Original Stories Fan Fiction / Other Fan Fiction / Realism Fan Fiction ❯ Darkness Eternal ❯ Chapter 2 ( Chapter 3 )

Chapter TwoMeeting

Dumping her bag at the willow's roots she began pacing in an attempt to vent her frustration. “Stupid rats! Morons! Idiots! Stupid fucking assholes!” she screamed, her voice echoing through the quiet of the surrounding forest. “I wish they would just die, the whole lot of them. Then maybe I would find some peace.”

A reproachful yowl filled the air, startling her. She paused in her relentless pacing and looked around for the source, but found nothing within the tree's protective covering. Snorting scornfully she turned and punched the tree, hard.

Profanities echoed through the quiet as needles of pain shot up her arms and into her shoulder. Clutching her fist to her chest she kicked the tree and cursed again, this time hopping on one foot. Something soft and warm brushed against her good leg and pushed, sending her flying backwards. She landed spread eagle on her back on the leaf littered ground, pain still throbbing through body.

Death is…easy. Do you really want them dead? a soft, velvety voice asked her.

The image of a boy's broken and bloodied body presented itself to her mind's eye.

“What does it matter?” she asked, banishing the image from mind. “We all die eventually.”

Silence.

Do you wish them dead like the last one?

Again, the boy's broken image flashed through her head and with it came a gut wrenching sense of guilt. She turned her head to the side as though to avoid the voice and stared at the softly swaying branches of the willow. “No,” she whispered after a moments hesitation. “I don't want them to die like that. I know I'll regret it later.”

Very well.

A sardonic smile crossed her lips as the voice faded. “I'm insane, talking to myself and all,” she laughed derisively. The smile faded as she turned her head to stare up into the willow's leaves. “I feel nothing for his death. He brought it on himself…” Even as the words left her lips she knew there was no truth to them.

As the dull throbbing in her right hand and leg subsided a little she sat up and gazed at the swaying leaves around her. When she rose to her feet, Soren reached for the branches and hoisted herself into the inner workings of the tree limbs and rested there. “Morons,” she said contemptuously. “Who cares if I've been here five years or not? What does it matter if that woman…” Her voice trailed off as she dropped her gaze to her lap.

Turning her right hand over she exposed the small eagle shaped birthmark and the translucent scar that ran from the end of her palm to the middle of her forearm. She slowly traced the rough contours of the scar with her left thumb as the words echoed unwillingly through her head.

“Won't you join me, darling?”

“No,” came the cracked reply

“Do you want to die like that bastard?”

“Don't call him that!!”

Soren's lips parted slightly as her breath quickened with every pulse; her eyes drifted halfway closed as the world around her began to spin; the blood coursing through her body pounded rhythmically in her ears; her muscles tensed slightly as though to pounce. Her chin trembled slightly as the old hate bubbled just beneath her chest. Time ceased to flow as she sat there.

* * *

The wind stirred his waist length silver hair as he turned to the bear. “Is it him? Did we get the right scent this time?” he asked softly, his eyes shimmering with some untamed emotion.

“Yes, it's him. I believe that he has found her as well,” the deep voice of the bear replied as he took a step away from his master. His head snapped around as he caught a new scent. “This may be more trouble than we anticipated.”

“Why?” he asked with a frown, the muscles just beneath his light skin rippling as he followed the bear's gaze to the forest. “Hm…perhaps, but nothing we haven't handled before. Now go.”

* * *

A soft wind lipped at the willow and stirred her crimson hair, blowing it into her face and rousing her from her dream like state. She jerked her head away from the sight of her wrist and refocused her eyes on the dirt below.

Two black shapes shot across the earth beneath her, disturbing the willow's long overreaching branches and leaves as they passed. “The hell…?” she said softly, keen silver eyes scanning the path the figures had taken. Shaking her head, she looked away and back to the sky where she could see the sun was at high noon. She sighed and reluctantly swung her legs over the side of her branch and dropped ten feet.

She bent and reached for her bag, but froze as a twig snapped outside of the willow's protective shelter. The air around her rippled and bent as it had that morning, only this time a guttural growl joined it. An answering growl filled the air and reverberated through her slender body before it faded into the distance.

Soren straightened and cast a cautious look around, deftly ignoring the cold that twisted at her gut. Silence pressed in on her from all sides as she strained her sense for a clue as to what was out there. The sounds birds chirping their songs and squirrels chattering back and forth reached her ears; the scent of pine needles and soggy dirt filled her nose; the soft wind caressed her skin; the stirring of each leaf never going unnoticed by her eyes. Utter tranquility encompassed the forest around her and yet…there was a nearly tangible quality to the air, almost as though it were…alive.

Branches above her quivered, making her jerk her head back as she instinctively braced her knees for flight. A squirrel flew through the air from one tree branch to the other. Giving a scornful laugh she snatched her bag up and strode quickly from beneath the willow, batting its branches out of her face as she did so.

Even as she stepped away from the tree's covering her body did not entirely relax, but remained as tense as a coil. Though she was sure it was nothing she remained wary of the shadows and moved at a steady pace along the trail. She was almost halfway through the forest when she heard it.

“Is it you?” a soft voice whispered, making her spin around to look back at the trail only to see nothing. Her eyes darted around searching for the source of the voice as she slowly backed away. “Is it you?” it asked again, closer this time.

Her heart skipped a beat at the closeness of it, her breath stilling as her bag slid from her shoulder to strike the ground with a muted whump. Spinning around she bolted from the path and plunged into the thick undergrowth of the forest, ignoring the thorns that ripped her jeans and shirt and the branches that seemed to reach for her as they tore at her skin.

She shot through the shadows of the trees, through the patches of sunlight, and deeper into the uncharted depths of the forest, the familiar cold twisting at her stomach as she tried to outrun that which sought her. The forest slid by in a blur of greens, reds, and yellows as her breath came in ragged gasps and her heart hammered in her chest.

Down, the soft voice ordered her.

Soren ignored it and continued to run. An ancient pine loomed ahead of her and as she drew closer she angled around it, curving her path to bolt around its massive trunk and better escape.

Sharp stabbing pains punctured her left side as something big and built like stones slammed into her, smashing her right side into the ancient pine. As sharp teeth sank into her upper right arm a scream ripped through the air. An angry yowl echoed through the forest before a white blur flashed and rammed into the hairy creature with enough force to dislodge the teeth from her flesh.

The animals tumbled to the ground as a mass of fur, claws, and teeth. The sounds of snarls and snapping teeth filled the air as Soren remained rooted to the spot as she watched with horrified fascination, the pain of her arm dulled and all thoughts of escape forgotten.

Down!!! the voice harshly ordered her and as she dropped to the ground a flash of metal glinted in the shadows before a blade became lodged into the wood with a satisfying thunk. Strands of crimson hair fluttered down to rest in the dirt, an indication to just how close she had come to death. Her breath stilled as she stared at the strands.

A quiet oath sounded above her. “Just a girl, this one,” a voice like wind whispered. “The youngest one yet.”

Soren craned her neck back to catch a glimpse of her attacker and saw long, flowing silver hair shimmering in the sunlight against moon white skin. His build was slight and yet that did not deter him from yanking the heavy broad sword free of the bark and lifting it with one hand.

She scrambled to her feet and turned to face him, instinctively knowing that he would catch her before she could get ten feet. Her only option was to stay and face him and hope that she could come out of it alive. Ice flowed through her veins, numbing her against the fear that should have taken over.

Run!! Go, get out of here!!

Shut up, Soren ordered the voice. She felt the voice withdraw from her mind and was glad to focus all of her attention on her attacker.

His silver hair stirred in the wind again as he raised his sword a little higher. A sad smile tugged at his lips as he said, “Sorry, youngling, but I have my orders.”

Soren took an involuntary step back as he moved to the side, away from the tree. The sounds of animals clashing were muted background noise as the two focused intently on the other. “Can I at least know why you want to kill me?” she asked softly, her foot slowly sliding around the soft dirt.

This question brought him up short and a look of momentary surprise crossed his face. “You wish to know why?” he repeated. Soren gave a curt nod and he said, “I told you already, I have my orders.”

“Which would be?” she prompted, taking a step forward and continuing the quest with her foot. “What are the orders? Is it against me personally or something someone else did?”

An untamed emotion flickered briefly through his dark eyes as he smiled sadly again. “Not against you personally, no, child,” he said, his voice soft and rough now. “If the other had not chosen you, you would have been safe, but I have been ordered to cause as much strife for his kingdom as possible and that entails killing you.”

“So it's not my fault,” Soren said as though to clarify. Got it.

“Hardly,” he said, moving forward. “You're just a product of circumstances.”

An odd smile crossed her lips that made him falter for just a moment before he took three more steps forward and swung the heavy sword in a downward slash. She lurched back to avoid the flashing metal and fell to the ground, her fingers closing tightly around the rock her foot had discovered just moments ago.

When the sword met nothing and continued through its deadly arc, he became overbalanced and tripped over an uprooted tree root. The sword went flying as he attempted to regain his balance and his hands grabbed onto the nearest tree limb.

Soren was on her feet again before he had time to fully recover. She closed the space between them and smashed the rock against his temple or would have if something big and black furred had not slammed into her side again, knocking the rock from her grip and driving the breath from her lungs and sending her tumbling away from him. In the confusion that followed its claws slashed through the air and nicked the right side of her face, leaving three distinct gouges over her eye and making it impossible to see through the haze of blood that flowed freely from the wound.

She tucked her arms into her sides and rolled away from the animal as it threw its weight to the ground, intent on crushing her. As she finished rolling and made to scramble to her feet cool metal bite into the skin of her left forearm. She bit her tongue against the fire that reared its ugly head in her arm and spread to her shoulder.

White flashed over her and leapt onto the brown mass of fur that was trying to heave itself to its feet. A roar pierced the air as a bear and white snow leopard became visible for a moment and the leopard sank its teeth into the bear's neck and hung on. Then the moment passed and the bear had shaken the leopard off and was forced back into combat with her, its true aim blocked once more.

Glancing down to see what had made the fire she saw the broad sword laying beside her, glinting dully in the sun despite the dirt and blood that seared its gleaming blade. Without giving it much thought she snatched the heavy blade up as she scrambled to her feet, shoving the flaring agony to the back of her mind. Having seen the male swing the blade like a child's toy, she was more than a little surprised at its weight when she tried to heft it into the air like he had. Her muscles protested the strain and shuddered as they threatened to give out on her.

A deep snarl wrent the air, making her eyes dart to the right where she saw the dark outline of a wolf standing not far away in the shadow of the ancient oak. It took a step towards her, its teeth bared in a feral snarl. Past caring what she looked like she bared her own teeth and growled back, allowing the sword to drop to her side. Surprisingly, the wolf laid his ears flat and dropped his head a little.

“It is you,” an amused voice said. A man with deep bronze skin stepped from the shadow of the oak to stand beside the wolf. His silver hair was drawn back into a loose ponytail that allowed a few strands to escape and frame his stern face, though the effect was lost with the way a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. Broad shoulders gave way to a sturdy chest and strong arms, all of which could be seen through the plain white long-sleeve he wore.

Silver eyes met sea green. An eternity seemed to pass in that moment before she felt the sharp dagger like touch pierce her back. Any pain she might have felt was dulled by the pure shock of seeing the claw-like fingers protruding from her left shoulder. Tilting her head back she met the eyes of her assailant and read the regret in his eyes as clearly as though she had been reading a book.

Sound took on an unreal quality as blackness began to creep along the edge of her vision. She barely felt the sword slid from her nerveless fingers or heard the other man shout something indecipherable. The world strangely tilted and spun as he yanked his hand from her shoulder and stepped away.

She swayed dangerously, her head spinning all the more. Her eyes landed on the second silver haired man as he advanced towards her, his arms outstretched. The soft dirt suddenly rushed up to meet her as her knees gave way. As her knees connected with the ground strong arms closed around her before and pulled her into a sturdy embrace against his plain white shirt. Barely conscious, she noted the interesting slickness that seemed to be pressing at her from his shirt. A gentle drowsiness was beginning to envelope her senses.

“Grent.” The word penetrated her haze, but she did not feel like moving to find out to whom he was talking to. “…summon Harina…heal…” A shadow fell across her for a moment before the pain eased and she felt the blood slow.

Her eyes were beginning to cross as they did when she was tired when she felt, rather than heard, a deep growl rumble in his chest. She fought against the pleasant unconsciousness that threatened to drag her under and shifted her head so that her good eye was fixed on the second male's chin, as he was currently glaring at the fair skinned male. They were exchanging words, but she only caught a handful of their entire conversation.

“…she order…my…death?” he snapped.

“…order, prince…she…innocent…Askerin laid…me…” the fair skinned male replied, his cheeks flushing with either embarrassment or anger. “…Jesira…nothing to…this.”

“…won't succeed…Karu,” he said sharply.

A low snarl filled the air as the male holding her said something more. “Lies,” was all she could make out from the second's reply before his face contorted strangely.

Even in her hazy state she could feel a mild horror at the way his jaw and nose rapidly were lengthening and changing color. He fell forward to land on all fours on the forest floor as his arms convulsed and swelled to the size of beach balls as they gained at least six feet in height, his fingers lengthening and curving to form five deadly talons. His feet swelled until his supple leather boots strained against his skin and burst into shreds to reveal heels that had lifted away from the ground so that only the pads of his feet rested against the dirt. His back arched as he grew, his spine lengthening in odd spurts as his skin stretched and convulsed into scales dark enough to be called black.

His silver hair melted into his back, leaving light discolorations to his otherwise unmarred hide. Great slimy black wings burst from his back just below the shoulder blades as a tail rapidly exploded into existence as his spine tapered off. The transformation completed, he stood at least forty feet in length and easily towered thirty feet over them. He lifted his head from his broad chest to glare down at them and bared his teeth to reveal two rows of incisors, a low growl rumbling from deep in his throat.

All these changes took place within a few moments and yet there was nothing to mark him as the human that had so recently stood before them. Even his neck had extended past recognition as something that might have once been human in the way that it flowed ten feet from his jaw to expand into his chest.

Soren gave an involuntary shudder as she felt herself lifted off the ground by something that felt like an enormous hand. Her good eye flicked back to the one holding her and felt an unpleasant lurch of the stomach as her sight was met with that of the great red and gold underbelly of a giant lizard. She felt her head jerked back and saw the stars burst before her eyes as the great lizard reared back and flapped his wings. The lizard let loose a roar that rattled her bones and shook the air around them as he rose onto his haunches and launched himself into the air, clutching her possessively to his chest.And then she heard no more. Her last conscious thought before the darkness claimed her was, Well crap, the lock. The bitch will get into my stuff again tonight.

The next thing she was aware of was a great rushing of air all around her and the sensation of being carried very fast. Opening her good eye she was greeted with the sight of buildings sliding away at a sickening rate beneath them. She averted her eye from the view and looked back to the lizard's great underbelly.

“Where are you taking me?” she meant to ask, but the words came out mangled and unrecognizable.

Red and gold scales glittered in the half sunlight that penetrated the gloomy shadow its stomach cast over her. Its powerful leg muscles heaved back and forth as they strained with the rhythm of his flight.

The snake suddenly folded its wings in and banked into a sharp dive to the left. A roar split the air and vibrated all the way through its powerful legs to shake her very bones and set her wounds to aching again.

They dropped towards the city like a meteor, towards the buildings with the spear like tips and the standstill ants below. Fifty yards from the tallest building he spread his wings and shot away. The sound of shattering glass, screeching metal, and splintering concrete reached her ears as something crashed into the streets below.

“…on,” she heard someone say, then they wheeled around mid-air to face a scene of total devastation. Cars were overturned and scattered about like toys as insurmountable amounts of glass glittered in the sun. Six buildings leaned towards the gaping hole that had been punched through the streets to the sewers and each were in equal danger of toppling over onto the few bystanders that dared to edge towards the monster that had created such a mess.

“Getting…Karu,” a deep voice rumbled from above her.

The black dragon did not deign a response, but scrambled over the side of the hole, taking care not to step on the humans that were still underfoot. After he had shaken his wings free of the sewage he launched himself into the air and streaked towards them like lightning. He shot past them as the younger dragon rolled mid-air, grazing his flanks with his rear talons.

Righting himself he adjusted his grip on Soren so that he was not crushing her and once more brought her to his chest in a possessive manner. “…name…girl?” she heard his deep voice rumble again.

“Wha'?” she managed to ask, the word sliding thickly past her lips.

“Name,” he repeated.

“Soren,” she replied without thinking what it would mean for her later.

“…you,” he rumbled, as he folded his wings in and dove at the black dragon as he was moving up to engage them.

Fanning his wings out once more, the two dragons met like a clap of thunder. They grappled, kicking at each other's bellies with hind legs. Their talons produced a heinous screeching as they clashed and Karu made several grabs for her, the red and gold dragon deftly blocking him each time. They struggled for a moment, then her dragon managed to kick free and gain a moments altitude, but Karu would have none of it.

Soren felt a shudder ripple through his body as Karu's claws scored three deep gashes across his underbelly. Arcing through the air he executed a backward loop so that he was behind Karu and raked his free claw down the older dragon's back. As he righted himself, Karu twisted mid-air to face him and in that moment the red and gold dragon lunged forward and locked his powerful jaws around his exposed neck and held on despite the claws that raked his face and belly.

As they continued their struggle over the city she felt herself slipping again. She shook her head and tried to shift her weight, but his talons merely tightened around her in response to her movements as pain seared her limbs. A quiet gasp escaped her lips, but it was more than enough to distract him.

He released his hold on Karu's neck and beat his wings to put some quick distance between them, his nose coming uncomfortably close to her face as he inhaled her scent and rumbled a discontented growl. “Sleep,” he said and as warmth settled over her body the last thing she heard was a deep throated roar of agony.