The Forbidden Art

Vexoz nearly fell over as Vera put an apron on him.

"Now bake!" She ordered.

"I meant buy you a cake, I don't know how to make one!" He looked around at what he assumed to be a stove of some sort with several knobs attatched. "Especially with this odd contraption."

Then, Tellas rushed in. Perfect timing! "Vera," the wolf-dragon said with urgency. "The barrier's flickering! I know not what this means but it reeks of betrayal!"

What? Only one name came to Vexoz's mind. "Cee! I thought I told you he was a traitor, how long has he been here!?!?" Vexoz ripped off the apron, without considering how Vera would react to it being destroyed, and started to rush out the door.

What did that moron think he was doing! If the barrier falls, then it would be only a matter of time before people started dying by enemy hands!

Kailyn moved her head so fast it connected with the chin of her lover.

"Pregnant?!" She exclaimed, a bit too loudly, "I can't be PREGNANT!" Her eyes were wide with fear, "We only just-- you know. It's the mushrooms. Just the mushrooms," Kailyn denied, laying her head back down and trying to calm down her heartbeat.

"If I was... that would change everything," She said, staring at the expanse of Drake's chest. She drew nervous circles on his stomach, "It wouldn't be just me in danger when we fight the Chosen..."

-=-=-=-=-

Vera's eyes widened when Tellas told her of the danger the entire village was in. What was Anne doing? This was NOT part of the deal. Maybe a threat or two to make the Chosen reconsider genocide but--

The name Cree broke through her mental barrier. Him? He couldn't! Literally! Was that her apron ripped off?! Why she was gonna--

No, village safety first. Maiming later.

Vera ran out of the kitchen, swung open the door, and whipped through the streets at incredible speeds. The barrier was almost completely disappeared. She hoped she wasn't too late.

Drake recoiled from the pain, and held his chin. "Ow... I think that it will be fine if you are. I wouldn't let anything happen to you, or the kid... If you are... But we... Y'know... A Lot..." He thought of the danger that the child would be in, and his heart rate skyrocketed. He pulled her closer to him, and kissed her forehead.

"It'll all be fine, don't worry..."

He tried to calm her, almost accepting the fact that she was pregnant.

Azrael got up and walked outside, hunger torturing his stomach. As much as normal food was appealing he needed vampire blood. He noticed Robin sitting alone by herself, pain in his heart and stomach. He held out a hand, smiling. She smiled back, getting up and taking his hand. They walked away, not to far and found a small grassy cave-like structure. They sat down together, cuddling in for warmth. Azrael sprouted his two wings and closed it in around the two. Robin giggled, kissing his cheek.

"Im warm now, thanks Azrael. You alright?" Azrael smiled, stomach rumbling.

"Haven't fed in a few days. I'm hungry as hell now. Are you alright?"

"Yea. Hey, you can feed from me...if you'd like. Don't kill me or anything." Azrael nodded and sighed. He closed his eyes for a full minute before opening them half-way. They were solid black. He elongated his fangs and looked into Robin's eyes. They were full of life, joy and freedom. Robin exposed some of her neck, and Azrael slowly sunk his fangs in. She winced at first but in actuality she felt no pain. She breathed heavily as she felt her blood leaving her body and into Azrael. After a few seconds he pulled out, licking the bite marks. They healed over as if nothing had happened.

"I can't thank you enough Robin. Many thanks." He pulled her in, kissing her slowly. Robin kissed him back, grabbing the shoulders of his blazer and pulled herself into Azrael. He pulled away, eyes and fangs returning to normal. He breathed slowly, feeling sunlight. He pushed himself off from Robin and jumped back a safe distance. He got on his knees and bent his head as a blinding light enveloped him.

"Robin, this will only take a few hours. Go away, for your safety."

Robin threw her hands in front of her face as a Supernatural, blinding, sunlight enveloped Azreal. She could tell he was in pure agony, but she didn't know if she should help, or if her efforts would make it worse. She slumped against a nearby tree, and let tears fall slowly down her face. She knew that Somehow, This was her fault, or that she shouldn't have let him. This must have been a consequence of his feeding. She knew it was.

The tears fell faster now, but she concealed it from Azreal, knowing that his worrying for her emotions would break him while he was punished, if he wasn't focused atleast.

Azrael's body was being burned by Divine Sunlight, a form of light that could burn Crusniks down to the atoms in their bodies. He clenched his teeth as his body became scorched. Feeding on a human is what caused such a reaction, but Azrael knew this would be the outcome. He heard sobbing and slowly looked up to see Robin crying.

"Robin…this isn't your…fault. Let…me…take…the suffering…I…deserve." He held out his hand despite the godly pain he was receiving. "It's not…your…fault." Azrael couldn't hold it in any longer and let loose a hellish roar, screaming out for a few seconds before shutting his mouth. "This…hurts…beyond…your…wildest…imagination."

Retasouhdal giggled and kissed Asinoir, "What did you have in mind if we went to bed now?"

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

The battle over Tarsh watched from afar. Why was he fighting? He asked himself then frowned with the determination of revenge, "My kin are gone by Magical hands... The Chosen shall be punished for this..."

“I’M GOING TO FONG YOU, CEE!” Vera screamed at the top of her lungs as she pushed the air around her. She could have flown but she felt it necessary, and more dramatic, to run down the streets and leave a trail of kicked up dirt in her wake.

Little did she know her shrill voice met the ears of her general, Asinoir, who popped his head up like a gopher.

“Vera’s back. And upset at the only person who can’t betray us,” Asinoir said with a sigh. He shook his head and decided that anything like that could wait until tomorrow. It wasn’t like the village was under attack or anything. He gave a kiss to his Princess and lifted her from his lap, setting her on the couch. He stood up and extended out his hand to her, saying, “Why don’t I show you?” As he winked his left eye.

Vera, in the meantime, skidded to a stop in front of where the barrier used to be. She saw the paladin covered in blood and swallowed the questions she wanted to ask.

“Cee…” She said, almost breathlessly. The shock of it all knocked the wind out of her. Not in a million years did she imagine him capable of turning against the Chosen. She had become a member of the council shortly after the decision to control him had been made. She had no say in his future but she saw both the value and the immorality in his part on their side.

“Did he…” Vera said, gulping loudly, “Did he suffer?” She asked, referring to the mage he had just murdered.

Cee looked at Vera. Her expression almost broke his heart. "No. One sword through his heart and another across his throat.... he never even felt a breeze." He averted his gaze, not able to look her in the eyes. "This had to be done. I don't agree with what my non magical brethren did, but that was in the past. Please... join me. We can end their plan together and make sure no one has to suffer the fate of this poor fellow."

Tellas followed Vera and when she stopped he moved to her side, but was a little behind her, he bottled up his rage at the killing and merely said, with a glance to Vera, "You expect her to follow you after killing one of her comrades? You're a traitor. What guarentee does she have that you won't try to kill her as well?"

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

"Azirak... Your name is a nice ring to it..." She then looked into his eyes, "I need to know where the nearest storm is... but I don't want these humans following me. You helping me has proven to me you can be trusted and..." She was going to say more but turned her face away. Why was this man's eyes so inviting? She eventually got the question out, "I may not even know if I could get there alone... I've only just survived thus far because I don't need to rest my wings..."

Robin took his hand, and walked into the light, feeling no pain. She held him close, trying to comfort him through the immense pain. She held him, prepared to stay with him until it was over. She whispered something into his ear.

"Make it through this and you won't be sorry."

Tears were still flowing from her eyes. And it pained her to a great extent to see him in such pain.

"I need to know where the nearest storm is... but I don't want these humans following me. You helping me has proven to me you can be trusted and..."
Azirak was a little puzzled.
"Well, i only helped you up. But if you really want a storm..."
He raised his hand and snapped his fingers. Above his head, the clouds began to group together, and slowly began to turn dark.
"Give it a few minutes. Why do you need a storm anyway, just out of interest?" He enquired.

Vera's heart was stammering. It would pick up the pace and then stop altogether. There was no way she could go with Cee. She still had work to be done here.

"I can't," She said. Tellas had joined them by then. She feared that a fight was about to erupt and her mind raced to get Cee out of there, and quickly.

"What we did to you was horrible," Vera said, "You deserve your freedom and the rest of your life back. We took away your choices." Vera exhaled, trying to maintain an air of the council woman she was. She knew she was going to get into big, big trouble for what she was about to say next.

"You're free to go. On one condition. Return, and we will preform justice for the mage you killed. I'm sure you know what that means," Vera finished.

"Vera.... thank you. I left a you a letter. Don't forget to read it." Cee said as he turned to walk down the trail that led down the mountain. "However I will return for you some day."

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Falks slowly stroked Mira's hair as they lay in the wagon. He was hoping that Cee was okay. "C'mon you son of a bitch...." The wagon was in perfect view of where the paladin had told him the village should be on the top of the mountain. Falks looked slowly and carefully and finally saw the flicker. Slipping out from between Mira's arms, he buckled his armor and picked up his scimitar. He gently kissed her on the cheek and leapt out of the vehicle, making a mad dash for the mountain.

Vexoz stopped before he went out the door. As Tellas left, Vexoz tried to figure out which way Cee went. "Alright," he mumbled to himself, "lets see... how did Vera do it...." The warrior tried to sense the mana of Cee. Easy, just calm yourself. Try and focus on him. Vera and Tellas can hold him off, you've got all the time in the world until he gets away.

He wondered around the room, sometimes going in circles before finally figuring out the right direction. Somehow, it brought him to what he thought was Vera's room. He examined the note there. "Things just got complicated!"

As soon as Vexoz managed to track where Cee was, it seemed to be far too late. Vera a Tellas were just standing there next to the missing portion of the Barrier and a dead light mage. Cee was nowhere to be found, however it felt like he might have jumped off the mountain!

Slowly, the warrior approached Vera. He gave a quick glance at the dead mage before continuing. "Uhh, Vera? What just happened?"

"Sure thing." Ret said as she followed her lover. But something was wrong, "Wait... isn't there meant to be a barrier there, or something?"

"Cee betrayed us killing the mage there, Vexoz. Someone who should get a burial at least... I'll keep watch on who and what tries to pass through." Tellas decided, "Unless you have a better idea Vera."

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

The Naelashi smiled as the start of a storm appeared, "They.. Calm me down," She said then her eyes suddenly snapped back to him, "Y-you can create storms!?"

"Y-you can create storms!?"
Azirak nodded. It had been a while since he had been able to "wow" somebody.
"Yep. Create them, destroy them, make them bigger, make them smaller...anything to do with lightning, a dynari can control. And storms calm you down? How does that work?"

Marneila smiled then, without warning, hugged him brefily, "Ooh i Wish i could use magic... Naelashi are magicless...... Well unless they're married... We're complicated."

Drake slowly fell asleep next to Kailyn, not waiting for her to speak, and drifted into the darkness of his mind. He dreamt of his appearant son once again.

The next morning he woke up groggily, and he sat up slowly, after disentangling himself from Kailyn, being sure not to wake her.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Robin watched as the Divine light finally faded, and Azreal's face lightened and relaxed as the pain soothed. She ran over to him, making sure that he was fine, and he seemed to be, but she was definately not going to stop this time.

Spoiler:

"I told you it would be worth it..." She said to him as she zipped up her tight leather jacket once more, and soon letting her pants follow. She smiled at him sadly. "Sorry that you had to deal with that..."

Azrael was caught off guard when Robin decided to "reward" him for patience. He held her body close to his. His shirt, tie and blazer were burned away by the Divine Sunlight. He was just glad she stayed by his side, and he kissed her again, pulling her in closer. His ears pricked up when he heard rustling in the bushes. He folded in his wings as Robin slowly got up. He followed in suit.

"What is it Azrael?" The Crusnik sniffed the air and almost moaned.

"Food." A vampire standing at seven feet lurked out. It was a beast-vampire, resembling a massive man bat. Robin backed away slowly, feeling the air go cold. Azrael extended his claws, his eyes turning black, four wings extending from his back. The vampire rushed in, but Azrael instantly held it by the neck and thrusted his free arm through its heart. It scratched Azrael numerous times but he persisted. He ripped out the still-beating heart, thus ending the blood drinker's life. He consumed the heart whole and drained the body until it shriveled up into a flaky, pasty-skinned corpse.

"Azrael…" Azrael turned to Robin and became human again. He looked down.

"This is the part when you call me freak of nature, or something ." She ran up to him and tackle-hugged him.

"No. I'm accepting who you are. I love you."

"Ooh i Wish i could use magic... Naelashi are magicless...... Well unless they're married... We're complicated."
Azirak blushed slightly when she hugged him.
"um...thank you." He said, at a bit of a loss for words as what to say in reply apart from that. He didnt notice falks running nearby.

She smiled, "You're welcome!" She stifled a yawn for a moent, "Ooh... need to find a safe place to roost before I fall asleep..."

"Ooh... need to find a safe place to roost before I fall asleep..."
Azirak thought. He couldnt help but like this strange creature.
"If you want, you can perch in one of the trees near the human camp. Ive spoken to them and they dont seem like other humans, although they are just as stupid. It might be safe to stick around them, as from what i have heard, something big is happening."

I'll keep watch on who and what tries to pass through." Tellas decided.

Vexoz looked down at the bloody body of the light mage. He tried to get back in a magic-sensing state, but just couldn't lock on to Cee anymore. He was probably just too far away. "They were just doing thier job...."

Vexoz shook his head. "We need to tell the Council about this. No, I need to tell the Council about this. About all of this!" Focusing his voice, the warrior turned to Vera. "We need an emergency meeting as soon as possible!"