of me drawing on his power and then giving it back to him the way I did?’ I switched my vision back to normal when a sharp pain arced through my temple. I shook it off before speaking, “You’re sure you’re alright, Nalithor? The magic around your hearts—”

“You gave me most of your remaining power when you returned mine to me. Even in your distracted state you were still overly concerned.” Nalithor shot me an amused smile. “‘Both’ of my hearts? One of them is yours, you know.

“Ah, don’t give me that look. Yes, Arianna, I am fine.”

I took another glance at the magics around his hearts before turning to the door. “I would still argue that they’re both yours.”

Before he could respond, I pulled open the cottage door and slipped into the warm interior. I hurried through the hallways and to the bedroom, my face burning with embarrassment. ‘Oh all the remarks I could make, why did I go for that one? Ugh that was so cheesy! Stupid, stupid Ari!’

I deposited the blankets and pillows in the closet where they belonged, braided my hair, and then stripped off my pajamas. For a moment, I just stared at the bed and tugged at one of my bra straps, unsure of what to do. While Nalithor was quite comfortable being nude around others…I wasn’t to that point yet.

Resigned, I left my undergarments in place and then clambered into bed. Nalithor’s power enveloped me the moment my head hit the pillow, luring me toward sleep.

‘That…wasn’t necessary…’ I protested.

‘You were going to stay up until I came to bed.’ Nalithor chuckled, earning a grumble from me. ‘Sleep. I won’t be long.’

? ? ?

‘Ugh, heavy. Hot.’ I attempted to shift my body out from under the covers, but it proved difficult. A pair of arms was wrapped tight around my torso and, after a moment, I realized Nalithor’s head was resting on my stomach. When I tried to move again, his grip tightened and he grumbled something.

Looking around, I didn’t spot anything to tell me the time. The room was dark aside from the dim glow of Magefire in one corner. Alala was curled up and still asleep on a nearby chair with a pillow all to herself. I felt like I had slept for far too long, but more than anything I was hot. Hot enough that I wanted to leap into a cold stream and submerge myself until the heat went away.

“Stay…” Nalithor mumbled when I attempted to pull away again. Whatever he said afterward was, once again, indiscernible.

I winced when my back popped in response to how hard Nalithor squeezed me. Once I stopped trying to move away his grip loosened and he purred into my stomach. Sighing, I placed one hand on his bare shoulders. A small smile crossed my face when I heard him purr again.

‘Well, I suppose the kitten isn’t going to let me up.’ I mused, smirking, before making a motion with my free hand and using magic to lift the blankets off my lower half. ‘That’s a little better at least. Now then…’

I nestled my head one the pillow once more before shutting my eyes and taking a few deep breaths. Everything spun, turning my world upside down for several long seconds. Once everything stopped spinning I was staring at the memory of the Vulei River.

Silver and crimson veins wove along the ground, shimmering, pulsating, and dimming. The air smelled of grass, dirt, and faintly of fish. I frowned. Magic usually had a scent, yet I couldn’t detect anything from the darkness in the river or the bi-colored magic blanketing Falrrsald.

Nalithor had found the river by scent, so why couldn’t I?

‘I think, it if smelled like the Sihix Forest, I would have still noticed something.’ I glanced around in my memory, even looking up at the sky in search of anything useful or unusual. ‘Hmmm… No aether in the sky? There should be at least traces of aether. I should check the sky here when we leave the cave.

‘The river was frightened of magic power, yet it’s unresponsive to these veins. Are they connected, or is there some strange property to the veins that makes the Vulei River comfortable with it? Or perhaps it’s because the veins were here before the river was changed?’

“Aren’t you supposed to be resting?” Nalithor’s voice by my ear startled me from my thoughts and brought me back to the present.

“What—” I shivered when Nalithor’s lips trailed from my earlobe and down to my throat, his hands low on my hips as he pulled me closer. “H-hey, stop that! I was actually doing something important!”

“You were straining your seals again.” Nalithor growled into my throat. “Keeping you safe is more important than whatever you were doing. Alala and I haven’t felt your seals act up like that before. Just what were you doing?”

“They were straining?” I frowned, befuddled. “I was just going through what I saw along Vulei’s riverbanks yesterday—reviewing memories. It seemed strange to me that you could smell something was going on, yet I couldn’t. In fact, I couldn’t smell the darkness or the bi-colored magic. They should both have a scent.”

“Well, your seals weren’t straining to keep you Human, this time. Perhaps they’re interfering with your other senses as well?” Nalithor murmured before nuzzling my throat again. “Mmm… Let’s get some breakfast, and then get going. Otherwise you will be my breakfast, and we will be stuck here hiding from the tribes whilst you recover.”

“You have to release me first,” I stated dryly as he pulled me closer instead and rubbed his cheek against my throat.

“I suppose that’s true…” Nalithor chuckled, planted a kiss on my cheek, and then rolled onto his other side to pull himself out of bed.

‘Of course he came to bed nude.’ I rolled my eyes at his sculpted back and then sat up on the opposite side of the mattress. ‘How can he be so comfortable? Hells, how am I supposed to not look?’

“I won’t be offended if you take a better look.” Nalithor purred, startling when he gripped my chin from behind and turned me to look up at him. “In fact, I encourage it. We can always go back to bed, if you prefer.”

Nalithor pulled me back across the bed towards him and then paused when a roar shook both the cave and cottage alike. He rested his forehead on my shoulder for a moment, sighed, and then released me so that he could move to the closet. I took a peek at his long, muscular body before averting my gaze. ‘Of course it isn’t that easy…’

I rose to my feet and summoned a set of light armor around myself while walking across the room. The source of the roaring was most certainly a beast, and I intended to kill it. My blood had already begun to rush through my veins with excitement. My attention shifted away from Nalithor and towards the hunt. The creature’s foul aura made me want to destroy every last little shred of—

“Ah, ah, ah.” Nalithor caught me around the waist. “It is probably hunting the tribesmen who were hunting us. Furthermore, you shouldn’t be using magic and yet you’re—” He paused, shivering when my darkness coiled around him. “Nnngh, you want to kill them so badly that you would turn your power against me?”

“All of them need to die!” I snapped, trying to pull his arm from my waist so that I could chase after and tear into the beast and its prey. “I’ll—”

We both grew still when more roars joined the first. Dozens joined the cacophony outside. Their cries shook the ground, making the crystalline instruments inside our cottage rattle. My limbs trembled with excitement and adrenaline as my mind narrowed in on the beasts. I tried to pull myself from Nalithor’s grasp, but he had shifted his grip in such a way that I couldn’t do anything other than claw at his arm.

“Calm…down…” Nalithor shuddered. “Alala! Put Arianna’s things in her shrizar. We’re leaving at once. Yes, yes, food. Food. Always food with you! We can eat after we’ve put this place behind us.”

“But I want to kill these fucking—” I fell silent and swayed in place when Nalithor’s power washed over me. My vision and thoughts both grew hazy.

The Adinvyr laid me on the bed and stroked my hair for a moment before turning away and striding to the closet. His tail swished in an agitated manner while he pulled things from the closet and threw them haphazardly into a shrizar. I tried to pull myself into a sitting position, but Nalithor’s power had sapped the strength from my limbs.

Nalithor turned and strode over to a dresser. From it, he gathered a variety of crystals and stowed them away in his shrizar as well. I had little energy for anything beyond watching him pace through the bedroom. Even the beasts were beyond my senses now. His leather armor couldn’t quite hide the arousal showing in his pants and, for some reason, I found it quite fascinating.

“So you can stare unabashedly when I’m clothed, and not when I’m in the nude?” Nalithor turned to shoot me a look, his tail continuing to twitch. “What am I going to do with you…”

“You didn’t have to—” I tried to sit up again but everything spun, causing me to collapse on the mattress again.

“Someone has to control that bloodlust of yours. We should be thankful that your weakened state allows me to subdue you, even if only temporarily.” Nalithor hefted me into his arms and then strode out of the room. “We’ll escape while the beasts are distracted by the tribesmen. Since the valley is crawling with beasts, monsters, and tribes…” he paused to call for Alala, who was prompt to perch on his shoulder, “…we’ll follow the cliffs from above until it’s safe for us to descend.

“Hold on tight.”

‘They need…to die,’ I muttered.

Nalithor’s grip tensed and I felt him glance down at me with unease. He didn’t say anything. Instead, he strode through the cottage and out the front door. My senses didn’t even register if the door shut behind him or not.

“You’re fine with using the tribesmen as bait for the beasts?” Nalithor asked, darkness forming around his hands in an attempt to subdue me further. “Stop struggling, Arianna. We need to get out of here.”

“They need to die. Not just the beasts. The people too—all of them,” I answered, my head lolling to the side against Nalithor’s chest. “Wrong, so very wrong. Just what did they…”

“They would likely argue that you are wrong for wanting to kill them,” Nalithor stated as he approached the cave mouth, a faint rustling indicating that he had unfurled his wings.

“Then they shouldn’t have interfered with…” I trailed off with a small frown. “What did they interfere with? They most definitely need die. They’re foul, worse than the beasts. I…I need to kill them.”

“Shall I end them for you?” The power carried by Nalithor’s voice startled me into looking up at him.

His frosty eyes were trained on the valley below us. The power rippling off of him was dense enough to make the around us shake. His hair, clothes, and jewelry swayed as if blown by wind due to the density of elemental energies swirling around the enraged deity. Magic drifted along his Brands and coiled around us both, visible to the naked eye.

I wasn’t certain what had caught his attention, but the look of rage on his face was unmistakable.

“End them for me…or for you?” I placed a hand against his chest and rubbed my cheek against him, smiling when I felt his grip on me twitch. “Mmm…but I want to help. I want to have fun too! Are you really going to keep all of the fun to yourself?”

A shiver ran through Nalithor’s body when I drew my fingers down his chest. Murderous intent poured off of him in waves, eliciting a purr from me. We both wanted to kill the bastards in the valley below us, that much was certain. Who would get to it first would come to a battle of wills.

Nalithor let out a frustrated groan before taking flight, carrying Alala and I high into the air above the canyon. When he reached the top of the cliffs, he set me down and the glanced at the chaos below.

“Let’s destroy them.” I purred, linking my hands behind Nalithor’s neck and leaning into his chest. “They need to die, right? There’s so many of them. It will be faster if we both—”

“You can’t get involved with my role as a deity. Not yet.” Nalithor grabbed my ass in both hands and squeezed me towards him. “Even if you beg me, even if your seals weren’t strained, and even if you were at full power…I can’t let you help.”

“But—” I swayed in spot when Nalithor’s darkness wrapped around me. “Not…fair…”

“Stay here,” Nalithor ordered as he lowered me to the ground. “If you must fight, don’t use your magic. Alala will help you. I…will make this quick. Although your control is lacking, you are correct; the bastards must die.

“Once you’ve recovered we can go a few rounds of sparring if you’re still angry with me.”

“If you take too long I’m coming down there to finish the job myself.” I huffed, bringing a hand to my head in an attempt to stop the spinning. “They’re all…”

Nalithor chuckled and shot me a devious smirk before diving over the edge of the cliff. Alala and I peered over the edge, watching as the enraged deity glided through the air. Darkness danced around his armored body, slithered along his Brands, and dispersed into the air with each beat of his twelve wings.

I shifted my gaze to so the throngs of beasts wandering through the forested valley. I lost count of the living ones at thirty-seven. Some were clustered around the ones I had slain during my trance-like state the prior night, but most were focused on pursuing the tribesmen through the underbrush. My desire to destroy the creatures soared to new heights when I spotted smaller beasts hunting the Humans as well.

‘Over thirty-seven Dux…and dozens of smaller ones on top of it?’ I dug my hands into the soil, attempting to quell my excitement. ‘At least let me kill the beasts while you deal with the Humans! I can wipe them out without using magic.’

‘No. They’re mine.’ Nalithor’s response was little more than a growl. ‘Stay there.’

An explosion of power burst outward from Nalithor when he released whatever bindings he used to hide his power. Spears of darkness shot out from all around him and rained down into the forest below. When the beasts began yowling in pain, Alala released a weak warble and then ducked behind my back to hide.

The ground rumbled with the beasts’ agonized screams, sending a shiver of delight down my spine. ‘More, more! They have to suffer—especially the Humans. Their lives need to be crushed, eradicated, devoured!

‘Stamp them out like the filth they are!’

‘Why?’ Nalithor countered, his voice strained and husky.

‘Because they interfered with…something…’ I tilted my head, examining the spray of beast blood surrounding the Adinvyr. ‘Not sure what. Something bad, something not meant for them. Someone is trying to hide it, but these Humans are far too foul to hide.

‘Even the beasts want to destroy them for it. The beasts aren’t here to hunt. See? They won’t even eat the corpses—something is wrong.’

‘You are that connected to your heart… We need to be more careful,’ Nalithor murmured as he tore through the beast nearest to him. ‘I will be done soon. You should deal with your visitor.’

‘Visitor?’ I glanced over my shoulder, my lips parting with surprise when my eyes came to rest on the sheepish Angel boy with grey wings. “Iltaery? What are you doing in Falrrsald?”

Iltaery dropped to his knees and touched his forehead to the ground. His wings quivered and flinched each time a beast roared.

“I-I apologize if this is a bad time, Your Highness,” Iltaery stuttered, his trembling traveling down the rest of his slender body. “Queen G-Gabriel sent me in her stead when she learned you were sent to Falrrsald.

“I require L-Lord Balance’s presence as well…so I will wait.”

[ Discord | Facebook | Author's Site | Top Web Fiction ]