Stories from RhyDin & The Rings

The sun began its westerly slide toward the horizon, and Gabriel lay in the lethargy of his kind, but his mind worked franticly. Lucien had found what appeared to be his soul’s other half, but she was neither Carpathian nor a psychic human. This creature was something completely new, and magical. What would the consequences be to them both if he tried to convert her as the others had been?

The possibilities were endless, but some of the potential results were horrific. He reached out for Gregori. It was full dark in France, and for the next hour he and Gregori went over the situation.

As the sun set in RhyDin, Gabriel rose and found both Lucien and Ariel waiting for him. He looked at Lucien a long time before he spoke aloud. “There are more choices than you allow for Lucien, but as Gregori reminded me, we all have but one mate. If you walk away from her, you condemn her to a half life, and can you walk into the sun knowing that?”

Ariel smiled, “You know Lucien, it does not make sense that your other half would be so incompatible that you would destroy her by claiming her.” She sat serenely on a leather sofa near the unlit fireplace with an old text from the middle ages in her hands. ‘The Courts of Love’ written about the Plantagenet Queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine.

Lucien glowered at her. “life has changed since then Ariel, and there are no such courts any longer.” He paced the room as Gabriel leaned against a bookcase. “What I hear you both saying is that I should claim her and let the consequences be as they may.”

Ariel nodded, “Lucien, none of the non-Carpathian lifemates have come to harm. You see color, correct?” She waited for him to respond.

Black eyes locked as Lucien regarded her, “yes Ariel, I see color just as you do now.”

She smiled, “then Brother dearest, I strongly suggest you claim your mate. The Prince will be well pleased to hear this news.”

Lucien absolutely forbade either of them to send word to the Prince just yet. In time, he would do so himself. He remained concerned about Topaz. What if their magic did not mesh or was not compatible, what would happen to her?

The evening drew on, and Lucien missed Topaz beyond expectation. Each moment he spent with Gabriel and Ariel was less time he could have with his faerie. He frowned.

Ariel caught the echo of his thoughts, “go on, go feed and find your faerie.”

Lucien faded into mist and streamed out of the Palazzo, leaving Gabriel and Ariel to their own devices.

Gabriel looked at Ariel after Lucien left with a hint of mirth, “I believe the family has just been enlarged by one.”

Ariel returned to her shop. She had seen the faerie in RhyDin of late, and she’d had flowers with her several times, and then in true artistic fashion, inspiration struck. She would need a mating gift for her brother and his mate, and the perfect thing formed in her mind.

She set to work in the back, trusting her help to take care of any clients who happened along.

She worked with copper first, creating the shape and height first. The copper spiraled gracefully from the base into the air about 2 meters high, branching here and there, but maintaining the light, airiness she sought. Next she used the chemicals to put a verdigris patina on the copper, turning it shades of green. Next came the leaves, shaped from green basalt, greed jade, green serpentinite, and very tiny leaves in emeralds. These were subsequently attached to the copper structure.

Next came the creation of the flowers – edelweiss. She pondered which materials would best capture the essence of the mountain flower. She settled on mother of pearl, moonstone and traces of opal. The edelweiss replicas were then attached to the copper form.

The first half of the sculpture was completed. Now, how to best capture Lucien?

Lucien did not seek out Topaz that night. He felt her, and the fact that she missed him, but he needed to sort out his new feelings carefully. He did not much like emotions right now. They interfered with his ability to logically order his thoughts, and right now, he needed logical options.

Morning was approaching and he was no closer to a resolution. Topaz missed him, he could feel her longing that was mirrored in his own feelings.

He headed for the desert, seeking one of the deep caves. He would go to ground here rather than return to the Palazzo.

Gabriel would remain with the Marchioness.

The cave was warm. Hot pools bubbled and gurgled around him as he set his wards solidly. Even Gabriel would have a hard time unraveling them. Then he opened the rich soil and floated into the ground.

As he prepared to rest, the soil flowed in on top of him as he shut down his lungs and brain. To all outward appearances nothing had been disturbed.

From bad to worse

The voice that raked into Topaz’s mind sent cold chills down her spine and rose the fine hair at the nape of her neck. It was feminine, ancient, tortous, malicious, but did not form words. Topaz also sensed an echo of it pressing against her shields.

A second echo, feeling just as ancient and malicious but male and as if further away, answered the first one mockingly. “A'Daeron.” The impression of a name was followed by thin laughter that rolled through the darkness and passed over her like murky, fevery heat. Topaz was thankful it was not directed at her. She did not know the name, but the magic inside her did. Topaz felt it rushing to her center, as if it sought to hide.

Topaz felt another echo, this one rich of venom and hellish intent ooze over her, making her skin crawl – the evil but still energies had been bad enough without the touch of the voices – imprinted another name in its passing: AruMacAmon.

The Sisterhood of the Red Falcon, - Topaz vaguely remembered Dundale telling her about the children of AruMacAmon - were a group of truly ancient witches that had conspired to start a war between the Guardians and the Kazur Empire. Even had she boundless magic energies available and her rapier with her, she couldn’t hope to defeat even one of them. There were two of them, she knew, even though the second one had not joined the argument, and there was nowhere to run. Her heart cried out for Lucien while she feverishly tried to come up with ideas to at least do what damage she might in the time she had left.

Still searching for a wall in the darkness, Topaz did her best to ignore the viscious argument going on and concentrated on communicating with the sentient pieces of magic energy, explaining to them her take of the situation that they had found themselves in and that she did not think it wise to form a plan. With all the chaos energy around, no plan requiring cooperation would survive for longer than a moment. She suggested that were they to find a way into the ancients, each particle on its own, some may come across an opportunity to do some helpful damage. Sooner or later the argument would end and the ancients’ attentions would turn back to her; Topaz hoped for later rather than sooner.

As soon as a large number of the sentient magic energies had been sent out, Topaz searched her surroundings and skirt pockets for anything that might make a usable weapon. Her pockets didn’t yield much; a handful of foil wrapped caramels and couple of coins – probably useless. One of the coins was attached to a cord. Maelin’s message, Topaz remembered, and now the message was starting to make sense. She tied the cord around her neck. She could use a little calm right about now.

Topaz again tested the ground with her hand, though far from even, it was smooth. The wall was no more cooperative about providing any usable projectiles. Slowly she made her way up the wall in search for a ceiling. When she did find it, she guessed it be at least ten feet, possibly twelve feet above the ground. She brushed her hands over the not quite so smooth as the floor and wall surface, and eventually her persistence paid off. She pried loose the two protrusions that felt like rocks.

Lucien had likened himself to a caveman; the memory flashed in Topaz’s mind and sparked an idea. If she could crack the rather rounded rocks together just right, she might end up with pieces sharp enough to be useful in hand to hand combat. She lowered herself back to the floor and got to work and promptly winced at the loud noise ringing out as stone hit on stone. But that noise was preferable to hitting her fingers in the dark and the ancient ones already knew where she was - and they were closing in. Speed was essential.

Engagement

Topaz’s shield glowed faintly as it dissipated the energy of the witch’s spell. For a moment she could actually see the caster. She was all at once beautiful and horrible to look at, with fine features, straight dark hair with a little white in it, and a fine gown that would not have been out of place at the opera, on or off stage; but her aura was in stark contrast and gave the overall vision all the colors of something even nastier than the lich-plane had been that Topaz had glimpsed just before Lucien had closed the rift on the isle. And the ancient one was casting another spell even as she continued to close the distance.

Time for preparation had run out, Topaz thought and grabbed the stone with the sharpest edge and moved as soon her shield had gone dark again. Something else, sinister and depraved, chafed against her shield, but that attack did not result in even the smallest bit of light to see by. Echoes of voices continued to roll and back and forth. Topaz tired to ignore their effects as best as she could.

A spark flew from Topaz’s chest, darting up and down, through the darkness toward A'Daeron and settled on her shoulder. The witch’s scream pierced the darkness when the very next moment flames sprang up, melting that side of her face and consuming her gown even as the witch’s hand hurriedly drew a rune into the air with a steady hand to douse the fire. Topaz quickly turned her eyes from the sight, but not quickly enough to entirely avoid the sickening image.

“Quit playing, A’Daeron!” Thin, murky laughter chased after the ear-piercing scream with diabolical amusement.

A steady string of curses drifted from A’Daeron while Topaz closed the distance. “Damn Guardians,” was the only one Topaz understood. She hoped the edges she had managed to knock from the rocks were sharp enough to do some good. Her shields would not be able to withstand the spells they slung at her forever; especially not with all the eroding chaotic energy around. And once her shields were gone, she knew, she’d be dead if they slung another spell at her or not. A’Daeron was on the move as well. The stench of burned flesh and singed hair the witch now carried with her gave Topaz something to aim for in the darkness.

Topaz felt a flash of pain at the same time as the rock in her hand connected with something mushy. She evaluated the kind of pain in her arm while she pressed the stone into the warm and slippery substance she could only hope to be the witch’s shoulder, then dragged the stone up and left. The witch’s expletives gained in menace. There was a second flash of pain. The weapon the witch wielded was one of magic energy, and this time the witch certainly was taking her time pulling it back out. Topaz pulled back when she felt warm liquid wash over her hand.

In a demon hail of malcontented mirth, AnAkbar whipped his malignant attention wholly toward the fairy. “Baru aman a rumanadara Ca'man!” The wizard’s ancient words sliced into her shields and Topaz struggled to find enough magic to keep them from getting shredded. She would not be able to repair the shielding again.

“A’Madrel!” The call echoed through the cavernous hall and put a faint glow to her shields. A’Dearon was still on her feet and aiming that viscous blade at her, Topaz had the time to notice before the glow was gone again. She fluttered up and writhed sideways just fast enough to keep the blade from sinking into any vital body part, bit not fast enough to avoid getting struck entirely. She knew another flash of pain. But now she had a weapon.

Lucien woke in his resting place deep in the desert caverns and snapped his black eyes open. He sensed Topaz at a great distance, farther away than she should have been, and then pain, stabbing, searing pain. The soil above him parted as he floated quickly to the surface, trying to pinpoint where she was this moment. She was not where he had expected, and much further away than she should have been. For the moment, he paid no mind to the sun’s location in relation to him.

The hilt of the blade she had "caught" with her thigh felt cold in Topaz's hand and so vile that she almost dropped it after she had pulled it from her thigh. But just almost.

Then Lucien had her, in the general vicinity of the Atreblian Valley, but deep underground, so deep underground that the stone and air around her felt warm. He shifted into mist and streaked for her essence. He could not see anything through her as he sought the source of the pain he had felt. Wherever she was, there was no light that she could use.

The skin on the back of Topaz’s hand, under the witch’s drying blood had started to itch. She was surprised that she noticed it among all the evilness around, and by just how much more difficult it was to ignore than the pain in her arm and leg.

Lucien solidified in a small cavern and felt a thin hissing sound that dripped with venom echoing through him and off the walls as its echo vied with that of maniacal laughter. "You've gone daft, witch!" Echoes of what had been said before still move back and forth, fainter, but no less vile.

"Where is the Black Priest of the Neverending Flame? Hiding in his cell?" The sudden rumble that followed didn't only echo through the darkness but shook the very air within it. The darkness was intense, except for when Topaz’s shield glowed faintly when disbursing spell effects. Evil and chaotic magical energies abounded and were there for whoever wanted to use them. They wanted to be used.

Lucien listened to the voices of the others - there were three distinct voices, two female and one male, the male appearing thin and far off, and all three grated on every one of his senses - and knew Topaz was being attacked. Rage reared its head within him. He gave a quick summons to Gabriel before he moved forward.

The ancient one Topaz was fighting was a gruesome sight, the left shoulder and side of her face burnt, the other side that of a beautiful woman with luxurious black hair. She was holding a hand to the side of her neck to keep blood from flowing, her other hand was painting runes in the air.

The last echoes of the ominous rumble mixed with a satisfied cackle. "That was the last of you." The sentient magic bits had been destroying individual cells in the witch’s body. Even with coordination, achieving a drastic result would have taken time. But the witch, fully believing her Sister could take care of one pesky little fairy, had been busy for a while destroying those magic bits. Now, however, A'Madrel was done destroying them.

Topaz's shield briefly glowed sickly-green. Topaz darted for the witch and sank the blade into the side of her neck - at least that was what she had been aiming for, and the blade did bite into something soft.

Lucien reached out and touched Topaz's mind, but didn't reveal his presence. ‘I am here....’ The soft touch of the words was welcome and had the effect of steadying her hand. He also felt her weakened state despite her elated realization that she may yet get out of this alive as he moved in, summoning the older, darker things that live in the deep places.

“Come closer.” A’Madrel’s voice despite all the demonic nuances, was seductive as it echoed through the minds and bodies. But her whiles failed to distract Lucien. He only needed to protect Topaz.

A’Madrel kept every hint of frustration from her voice, making the near irresistible darkness vibrating in the ancient words of the spell velvety soft. The tendrils of energy that then licked around Lucien’s body were anything but pleasant, despite their seductive quality.

The dark things from the deep, Lucien had called, moved closer. He felt them moving through the rock, warming in the heat as they came. They hungered for something indefinable, but it was something he could sense as they came to his call.

The rush of air from A'Dearon's movements was barely enough warning for Topaz to jolt back, but she had to leave the blade behind.

A tentacle pierced through the rock, reaching for the enemy attacking his faerie, even as A'Daeron's raking claws found purchase. The touch was not only that of claws digging into her skin, but also that of dark energy, the kind that could melt rock, Topaz knew instantly.

"Don't let her touch you." Gabriel heard Topaz call out as he arrived behind his brother and saw the witch hurl the fairy away from her. A'Daeron's gurgle was no less hostile than the fiendish words she had hurled like weapons earlier. The tentacle – Lucien’s doing, he surmised correctly, coiled around the witch, groping for her throat and a bolt of light flashed from Topaz straight as an arrow into the briefly illuminated grotesque head of the witch, temporarily blinding anyone who looked right at it, then was gone.

Also gone were the emotions from his fairy along with the sound of her breathing and heart beat, Lucien knew a moment of sheer terror. Rage threatened to overcome his senses as he moved with preternatural speed. Gabriel would deal with the witches, he needed Topaz.

A’Madrel sent pitch black lightening at Lucien, intended to sap his strength. The musical ancient words of the spell still echoed through the air, mingling with the thin, now gleeful and malicious, voice and feeling “Finally!”

Lucien reached his fairy and wrapped his arms around her, panic echoing in his mind. “Don’t you dare leave me now.” Her shields were gone; and so was her last spark of magic. Now there was nothing to keep the energies present and the impressions of hellish menace from direct contact, except for where Lucien’s body kept them from doing so.

A dark flare impacted against the black lightning of the witch’s spell as Gabriel moved in the blackness. A'Madrel cast another dark spell, again the ancient words are malicious yet ever so sultry and velvety mesmerizing. The rock rumbled ominously around them. Small cracks and fissures radiated unseen through the chamber walls.

The sentient magic bits left Lucien all at once, as he was painfully aware of, and arced into the fairy. Lucien could again hear a heart beat and shallow breathing, but both were much weaker than before. Now a confusing mix of emotions can be felt from Topaz intermittently. The magic bits were enough to keep her alive for a little longer. Lucien’s black velvet voice brought a shield around them as he glanced in the direction of his brother.

A'Madrel had split her attention between the two males, casting spells at both of them in so quick a succession that it was impossible to tell where one ended and the next started, and she kept moving. Gabriel, too, was moving – stalking – with slow deliberation toward the witch, his hands weaving the entrapment spell as his feet moved with hypnotic patterns. Gabriel knew the use of voice as a weapon, and he was preparing to turn it on the witch.

Lucien lowered his head to Topaz’s, “Hang on, we're going shortly.”

“Lucien,” the reply was barely audible but accompanied with a nod. She would not stay conscious for much longer. She was in fact already slipping in and out of consciousness at irregular intervals. The few injuries she’d received had nothing to do with that.

“No! Finish her!” The thin male voice transmitted urgency along with menace and a glimpse of what horrors awaited the witch were she to fail.

The heat in Gabriel’s hands grew, and then Gabriel aimed the searing spell at the witch. Another tentacle stabbed through the rock, seeking and finding the movement of the witch. But A’Madrel was not ready to give up yet. She sent black lightening at Gabriel, even while she again tried to seduce him into coming close enough to touch, promising ecstasy with her embrace.

The splotches of dark red on Topaz's skirt, right side and sleeve were expanding slowly. (Her dress only ever got dirty or torn when the magic was very low or gone altogether.) The scent of her blood called to him, but it was not hunger, it was terror for her as he began to move back the way he had come, the chamber walls looming closer to his back.

A Smokey mist, noxious and so icy that its touch burned rose from the witch's body even as black fire erupted around the witch, her voice sounded as a screech of fingernails on blackboards to Gabriel. He knew what she was, her illusions failed to entice him, he'd dealt with enough vampyres to know.

"Yesss, A'Madrel, join me." The thin voice sounded even further away, its malicious seductiveness was like a river for the smoky mist to follow.

Lucien’s finger lightly touched the silver medallion hanging from a cord around Topaz’s neck. It was definitely not silver, rather an alloy unknown on this world. The runes were ancient. Lucien studied them, startled by what he saw. “Topaz? Where did you get this?”

He had to wait long seconds for her answer. At length she supplied, “Maelin.”

The mist coiled closer as Gabriel faded into mist himself. The evil and chaotic energies had not left or dissipated when the witches were defeated, but were as thick now as before.

“We are going.” With a last look at his brother, Lucien followed the runes’ instruction to activate the time-space portal. Gabriel did not respond to his brother, but intermingled with the vile mist. The energies went where they were so obviously wanted and kept away from escaping through the portal, chaos and evil, it all swirled around Gabriel, bleeding into his essence. Then Lucien stepped through the portal, it was just barely big enough to do so, carrying her, his own essence working to support hers. “We need to get you to the forest.”

“Yes, milord.” How could she be joking in a situation like this? She drifted in and out of consciousness.

Gabriel flowed with the energies, moving away from the portal, but learning all the while about how the energies had gotten here, about the mist that was A’Madrel, who was trying to escape him, and very little about AnAkbar.

When he could detect no trace of either witches’ live force anymore, Gabriel streamed into the rock, leaving the chamber dark and hot and filled with the chaos.

Lucien held Topaz tightly to him as the portal closed behind them. It had left them in the Atreblian Valley. He shifted and carrying her gently in his taloned legs, took her from there toward the forest. His form of the great owl allowed him respite from the quagmire of emotions which he needed. They had come too close to losing one another. She was not aware of that part of their escape.

When he was near the part of the forest she used to call home, he descended and shimmered back into human form. Still cradling Topaz against his chest as he walked with preternatural speed, unhindered by the bits into the magic that were already dancing around them and streaming into her, toward the willow. He looked down as he moved and dropped a kiss atop her head.

Lucien settled beneath the willow, with the faerie in his lap, his fingers stroked through her hair as he listened to her now deeper breaths for a while before beginning to pay attention to her battle wounds. He had thought the place would heal her, but the cuts in her skin remained open and bleeding. A frown crossed his features.

Slowly he explored the thigh wound first. A snarl rippled from him as he realized what the blade had been: a blade spelled from evil energy. He moved her then, laying her gently against the tree, and moved to her thigh. He glanced at her face before lowering his mouth to the wound. Fangs grazed along her skin as he began to drink the blood that flowed from the wound, drawing the dark magic with her precious blood, his tongue washing the wound, leaving his healing saliva to begin its work. He hoped fervently
that she would not awaken until he was finished.

Then Lucien heard Gabriel, Gregori, and Ariel in his thoughts - they begun the healing chant - and he understood they would support his method of healing. He became light and energy ... leaving his own body to enter hers… he begun the painstaking process of healing the wounds from the inside out, repairing the blood vessels, and chasing down the magic poison that invaded her body.

Topaz had not given as much as a moan since he had stepped through the portal with her in his arms, and she still didn’t. But Lucien sensed the magic continuing to stream into her body and merge with her, aided in the process by Lucien’s work - they were content to leave fighting the evil energy to him, which he continued to do.

Heat and power flowed through her body and gradually blood slowed, and the poison was driven from her thigh. The heat moved from her thigh to her arm, repeating the process there. Lucien took the time to assure that every bit of evil energy was driven out. The wounds closed and the heat moved toward the claw marks. Those were shallow, and he inspected them for poisons, too, but found none. He had no idea how long he'd been working, but weariness was taking its toll as the claw marks were closed.

“Lucien?” Her quiet voice nearly expelled him from her body, and he sent her a feeling of warmth, his touch felt only in her thoughts. He sensed her smile. Finally, he returned to his body, wavering with weariness. Some of the magic bits that had attached themselves to the light energy went with him. “Thank you.”

He pulled her into his arms once more, resting his head against the willow. “I am going to lock you away and throw away the key.”

Topaz knew he was speaking out of relief – she felt much the same way about having escaped certain death - and guessed that a short while later he’d be franticly searching for that thrown away key, were he ever to follow through with that threat. She opened her eyes slowly and looked at him. The look in her eyes as she gazed at him spoke of love and held nothing of the events just behind them.

“Are you okay?” He nodded wearily. “Gabriel? Is he okay?”

“He remained behind to learn.” She grinned a little at the evidence of curiosity. “He is alright. He was supporting me during healing.... as were Gregori and Ariel. This method of healing takes great energy. I will be required to feed Topaz, before sunup.”

“I'm thirsty. Gregori? Ariel?” With the injuries gone and magic well on its way to being restored, Topaz was feeling better by the moments. She lifted a hand to his face, cupping his cheek and asked quietly, “Healing?” His face was pale and cool to the touch, he had stopped using the illusion of warmth due to his exhaustion.

He listened to her heartbeat and the flow of blood in her veins before answering. “Gregori is one of our greatest men, a healer unparalleled.” Lucien’s voice was but a thread of sound. “Ariel is my sister.”

“You have a sister.” Topaz was surprised that he had not mentioned her before. Her mind still sifted through the other pieces of information.

“Yes, just one sister, one brother.”

“What is your favorite color?”


He opened his eyes fully and looked into hers, “Blue, the shade of your eyes.”

“Are you very hungry?” She caressed his cheek tenderly.

“I will feed, when I get you back to the valley.”

Topaz lowered her eyes, immediately saddened by his words. “You will not be back?”

He shifted against the tree, cradling her tightly and felt her arms wrap around him. “You will not be rid of me so easily as that. But I cannot take you with me to feed Topaz. You are not ready for that.” He knew she was disappointed, and a bit hurt. He resided in her thoughts, and it stabbed at him to know she was hurt by his need to leave her, but he could not yet show her how they were sustained. Not yet.

He was partially right. Right now she certain she certainly was in no condition to accompany him on a hunt. “I missed you. I cannot like the idea of you leaving again and the gods know when I'll see you again.”

“I missed you as well,” he nuzzled her hair, “but I needed to be rational in my decision Topaz. We risk much that no one has answers to... but I found myself thinking about you constantly.” She was nearly insubstantial weight in his arms, and for a moment, he feared she would fly away if he released her.

“Healing, really? By a great healer? And I missed it.” He gave her a quirk of a smile.

“Does this mean you are more interested in Gregori than in me?” Of course she wasn’t, but he was teasing her, and that was a good sign.

Had he really used past tense just now? “So what did you decide all by yourself, without so much as asking me?”

“I believe the Marchioness called me a cave man.” He didn’t answer her question.

“I'm glad she did,” Topaz grinned, “it gave me the idea to fashion a stone blade. I' don’t think it was very good. I'm obviously not made out to be a cave woman.”

Lucien crushed her to him. “Do not do that to me again Topaz. My emotions are too new. Do you know what I felt when I realized what was happening?” Raw pain was mirrored in his pale features.

“I didn't do anything.” She could well imagine what he might have felt. She had felt rather miserable, too, when she had realized what she was forced to deal with.

He quirked a black brow at her. “What happened then?”

“I was walking along and then I was there, wherever there was.” She said with a slight shrug.

“Deep, deep underground, I arrived in the Valley first. You must not have gone far from where you were then.”

“I'm really thirsty.” She wasn’t ready yet to analyze in detail what had happened. “Those ancients, they are of the Red Falcon Sisterhood.” Just the name sent a shiver down her spine, and it wasn’t a pleasant one.

“What do you thirst for?” There was an underlying hope she wanted his blood, but he knew it was something she would not accept yet.

“Water will do, I guess.” She couldn’t very well answer that one like she wanted to.

“They were evil incarnate. Are there more of this sisterhood?”

“I guess there must be.” Topaz gave his question some thought while watching a glass form in his hand. His hand was trembling slightly as the glass slowly filled with water. “Other than the incidents with the portal, they've not made any trouble....and the portal is just screwed up, that didn't have to be them. I guess I should have told you the glass and wine are still here. And there's a lake right over there.” She nodded toward where the heavy curtain was hanging into the edge of the lake.

“Chaos is just that, we need to see if we can do anything to keep it from breaking free again.” He offered the glass to her. “I believe you said water rather than wine.”

With a thankful smile her fingers closed around his hand holding the glass and she lifted his hand to bring the glass to her lips to drink from it, all the while looking at him with a satisfied and amused glint to her eyes. He glanced down at her dress – it still appeared bedraggled and torn and he surmised that her magic bits priorities didn’t extend to clothing just yet – then back into her eyes. She had emptied the glass before she let go of his hand.

“You wouldn't happen to have chocolate on you? Or a fruit of some sort?” She hoped he did.

“There has never been a lifemate of magic before.” He gave a short chuckle at her request. “I am not in the habit of keeping chocolate, but I believe I can coax the raspberries into providing you with fruit.”

“I believe that will do just fine.” Coaxing had to be less energy intensive than conjuring, she thought, and Lucien even appeared to enjoy himself as he focused on the canes, made white flowers open and then close. Green berries formed and then slowly turned to shades of red as she watched, curious and slightly thoughtful.

When he thought there were enough ripe berries he scooped her up and walked toward the canes, using one hand to gently pluck the ripe red berries one at a time, offering them to her by pausing at her lips.

She ate the first few of the berries, savoring their sweetness that they didn’t lack despite them never having seen sunlight. Then, instead of taking the next berry from his fingers with her lips, she took his hand and held it with the ripe berry still in it to her lips. There was an impish glint in the look she was regarding him with. Then she flicked her tongue over the delicate thin skin of the fruit. The impish glint in her eyes had completely gone when she spoke, her voice was soft and solemn.

“I want to be the light in your nights
And a cool comfortable shade to you in the days.”

She scraped her teeth gently over the same spot, as if making up her mind where best to sink them into the fruit. He could not turn his eyes away, not now, she hoped as she sank her teeth ever so carefully into the berry. She pulled his hand back as soon as she had broken the skin, and lightly squeezed his fingers together until a drop of juice pearled at the fruit's wound.

“I want your protection
And that you desire mine.”

A sudden rush of desire shafted through him. “You are playing with fire faerie mine!”

But she was not playing at all. She leaned in then and sucked the juice from the fruit – took nourishment from him.

“I want to share live with you in all its details
Small and large, yours and mine
And that we always find a way to do so.”

Her light blue eyes remained on his as she took the rest of the berry from his fingers with her lips. A tremble rippled through him as he held her. “You may find the world of night very ...” He lowered his head to her berry flavored lips, “desireable.” Their kiss was tender, but expressed all the feelings in their hearts.

“I do want you in my life, I want you to share my world, and I yours where I can... but I do not want you to regret whatever the outcome may be.” They held each other tight.

“It doesn't really make a difference if forever is measured in hours or millennia, so long as I can have it with you as opposed to without you.” Lucien dropped his head and rested his chin at the junction of her shoulder and throat. Her whisper was so soft, he wasn’t certain if he had heard it from her thoughts rather than her lips. “I do love you.”

“You are light and life, and my soul is so full of holes... how can you want me thusly?” He kept her wrapped in his arms as he faded from the visible spectrum, taking her with preternatural speed.

“I just do.” Her answer was just as quiet as her previous whisper.

“Stay with me then, Topaz.” Stone walls appeared as they faded into the visible spectrum and Topaz sensed people close by.

“I want to.” The golden glow of candle light flared around them.

“Welcome to my home.” She looked around briefly, but her eyes returned to his quickly.

“It is beautiful, like you.” Topaz chose not to bother with shields. The people she sensed were not close and definitely not evil in any sense of the word. Further, Lucien’s closeness overpowered and drowned out most of what she sensed from the others, and she really didn’t yet have the magic to spare.

The sun was traversing the sky when his eyes snapped open. Something was wrong. He reached out from his resting place, and could not sense Topaz. She was missing. The soil erupted from his resting place as he floated out of the soil and immediately began searching for his faerie.

He found her at length, and abruptly pain laced through her and into his senses. Fury threatened to over rule his logic as he focused in on her. It was a matter of moments before he found her, and shifted to travel fastest means possible to her side.

He solidified in a small rock lined chamber, and the warmth told him they were deep underground and in proximity to a thermal source. He heard 3 voices echoing in the darkness. Before moving onward, he sent a summons to Gabriel and then moved into the chamber after Topaz.

Her shields were failing, and he saw a flash of sickly green before he mentally reached out to her, telling her that he was here, and then summoned the older, darker things that live in the deep places. He felt the rock tremble as it moved toward them. Rock was no obstacle to this creature, and he smiled, knowing the chaos energies could not harm the thing that moved at his call.

A ruined witch was using ancient spells, things he had not heard in a very long time. She was beautiful to behold on one side, the other burned and deformed, but she sought to use her voice as a weapon, to lure him to her, but her words screeched as fingernails on blackboards to him. It was a trick the Vampyres used, and one he understood very well.

His voice dropped into a velvet caress as he created a shield around Topaz, and waited for the darkness to reveal the thing he had summoned. He used the ancient arts to thwart the witch as a tentacle pierced through the rock, reaching for the witch in mid casting. The thing would be relentless, seeing the destruction of the witch while he protected Topaz.

It found its mark, the tentacle coiling around the witches throat, suckers adhering to the foul flesh before throttling her where she stood.

As the witch cast a spell of black lightning, Gabriel arrived. A dark flare impacted against the black lightning as Gabriel moved with the speed of our kind to intervene between Topaz and the remaining witch. The rock around us rumbled ominously as Gabriel prepared to collapse the cavern. Tiny fissures radiated throughout the rock walls.

Topaz’s breathing stopped, as did her heartbeat, and in that instant Lucien knew loss unlike anything he’s ever felt before. He spoke softly but firmly to her soul…”don’t you dare leave me now.” The darkness had her cut off from her sustaining magic, and he had to get her out of these depths as soon as possible. The sentient bits of her magic that had clung to him abruptly fled, flowing into Topaz as a feeble heartbeat rose, and her breath was thin and thready, but there. He leaned closer to her ear, “hang on, we’re going shortly.” It was then that he saw the silvery medallion.

Blood continued to seep from her wounds, and Lucien knew he could not work to stop the bleeding here, he needed to get her to the Darkenwood Forest, and soon.

Lucien’s fingers lightly touched the medallion, it was definitely not silver, but it was something unknown to him. The runic markings however he had seen before. They were ancient. Where had Topaz obtained this from? It was a portal through time and space. He whispered to Topaz, not truly expecting an answer, “Topaz? Where did you get this?”

Her barely discernable answer… Maelin. Who was Maelin, and why would he give her such a thing?

Gabriel had the second witch well in hand, and Lucien touched his mind, he was leaving with Topaz, now, while he could still get her to the Forest. Gabriel faded into mist and Lucien activated the runes.

The portal opened as Gabriel led the chaotic energies away from the portal and his brother. Lucien stepped through the opening, which was barely large enough for his frame. Where ever it opened up, he would then be able to get her into the forest. He knew the bits would not fight his entrance into that place, and time was now against him.

Topaz seemed to sense that they were leaving that place as she snuggled closer to Lucien’s chest. Lucien felt Gabriel’s satisfaction as the chamber they had just left collapsed in on the remains of the witches. The chaos energies buried beneath 100’s of tons of rock.

They came out in the Atreblan valley, and Lucien made haste to return her to the forest. He had seen the bits of magic flow toward her when they had first come here, and he trusted now that they would be able to heal her where he could not.

He settled beneath the willow as the magic bit flowed into and around her. He sat watching as her breathing grew stronger, and her heartbeat more firm, but the blood loss did not stop. He watched as she gained strength, but no improvement in the wounds was apparent.

A frown crossed his features. He began a slow study of the wound, and then a snarl rippled through him as he realized what kind of blade had done this damage. He moved her then, resting her against the willow before moving to her thigh, he fervently hoped she would remain oblivious to what he needed to do next. He tasted the blood, analyzing the evil taint, and how best to remove it before lowering his head to drink deeply of her blood, his tongue leaving healing saliva there to begin its work. He then heard Gregori, Gabriel and Ariel. They began to sing the healing chant, and that freed him to take the form of heat and light, entering her body to heal her in the way of Carpathians. From the inside out.

He worked for long periods of time, reconnecting blood vessels, mending muscle tissue, and driving the toxic evil from her body. Time ceased to have meaning now. The only thing that mattered was repairing the damage the witches had done. The bits worked on the rest of the faerie, and Lucien worked on the damage from the witches. The entire time, the healing chant filled his senses from beyond the forest boundaries.

Topaz had not moved, but her quiet “Lucien?” nearly shocked him from her body. He regained his focus before touching her thoughts with warmth before departing from her body to return to his own. Some of the magic bits had attached themselves to him, and returned with him into his own body, which wavered with weariness. He worried how she would take his methods of healing, but she smiled, giving him a quiet ‘thank you’.

Lucien pulled her into his arms, resting his head against the willow. She had frightened him to the point of wanting to lock her away and throw away the key forevermore. He knew he could not, but it didn’t change the desire to do so anyway.

They rested there for a period of time, but Lucien knew he would need to feed. He could not regain his strength until he had fed. It would mean taking Topaz back to Atrebla, and leaving her once again, something he was loathe to do. Especially after she had opened her eyes and let her love for him shine through. But, she was not ready for that experience. Nor was he.

At his pending departure, she clung to him, telling him the contents of her heart. How could he leave her? He would change her life forever, an in those moments of bliss, he made a decision. She would return with him to the Palazzo. She wanted his protection, and she would have it.

A quick message to Gabriel assured that his brother would feed well enough for them both. He would feed from Gabriel rather than leave her alone this night.

The blink of an eye found them in his suite of rooms deep beneath the Palazzo. The distant murmur of people above them in the Palazzo could be senses, and he knew that she had left her shields down and could hear the staff and the Marquess above. But no one would trouble them here, and he lit a room full of candles, casting his faerie in the pale golden glow of candle light.

Though Topaz hadn't slept in days sleep was the furthest thing from her mind as Lucien lowered his lips to hers, brushing softly. It was the barest touch and broken when he easily dropped onto the leather sofa.

“You frightened me Topaz.... more than I can put to words.” His whisper brushed against her like deep soft velvet.

”I am sorry about that. I was rather scared, too. I didn't at all like the idea that I may never get to see you again.” She firmly kept the earlier events from her mind. Lucien lightly running his hands over her, as though to assure himself she was truly there, and nibbling along her jawline made that easy. “I'm very glad you and Gabriel came when you did.” She slid her fingers through his hair.

“I woke to feel you gone.” His breath was warm against her skin, sending tremors through her.

“You didn't hear me?” He slipped one hand slowly down her arm and nibbled at her earlobe.

Lucien shook his head, his hair caressed her shoulder and delicate wings, making them tremble. “No, it was as though a hole had been dug into my soul, you were simply gone, and the lack was enough to wake me from my rest.”

She brushed her hand tenderly over his head, and whispered softly. “I'm sorry you felt like that.” But if he hadn’t she’d not be here now. “On second thought, let me take that back. I'm very glad you felt like that, even if it was horrible. This was way too close a call. It doesn't bear thinking of how things may have turned out had you be any later in arriving.”

“I think you should let me lock you away.” He nuzzled against her throat.

”Mmm.” She actually considered that suggestion for a moment or two while enjoying his caress. “That may not be quite so unpleasant were you to lock yourself in with me.”

“I would not leave your side.” He nibbled slowly as she brushed her fingertips lightly over the side of his neck. Her fingers stilled when he swept his tongue over her pulse point, sending warm tingles trough her, a pleasure sinking so deep inside of her it was nearly impossible to endure. He ran his finger tips over her wings slowly, setting them trembling again, before he nipped her throat lightly and then moved his lips across her collar bones. “I could feast on you for hours...”

“I could get used to that. But sooner or ...” She whispered breathlessly and touched her fingers under his chin, lifting his head slightly, “I enjoy the way you taste, too.” She brought her lips to his.

"Taste as you will.” The words brushed against her before his lips melded with hers, coaxing her to take what she wanted as his arms slowly curled around her, crushing her tightly against him. She dipped her tongue between his lips, tasting and feeling, in search of his. Spice and something uniquely Lucien mixed with honey and nectar as their tongues mated in a ritual as old as time. His fangs felt longer than they looked, but she found them no hindrance as he devoured her kisses and slid the dress away from her shoulders. She sensed the same desire she felt moving through him.

His hands slid reverently over her yielding body as his tongue stroked and teased hers before trailing hot kisses down her jaw to pause at her now much faster and stronger pulse. “I want you Topaz....” His words were a soft breath against her skin, “all of you.”

“I want you, too,” She replied just as softly as she slid her fingers back into his hair, cradling his head to her. “More than just wanting”

“Come into my world Topaz.... accept what I am, and allow me to claim you.” His tongue flicked over her pulse.

“Yes, Lucien.” The words were soft and breathless and even softer she added, "You do accept what I am and I very much want to claim you as mine. Heart, body, soul.” His finger tips seemed to be everywhere, stroking, caressing. He lifted his head to look deeply into her eyes, the intensity and love showing in the depths of his black eyes dragged the air from her lungs.

”I give you my protection, my allegiance, my mind, heart, soul and body. I take into my keeping the same that is yours. Your life, happiness, and welfare will be cherished and placed above my own for all time. You are my lifemate, bound to me for eternity, and always in my care.” She repeated each word in her mind and heart as he spoke them, then felt his teeth puncture into her pulse point as white hot lightening streaked through both of their bodies and a soft groan whispered from him.

Topaz sensed her essence filling him, her soul seemed to float along, drawn to his. He dragged his lips from her and closed the pin pricks on her throat with a slow lick of his velvet tongue. He looked deeply into her eyes before disposing of his clothing in the way of his kind, sliced a line over his heart as crimson welled along the cut.

“Taste of me Topaz.” There was a flash of curiosity in her eyes before she leaned in, then flicked her tongue playfully over the cut. A deep purr rumbled from him at the touch of her tongue. “Topaz! You will kill me like that...” His arms tightened around her.

Any hesitation and curiosity disappeared at the first taste of him, and she drew his essence into her, pulling his soul along until it touched hers, then gentling as she sensed them joining, sinking into another.

Her purr was a soft echo of his and rested her atop his body.

”You have no place to be tonight?” He asked with a slow smile curving on his lips when she lifted her head to look at him.

“Oh yes. I have to be with you.” She said promptly, smiling back at him. The rest of the night Lucien seemed determined to not let her catch her breath for more than a few moments at a time, but rather to keep her breathless and dizzy with pleasures like she had never known before, until they were no longer separate but one being united in heart, body, and soul as close as two could ever be.

Finding Topaz in that place had sent his protective instincts into high gear, but now that he had her back, in his arms and in one piece, he vowed he would not let her go again. She looked as though she had not slept in days, but there was an energy alive in her from the ordeal that would never have allowed her to rest, and so he had taken her back to his suite of rooms, separated from the rest of the Palazzo, and even separate from Gabriel. They would have solitude, and he hoped, the chance to begin her conversion. He hoped.

The candle light glowed softly as he settled onto the comfortable leather sofa. He never let loose of her as he let the ambiance melt into them. His lips brushed hers lightly as she answered. “You frightened me Topaz… more than I can put into words.”

She spoke quietly as she looked up into his eyes, “I am sorry about that. I was rather scared too. I didn’t at all like the idea that I may never get to see you again.”

Lucien’s hands roamed over her body, trying to assure himself that she was truly there and not a figment of his imagination as Topaz told him that she was very glad he and Gabriel had come when they did. She was surprised that he had not heard her, but they had not exchanged blood, and all he felt was a deep and crushing loss. The sensation woke him from his rest with an ache too deep to bear.

Her fingers slid through his hair, “I’m sorry you felt like that. On second thought, let me take that back. I'm very glad you felt like that, even if it was horrible. This was way too close a call. It doesn't bear thinking of how things may have turned out had you be any later in arriving.” She then hugged him tightly and reflexively he pulled her hard against his chest.

With a nuzzle to her throat, he told her that he should get her to give him that key to the Celestial tower and let him lock her away. And for a moment, in her eyes, he saw her consider it.

His hands never stopped moving, and as he stroked the gossamer wings, they trembled slightly. He wanted to claim her as his lifemate. Claim her so that never again could she not call to him directly. It was a need as old as time in his blood, but the risks remained unknown. She was a creature of magic, and the blood exchanges had never been done before between Carpathian and Fairy.

Her kisses were intoxicating, and not something he could get enough of, but she mirrored his need and he found himself nipping her throat lightly. His fangs were in full extension and the ritual words were singing in his mind. Claim her!

“Come into my world Topaz… accept what I am, and allow me to claim you.” His words were black velvet in the golden room as his tongue flicked provocatively over her pulse. At her acquiescence, he felt pure pleasure rip through his body as she invited him to her, the ritual words came out unbidden. “I give you my protection, my allegiance, my mind, heart, soul and body. I take into my keeping the same that is yours. Your life, happiness, and welfare will be cherished and placed above my own for all time. You are my lifemate, bound to me for eternity, and always in my care.” His teeth sank into her vein, and white hot lightning shot through him. She tasted of exotic, intoxicating spices that were unlike anything he had ever tasted. She was his, and a groan of pure pleasure slid from his lips.

Pulling himself away from her throat was torment, and in the way of his kind, he dismissed his clothing so that he could open a line above his heart, slicing deeply, his blood began to flow, “taste of me Topaz.”

Curiosity was uppermost in her thoughts, no revulsion at all as she lowered her head to the wound and flicked her tongue across the line of red. It was sheer torture for him, “Topaz! You will kill me like that…..:” His arms tightened around her and then she drank from him. The sensation of two halves being brought together was unmistakable. It was as though the myriad holes in his soul were suddenly mending. He would never let her go. Not now.

He slid down the sofa, looking up at her, “You have no place to be tonight?” A slow smile curving his lips.

She nodded solemnly, “Oh yes, I have to be with you.”

“Good response,” was all he could say as his lips descended on hers and the outside world vanished.