Random Tellings

Succubus Companions ch5 pt. 6

2013-11-18T19:09:00.000-05:00

Looking the woman over, Seraphine noticed she was in bad shape. Her clothes were soaked with blood from a stab wound in her gut. She also bled in a line down her chest where someone had cut too deeply when someone too impatient to undo the lacings of her vest and blouse had cut too deeply. Blood, more purple than red, was beginning to crust around her hairline, her nose and lips. The woman’s slightly skin looked as if it would normally be a bronze skin, but now looked more blue than bronze. Wide gold-flecked hazel eyes looked up at Seraphine first in horror then in bitter acceptance as the woman, too weak to move, watched the demon lean over her.

Seraphine pulled a flask from her belt, relieved it had survived. Seraphine poured a portion of it onto the woman’s wounds causing the woman to gasp as the potion’s affects washed over the woman with a cool magical sensation. She held it to injured woman’s lips. “Drink this. It will help,” She ordered.

The woman turned her head to the side revealing one pointed ear. An elf, Seraphine realized. The elven maiden whispered, “Be gone, demon.”

Seraphine recoiled in surprise as holy energy washed over her, sinking into her, and doing absolutely nothing. She blinked in confusion and looked down at the elf to realize that the elf was staring at her with an expression that showed she was equally confused.

“That should have at least stung,” the woman grunted bitterly.

Seraphine shrugged. “We can figure that out later. For now, drink,” she ordered.

“Elora?” the woman croaked.

Seraphine tilted her head to the side. “Elora?”

“The wolf,” the elf clarified.

Seraphine moved over to the wolf. It looked up at her warily, baring its teeth. The arrow protruded from the side, buried almost to the fletching. Seraphine wasn’t an expert on wolf anatomy, but she from the way the wolf wheezed, she suspected that the arrow had punctured a lung.

She moved back to the elf and shook her head. “I’m sorry,” she said softly.

The elf grabbed her hand. “Save her,” she commanded.

Seraphine sighed, “I only have one potion with me. If I have to use it all on the wolf, you might die.”

“Save her,” the elf commanded again. “Please.”

Seraphine sighed again and looked up at Vician. “You have another potion?”

“Not that I am sharing,” Vician replied. “Especially not on an elf we don’t even know.”

“I’ll be fine,” the elf pleaded. “Please save Elora.”

Rolling her eyes, Seraphine shifted back to a human form and returned to the wolf and knelt down beside it. Seraphine reached for the arrow only to yank her hand back to avoid losing it to the wolf’s jaws.

“Easy, girl,” Seraphine whispered. “Elora? I want to help you but I have to remove the arrow.”

Seraphine reached for the arrow again. As gently, but quickly as she could she pushed the arrow the rest of the way through the wolf.

Elora tried to snap at Serpahine’s hands again, but the succubus moved her hands out of the way. The wolf then tried to lunge for the demon, but she didn’t have the strength and she collapsed into a whimpering ball of fur.

Retrieving her dagger from Breven’s corpse, Seraphine cut the end off of the arrow and pulled it out. Acting quickly, she poured a little of the healing potion on both of the wounds.

Cupping her hand, she poured a little of the healing potion into it and held it in front of the wolf. Putting a bit of suggestion into her voice she encouraged the wolf to drink. One handful at a time, she convinced Elora to lap up the potion.

Gradually, the wolf’s breathing slowed and became less labored and the visible wounds knit together and faded into scars. The wolf stopped whimpering and slowly came to her feet still regarding the demon warily she padded over to the elf and sat down.

The elf reached up to pet the wolf and whispered reassurances to it. “Thank you,” she said softly, looking up to meet Seraphine’s eyes. To the succubus’ amazement, the elf looked and sounded a bit stronger. “Regeneration spell,” the elf explained, seeing Seraphine’s expression. “Not as fast or painless as healing potions, but effective.”

Vician approached the women, his arms laden with goods collected from the dead men. “Let’s go,” he commanded in a gruff voice.

Seraphine glanced to the woman skeptically.

“Not her,” Vician barked. “You.”

“We can’t just leave her,” Seraphine retorted. “She can’t even walk.”

“Not our problem,” the wizard shrugged coldly. Seeing Seraphine’s expression, he softened his tone. “Come on, we’ve left our camp unattended long enough. It would be a miracle if we do not find that all our gear is stolen.”

“You helped Melrazia, why won’t you help her?” Seraphine stood up to face Vician, confusion and anger evident in her expression.

“I had something to gain for helping Melrazia; namely you,” Vician pointed out. “Helping this woman, gains us nothing.”

“Helping this woman got you the pile of stuff you are carrying.”

“No, killing men gained me the stuff I carry,” Vician explained with exaggerated patience. “If she is strong, she will survive.”

“You sound like a demon. That is something a demon would say,” Seraphine angrily hissed.

“And you are a demon,” Vician snarled back. “Perhaps you should start acting more like one.”

Seraphine looked as though she had been struck in the face. “Part of the reason Melrazia was hurt was because we don’t want to be demons,” she gritted through clenched teeth as tears ran down her face.

“Well you certainly looked like you enjoyed being a demon when you killed those men tonight,” Vician sneered gesturing towards the men.

“Go bed a Medusa,” Seraphine hissed. She turned her back on the mage. “If you want to go back to camp, go ahead. No one is stopping you. I’m staying.”

“If you do not come with me, I’ll banish you back to the statue,” Vician warned.

“Go ahead. At least the company would be preferable in there.” Seraphine looked over her shoulder with the most angelic smile she could muster thus missing the brief look of horror that washed over the injured elf’s face. “At least there, I don’t have my failings rubbed in my face.”

“Nine Hells, must you be so difficult woman?” the mage roared.

“I’m not a woman, I’m a demon remember? It’s in my nature.”

“Ugggh,” if Vician’s hands were not full, Seraphine imagined he would have thrown them up as he turned and stomped off. “Do what you want. If you’re not back in camp in an hour, I’ll use the statue.” Not bothering to wait for a reply, he stalked into the woods leaving the succubus alone with the elf and the wolf.

Neither the mage nor the succubus noticed the elf mumble a spell or saw her look of confusion as she glanced at the angry demon or her wince in pain as she watched the departing man.

Succubus Companions ch5 pt. 5

2013-11-12T17:27:00.002-05:00

Breven's death was enough to break the spell. One man watching in horror as the two brother's fell and was rewarded with several balls of energy exploding into his chest courtesy of Vician. The others dove for their discarded weapons. Two never made it. Twin spells from Seraphine and Vician lashed out to catch them in the back and send them tumbling across the clearing, smoke rising from their backs.

Only four survivors remained. Two charged Vician, but Seraphine was unable to spare him any help as the remaining pair faced off against her.

There was no time to go for her dagger which was still in Breven's hand. Instead, she had to rely on her natural weapons. As one man attempted to distract her by weaving his sword in a complicated pattern, she used her tail to trip his partner who was trying to flank her on her left. She spun out of reach to the right coming around to face the men, cursing herself for not taking the time to grab the wands and the daggers Melrazia had given to her in her pack before investigating the scream.

She ducked as the first man took a swing at her, his sword passing so close to her head that it chipped one of her horns. As he attempted to reverse the swing, she lashed out with her claws, catching him lightly across the throat.

It was merely a scratch but it startled him enough that he jumped back giving her a chance to respond to the man she had tripped who attempted to thrust his blade into her gut. Hissing, she threw herself backwards using her tail and wings to balance and control her landing. As the man pressed the attack, she hopped backwards again, this time turning her flight into a roll. As she came down, she scooped up a handful of dirt with her claws and flung it at the man's face, temporarily blinding him.

She didn't have a chance to follow up on her advantage. Even as the blinded man lashed out blindly with his sword, the man she had scratched charged in from her side. She lashed out with her tail again, but he was ready. Stumbling out of the tails reach he made a slash at it.

Grunting, Seraphine swept her tail out of the man's reach and rolled over pushing herself to her feet. Before the man could raise his sword again, she leapt upon him, knocking him down. Holding him down with her left hand and knees, she drew back her right and then stabbed down with a vicious strike that sent her claws through this throat.

Even as the dead man's blood splattered over her, half-blinding her, she felt someone standing over her. She rolled over using the dead man as a shield. The man she had blinded had recovered somewhat. Using his sword almost like an axe, he chopped down, burying his blade so deep in his companion's body that the tip protruded through the dead man's chest a mere inch from Seraphine's nose.

Throwing all her weight into the move, Seraphine rolled the rest of the way over, wrenching the sword from her would-be killer's hands. She barely got to her feet before the man slammed into her. Angrily, she staggered back and shoved him off of her. Wiping a bit of blood from her lip, she eyed the man. "Run, and you can live," She growled.

"Never, demon bitch," the man spat. "I'd rather die first."

"Good enough for me," a haggard voice came from behind the man just before the man's chest sprouted a few inches of steel.

Vician jerked his dagger free and the man fell to the ground. "You okay?" he asked.

Shakily, Seraphine stood up straighter. Wiping her face with the back of her hand, she nodded. "The others?"

"Dead," Vician said smugly.

"And the Woman?"

"Still alive, I think," he shrugged. "We should go."

"You would just leave her?" She asked incredulously.

"None of our business. For all we know she was one of them and they had a falling out. Regardless, they might have friends nearby. We should go."

"There's no one else nearby," Seraphine shot him a cold look.

"How would you know?" Vician retorted.

"I know," Seraphine's answer left no room for doubt or discussion. She stepped around him and went over to kneel beside the injured woman.

Succubus Companions ch 5 pt. 4

2013-11-11T18:56:00.002-05:00

Even as the rest of the men looked up, Seraphine stepped out of the woods, dark leathery wings sprouting from her back. Taking a breath, she steadied herself as she drew upon her natural abilities. She reached out with her mind and immediately wished she had not as images of rape and violence flooded her head. If intentions and cruelty alone were enough, these men would fit well into her home plane.

But for a creature to survive, let alone thrive in the abyss, intentions and cruelty alone mean little. Cunning, creativity, deception, and most of all power drive the abyss and the hint of a smile came over Seraphine as the chaos of the men's thoughts washed over her...as well as the knowledge none could withstand her.

Drawing upon yet another of her natural abilities, she allowed the promise of passion and sex fill her voice. Putting up one hand to signal Vician to hold off his next attack, she purred, "Boys, boys, surely that woman is more trouble than she is worth? Why don't you drop your blades and come play with me instead? Surely a willing victim is more fun than a dying woman?" She let her dagger fall to the ground to the ground as a demonstration of her 'willingness.'

Had the men the ability to resist her charm, most would have been horrified. As it was, only one man's eyes widened as he whispered in horror, "Succubus!" However, even his sword joined those of his brethren as he watched them approach the demon.

Seraphine took all of this in and tried to process above the terror pounding in her heart. As demons go, succubi tended to be weaker and therefore tended to avoid combat where possible. Though Seraphine had been in several fights in the abyss, this was her first facing true combat and she was terrified even as she felt the exhilarating euphoria of the chaos washing over her.

As the first man reached her, she pulled him in for a quick kiss. She felt disgusted with herself even as his life-force flowed from him into her. She tried to stifle the inner turmoil as she committed an act she had sworn and had struggled to avoid. She brought the man to the brink of death, before easing him down to the ground, laying down his unconscious body and surreptitiously grabbing her dagger.

She rose back to her feat as the second man reached to embrace her. As she stepped into his embrace, she slipped into his mind momentarily to gleam the thoughts just under the surface of his mind. Taking what she found there and putting it to use, she pressed her dagger into his hands and stood on tiptoes to whisper in his ear, "If you kill the others, you won't have to share." She stepped back and watched in satisfaction as his eyes widened and the power of her suggestion took root in his mind.

The man spun at once to stab the nearest of his companions through the gut. The stabbed man looked confused by the betrayal. "Breven, why? I'm your brother," he stammered as blood poured from the wound and gathered at the corner of his mouth. The dead man's brother, Breven, turned back to Seraphine, just in time to see her hands had become claws... claws that bestowed the same treatment on Breven that he had just bestowed on his brother.

Succubus Companions ch5 pt 3

2012-09-15T01:43:00.001-04:00

Seraphine gripped the reins she was given and attempted to follow, but the horse shied away from her with wide eyes and reared up. Seraphine was pulled forward and barely escaped the horses hooves as they came back down.

Vician was suddenly beside her, exchanging reins with her. Grabbing the bridle of the scared and misbehaving horse, he stared it down until it snorted and calmed down.

“I’ll take this one,” Vician said starting down the path.

The other horse was skittish around Seraphine but let her lead it along the path after Vician. When they reached the road, Vician showed her how to mount and handle the reins. It took a few tries and a couple of falls before Seraphine got the hang of riding but after an hour of practice she had the basics well enough for them to get underway.

They rode hard through the day and into the evening, stopping only to eat and rest the horses. Vician helped to pass the time and to distract Seraphine from her discomfort in the saddle by answering as many questions as he could about the woods they were traveling through, as well as telling her some a little about his childhood. Even so, by the time they finally steered their mounts off the road into a campsite, Seraphine had become reacquainted with muscles she had forgotten she had and was so stiff Vician had to help her down.

They tied the horses up to a pair of trees and removed the saddles and packs. Vician fed and brushed down the horses while Seraphine gathered wood and used a spell to light a fire and set some water on to boil. The two of them spread out their bedrolls and shared a dinner of tea and trail rations.

“Where are we going?” Seraphine asked between bites of reheated bread smothered in cheese.

“I’m not entirely sure, yet,” Vician admitted. “I was thinking either of heading east to study some of the powerful magics in the powerful kingdoms there or to one of the trading posts along the border with the Orc kingdom in the north where we could make a fortune selling potions and enchantments. Before we decide, I want to meet with some contacts and find out what news they have of the areas.”

Seraphine nodded and rubbed her thighs. “How far east or north would we have to travel?”

Vician shrugged. “Several weeks if not months.”

Serpahine groaned.

Vician smiled. “Don’t worry; the town where I intend to meet up with my contacts is only a few days ride from here.”

Seraphine sighed theatrically. “I don’t think I will have a backside left after this journey.”

The mage merely chuckled then let out a large yawn.

Seraphine volunteered for first watch and leaned back against a tree watching Vician as he turned in. It wasn’t long before he was snoring. As he slept, she could not help but think how innocent and handsome he looked curled up in his blanket.

A sound brought her out of her thoughts and she looked around. Out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw movement in the trees, but she could not see anything there. She felt an edge of fright, not her own, on the verge of her awareness, but could not pinpoint it. Still she could not shake the feeling that someone was out there and they were being watched. She still had that feeling when she woke Vician hours later and climbed into her own bedroll to sleep.

The rest of the night passed without incident and Vician let her sleep in the next morning. The day passed without incident, however, Seraphine would catch herself staring into the woods looking for hidden eyes that she felt upon her.

That night as Seraphine bedded down, she still had that anxious feeling. If anything it intensified, and though she fell asleep almost instantly, her dreams were of running though the woods toward a light while in the distance someone called her name. It was almost a relief when Vician woke her for her turn to take watch shortly after midnight.

The first two hours passed quietly, but then a startled scream pierced the night. Seraphine came to her feet instantly, drawing her dagger. Vician came awake instantly, reaching for his boots and belt quickly pulling on the boots and buckling the belt around his waist.

Another scream pierced the night, and Vician looked around trying to figure out where it came from. “That way,” Serpahine whispered and pointed toward a spot deeper into the woods. Vician nodded and they set out as quietly as they could, which was not quietly enough for Seraphine’s taste. Every step they took was accompanied by the sounds of rustling leaves or snapped twigs which Seraphine knew could announce their presence to anything or anyone out there.

She needn't have worried. The two of them came upon a clearing so small it barely could claim the name. On one side stood several armed men numbering somewhere between half and a full dozen. On the other side, a huge silver wolf stood guard over a fallen cloaked woman, blood dripping from its muzzle.

At first, Seraphine thought the wolf was attacking the woman, but then as it turned to face Seraphine and Vician, Seraphine saw one of the men let fly an arrow that struck the wolf, and the woman cried out “Elora!” as the wolf crumpled and fell.

Memories

2012-07-12T01:00:00.000-04:00

She found him in the starboard observation lounge. He was half seated-half sprawled on the couch staring out the window. In one hand he held a half full glass, resting it on the back of the couch. The other rested across the small table that held a half-full bottle, a small but noticeable puddle, and a worn sealed photoframe. A quick look to either side confirmed he was the only one in the room.

She paused, not wanting to intrude, but he waved her with the hand on the table without as much as a glance in her direction. She took a step in and the door closed behind her, cutting her and the ball of blue swirling energy beside her off from the corridor.

She gazed out the window to see what he was staring at but only saw the expected blue-grey glow of the Citadel’s massive arms rotating in the background and the usual traffic of ships, shuttles, and tugs racing every which way like worker bees inside a hive. Glancing to his reflection, she realized that he wasn’t really looking out the window so much as staring off into nothingness.

The expression in that reflection—of a man haunted by Goddess only knows what demons—caused her normally chipper mood to fall into one of worry as she nervously brushed her hand over her crest. She bit her lip and just stood there for a moment, the deep silence of the room interrupted only by the soft hiss of the ventilation system, the buzz of lights and the singularity floating beside her, and the sound of her own breathing.

At last his eyes seemed to focus as the eyes in his reflection flickered to her.

“Is there something you needed, lieutenant?”

She blinked, confused. “I’m an ensign, Sir.”

“Not anymore, you’re not,” he said gruffly. “After your performance on the last couple of missions and the work you’ve done with the recruits, I’m bumping you to Lieutenant. I already put the orders through.”

She straightened to attention and despite herself a smile broke through. “Thank you, Sir!”

“You’re welcome. Now was there something you needed?”

“Just letting you know that Ritta and Nomi are settling into their quarters, Sir.”

“And the Drell?”

She shrugged. “I believe she has already left the ship for Omega, Sir, but I don’t know for sure.”

“Very well, lieutenant. Dismissed.”

She turned around and reached for the door controls when he spoke up again. “Lieutenant, did I ever tell you I was married once?”

Curiosity and surprise made the wide-eyed officer turn around. She had never pictured the cigar-smoking, whisky-drinking, womanizing man to have ever been married. A thousand questions came to mind but she only replied with “No, sir.”

He finally turned to face her, picking up the framed photo and tossing it to her. “It’s true. Even had a couple of kids. Imagine that.”

She caught the frame upside down with one blue-lavender hand. She turned it over and studied it. A photo of a young human woman with fiery red hair and freckles hugging two boys--one with red hair, the other with brown—all smiling for the camera rested within the well-worn frame.

“You said had? The reapers?” She ventured.

“No. Sanctuary,” came the sad, bitter response.

She gasped despite herself, her free hand going to her mouth in shock. Her mind raced with a million questions but none would come out.

He gave her a long sad look and then the words came tumbling out.

***

He had been with Cerberus for about five years, joining up after his tour as an alliance marine. During his time as a marine, he saw how little regard for humans the rest of the galaxy had for humanity and he saw Cerberus as a way to ensure a better galaxy for his sons. His experience as a marine, and his quick grasp of most things mechanical made him an obvious candidate for an atlas pilot and the role fit him like a glove.

He rose quickly in the enlisted ranks very quickly, and while some of the jobs he did left him with a slightly sour aftertaste, the pay and benefits were excellent.

Over the last few weeks though, a feeling of unease was starting to consume him. The missions were becoming more extreme and more troubling to his conscience; attacking civilians, sending out maydays and ambushing medical supply ships, raiding labs and stealing reaper tech. In addition, most of the non-mechanized troops had been getting new implants and that left them acting very different. Even people that had been close friends of his before the new implants seemed very different and something about them that he couldn’t quite put his finger on was giving him a case of the creeps.

His unit had so far managed to avoid the new implants but the commander of the squadron that included the ship he served on had made it clear their time was running out.

“You need to get these upgrades soon, or I’m going to have to ground you and take you before The Illusive Man, son. The order that all troops receive these upgrades came down directly from him,” the squadron commander had made a point to tell him face to face. “You know he doesn’t tolerate disloyalty.”

He had still been trying to figure out what to do when the Reapers invaded a few days later. Everything was thrown into chaos, and he thought he had slipped out of the Squadron commander’s radar.

It was only a few days after that when his unit was assigned to attack a Solarian base. He was just beginning to climb into his cockpit when his OT chimed with back-to-back urgent messages. The first one was from Cerberus intelligence telling him that intelligence had good reason to believe that the colony his wife and sons were on was a high risk target and that they were going to attempt to relocate them to somewhere called Sanctuary. The second message was from his wife, telling him she had a visit from some men from Cerberus warning her of an impending attack and that she and the boys were now on a ship to Sanctuary and that she would give him a message when she arrived. Each of his boys briefly wished him love and told him they missed him, and she gave him her love and then disconnected.

That was the last he ever heard from them.

The mission was a disaster. Though they eventually took the base, their casualty count was unreal and their targets managed to escape. It was a week before he made it back to the ship and over half his men were dead. Even then, the squadron had to land at a nearby Cerberus base for repairs. Worse he had not managed to reach his wife.

It was by chance he caught an episode of Battlespace detailing what was found on Horizon during a period of downtime during the repairs.

He went to confront the squadron commander. “You knew about this, didn’t you?”

The squadron commander smirked. “Of course I knew. You didn’t think that The Illusive man was going to let your treason go unchecked forever did you? Be grateful I don’t just shoot your fucking ass. Now get out of my office.”

He walked back to his ship in a cloud of pain and rage. Once inside he headed straight for the holding bay for his unit. On the way he met up with some of his men and a couple of other friends. He told them what happened and continued on his way. All of them followed him, some activating their omni-tools to send frantic messages. When he reached the hanger, he drew his sidearm and shot both door guards in the head before walking in. Within five minutes the Atlas bay was secured and he and the handful of men with him strolled out of the bay onto the planet in their mechs while inside the ship a fierce battle broke out as others of his unit and various friends, acquaintances, and, in some cases, enemies who had family likewise transferred to Sanctuary staged a coup on their unsuspecting shipmates.

None of the landed ships had their shields up, and none of the Cerberus personnel ever dreamed that they would be attacked by their own. That laxness allowed the pilot and his followers to march right up inside the open hanger bay of the squadron’s flagship before anyone realized anything was wrong. By then it was too late.

The pilot flipped his mech’s arm up. Behind him five more mechs did the same. Alarms rang throughout the ship as targeting systems painted the ship from the inside. One after the next, six missiles plowed into the ship carving deeper and deeper, until the entire ship was burning stern to bow. The pilot guided his mech through the hole shooting at anything that moved, using the claw to pull his Atlas up deck by broken deck until he reached the command center.

The squadron commander hid behind the wreckage of the central map with a pair of troopers and fired off rounds at the atlas. The pilot gunned them down with the cannon and then picked the commander up with the claw bringing him close to the canopy so he and the commander could see eye to eye as the claw slowly crushed him to death.

The crews of other ships and the base itself figured out what was going on by that point. Some of the ships surrendered immediately when they realized how vulnerable they were but two more were destroyed and most were damaged before the fighting stopped. The base held out longer, but fell within a day when the pilot ordered sent the combined forces of the surviving ships troopers, centurions, and Atlas mechs at their defenses.

What he found when his men poured through the datafiles of the ruined flagship and the captured base confirmed his worst fears about not only about the danger presented by anyone with the new implants (or anyone indoctrinated by any means for that matter) but also about the fate of his family.

***

“Now you know why I do what I do,” the man said.

The young Asari listened quietly as he finished his tale. She tried to keep composure but the raw emotion that poured forth from her commanding officer was hard to ignore and tears threatened at the corners of her eyes.

Part of her wanted to hug him. Another part of her wanted to tell him it would all be alright someday. Another part of her wanted to cry. Instead she settled for softly saying, “I wish there was something I could do to ease your pain.”

The man gave a grim smile. “There is. Help me find and kill the bastard.”

The lieutenant smiled. It was a savage predatory smile, totally unlike her normal self. “Absolutely.”

“One more thing, before you go. Please keep this conversation between us.”

“Of course, Sir.”

The pilot nodded to her. “Thank you, lieutenant that is all.”

The young Asari turned and left the lounge hurrying toward her quarters. She had a lot to think about.

Novacain

2012-06-13T02:15:00.000-04:00

Alyssa raced down the corridor at a full run cradling her rifle to her chest. Somewhere she had lost her helmet and her long scarlet locks were trailing behind her. Her black jumpsuit had several scorch marks from numerous hits and a near constant blue flickering around her was an all too potent reminder that her shield was on the verge of failing.

“Echo? Bravo? Anyone?” She whispered frantically into the microphone of the headset that she fortunately hadn’t lost with her helmet. Only static answered her.

She came to a bulkhead and paused a minute leaning against it for cover as her green eyes looked around frantically. “Damn it,” she muttered as she released the trigger long enough to tap the earpiece and change frequencies. “Nova, status report!”

For a moment there was only silence but then the static filled reply came through and Alyssa let out a sigh of relief. “Sorry for the delay Lieutenant,” the female virtual intelligence replied. “I am having great difficulty piercing through the interference. Ships crew fatalities are nearly ninety-eight percent. Lieutenant Leland is seeing to the survivors, however I estimate despite her efforts that another four to six will die within the hour. However, the ship is now secure.”

“And the other assault teams?”

“Unknown, I have lost communications with all other teams. However, based upon the last received transmissions I estimate a ninety-nine point nine nine seven percent chance that all members of the other assault team members are dead.”

“Great. Just great,” Alyssa muttered. She checked her clips. Nine left. She shook her head and sighed. “Any idea what might count as a power source on this thing?” she asked.

“I am detecting what might be some form of reactor approximately nine hundred and sixty three meters from your location. I have sent the coordinates to your omnitool.”

Alyssa rebalanced the rifle and pressed a spot on the holographic interface of her omnitool. Instantly, a soft flashing light blinked to life just on the edge of her vision as her implants projected an image onto her HUD. “Thanks, Nova.”

“You are welcome lieutenant. May I inquire as to your intentions?”

Alyssa gripped her rifle and let out a feral grin as her eyes softly glowed for a moment. “I intend to find a way to blow this fucking thing the fuck up,” she growled.

“I should point out that I estimate you have a less than one percent chance of succeeding, Lieutenant,” Nova stated. “Perhaps a wiser course of action would be to wait for alliance reinforcements.”

“So they can turn them into husks too?” Alyssa shook her head disbelievingly. “No. Besides, they won’t get here in time. This ship knows we are here. It’s planning something.”

“That is illogical, Lieutenant. Ships do not think. Nor do they make plans.”

“This one does,” Alyssa replied with certainty.

Up ahead something moved in the corridor. A mass of black interlaced with glowing cyan sparkles stepped out of the shadows. Oversized cyan eyes locked on Alyssa’s green ones and froze. Alyssa tapped her earpiece. “Got company. I gotta go.”

Alyssa swung her rifle into position just as the roughly humanoid form came running at her with a very inhuman speed. She squeezed the trigger and a spray of bullets ripped a line from the torso to the head halting the forward momentum of the figure and sending it backward in a sparking convulsing arc.

“Take that you fucking soulless piece of shit!” She muttered, stomping her boot down on the husk’s head causing it to literally explode.

A buzzing sound further up the hallway caught her attention as three more husks came into view followed by something that looked like some sort of oversized mutant spider with laser cannons mounted on either side of the bulb-like body.

“What the fuck?”

She dove to the side as the spidery thing opened up with the cannons. Her hair got in her way as she tried to snap off a couple of shots at the husks and she completely missed. She rebounded off the wall just as the spider-like creature fired at her again.

The smell of burning ozone filled her nostrils and she winced as the beams passed by so close that they clipped her shields, overloading them instantly. The wall around her grew warm and she didn’t need to look over her shoulder to know that the lasers had bored holes right through the thick walls.

Dropping to one knee she fired off several short bursts taking the heads off two of the husks. Then the third one was upon her…

Lylianna

2012-05-30T00:41:00.002-04:00

Lylianna looked out over the balcony, the whispering wind ruffling her black feathery wings and white gown, hinting of the magic of the night. Far below her, below the cliffs the house overlooked, the ocean beat against the rocks and sand in a never-ending crescendo of gently crashing waves just barely audible at this height. Moonlight spilled across the night reflecting off the tides, the marble floor and pillars, the gold of her shackles and collar, even off her very eyes; bathing her in a soft eerie light.

She closed her eyes and gave her flings a flutter, letting this moment sink in as the bittersweet memories of wandering the astral planes and interacting with the gods and goddesses passed through her mind. With only the slightest tinge of regret she shoved those thoughts from her mind with a soft sigh. It was too late for that; far too late. The feel of the cold metal collar and shackles on her skin served as a reminder that her home was now the mortal realms of the prime plane.

“Not that I would go back even if I had a choice,” she thought to herself with slightly sad smile. Her heart would not let her.

With one last sigh she furled up her wings just as strong arms wrapped around her waist. She felt the chain which ran from her collar down through the cuffs on her wrists and ankles to a post inside the room behind her pull tight as a length of it was brushed aside by a foot. She felt cold lips brush up against her neck and inhaled sharply as she felt the twin tortures of pleasure and pain as fangs almost but didn’t quite penetrate the skin of her neck in a teasing manner before disappearing only to return nibbling her ear lobe.

“Second thoughts, my pet?” the whisper in her ear sent a shiver of fear and anticipation down her back. “We don’t have to do this if you don’t wish.”

But there was no choice. In her heart, she knew that, even as she turned to face him, dark eyes looking up into his pleadingly. “No master. No second thoughts. Only memories best remembered and forgotten, my love.”

His answering smile was at once warm and terrifying. She watched his eyes focusing on hers, felt the shiver of attraction knowing that it did not matter that she was immune to his thrall; she was still drawn to him by a force at once more biding and more fickle. She smiled and nodded, lowering her eyes submissively. “Yes, master.”

She let him guide her back into the room, bare except for two stone biers and three small tables with candelabras. Upon one of the biers lay a cloth of black and crimson velvet lined with rose petals of the same colors. A matching pillow lay atop at one end.

She did not resist at all as he untied the laces at her neck, shoulders, and both sides of the skirt allowing the dress to fall away from her in two pieces without having to remove the chains that held her bound. She smiled softly as he gently lifted her on to the bier and laid her out upon it. She watched in anticipation as he climbed up beside her. She moaned and threw her arms around him as he cradled her back and head in his arms tilting her head so she faced the far wall, opposed of the balcony.

Four points of ecstasy and pain sank deep into her neck, throbbing bringing her to subspace and beyond as he master began feeding off of her as he had countless times before. But tonight was no ordinary feeding. This time she knew, as a smile reached her lips, it would not be complete until he drank all of her blood. Seconds ticked past, followed by minutes as each throb, each swallow drained more blood from her angelic form.

Slowly at first, then more quickly, her awareness of the world began to dim. So it was with a second of confusion she regarded the mist that began creeping into the room from under the door. Too late, as she felt the last of her blood drain away, did she realize the mist was coalescing into a solid form, that of a man. She tried to squeeze her master’s arms, to make a noise to warn him, but she had no strength left; her life fleeting away.

So her master was unaware of the figure behind him unlocking the door as he drew his dagger across his wrist. He was likewise unaware of the other forms that began to materialize near the first. Even as he placed his wrist across her lips, even as instinct kicked in and she bit down unable to control the sudden overwhelming urge to feed upon his blood, she struggled in vain to force her arm to squeeze, her eyes widening just ever so slightly in alarm.

Too late, he heard the lock click and the door swing open. He never had time to turn around before the first vampire raised a crossbow and fired a wooden bolt into his back. The aim was perfect, striking him through the heart.

It didn’t kill him. He was far too strong for that, but it did weaken him, slow him down just enough that he could not escape the next attack.

Unable to look away, to scream, or even move, Lylianna watched in horror as the elderly paladin from the hunters guild—the one whose son was rumored to have been kidnapped by the members of the vampire clan just nights before—cast his spell calling forth a pillar of fire and divine energy that incinerated her master in her very arms. Though her body refused her command, every fiber of her soul cried out in agony and pain as her master, her lover, turned into a billion specks of ash and dust that exploded in a million different directions.

Even as her head fell back onto the pillow she saw one of the vampires shove a young boy forward into the paladin’s arms. The boy stumbled and fell into his father only to explode in a similar manner as his forehead came in contact with the holy symbol that hung from the paladin’s neck; his turning to recent for him to have built up any resistance to the holy magic stored in the amulet.

The last thing she saw as darkness claimed her were the streams of healing magic spewed forth in anger by the paladin that engulfed the vampires even as they tried to raise daggers and crossbows.

She did not see the paladin prevail against the vampires that had so underestimated him, did not see him cut them down with the raw fury born out of his hatred of their betrayal and the murder of his son. Nor did she see him stagger toward the bier she lay on, his steps a bit unsteady as he bled from a dozen life-threatening wounds. She neither saw nor heard his sad sigh as he drew his own dagger across his wrist allowing the blood to fall between her lips before beginning the words and motions to a powerful spell, one few paladins—and even few clerics—could master.

It had been midnight when the vampires had charged into her master’s room. It was nearly two hours later she awoke. Her screams could be heard for miles and lasted until dawns rays seared her throat and silenced her ability to scream. Through it all the dying paladin held her. After she quieted he dragged her into the shadows where the sun could not touch her, and where her body slowly began to heal.

With the last of his strength, he brushed the tears from her eyes. Falling across her, he whispered “We were both robbed of the ones we loved this night, fallen one of the heavens, and it is up to you to end the evil and pain those that stole them from us bring to the world.”

As dusk, she shoved his cold body off of him. She picked up his sword and used it to break the chain. Detouring only long enough to scoop up her dress, she left the room. A short time later she left the house, dressed in breeches, a thick belt with the sword tucked loosely inside, boots, a loose blouse, and a heavy cloak. In the bag upon her back were the dress, a few keepsakes, and whatever provisions for a journey she could scavenge from the house. Dark cold crimson eyes gave the manor a final once-over, burning the image into her mind, before she turned and walked away, never once looking back.

Succubus Companions ch5 pt 2

2012-05-15T15:06:00.000-04:00

Vician followed Seraphine down the ladder and waited while she cracked the door to the warehouse open and peeked outside. She motioned him forward and he stepped on outside. Seraphine pushed the warehouse door shut and Vician locked it behind them. Less than half an hour had passed since Vician’s breathless arrival and warning.

Their journey out of the city was uneventful. Seraphine slipped her arm through Vician’s and leaned her head on his shoulder. She sensed his initial surprise and then a bit of contentment as they found a matched rhythm and walked away together, never once looking back. The closest that the pair came to excitement were a few of the derogatory comments made as the pair made their way down the various avenues that Vician led them through one of the eastern gates to the city. Seraphine was a little worried that they might be stopped at the city gate, but the guard simply gave Vician a knowing wink and they hurried on through.

Several farms intermingled with small clumps of woods lay to the east of the city. The road that they traveled wove through several of these farms and small clumps of woods.

Seraphine was having the time of her life. She was seeing, hearing, and smelling things she had only heard about in stories and hadn’t in her wildest dreams imagined she would ever be able to actually experience. Things like Vician pausing near a fence and handing her some sweetgrass to feed a goat, her giggling when felt its cold nose on her hand, or watching butterflies and bees dancing among the flowers.

To someone who had lived nearly her whole life indoors the walk was full of marvels for Seraphine. Her curiosity made Vician smile as the young succubus took in her surroundings with wide-eyed wonder; each new sight alternately prompting squeals of glee, terror, or multitudes of questions that he did his best to answer.

It was at least an hour’s journey the outer gate of the city to the woods that occupied a large portion of land to the east, but to the mage and his demoness familiar it seemed like minutes. The mage would never have admitted it, but he was enjoying Seraphine’s exuberance and when they reached the woods, he was a little sad.

He needed have worried. The farms fascinated the demoness, but it was the woods she fell in love with. As they entered the woods, she fell silent as a sense of awe fell upon her, her eyes widening even further as she let her hand slip from his so she could turn a full circle and take everything in. “Everything is so… so alive!” she exclaimed at last before bursting into a series of questions that left Vician holding up his hands and calling for patience as he tried to answer what he could.

A short way into the woods, Vician led the succubus off the road onto a hidden trail. They followed this to a clearing where a man and a woman stood waiting with four saddled horses.

Two of the horses were a little bigger than the others. They were jet black with white markings on the forehead and near the hooves. In addition to their saddles, these two carried heavily packed saddle bags.

The man and woman pushed back their hoods, and Seraphine could see they were older than Vician by several years if not decades. Both greeted him fondly as “Master Vician.”

“The guard surrounded the house and were conducting a search,” the woman explained. “But we were able to get most of what you asked for. We also took the liberty of procuring some travel supplies you didn’t think of, and invested a portion of your money and gems with a few different money lenders as a precaution.”

Vician, walked over and checked the packs carefully. “You did well Felicia, both of you.” he nodded and turned to the man. “I’ll keep in touch. Let me know if you or Felicia need anything.”

The man held up a gem exactly like the one that Seraphine saw Vician use in the warehouse. “I’ll be here. Good luck, Master Vician.”

The woman kissed Vician’s forehead. “Take care, Master Vician. I hope you can return soon.” Seraphine was a little chagrined to realize she felt a little jealous. She shifted uncomfortably.

Vician took the reins of the two black horses and led them over towards where Seraphine stood. “Have you ever ridden before?”

Serpahine shook her head. “No.”

Vician nodded. “Well, it isn’t that difficult though the first few times may seem hard. We need to lead the horses back to the road and then I’ll teach you to ride.” He handed her the reins to one of them and set back out along the path.

Succubus Companions Ch 5 pt 1

2012-05-13T09:41:00.000-04:00

Seraphine packed quickly. Except for her spellbooks, regents, and potions, many of Seraphine’s possessions were already in or on her pack, so she simply stuffed her clothing into her pack and tied her bedroll and pillow in place. She was already dressed in pants and a loose blouse and to this she added a belt in which she tucked her daggers and wands. She grabbed three potions and tucked them carefully in her pack and then placed two more in one of the pouches on her belt. The rest of the pouches she quickly stuffed with regents for the most practical of her spells. Under Vician’s orders, she also chose through her spellbooks and selected a half dozen she figured would be most useful.

She finished more quickly than Vician so she helped him choose between his spellbooks, alchemist supplies, wands, and regents. Because Vician did not have a pack with him, they wrapped everything but the spellbooks and regents into a blanket and tied it off with a short piece of rope.

As they worked Vician explained that his father had come to the market square with several paladins and city guards in tow and demanded to know where Seraphine was. When Vician refused to tell them, they attempted to arrest him. Vician launched a fireball at the paladins and then used his spells to escape in the confusion. He attempted to return to his home to grab some supplies but it was surrounded by guards and paladins so he came to collect her.

At last Vician reached into a hidden drawer and pulled out four rather ordinary looking bags. Two were made of a velvet-like material lined with leather. The others were simple tanned leather. He gave the leather ones to Seraphine. “These are bags of lesser holding,” he explained as he tucked his spell books into one of his velvet bags. Despite the fact that he put several books into a bag that was barely able to fit a book through the opening, the bag looked no more full than when he put them in. “Put your books into one and leave the other free for now.”

Seraphine tied one of the bags he gave her to her belt. After that, she placed her books into the other bag. When she was done, she tied that bag off to her pack.

As she was doing this, Vician pulled a small round blue gem out of the pocket of his robes and whispered into it. Seraphine was unable to hear what he was saying, but she felt alternate waves of frustration, worry, relief, and finally gratitude come through her bond. When he was done, he motioned Seraphine to the door. “Come, it’s time to leave.”

“Wait,” Seraphine said. She reached into her pack digging out her new cloak. Quickly reversing it so that the dark side was out, she placed it on Vician. “If the guards are looking for us, we should disguise ourselves,” she explained. “This at least will hide your robes.”

“What about you?” Vician asked.

Seraphine smiled and stepped back from him. Her features seemed to shimmer, and melt. When they stopped the change made Vician’s jaw drop. Instead of the dark-haired beauty he was used to seeing, stood a slightly taller wisp of a girl with a slightly larger bosom and long cascading blonde hair, bright green eyes, and slightly pointed hears. Even her clothes looked different, instead of pants she now had a flowing but slightly sheer skirt.

“How did you do that?” Vician asked, slightly awed.

“Succubus, remember?” Seraphine kissed his cheek. “Lean over slightly. A little more. Perfect. Now instead of a young wizard and his succubus, people will see an aging lord and his half-elf whore. Mostly they will see the whore.” She winked at him then led him down the ladder.

Succubus Companions ch 4

2012-05-10T21:10:00.002-04:00

“I went for a walk,” Serpahine looked down and took a few deep breaths trying to deal with the waves of anger and fear washing over her. Her demonic instincts fueled her desire to fight. She opened her mouth to retort, but a second wave of emotion cut the ground out from under her.

Anger and fear she was prepared to deal with. The worry and fear, especially when it was for her, she was not. She looked up at Vician. “The hunger was starting to grow beyond what I can control,” she explained softly. “I was afraid of losing control while you were here.” She risked looking up and her eyes met his blue ones.

“Did you feed? Are you okay now?” Vician asked her, his eyes seeming to peer into her very soul.

“No, I did not, and yes, I am,” Seraphine answered.

If Vician sensed there was something she was leaving unsaid, he didn’t show it. “Good,” he said brushing the matter off with a wave of his hand. “My father said he saw you. He paid a visit last night out of concern for my moral well being.” Seraphine didn’t need to feel his emotions to sense the contempt and sarcasm in that statement. It oozed out of every word. “It ended badly for him,” Vician finished smugly.

Seraphine blinked suddenly worried. “Is he alright?”

Vician chuckled. “Oh he’s fine, except for his pride and his delicate sensibilities. He’s known for years I don’t buy into his faith or his sense of morality. Last night I finally told him what I think of him. He didn’t take it well.”

Seraphine felt the satisfaction and amusement and her eyebrows arched as she looked at him. “What did you say?”

Vician practically cackled with glee. “I told him that he had no right to speak to me of morality to me. As far as I am concerned the half-Drow wizard that first taught me how to use magic was more of a father to me than he was and that he can take his moral superiority with him to the Nine Hells for all I care. I even offered to open him a portal to help him on his way.”

The demon in Seraphine rejoiced in the chaos but another part of her felt repulsed and she took a step back from Vician. “He is worried about you,” she said softly.

Vician’s blue eyes shown with a cold burning hatred. “I was his bastard. He didn’t show an interest in me until after he stood by and allowed my mother to die. He could have saved her. He knows plenty of healing spells. He would visit her occasionally until she got sick. After that he never came back until she died and he came to collect me. She sent him messages begging him to come to her. Instead he turned his back on her and chose to let her die. He has no right to worry about me or tell me how to live my life.”

The sheer hatred stemming from Vician nearly overwhelmed Seraphine and the look on his face reminded her of ones she had seen on many of the more powerful demons she had known. She backed up until she bumped into one of the tables not quite able to keep the fear under control. She reached back grabbing the table top with both hands so hard that the blood drained from her knuckles.

Seraphine’s fear must have broken through Vician’s anger because his rage subsided somewhat and he offered Seraphine a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry the hatred I feel for my father has nothing to do with you. I was upset that you left the attic, but in hindsight I should have expected it.”

He approached Seraphine and leaned forward to kiss her on the forehead as waves of protectiveness and worry swept over him. “Please bear this a short time longer. I will try to come up with a way to hide what you are from the priests and paladins in the city, and then you can start accompanying me. Just give me your word you won’t sneak out again without first clearing it with me.”

Seraphine nodded. “I promise she said softly.”

“Good. I must tend to my duties now, but I will return in a few hours,” Vician promised her.

Seraphine nodded and accepted a hug before watching him leave. This was the first time Vician had shown her true affection and her thoughts and emotions were a bit in turmoil as she settled down in her corner with a book on potion-making.

It wasn’t even two hours later when Vician breathlessly burst through the trap-door. “Hurry! Pack what you can in the next ten minutes. We have to leave the city before the guards find us!”

Succubus Companions Ch 3 pt 4

2012-05-02T01:15:00.002-04:00

“I barely know him!” Seraphine’s reply was just a little too fast, a little too loud, and a little too weak and she knew it. “I barely know him,” Seraphine repeated a little softer. “I’m grateful to him for getting you to save Melrazia, nothing more.” She started to say something more then changed her mind.

The priest saw her hesitation. “You were about to say something more. What is it?”

Seraphine shrugged. “It’s probably nothing.”

“If it is nothing then why are you so hesitant to share?” the priest pressed her.

Seraphine shrugged and tired to change the subject. “I hope the merchant I traded with for this cloak receives a good price for the potions I gave her.”

“Do not worry, I gave her ten gold pieces apiece for them,” The priest assured her. “Now tell me what you were going to say.”

Brushing her dark hair away from her eyes, the succubus met the priest gaze with one of her own. “He scares me sometimes,” she admitted. “He has a passion for darker spells and a desire for power that rivals—even exceeds—many of my own kind. I worry that his desire for power has corrupted him.”

“If what you say is true, it is simply because you corrupted him,” Vician’s father’s voice dropped into a chill. “My son is a good man.”

Seraphine stood up and looked down on the man coldly. “Cast a truth spell if you do not believe me,” she hissed. “I met your son because he screwed up a summoning spell attempting to capture a quasit. He is by far more powerful a mage than I. He is the one teaching me spells, not the other way around. I told you before he was on a dangerous path!”

With that she drew her cloak around her and stormed off down the street. Behind her, she heard the priest calling out after her but she hurried on. By now it was starting to get dark and the street lanterns had not yet been lit. Belatedly, Seraphine realized she had run the wrong direction on the street. Still she figured if she could find a side street or alley she could cut back over where she needed to go.

She found such an alley within a few minutes and turned down it. The alley was full of twists and turns, and after one tight turn she came to an open doorway in the wall adorned with a small ring of seven stars and a rising red mist. Something drew Seraphine to this doorway and before she could help herself she pushed the door the rest of the way open and stepped inside.

Instantly, Seraphine could sense something different about this place. Something deep in her core felt the remains of a neglected and tattered power that seemed to reverberate in the room. For some reason, Seraphine got the mental image of a tattered web or cloth made of massive strands that had been torn and put back together.

The room itself was simple. A few benches to either side all facing a far wall upon which a small stone altar lay. On the altar lay a stripe of cloth with the same symbol that Seraphine had seen outside flanked on either side by two candles lit with a blue flame.

In the very corners of the room to either side of the altar sat two small tables. A small wash basin, a bar of soap, a pitcher, and towel occupied one table. On the opposite table sat a small collection plate that held a few coins.

Seraphine washed her hands in the basin and was mildly surprised that the pitcher did not seem to contain any less water after she filled the basin than it did before. She emptied the basin into a small drain in the floor and walked over to the altar.

Some impulse Seraphine couldn’t explain caused her to kneel before the altar and pray. Before she realized it, she was spilling forth her fears and concerns, her desire to find a place to fit in, her confusion over her feelings for Vician, and her struggles to control her hunger. By the time she was done tears were streaming down her cheeks from both eyes.

“The Lady, hears you,” a voice behind Seraphine made her jump and she turned around to face a woman seated on one of the benches. To Seraphine the woman seemed both young and old at once, dressed in simple breeches and a blouse. Seraphine somehow felt that this woman could utterly destroy her if she wanted and she swallowed.

“Have you been there the entire time?” She asked trying to keep her voice neutral.

“I was here when you walked in, yes,” the woman confirmed.

“Why couldn’t I sense you there then?” Seraphine asked.

The woman merely smiled. “Because if you had, you would not have had the chance to plead your cause to The Lady,” she explained patiently. “Nor would I have been able to give you her answer.”

“Her answer?” Seraphine felt confused. “What answer?”

“My dear girl, you have a long painful journey ahead of you. The Lady is not the one you are looking for, but she will give you what little help she can.” The woman approached Seraphine and laid her fingers upon Seraphine. “Receive The Lady’s gifts,” she said closing her eyes and throwing back her head.

Instantly Seraphine felt waves of magic and power flowing over her, through her. Some of that magic flew into back corners of her mind locking itself away into small chunks. Other pieces danced more in the front of her mind showing her relationships and insights into magic she had not seen before granting her an understanding of magic that was even more intrinsic than before.

Finally, she felt some of the magic melting into her soothing her hunger. It didn’t completely disappear but it was no longer threatening to consume her. She felt as revitalized as if she had just fed but without the guilt of taking another person.

She let out a gasp as the woman stepped back and smiled. “The spells in your mind will reveal themselves to you when the time comes for them. Do not worry you will know when it is time.”

“How, how will I know?” Seraphine stammered.

“Trust me, you’ll know,” the woman insisted, holding up her hand to forestall more questioning. “You’ll feel it when it is time. I cannot tell you more than that so you will have to trust me and The Lady on this matter.”

Seraphine nodded though she still felt overwhelmed and confused.

“There are two more gifts that The Lady has to bestow,” the woman continued. “The first is this: The knowledge that your nature does not need to control you, to define you. If you cease to fight it, and instead learn to control it, to master it, instead you can eventually find peace with yourself. To kill is not always an evil act. It is the intent and circumstances that can make it evil. Sometimes, killing can even be an act of mercy.”

The woman gave Seraphine a moment to let that sink in before continuing. “Lastly, The Lady bids that you should take the offering in the collection plate.”

“I beg your pardon?” Seraphine was shocked. Residents of the plane she was from worshipped the most powerful demons such as the lord she served and to steal from them was a death sentence and often a very slow and painful death at that. From the few human slaves that Seraphine had talked to, she had known stealing from the collection was almost as bad depending on which deity it was they stole from.

“Go on. You will need it in the journey ahead,” the woman assured her. “The Lady knows you will need it more than She does and bids you take it. Just be sure not to spend it lightly. As with the spells, The Lady says you will know when to use it.”

Seraphine nodded and reluctantly turned to the offering plate and was surprised. What she had at first taken for a few meager coins probably totaled somewhere between thirty and fifty gold pieces. As she reached for them, she felt a light caress on her cheek and shoulder as if to reassure her this was alright. She scooped the coins into a pouch and turned around to see the woman holding the door open for her.

“Go on, you have someone waiting on you,” the woman smiled.

Seraphine headed out into the street and was surprised to find that it was daylight. In fact it was likely late morning or early afternoon from the amount of sunlight that managed to make its way into the alleyway. She turned toward the door, surprised to find instead of the door she remembered coming through, a crumbling ruin of a doorway with the remains of the door itself nailed shut and the symbol all but faded into nothingness. Swallowing hard she hurried back to the warehouse.

It took her about half an hour to find her way to the warehouse. She quickly opened the door and slipped inside. Hurrying to the ladder she climbed up, pushing on the trapped door and surprised to find it unlocked. She threw it open and climbed up the rest of the way.

She quickly shut the door and turned around to find a furious Vician standing there with his arms folded. She froze unsure what to do when he practically screamed “Where in the Nine Hells have you been?”

Succubus Companions Ch 3 pt 3

2012-04-30T15:20:00.003-04:00

Vician sat quietly for a while. A bit later he got up and paced silently back and forth across the attic. At last he turned to Seraphine. “I need to think for a while,” he said at last. “I’ll be back tomorrow.” With that he slipped down the ladder locking the door behind him.

Seraphine felt crushed. She sat for a while after he left dealing with the conflicting emotions playing out in her mind. Finally, she decided she couldn’t take it anymore. Slowly and deliberately, she changed her shape, all visible traces of her demonic nature gradually melting into her form until she resembled a human. Snatching up a few of the potions she had made during the times she had practiced magic with Vician and putting them in a small pouch she tied to her belt, she then cast her newly learned spell on the trap door. On a whim she gathered up the meal that Vician brought her as well as much of the leftovers from the day before. She also tucked some bread, cheese, and fruit into another pouch.

She was immediately rewarded with a rapid series of thuds as the latches and heavy bars slid open. Carefully she tested the door, and almost squealed with glee as the door came open. Carefully, she climbed down the ladder, pausing only long enough to pull the trap door shut and lock it behind her.

The main floor of the warehouse was huge, consisting of a single room with multiple pillars supporting the attic. The ceiling was easily ten or twelve feet high and heavy, crates coated with dust were piled in heaps scattered throughout the room.

Seraphine didn’t stop to see if anything was in any of the crates, but instead looked for a doorway. She found one after only a couple of minutes of searching and was elated to find it opened out onto the street.

Seraphine was completely unprepared for what awaited her. The first thing that hit her was the noise. Everywhere, there were people talking, shouting, laughing or just walking. Horses clattered by with mounted riders or pulling carts or even the occasional carriage. In various directions she heard the sounds of stone hitting wood, wood hitting stone, stone hitting metal, metal hitting wood. In the distance bells lazily tolled the hour or called people to worship one of the plethora of deities. Immediately she realized Vician must have surrounded the building with a spell to keep out all the noise because there was no way simple wood walls could have.

The next thing that hit her was the sun. Never before had she ever seen true sunlight except through the cracks in the attic window. Even that did not prepare her for the brightness and warmth of the early evening sun, even with all the haze from the dust and smoke of the busy city. The warmth and brightness of even this much sun both awed and intimidated her.

After the sun she noticed the smells. Smoke, dust, dirt, sweat, feces, and urine were all things she was familiar with. Some smells she even recognized from the spell components she had, though some of these were nothing like the potency she smelled now. But she was almost overwhelmed by all the smells she did not recognize.

As she gained her bearings, Seraphine realized she was on a street filled with mostly warehouses with what she guessed were the occasional shop or tavern thrown in. Picking a direction at random, she started walking.

As she walked and looked around in wonder at all the sites and sounds of the city, she became aware that many people were stopping and staring at her. Mostly, they were men, but a good number were from women too. Seraphine didn’t need her succubus instincts to alert her that mostly they were looks of lust, though occasionally some were pure malice or envy, but they helped confirm it.

Aware that she was attracting too much attention, she stopped and spotted a woman that was mostly ignoring her as she swept the steps of one of the buildings, singing softly to herself as she worked.

Seraphine drew on her succubus abilities to be able to understand the woman and quietly approach her.

“Pardon me, do you know where I could trade for a travel cloak?” Serpahine asked.

The woman looked up brushing her hair back from her ear, which Seraphine immediately noticed was pointed. An elf, Seraphine guessed while the woman shrugged and pointed up a side street. “Hmm. Most of the shops are closed, but most would want coin anyways. Still, if you follow that street a couple miles till you see the statue, turn left and you’ll find the market,” she said in a crisp accent. “It’s getting late, but it might be that you’ll find a merchant or trade caravan still open for trade.”

Seraphine thanked the woman and hurried up that street. When she came to a giant statue of a man lifting one hand to the sky in the center of an intersection she turned left and within a couple of blocks found the market.

The market was eventually one big square paved in cobblestones. On one side the merchants guild proudly sprawled the entire length, save for a space cut out for a street to run through. On the opposite side a number of large warehouses stood. By the time she got there, many of the permanent stalls and booths were closed. A number of merchants were in various stages of closing up carts and preparing them to leave the market. A very few customers were in the market trying to make last minute deals.

Seraphine spotted one smaller cart seemingly running behind in the process of packing up. A small table stood beside the cart with various clothing items spread out to show them off, while a woman and a child carefully folded the items up and placed them into a cart. Seraphine noticed the clothing the woman and child wore was very worn and the seams ragged while relatively simple clothing laid out looked to be in near pristine shape.

She walked over and picked up a cloak. It was reversible with a red velvety material on one side and a dark course material on the other. The garment was very simple, with little decoration and only a simple braided cord tied off the hood but Seraphine could tell it was well made. She held it in her hands as the merchant turned to face her.

“Business is slow?” Seraphine guessed, using the common tongue she had been hearing most on the streets.

“Aye,” the woman replied with a sigh. “Been slow ever since Dustin died. He had a way about him that he could sell a twig to a lord and make the lord believe it were a walking stick. Me, I’m just lucky if they notice me.”

The woman gestured down toward the cloak. “Be ten silver for that.”

Seraphine sat the cloak down and pulled out two potions of resistance. “I could trade you these potions for them.”

The woman snorted, and looked toward the girl. “Potions are all well and good, but they don’t put food on the table.”

Seraphine pulled out the pouch with her dinner and sat it down on the table. “What if I give you this as well?”

When the woman’s looked at the amount of food in the pouch her eyes went round. “You are sure about this? That’s almost a weeks worth of food there.”

Seraphine blinked and looked between the woman and the child unable to fathom how so little food could last them a week. It was only a little more than she would eat in a couple of meals.

“I’ll give you the cloak for the food. You can pick out a blouse as well,” the merchant replied.

The succubus shook her head. “I just want the cloak. You can keep the potions as well. I have little use for them.” She picked up the cloak, flung it across her shoulders, and adjusted it slightly so it didn’t trip her as she walked away from the merchant staring after her.

Seraphine was almost to the far side of the market when a deep unease fell over her. Turning around, she saw another cloaked figure, this one cloaked in white and gold approaching the merchant she just left. Biting her lip she hurried out of the marketplace. When she reached the statue she kept going straight.

Eventually she came across a small area with some trees and benches where some people seemed to gather. Spotting an empty bench she sat down.

As she watched the people around her, she pulled out the remaining pouch of food and broke off a small piece off the hunk of cheese. She tore open the bread and placed the cheese on the bread. She was just reaching for her belt and realizing she forgot her flask when the sense of unease hit her again.

Before she could react, someone was sitting beside her offering her a flask. “Here, you look thirsty. Don’t worry, it’s just wine.” The voice was familiar but Seraphine couldn’t quite place it. Seraphine took the flask and looked at the speaker. Beside her, sat the cloaked figure she saw from the marketplace. “Why would I be worried?” She asked, trying to keep the unease out of her voice and wincing at the faint waiver she could tell the other sensed.

“Because we both know you don’t belong here, demoness,” the voice answered. The statement was so soft as to not be overheard, but both firm with hints of warning and suspicion thrown in for good measure. “Why are you here Seraphine?”

Even before he pushed back the hood of his cloak to reveal his head, Seraphine realized who he was, “You’re Vician’s father.”

“And you are Seraphine,” the priest retorted. “Even without your wings, I recognized you instantly. Now, why are you here?”

Seraphine sighed. “I was lonely. I thought maybe a walk would help. Besides, this is the first chance to see a human city.”

“So who is the fool that opened the portal for you to return here and died so you could be free? Was it Vician?”

“It’s not like that!” Seraphine protested. As people turned to look at them she lowered her voice. “I didn’t kill anyone since I came here. Until today, I spent all my time shut away in a dark room. I only ever see one person and only for a few hours a day at that.”

“So why don’t you go home?”

“That is my home now,” Serpahine glared at the priest. “But if you mean why it is I don’t return to my home plane, the answer is I can’t. Even if I could, all that awaits me is torture and death. You saw what happened to Melrazia. That is the fate that awaits me there if Tymora favors me. More likely it will be worse.”

The succubus took a swig from the wineskin and waited for his response which she guessed would be quick in coming. Vician’s father did not disappoint her. “What if I sent you elsewhere, to another plane?” the priest asked.

Seraphine shrugged. “I would still wind up back here eventually. Probably even as soon as tomorrow,” she stated softly. “I know you don’t trust me. I wouldn’t either in your place. You are what you are and I am what I am. I can’t change that. But if you can’t trust me, please trust in my desire to stay alive. And staying alive means not drawing attention to myself.”

“And seducing mortal souls and feeding from them?” Vician’s father prompted.

“Would draw attention to myself,” Seraphine shook her head. “I see you know what kind of demon I am.”

“From what you shared of your story and hat of your friend, it was not too hard to guess,” The priest nodded. “Just as I can guess from your stating that you would simply return here if I banished you that must mean either you are bound here or have someone to summon you. I would even go so far as to say that person is likely my own son. No need to answer, your silence and expression tell me everything.”

Seraphine slumped and stared at the wineskin.

“If you know that, then you know why I needed to sneak out into the city,” she said softly.

Vician’s father nodded. “It would be fairly obvious if he were to wind up dead by a succubus.” He paused and blinked at her reaction. “No wait… that isn’t it. You could have killed him and escaped the city with a few days head start before anyone the wiser. Torm take me…” he said both amazed and horrified. “You’re in love with him.”

Succubus Companions Ch 3 pt 2

2012-04-21T08:58:00.002-04:00

When Vician returned that afternoon she was still so deep in thought she did not notice Vician come in. She was startled when she felt arms on her shoulders gently shaking her out of her trance. She looked up into Vician’s piercing blue eyes. As she stared into those blue orbs that seemed to be searching into her soul an almost primal hunger stirred deep within her. With a shudder, she took a deep breath and tried in vain to force her hunger down. “What, what is it?” she asked, her voice shaky.

“I asked if you were okay,” the concern that was in Vician’s voice was echoed with the wave of emotion that was blanketing her mind.

She grasped on that emotion and used it to bury the nearly overwhelming desire to feed and instead focused on trying to navigate the intense feelings rolling off him. When she was certain she was in control again she let out a soft sigh. “Not really,” Serpahine admitted. “I’ve been cooped up in this room for months unable to go anywhere, or do anything other than practice my magic. I am growing weak.”

“Growing weak? Are you dying? Do I need to release you so you can go home?” Vician stepped back and examined her with his eyes, his worry pouring into her mind so intensely that she would have staggered if she wasn’t sitting. “If the deal we made is harming you, tell me now and I will release you.” Though part of him was disappointed at the prospect of losing his unusual familiar, Seraphine blinked as she realized he was sincerely more worried about her wellbeing than the status and power he stood to gain.

“No, I am not dying,” Seraphine assured him. “I just need to get out.” She paused and looked up meeting his eyes. “I need to take my mind off my hunger,” She said softly.

Vician looked to the sack he brought with him. “Am I not bringing you enough food? I can bring more.”

Seraphine shook her head. “Not that kind of hunger.” Her leathery wings arched and she let out a soft sigh as she jabbed her thumb at herself. “Succubus remember?” she reminded him bitterly.

She rested her hands on her chin and looked to the floor. “While the food helps, it doesn’t really sustain us. I understand your desire to keep me in this room, but being in here all the time with nothing to do but clean or practice my magic makes it hard to ignore the hunger.”

Succubus Companions ch 3 pt 1

2012-04-17T23:30:00.001-04:00

Vician returned the next morning as promised, bringing with him some apples, dried meats, and cheese which he offered Seraphine. He didn’t stay long, and Seraphine learned that though he supplemented his income by making potions and minor enchantments on the side, he was employed as by the local merchant guild to help ensure that ensure that dangerous magic was not brought into the center market and that items that were advertised as magical were indeed magical, benign, and did as advertised.

When he returned late in the afternoon, he brought with him two relatively nice curtains and some nails to hang them with. He and Seraphine then spent the afternoon looking over some of her spell books before he left for the night.

Over the following weeks the two of them settled into a routine with Vician visiting in the morning, bring breakfast and emptying the chamber pot. In the afternoons or evenings he would return and the two of them would study and practice spells until late in the night. When he left, he would always lock the warehouse behind him.

Sometimes, he would bring things for Seraphine and over time she took over one of the corners of the attic, hanging the curtains around the chamber pot and the washtub he brought for her. In addition to the washtub, he brought simple chairs, a small table, a cot, a dressing screen, blankets, and a small sewing kit for her.

The shirts he had given her her first day she cut long slits in the back and across the shoulders to the neck and then added leather laces so that she could wear them with her wings. On the few days she shifted into a more human-like form, she simply laced them the rest of the way. She hemmed and drew in the waist of the pants he had given her and typically wore the dagger Melrazia had given her tucked into her belt.

As a result, even though she often tried to avoid forms that overly attracted Vician’s attention, she still tended to have an exotic edge to her look that Vician couldn’t always ignore. This sometimes made things awkward when a spell they were working on required them to be in extremely close proximity.

Despite this awkwardness, Vician proved to be a good teacher and Seraphine an apt student, and within a few months Seraphine mastered most of the simpler spells that Vician tried to teach her though she had trouble with many of the of the . Seraphine noticed that while she could easily remember spells but wore out after the casting of several spells that Vician tended to need to study spells before being able to cast them, but could cast almost twice the number of spells she could before tiring. More if he used scrolls.

Though he never admitted it, Seraphine could tell that he was jealous of the fact she almost never forgot a spell once she learned it, and that she rarely needed to prepare her spells the way he did. Though sometimes he let slip a caustic remark, he usually hid his resentment but the bond between them meant she could still feel it no matter how much he tried to hide it.

Eventually, she began practicing her spells during the hours he was away and only demonstrating them for him when he tested her or taught her new spells. There were many advantages to this arrangement. In addition to him resenting her less, it gave him more time to study more advanced spells which more often than not allowed her to see him at his happiest. It also helped her pass the lonely hours between his visits.

Even so, the loneliness sometimes closed in on her. Sometimes, she would look wistfully out the boarded up windows, gazing between the narrow slits between the boards to watch the busy street below. Other times she contemplated slipping into the statue which Vician often left on the corner of one of the work benches.

She had been banished into the statue a few times. Once just to see what it would be like for her, a couple of times when Vician had to take short trips out of the city, and once when Vician had an unexpected visitor to his hidden workshop. The statue cast her into a kind of grey forest realm where everything seemed hazy, shadowy, and almost insubstantial. Various creatures seemed to inhabit the realm but they all tended to give her a wide berth and the few that didn’t seemed to pass right through her leaving her feeling both numb and slightly weak and nauseated in their wake. Time also seemed to neglect this realm and she never could quite tell if she was there minutes or days when she returned to the mortal realm.

Despite all this, at times she almost found the realm the statue banished her to preferable to the sheer loneliness that consumed the majority of her days. One day while she was flipping through one of the spellbooks Vician left for her she ran across a spell called Knock. She read through the spell a couple of times to be sure that her mind wasn’t playing tricks on her. Reading through it once more to commit it to memory she looked around until she found one of the small locked boxes of spell components that Vician kept some of his rarer spell components in. Setting the box on one of the work benches she recited the spell. With a faint click the clasp of the lock fell open.

Quickly, Seraphine shut the clasp and repeated the spell. Again the box unlocked itself. The Succubus relocked the box and sat it back where she got it from. Silently she sat down on the cot and stared at the trap door in deep thought.

Succubus Companions ch 2 pt 3

2012-04-17T21:27:00.002-04:00

Seraphine looked around. “A screen or curtain would be nice,” she offered pointedly, sweeping her hand to demonstrate the lack of privacy.

Vician nodded, “I’ll see what I can do.” He looked around the room before meeting the demoness’ eyes. “Will you be alright for the night?”

Seraphine gave a rue chuckle. At the mage’s confused expression, she gave him a soft smile. “I’ll be fine,” she assured him.

“I’ll see you tomorrow then,” Vician informed her. He went to a spot near the middle of the unused side of the attic and pulled a ring in the floor revealing a trap door. He gave Seraphine a last look then climbed down what Seraphine assumed was a ladder.

It didn’t surprise her to hear the sound of metal latches and locks being slid into place when he pulled the door closed behind him. Somewhere in the back of her mind she found amusement in the irony that even as a prisoner she felt freer in that moment than at any point in her past. With a snort, she laid her bedroll out on the floor and sat down on it sorting through the fruit and cheese.

Succubus Companions ch 2 pt 2

2012-03-05T16:22:00.001-05:00

Those feelings passed, however, and the worry she felt slipped back to lurk in the back corner of her mind as she sensed him focusing on something else. Belatedly, she realized Vician was talking to her and she struggled to pay attention while still adjusting to having another being’s emotions inside her head.

“When I don’t need you, you need to rest, or it is simply too dangerous for you to be out and about, this figurine will serve as a gateway to a kind of pocket realm according to the spell,” the mage was saying. “I figured this was better than sending you back to your home plane, but I honestly don’t know what it will be like for you. You may experience it as a room, or as an empty nothingness, or you may simply go into a kind of stasis. I cannot be certain.”

“If you do not activate the statue will I be trapped inside?” Seraphine asked, the intensity of her fear causing the mage to wince.

“No,” Vician answered. “I put in a provision that if I do not call you forth for a period of three days, the statue will automatically summon you in case I need your aid. In the event of my death, you will be automatically released from the spell in any case.”

Seraphine hoped he was telling the truth, but her fear remained even though she tried to tell herself that being trapped in a statue was still a far better fate than anything that faced her back on her own plane.

Vician looked her over. “You do not yet trust me,” he observed. “I hope in time that will change. In the mean time there is bedding and some provisions in a pack in the corner if you like.” He gestured first to the corner, then to one of the tables that had a portion cleared off. “You may set your books there if you like.” With that he let the spell around the summoning circle drop.

Seraphine carefully picked up the books on the floor and stacked them on the table. She then unpacked the rest from her pack and set them there as well. To Vician’s amusement, she set a simple ward on the books to keep them from being disturbed.

After she was satisfied with the safety of her books, she knelt down in the corner to look through the provisions. There were a couple of water skins, some hunks of bread and cheese, and a few fruits. In addition there was also some clothing consisting of a few almost white blouses, a pair of brown pants and a pair of black ones, and a dark green skirt. All of it was of a better quality than the leather pieces she was wearing. The sizes were all a little big but nothing a little hemming wouldn’t solve. She would need to make alterations to accommodate her wings though if she wore any of it in her natural form.

“I didn’t know how much clothing you would have,” Vician said, watching her sort through it. “I hope they fit. I wasn’t too sure of your size.”

Seraphine looked up. “They will do. I don’t have much I can offer you in return, though.”

Vician offered a slight smile; one that was almost gentle. “Consider these gifts. I can not have you naked in my work area. It would be rather… distracting.” He chuckled lightly, and even Seraphine had to smile a little.

His smile faded and he grew more serious. “There is a chamber pot in the far corner,” he pointed off to one of the disused and still empty corners of the attic before continuing. “And I will arrange that you will have something for washing with. Is there anything else you will require? I am afraid you will have to spend most of your time confined to this attic for the foreseeable future. I am afraid that people would not tolerate you if they knew you were here.”

Succubus Companions ch 2 pt 1

2012-02-28T16:07:00.000-05:00

Less an hour after being returned to her chambers Seraphine was summoned again. She had just enough time to grab the stack of books and her pack before being wisped through the portal that opened. This time she found herself in the attic again.

Immediately she noticed the circle had been redrawn; this time with more care given to the circle. She heard the mage’s voice. “Did you bring the spell?” She nodded and opened one of the books to a particular page and slid it to the edge of the circle and stepped back the far side. Subtly she used her innate ability to detect goodly beings. She was a little disappointed but not very surprised when the nearest good aura was out on the street. Silently, she let the spell drop.

The mage stepped closer and squatted down looking at the spell through the circle. “This spell is for summoning a howler. This is useless to me.”

Seraphine sighed. “It can be modified. Look at the table on the bottom. It shows many of the known variations including one for demons of my rank. It’s actually an easier variation,” she admitted.

The mage looked again, studying the spell carefully. “It is as you say,” he conceded at last. “I have all the components I need,” he sounded surprised. “Are you ready?”

Seraphine tilted her head. “May I at least know the name of the mage I am to serve before I am bound?”

The mage blinked startled and rose to his feet. “I never told you my name?” He paused and thought back. “No, I suppose I didn’t. Well, you can call me Vician,” he answered pronouncing the name Vie-see-ann. “Shall we proceed?”

Seraphine nodded. “Aye.”

Vician walked around the portion of the attic that was his lair gathering up components as well as a blank scroll, a quill pen, a bottle of ink and a small chunk of black onyx. Kneeling on the floor, he first copied the variation of the spell he wanted onto the blank scroll. Next, he carefully laid out the components he needed. At last when Serpahine was beginning to fear the summoning would wear off, Vician began the spell.

It started so small, almost unnoticed as she listened to him chant. Like a little feathers brushing the inside of her skull, little living threads of unseen magic wound both within her brain and from there they followed the very connections between her mind and soul. Then gradually, like a blanket, a piece of him folded over and surrounded her very being.

As the spell ended and he looked up with her with his icy blue eyes locked upon her, she felt him more intimately than she had every felt any of the victims she had fed upon. It was pure emotion and yet something more that overwhelmed her. As the intensity of his satisfaction grew so too did another very familiar emotion; lust. It was not lust for her, however, but rather what he could do using her and a sense of trepidation began to sink icy its tendrils into her heart. Too late, she realized she may have just made a very big mistake.

Succubus Companions pt 4

2012-02-19T20:55:00.000-05:00

Seraphine dove trying to catch the Solar’s hand but she was too late. The instant the solar touched Melrazia there was a brilliant flash. Melrazia screamed as her body began to glow. The Succubus’ body began to contort and spasm.

Seraphine watched in horror and she tried to prepare a spell to stop the magic flowing through her friend’s body. She felt strong hands grab her from behind and pull her away from her friend. She struggled until she heard the solar’s voice in her ear. “Calm yourself demon and watch.”

Seraphine looked over at her friend and realized the screams and convulsions were slowing. Melrazia’s arms and legs were no longer crooked. Her broken wing was straightening itself before Seraphine’s eyes and the tears in it were mending. Tender new skin covered the stump where her other wing had been.

The solar released Seraphine and she fell to Melrazia’s side looking her over. By now the red-haired succubus was breathing deeply, her eyes closed. The expression on her face was one of awe and wonder. Seraphine reached out and stroked her friend’s hair which was now both thicker and longer than it had been moments ago.

Eventually, Melrazia smiled and her eyes fluttered open as she felt her friend’s caring caress. “It’s okay, I’m okay,” she smiled to her friend reaching out and squeezing Serpahine’s other hand reassuringly. Seraphine helped her friend to her feet.

Melrazia stood up and stumbled a bit off balance.

“Your wing,” Serpahine said softly pointing to the space Melrazia’s wing should have occupied.

The solar shook its head. “Some things are beyond my ability to heal. I am sorry.”

Melrazia shook her head and offered a slight smile. “It’s okay. Tomorrow I may morn its loss, but for now I am just happy to be alive.” She turned her head to the solar. “Do not think I am ungrateful solar, but why did you spare me?”

The solar shook his head. “’Twas not I who spared you,” the solar replied. To Seraphine the solar’s expression almost seemed pitying. “Nor have you been totally spared, demon. A hard road lies ahead of you yet before you will be ready to begin your new life.”

Melrazia nodded. “Somehow I expected as much. Can I have a few more minutes?”

The solar nodded. “A few minutes more. It will be many years before you two will cross paths again.”

Seraphine watched the exchange in confusion and with growing concern but Melrazia offered her a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, Seraphine. I can’t really explain it all now, but I had a vision. I have an… audition with a new lord,” Melrazia explained softly hugging her friend close. She tapped the dagger she had given Seraphine. “Keep this I think you will need it more often that either of us would like.” She stepped back and tears clouded her eyes as she gazed at Seraphine. “Thank you, for everything.”

The solar put its hand on Malrazia’s shoulder and looked at Seraphine with even more pity. “As hard as your friend’s journey will be, it will pale in comparison to the path before you.” The solar spoke a trigger word and then in the next second the solar and Malrazia were gone.

Seraphine stood silently staring at the place her friend had been standing. She blinked back a few tears. In the background she was aware of the priest chanting. Too late she realized it was the banishment spell. She turned around in time for the room to fade out of existence. Back in her own room once again, all her conflicting motions caught up with her and she sank to the ground crying.

Succubus Companions pt 3

2012-02-04T23:56:00.001-05:00

Seraphine sat on the floor, her legs tucked under her chin. On one side of her lay a pile of books, on the other a pack of clothing, supplies, and more books. She wore high boots, leather pants and vest, and a light shirt. Her belt held many pouches within which were tucked a few coins, a few parcels of food, her own dagger, the dagger Melrazia had given her, a trio of half-charged wands and the few reagents for the few spells she knew.

Though she would not have admitted it, could not have admitted it if she wanted to survive, the streaks down her face were from tears. She had waited hours for the summoning and it did not happen.

Despite her hope in the mage, she had also talked to a couple of the demon sorcerers and mages but none were both willing and able to help her. The most any of them gave her were some expressions of condolences and some half expired wands. Unable to sleep knowing the danger her friend was in, she spent all night and much of the day gathering what supplies she could. Now, he too seemed to have been a dead end.

Fatigue and despair were catching up with her and she closed her eyes. “Forgive me, Melrazia,” she whispered softly. She was starting to drift off when she felt the pulling. She blinked awake only to be dazzled by blinding lights all around her.

When the light faded, the first thing she noticed was that her back was no longer to a wall, though her books and pack were on the floor beside her. Even the floor was different. A few seconds before it had been dark, rough, and filthy stone and now it was bright, polished, so clean she could almost see her own reflection in it.

She looked up to see she was in a room that could fit her entire living quarters with room to spare. Around her was a golden blue hum of a circle of protection.

Seraphine swallowed and looked up. “I was starting to think you weren’t going to summon me,” she said more softly and with far more emotion than she intended.

“I almost didn’t,” a voice answered her. She jumped to her feet and turned to face the speaker. Instead of the young mage she was expecting, she faced a balding man in white and gold robes. Hanging from his neck was a medallion that was glowing a white-blue. A heavy mace hung from his rope belt. A priest, she realized quickly, and a powerful one at that.

“However, my son was most insistent,” the priest continued, “And I will admit as to being curious about why a demon would plea so urgently for another of her ilk. And so after consulting with Torm, I fasted and studied the spells I would need. Thus here we are.”

Seraphine nodded. She glanced at the circle and noticed that unlike the one the mage had used this circle and the glyphs that composed it were divinity based, carved into the stone, and completely flawless. Furthermore she noticed other spells woven into the circle as well. She was unable to recognize them. Even had she any intent of trying to break the circle, to do so was far, far beyond her abilities. Instead, she carefully unbuckled her belt and let it slide to the floor.

Crossing to the far side of the circle she turned and faced the priest. “Will you help me?” she asked.

“That depends,” the priest replied. “I have some questions for you. Whether or not I will help, depends on the answers.”

Seraphine sighed and her shoulders slumped but she regained her composure quickly. “Very well, ask away. Though I beg of you, please make it quick. Every moment we waste heightens the danger my friend is in and lessons the chance she can be rescued.”

The priest nodded once then dove in. “What plane are you from?”

“I do not really know,” Serpahine admitted. “If it has a proper name, I have never heard it spoken that I can remember.”
The priest frowned but continued.

“Seraphine, is that your summon name or your real name?”

“Both,” Seraphine replied.

The priest raised an eyebrow. “You freely give your name?”

Seraphine shrugged. “I don’t have the time or patience to worry about that right now.”

“You truly believe your friend is in danger?”

“I know she is. The prince of our realm has taken her for a prize. He rapes, tortures, and kills the lesser demonesses that capture his fancy. He has been known to drag it out for weeks to the point where in the end his victims even lose hope that they will die. Demonesses have been known to mutilate themselves or even commit suicide just because they think he has an interest in them.”

The priest seemed to ponder this information.

“If we were to rescue your friend, would your friend, this prince, or his minions be a threat to us?”

“I do not believe my friend would unless she is hurt or disoriented, and if she is, I will calm her if I can, or kill her if I cannot.”

“You would kill your own friend?”

“If that is what it took to keep her free from the prince, I would do so without hesitation. I know…” she paused as the word seemed to burn her mouth and rephrased. “I think and hope she would do the same for me.”

“What about the prince and his minions?”

Serpahine shook her head. “I do not know, but I do not think he would bother to chase her. Can you keep your spells from being traced?”

“Possibly, “The priest looked thoughtful.

“If you are able to keep your spells from being traced, I do not believe he would bother you. I think he would consider that too big a distraction from his wars,” Seraphine said carefully.

“I will look into it,” the priest stated. He looked over the succubus. “What did you offer my son for his help?” the priest asked.

“I, I cannot say,” Serpahine stated glumly, her shoulders drooping. “I gave my word.”

“Even if I make telling me a condition of helping you?”

Seraphine blanched, her hands curling up into frustrated fists that clung to her sides. She faced the priest, desperation making her bold. “The truth spell you have used on me makes it clear that you wish to determine if I am trustworthy. Yet if you force me to break my word, I will have proven myself untrustworthy to you or your son. This is a cruel trap you have set for me, yet if I must be ensnared by it for you to help my friend I will do so. But can it be enough to say what I offered him is both better and safer than what he has already planned and attempted and that unless he attempts to hurt me or my friend I have no intention of harming him in any way. I have no wish to see him come to any harm, by my hand or anyone else’s.” Her voice went up in both volume and octave as she progressed so that by the end she was yelling.

Stunned, the priest listened to her tirade. When it ended, he nodded softly. “Alright. I have two more questions. “What name can be used to summon your friend, and why should we rescue your friend?”

“She is called Melrazia,” Seraphine answered. “You follow Torm correct? You should rescue her because Torm knows both justice and mercy, and Melrazia deserves both. She may be a demoness, but she has struggled with her nature. She is not like most other demons. She is not as cruel—usually—as other demons. She tries to—often tries to—spare others when she can. When she found out she was to be given to the prince, she gave me one of her daggers and bid me to escape beyond the prince’s reach.”

For a long while there was silence as the priest stared at her. At long last he nodded. “Wait here, I will be back.” With that he crossed the room to a door, opened it and stepped out of the room.

After what seemed like an eternity to Serpahine the priest returned. Following him into the room were two others. One was the mage from the day before. The other, however, took Serphine’s breath away in a mixture of fear and awe.

Dressed in white, and almost seven feet tall with white wings and hair, the figure carried a sword that was almost as impressive. Serpahine could not tell if the eyes were glowing or if the eyes were replaced by glowing orbs, but either way she trembled as the figure turned to face her. The expression on the perfectly carved face was both impassive and unreadable, and yet Seraphine could not help feel that the being in front of her was sizing her up and finding her wanting.

“Is this, are you, a solar?” Seraphine asked hesitantly, awed and terrified of the figure in front of her.

“Yes,” the rich androgynous voice seemed to reverberate in the very air.

“Are you here to kill me?” she asked.

“That remains to be seen. I was sent to witness, and to kill if you or your ilk proved to be a threat,” the solar replied. “I will also ensure the demon lord will not be able to trace any spells used here.”

“Good,” Seraphine breathed a sigh of relief. She was terrified of the Solar which could likely kill her and Melrazia without any effort more than a thought. Still, death at the Solar’s hands would be relatively quick and painless and completely without malice which was more than anything that awaited the succubi in their home plane. Even better the Solar seemed prepared to listen.

“Tell us about yourselves and why we should help you,” the priest said.

Serpahine sighed and quickly summarized the lives of Melrazia and herself, including the lives they tried to spare and those they took in weakness. She explained how Melrazia warned her to run and the fate that awaited Melrazia and pleaded for her friend’s life. At the end she pleaded with them to rescue Melrazia and just set her on a deserted island somewhere that could support her.

“She speaks truth,” the Solar said at last.

The priest nodded and then bowed his head in prayer as did the solar.

Moments later the solar spoke. “So be it.” Spreading his hands the solar spoke Melrazia’s name and with a sharp crack a gate unlike any Seraphine had ever seen appeared in the air. Unlike the gates that Seraphine was used to this one glowed white and blue with golden wisps thrown in for good measure. The gate rotated until it was horizontal and hovered about two feet off the floor.

Gently it deposited a bloody and broken whimpering creature on the floor. Horrified, Serpahine realized upon closer examination that the creature was actually Melrazia. One wing had been sheered off completely; the other was a twisted, tattered mess. Bruises and cuts seemed to cover every inch of the succubus. Her arms and legs were broken in multiple places. Her jaw was broken and one eye was glazed over so badly Seraphine wasn’t even sure if Melrazia could even see from it.

Seraphine fell to her knees beside her friend wanting to hold her, comfort her in some way, but knowing that if she were to try she would only make her friends agony worse. “Oh, Melrazia, I am so sorry. I failed you,” she whispered through tears that came so hard she could barely see.

Melrazia reached up and gripped her friend’s arm as tightly as she could with broken fingers. “You didn’t fail me,” she rasped. “He only just started on me,” the demoness shuddered, a move that caused her to cough up blood for several long moments. When at last she stopped, Melrazia eyed her friend. “Do not blame yourself, Seraphine. This is not your fault. He told me of his plans for me. You rescued me from so much worse.”

Melrazia looked up at Seraphine with her good eye. “Thank you,” she rasped with all the feeling she could put into her voice. “At least now I can die free of his touch.”

“Stand aside,” a voice behind Seraphine ordered.

Seraphine looked behind her, startled as she belatedly realized the Solar was now right behind her. It seemed to be staring at Melrazia its face an unreadable cold mask.

Seraphine looked back to Melrazia who seemed to show none of the fear and dread Seraphine now felt. Instead, Melrazia’s look was one that Seraphine could only describe as one of acceptance as she nodded to Seraphine.

“Fiend, you have been broken of flesh, but not yet of spirit or even fully of mind. Will you accept the judgment Torm has passed down on you?”

Melrazia nodded and the solar reached down for her, its hand glowing in holy power.

Succubus Companions pt 2

2011-02-10T01:11:00.000-05:00

Seraphine was propelled through the portal with such force that when it ejected her she rolled into a glimmering field with such force it bruised her side and wings. She hissed in pain as she stood up, eliciting a half-awed and half-terrified curse. She clambered to her feet and looked around.
She stood in a well lit, incredibly spacious attic of some kind. Judging from the number of pillars, the wide windows, and the storage doors at the far end, she guessed she was in some kind of warehouse. Much of the far end was dusty, filled with cobwebs, and otherwise empty, but the nearer portion was swept clean but otherwise cluttered with bookshelves, tables, desks, candelabras, armoires, and chests of all kinds. Every flat surface including large sections of the floor were covered with heaps of books, sheaves of paper, bubbling potions, spell components, and the occasional piece of discarded clothing. A large bird cage on a stand stood in one corner.
The golden, glittering, semi-translucent wall surrounding the nearly twelve foot diameter circle she stood in and the intricate ruins laid out on the floor didn’t surprise her. Only an idiot or a very, very powerful mage or priest would summon a gate without the protection of a summoning circle. What did surprise her however as she turned around was the brilliant blue white shimmering wall that snapped up around the only other occupant of the attic.
Behind that wall of light, the young mage tilted his head as he studied the succubus. A few locks of his jaggedly cut mahogany brown hair drifted into his eyes as a brow arched up. He absently pushed it out of as he ran his hand through his hair. He took a step towards the summoning circle, his blue and gold robes swishing audibly around him. “Well, this is unexpected,” he stated his eyes watching the trapped demon.
Seraphine met his gaze with a half smile. “Not what you expected?” she purred. Despite his confidence she could sense his nervousness, and she couldn’t help but admire his self control. He’s young, but already pretty powerful to cast a gate like that, she thought to herself. Maybe I can get him to help me save Melrazia.
“Quite honestly, no,” he replied. His blue eyes watched her intently as she studied her prison. “I did not intend to pull you here, and I apologize for the inconvenience. I am not sure what went wrong, but no matter. I will send you back and will trouble you no further.” He began to chant.
“Wait! Don’t you at least want my name?” Seraphine called out desperately.
The mage paused in his chant. “Not particularly. I have no wish to deal with a demon of your caliber. I know how such dealings usually turn out,” he replied wryly, preparing to start again.
“You mispronounced the name,” Seraphine blurted out, unwilling to give up so easily.
“Pardon?” The mage looked intrigued.
“You mispronounced the name of the Quasit you were trying to summon. Thus, I was able to come through instead,” Seraphine explained her eyes darting around desperately.
“Go on,” the mage stepped back gesturing for her to continue.
“A gate not properly keyed with a name like that is like an open invitation. You never know what will come through,” she paused as a sudden thought came to her as she caught sight of the cage again. As the realization struck her like a slap to the cheek, it both filled her with dread and with hope at the same time. “You were trying to capture a familiar weren’t you?”
The mage narrowed his eyes and for a tense moment Seraphine thought he was going to banish her but he finally nodded. “Aye. An Imp or a Quasit make powerful familiars.”
Seraphine regarded him for a moment. “You follow a dangerous path mage, are you sure you wish to pursue it?”
“You sound like my father. I think I will send you back now.” The mage’s voice grew tight.
“Wait, I can help you. There’s an easier and safer way.” Seraphine stalled, and resisted the urge to smile as she noticed the slight irregularity in the flicker in one small spot on the golden wall that made up her prison. Got you, she whispered to her self.
“And when you’re done you will want either my life or my soul, if not both. Do you take me for a fool? No thank you.” He nearly spat, so disgusted was he.
“I want neither your life nor your soul.”
His eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Then what do you want?”
“My friend’s life. Her life is in danger. You can cast a gate. You can summon her here and then let her free.”
“What in Selune’s name makes you think I would let a demon free?” The mage growled angrily.
“Send her to another plane then. Just not the same one you pulled us from. She will die there,” she pleaded.
“Why should I do this? What would I get out of this?”
“I can help you get your familiar.”
He snorted. “Not good enough, I can get my own familiar.”
Seraphine swallowed hard. Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves she closed her eyes and let it out. “Not one like what I am offering. Not a full fledged succubus. If you do this for me, I will let you bind me as your familiar.”
When she opened her eyes, the mage was pacing. At last he turned and glared at her. “Even if I could do what you say, and I can’t—I don’t have the ability to cast multiple gates in a day—how in the nice hells do you expect me to trust you?” he almost snarled.
Seraphine played her hand. Or more accurately she played her foot; sliding it across the smudged rune. Ordinarily a properly drawn rune would be impervious to such a move from a demon as lowly as a succubus. However, the rune was already smudged and so was vulnerable and the tip of her boot managed to smudge it more. The rune strained and flickered out and the wall came down in a series of rapid sparks and sizzles.
As the backlash of the failed spell hit the mage, he screamed in anger and fear, and his personal shield flickered and fell. He put his hands to his sides gasping trying to clear the pain from his mind while he watched Seraphine walk over to one of the tables and sit on the edge of it.
She shifted her position sliding further onto the table and letting her legs dangle. She picked up one of the beakers, examining the bubbling green liquid with a critical eye, her long red nails tapping on the glass.
“I don’t expect you to trust me, I ask only that you help me. I can point out that I could have killed you at any point in the last ten minutes.”
“Then why don’t you?” gasped the mage.
“First, it would be a waste. Then there’s the fact I really do need your help. I can’t do what I need on my own, and there’s little chance I could find another mage to help me in time. And then there is the fact that you have not harmed me yet, and I do not feel the need to kill just to prove I can.”
“If I help you, you will agree to be my familiar? And you will tell no one of this?” he asked at last hesitantly.
“I swear it.”
“I will need help, I cannot do this on my own,” he stated flatly.
“Is there anyone you know that could help?” She asked, chewing her lip, nervous that he wouldn’t agree.
The mage nodded slowly. “I know of one that can help. But it will be hard to convince him. He is a powerful priest and he has little love for demons.”
“Is he a good man?” Seraphine asked. “Is he fair?”
The mage nodded to both. “Aye, about as just and fair a man I know.”
“Then bring him here, and I will try to convince him.” The mage hesitated and Serpahine tried to smile reassuringly. “I won’t leave this room or do anything to bring harm to you or him or anyone unless attacked. Better yet, banish me and I will get my books and you can summon me back tomorrow.”
The mage nodded. “What name should I use to summon you?”
Seraphine thought for a second. “Just use my name, Seraphine.”
The mage nodded again. “I will summon you again tomorrow then Seraphine. But I feel it only fair to warn you that even if the priest believes your story, and looks past his abhorrence of demons, he likely may refuse to help you for another reason altogether.”
Seraphine tilted her head in question.
“He is my father,” the mage explained and with that spoke the spell to send Seraphine back to the abyss.

Succubus Companions

2011-01-05T23:39:00.000-05:00

Seraphine rushed down the stone corridor of the citidal, her wings folded up tightly against her as she squeezed around balors and errtus. At every intersection and turn she looked around to make sure she was not being followed. When she came to a less used side corridor, she paused, looking both directions so fast her dark hair whipped around her face. Satisfied she was clear, she ducked down it. A couple more twists and turns beneath the gothic like arches that marked the doorways and intersecting corridors, and she came to a dead end. She tapped on one of the side walls and a section of wall slid to the side revealing a dark stairway.
She slipped down the stairway pulling the wall closed behind her. When she reached to bottom of the stairway, a torch flared up out of the darkness, nearly blinding her. At the same time cold steal met her throat. Seraphine flinched and resisted the urge to step back or lash out, as her eyes blinked to adjust to the sudden light.
A moment later the blade disappeared and was replaced with a hug. “Sorry Seraphine,” A soft, sultry voice half whispered, as the light from the torch was briefly blocked by Seraphine’s own body. The figure released her and stepped back, the hidden room brightening almost instantly.
As her eyes adjusted, Seraphine could make out a thin figure with red hair and black bat-like wings similar to herself. Unlike Seraphine, the other young woman was dressed in rags and was much thinner. Despite her thinness, her rags, and the terrified expression on her face, the other succubus still managed to exude an atmosphere.
Seraphine looked with concern at the other succubus. “What happened to you, Melrazia?”
Melrazia trembled as she looked at her fellow succubus with wide frightened eyes. “The Prince took a fancy to me. My mother however saw it as a chance to gain favor. I hoped if I starved myself he would forget about me. Mother saw what I was doing and brought me a pair of slaves and would not leave me alone until I agreed to feed on them.” The redheaded demon’s eyes met Seraphine’s as she whispered, “I tried not to, but I killed them Sera.”
Seraphine saw the hurt, guilt, and frustration in her Melrazia’s eyes, the same feelings that she herself felt when she failed to control her nature around the helpless or innocent, not that there were many of either in the Abyss.
“It’s alright Melra, I’m sure you couldn’t help it, and they wouldn’t have lasted long here at any rate. At least you were able to make it far more gentle and compassionate than it would have been otherwise.”
Melrazia, attempted a smile to show that the words of comfort were appreciated, but failed. In the end she shrugged. “I guess, but it doesn’t make it any easier.”
“No it doesn’t,” Seraphine agreed glumly. “So what are you going to do?”
“I don’t know. I don’t suppose you’ve gotten any closer to finding a way to cast a portal out of here?” At Seraphine’s forlorn headshake, Melrazia sighed. “Neither have I. I had thought to disfigure myself so badly as to take away the Prince’s fun, but Elandria already tried that.”
Seraphine grimaced at the reminder of what happened to their mutual acquaintance. Seraphine had no love for Elandria, who was a true succubus in every sense of the word, with the cold, cruel, evil nature that seemed diminished in Seraphine and Melrazia. Still, while a part of Seraphine delighted in the thoughts of the tortures that Elandria must have suffered and craved the chance to inflict such on another being, the majority of her shivered in disgust and fear.
The Prince, in reality a Demon Lord who controlled this plane of the Abyss, had a particular fondness for pretty lesser demonesses, including succubi. In particular, he had a fondness for inflicting the most exquisitely agonizing tortures and disfigurements upon his victims either before or while raping them, often drawing the experience of torture and rape out for days.
The only thing more horrifying and agonizing than what he did to his preferred prey was what he would to those that angered him, and few things angered him more then depriving him of his fun.
Elandria, in the desperate hope of making the Demon Lord lose interest in her, had cut off her own breasts, ears, nose and part of her cheek. The Prince was so enraged that he spent three days locked in a room with her. When he was done, he cast her broken body down into the center of his thrown room where it took her three more days to die as she was slowly eaten away by demon-cursed maggots that the Prince had introduced into Elandria’s eyes and sex.
Seraphine bit her lip as she thought desperately, “There has to be something we can do. Maybe I can seduce one of the Prince’s sorcerers for a portal scroll.”
Melrazia shook her head softly. “I doubt that would work and even if it did, I don’t think there is time to save us both.” She razed her eyes and Seraphine saw the sadness and regret. “I came to say goodbye and thank you Seraphine. You are the closest thing to a friend as demon can have.”
Melrazia pressed her dagger into Seraphine’s hands. “Take this to remember me by. I have the mate. I intend to use it when they come for me if I can.”
Seraphine took the dagger and tucked it into her belt. “I’ll try to find a way to get us out of here,” she promised.
Melrazia snorted, giving her red hair a toss. “If you have the chance, you’ll do the smart thing and run Seraphine. Be well.” With that, the red headed succubus took her leave, slipping up the stairs and leaving Seraphine in the dark as the dark haired succubus tried to figure out how to save her friend.

***

Two mornings later Seraphine was rushing down another corridor trying to get to the chambers that Melrazia shared with her mother, in order to tell Melrazia that she had found a general willing to take them with him to the frontlines of the Blood War. When she got to the chambers Seraphine saw the door was open and the chambers ransacked.
She slid the dagger out of her sheath and entered cautiously, stepping carefully over debris littering the floor. When she reached Melrazia’s bedroom she saw Melrazia’s mother lying in a pool of black ichor, one dark wing nearly torn off.
Seraphine made her way to the fallen succubus leaning over her. “Where is she?” She demanded.
“You’re too late,” Melrazia’s mother croaked, dark blood bubbling out of her mouth with every word. “The Prince already took her.”
“If the Prince took her why are you dying?” Seraphine asked suspiciously.
The older succubus opened her mouth, but it was a deeper voice behind Serpahine that answered. “Because she tried to demand a higher payment from the Prince,” the Balor rumbled, chuckling in twisted amusement. “She sought to become a courtesan. Instead all she earned was her death.” He cocked his head looking over Seraphine. “Your friend is gone.”
Serpahine gripped her dagger tighter, “How long ago?”
The Balor shrugged. “A couple of hours ago.”
Seraphine swore and dogged around him, heading towards the inner sections of the massive citadel near the Prince’s throne room and quarters.
She was nearly two thirds of the way there when she saw a dark circle of energy open up in front of a small, winged Quasit and crimson tentacles reaching out to ensnare the creature.
A summoning spell, Serpahine realized. A desperate hope surged through Seraphine and she raced to the dark portal, grabbing the Quasit and throwing the surprised creature several meters down the corridor, and grabbing the crimson tentacles with both hands. “Sorry, this one’s mine,” she hissed as she was pulled through the portal.

Roses and Fangs: ch. 3. Convergence pt. 7.

2010-06-16T03:38:00.001-04:00

Kara smiled as she rested her head against Sam’s shoulder. Her arms were currently looped around Sam’s neck, and his own were gently resting around her hips as they swayed gently. They had gone out with a group of friends to one of the very few dance clubs in the city, and Kara was enjoying the slow song the clubs dj was currently playing.
Kara smiled as she thought about how sharp Sam looked in his black shirt and dress pants, and how her own red cocktail dress complimented the crimson handkerchief that peaked from his breast pocket. With her heels on she was actually slightly taller than Sam, though if anyone noticed no one said anything. She knew from the looks and some of the whispered comments that she and Sam looked good together. Yet one thing still bothered her.
“I should have put on some hose,” Kara winced as her leg brushed against Sam’s as they danced.
“Why? You look fine,” Sam reassured her.
“I changed earlier,” Kara replied softly. “I’m always a little hairy afterwards.”
Sam chuckled lightly, “I wouldn’t have noticed if you didn’t say anything, and I don’t think anyone else could even tell.
Kara growled lightly, “It’s not funny. It’s itchy and gross.”
Sam quit laughing, but he kept his amused smile. “Sorry it itches.”
She rolled her eyes. “You’re mocking me.”
“No,” he replied. “I just don’t get why girls make such a big deal about shaving.”
She smirked, “Yeah? Well, when our legs aren’t all smooth and shiny you guys seem to think it’s a big deal.”
“Ah I don’t know. I happen to think you’re quite pretty when you have hairy legs. Especially when you also have a busy tail to go with them.”
“Shush you.” Kara giggled and playfully hit him upside the back of his head, but she smiled as the music changed and she spun around to face away from him.
Her smile grew as he wrapped his arms around her pulling her gently back into him and he whispered into her ear, “I love you.”
There was no hesitation in her answer, nor was there anything but total and complete honesty when she answered. “I love you too, Sam.”

Roses and Fangs: ch. 3. Convergence pt. 6.

2010-06-15T21:26:00.001-04:00

Sam met Shelly’s eyes. “What about you?” he asked.
The blonde vampire’s eyes flickered from Sam’s to Kara’s and back. “I don’t know,” she replied honestly, “but I don’t base my friends on who or what they are.”
She looked to Kara and tilted her head. “Jacqueline likes you and speaks highly of you. If she considers you friends, then I will too. Whether you decide to consider me one or not is up to the two of you.”
Jacqueline softly spoke up, “Kara, Sam, I know I don’t have the best track record when it comes to judging character, but I trust Shelly really wouldn’t have introduced her to you if I didn’t think she was a good person. I’m sorry I didn’t ask you first.”
Kara leaned over and patted Jacqueline’s hand reassuringly, “Now you know for next time, and it is nice to see you making friends.”
Something chirped and Shelly pulled out her phone looking at it. “I need to call my family,” she looked at Kara, “Don’t worry, I won’t tell them about you. Mom and Dad like to check in on me every week though.”
Kara shrugged. “It wouldn’t even matter if you did, it’s gonna get out eventually.”
Shelly shook her head. “Not from me. Especially not my family. As I said, I consider you a friend.”
She slid back her chair and slid away. “Sam, Kara, it was nice meeting you. I’ll see you around.”
“Nice meeting you too,” Sam said graciously. Kara echoed him.
“I’ll go with you, Shelly if that’s okay?” Jacqueline asked.
“Of course. I could use the support. I love my parents but they can be very… overbearing.” Shelly winced.
Jacqueline collected hugs from Sam and Kara, and then followed her roommate out the door.
Kara resumed eating, wincing as she realized her meal was now nearly room temperature. “Well, she seemed nice enough,” she said at last.
“For a vampire you mean,” Sam finished for her.
Kara shook her head. “Sam, I’m scared of vampires, but that doesn’t mean I hate them all.”
“Are you scared of me?” Sam asked softly.
Kara sighed sadly. “I try not to be, but it’s hard to fight instincts and twenty years of having my parents instilling in me that every vampire I meet will try to kill me.”
Sam wrapped his arm around her and they finished their meals in silence.
***
A couple of days later Jacqueline found herself walking up the hill toward Stuart hall with Trina, a beautiful half-Asian girl with soft brown eyes and dark hair. Though she often seemed very submissive and rarely met anyone’s eyes, or spoke up, Jacqueline found Trina to be a sweet, cheerful girl with a wicked since of humor and a penchant for mischief.
Trina had just finished a story about her latest prank on her roommate with whom Trina was in a good-natured prank war with, when Shelly came up from behind them. “Hey, girls,” Shelly greeted them brightly.
“Hey Shelly,” Jacqueline smiled.
“Hello Shelly,” Trina gave a wave then turned to Jacqueline. “I just remembered I have a report due Monday, and I want to get it done before the weekend. I’ll catch you later, okay?”
Jacqueline blinked, “Um okay.”
Shelly sighed as Trina hurried on ahead. “She’s definitely afraid of me.”
Jacqueline shrugged. “Maybe she just remembered the report.”
Shelly shook her head, “Even, if she does, she’s just using it as an excuse. She is terrified of me, though she hides it well. Most people wouldn’t notice.”
Jacqueline looked over at her friend. “I guess I am one of those people, then. She looked the same to me.”
Shelly bit her lip and lowered her voice slightly. “I’m not sure how much Kara and Sam have told you, but Weres have much better hearing and smell then humans. They can even see in the dark better humans. Vampires don’t have quite as good hearing or smell, though we do have better vision.” She paused and hesitated slightly. “Vampires and weres can smell fear really well. Vampires can also sense things like heart rate and muscle tension.”
Shelly kicked a rock on the pavement venting her frustration slightly. “She was relaxed while she was talking to you. The moment I said hi her heart rate went way up, she tensed up and grew afraid. Her voice changed slightly too.”
“Wow, you guys are like superheroes,” Jacqueline observed. “With all these awesome powers you have.”
Shelly stopped suddenly and grabbed Jacqueline’s arm spinning the girl around till they looked each other in the eyes. “We are not better than you Jackie. We may be stronger, faster, and have senses that are more sensitive then you, but that doesn’t make us better,” She spoke angerly.
“In fact, in many ways it makes us worse. Many of us have an enhanced brutality and savagery to go with those enhanced senses, speed and strength. And we have other weaknesses too. Never forget that Jackie. It just might save your life.” With that, she stalked on ahead while Jacqueline hurried to catch up.

Roses and Fangs: ch. 3. Convergence pt. 5.

2010-05-24T00:08:00.002-04:00

The weekend came and went without Kara, Sam, and Jacqueline seeing much of each other. Kara spent the evenings in her room shut away, riding out the effects of the full moon. Sam spent allot of his free time either in the art labs or in his dorm working on his art. Jacqueline was spending time with her new roommate whom was fast turning into a good friend.
By Monday, all three were feeling tired and dragging themselves to classes. During the one of the classes she and Sam shared, Kara kept stealing glances at him as she took notes.
After the class, she hung back to ask the professor some questions. By the time she was done, Sam had already left. She looked for him in the humanities plaza but didn’t see him. She headed on to the cafeteria and grabbed herself a pita pizza. She took her time eating it. When she was done she headed over to the art building.
She found him in one of the drawing classes. There were about fifteen students in the room seated in a semi circle with their easels in front of them.
They were facing a model that Kara didn’t know whether she was a student or not. The model was in a quasi-Victorian dress with fishnets. Although the model was in a suggestive pose, Kara was amused to discover she was relieved the model wasn’t nude.
The professor, a woman in her forties with chestnut hair that was just beginning to show signs of grey, waved Kara in. Embarrassed, Kara walked over to the professor. “Can I help you?” the woman asked Kara quietly.
“Sorry, my friend is in your class and I was curious,” Kara said.
“Well, we’re just doing some position exercises, the professor stated, but you’re welcome to stay and watch if you like.” The professor looked up over her class and called out, “Time.”
The students all tacked fresh paper on their easels while the model changed positions. She stretched out on her back, giving it a slight arch and raising one knee up to reveal the fishnets she wore under the gown. The sensuality of the model’s pose wasn’t lost on her audience and many were paying more attention to her then their sketches.
Even Sam didn’t seem quite immune though he didn’t seem quite as distracted as some of the others, especially the other men. Even so, he didn’t seem aware of Kara’s presence as she pulled up a chair beside him and Kara ruefully felt a pang of jealousy for the look that the model was able to present and the attention she commanded and secretly wondered if she were a vampire.
As she settled in beside him she noticed in the minute or so he had already managed to lay out the general shape of the model on paper, the dark charcoal lines stark against the white paper. As he began to fill in the shape with more defining lines, Kara noticed Sam was being a bit more generous with some curves and a bit less with others. In fact the general body shape didn’t quite match the model’s at all, even though the lines of the dress that Sam was making seemed to match. It was almost as if he was drawing someone else in the exact same pose and dress.
Knowing the extent of Sam’s talent Kara couldn’t believe that usch a discrepancy was anything but deliberate. Intrigued she looked down at the pile of sketches on the floor beside the easel and saw a consistency in the discrepancies that carried through all his drawings. In face even the texture of the model’s hair was consistently different then that of the model’s.
“A more egotistical and self-centered girl who saw these might think that you were drawing her instead of the model,” she whispered.
Sam blinked and seemed to notice her for the first time but went back to drawing quickly. “If that self-centered girl was sitting beside me right now, she would be right,” he whispered back.
“Time.” The call cut across the room causing Sam and the other students to add their current sketches to the piles and start over as the model chose a new pose. As Sam settled into his new drawing, Kara impulsively leaned over, tilting her head against his shoulder. One of his lines went errant and he paused for a moment blinking, but then he smiled and adjusted for the unexpected motion.
Something inside Kara that she could no longer deny crept into her thoughts and she admitted to herself that this felt right to her. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the professor looking at her, and she wondered if she was about to be thrown out of the classroom, but then the professor flashed a smile and winked. Taking that to mean that the professor was condoning her behavior she continued to snuggle against Sam while he worked.
Allowing herself to shut her eyes and take in the scents of the wood, charcoal, dried paint, and sweat that permeated the room, she focused in on the smell that was Sam and found to her surprise that though it still triggered racial instincts buried deep within her, the smell was also deeply comforting to her on a level that she could not describe. In that moment she realized that deep inside she had already made a decision, and that despite the fact it petrified her, that she couldn’t imagine any other future. Taking a deep, terrified breath, she let it out in a single word, “yes.” Reaching around to squeeze Sam’s arm as he paused his sketching she repeated herself as if to reassure herself of her resolve, “Yes.”

***

Sam hadn’t really been paying attention during the class, and while he realized that many of the other students, male and female were seemingly ruptured with the admittedly sensuous model, he was not. Instead, he was zoned into his own thoughts, daydreams really, imagining it was Kara that was modeling and not some sensuous housewife the professor happened to know.
He was startled then when Kara was suddenly beside him commenting about the lack of accuracy off his drawings with a wry amused expression. Her amusement relieved him, though he was embarrassed that she realized what he was doing, at least she didn’t think he was obsessed. In fact, judging by the way she was resting her head on his shoulder, she seemed to find the gesture somehow comforting or reassuring. He wasn’t sure which.
Aware that the professor was watching them, he quickly resumed his work. However a new energy and passion poured itself though the simple charcoal and made itself present on the paper. If Kara wasn’t modeling for him, at least she was beside him. Beside him in a way that she had never been before, and the sheer power of the emotions he felt were translating themselves to the page. He allowed himself to be lost in the moment.
So it was understandable that the sudden smell of fear radiating of Kara caused him to be distracted and he almost missed her first whisper. He blinked, uncertain at first as to what she meant, but then she squeezed his arm while repeating herself, and the way in which she snuggled closer to him, as if drawing strength from him left little doubt as to what she meant. He wrapped his arm around her, and though it was an awkward way to draw, he spent the remainder of the class like that.

***

Early that evening after their classes were over, the two of them were in humanities plaza, Kara laying with her head resting comfortably in Sam’s lap. Kara still felt nervous, but that nervousness was mitigated somewhat by Sam’s reassuring touch. Even more reassuring were the smiles of some of their mutual friends. Even Erica paused just long enough to flash a wave as she passed by.
As it started to get dark they decided to grab food. For reasons neither would remember later they both agreed on the cafeteria in Virginia Kettering hall. Both were feeling exceptionally hungry and their trays were quite loaded by the time they were ready to sit down.
As they swiped their meal cards, and looked for a place to sit, Kara noticed Jacqueline seated with a group of girls laughing and seemingly enjoying herself immensely. One girl in particular, a blonde seemed to be sharing allot of laughs with Jacqueline. She seemed to notice Kara staring at Jacqueline and gave her a nudge. Jacqueline looked up, and seeing Kara flashed a big smile and tossed a friendly wave.
“Jacqueline seems to be looking a little happier,” Kara remarked as she and Sam sat down together a few tables away.
“Yeah, looks like she made some new friends,” Sam replied. “I’m glad for her, she seemed kind of lonely.”
“Yeah definitely,” Kara nodded thoughtfully. “I just hope they treat her well.”
“Better then that creep from last summer, for sure.” Sam’s brows darkened. He tried unsuccessfully to suppress a shudder at the unpleasant memory.
“I’m sorry you had to kill him,” Kara stated softly. She leaned in, resting her head on his shoulder.
Sam wrapped his arm around her. “I’m not,” he replied honestly. “Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t enjoy it, but in the same situation I would have done it again. I probably would have even if he hadn’t come at me with the knife.”
Kara looked up at him questioningly. “It’s one thing to hurt someone cause you need to eat, to defend someone, or to defend yourself. Hell, it’s even one thing to do it as part of a consensual sex act. But there is nothing more evil then to hurt someone simply because you enjoy it. And that creep did. Trust me I could smell it on him,” Sam explained. “People like him are far and away the most dangerous kind of predators.”
Kara looked away. She knew Charley hadn’t been the first kill for either of them, although until that point all of Kara’s had been animals. She wasn’t sure about Sam, and she really didn’t want to know.
“So what do you think of the ribs,” she asked changing the subject.
If the abrupt change in topic surprised Sam he didn’t let it show. “Better than I would have expected from a cafeteria,” he admitted. “But overall the food here is pretty good.”
Kara nodded. “You should attend an event that the university does the catering for,” she grined. “The catering here is amazing. Better then allot of restraints even.”
Sam grunted. “You’ll just have to take me to some of them.”
Kara smiled. “If I’m allowed to bring a date, I will.”
She looked up and noticed the group that Jacqueline was with cleaning up and taking their trays to the conveyer. She was about to wave a farewell when she realized that Jacqueline was dragging the blonde their way. “Hey, Jacqueline,” She stood and greeted the younger girl with a hug then moved to the side as Sam followed suit.
“Hey Kara, Sam,” Jacqueline beamed, as she then moved around the table and sat down across from the couple. The blonde girl sat next to her. “Shelly these are the people that saved my life last summer. Guys, this is my new roommate Shelly.”
“Pleased to meet you,” Shelly reached her hand across the table to Sam and then Kara. As Kara shook it her eyes met Shelly’s and she froze while they reacted. Sam also noticed the reaction and tensed up. As Kara drew her hand back, Jacqueline also froze realizing from Kara’s look and Sam’s glare that she might have made a mistake.
Shelly, cleared her throat and tried to stay relaxed. “Jacqueline told me allot about you,” she said softly so that only the four of them could hear, “but she didn’t tell me that either of you was a vampire or a were. Please don’t be mad at her, I don’t think she realizes we can recognize each other.”
Jacqueline was pale as a ghost and looking down like she was about to cry. “I thought that if Erica knew Shelly, it would be alright,” She floundered helplessly. “What did I do wrong now?”
“You just endangered Kara and me,” Sam was looking livid at this point, and Kara reached out to squeeze his arm.
“Relax Sam, she didn’t realize what she was doing. I’ve barely started to explain things to her.” Kara’s voice trembled more then she wanted but she tried to calm Sam down.
“Jacqueline, remember how allot of weres are still afraid of vampires?” Shelly asked gently. When Jacqueline nodded, she continued, “sometimes, they have good reason. Vampires are allot like humans, some good, some not, some prejudiced, some not. Weres, at least the few that I’ve met are much the same. It’s not always a good idea to bring the attention of a were to a vampire or vice versa, at least without asking first.”
Jacqueline looked down, “I’m sorry.”
Surprisingly it was Sam that reached across and patted Jacqueline’s arm. “Just ask us next time, Jacquie. Okay?”
Jacqueline looked up at the nickname and nodded. Despite being upset, the fact that Sam used a nickname for her both pleased and relieved and a wisp of a smile briefly touched her lips.
Shelly gave her roommate an uncomfortable smile. “I think I am making your friends nervous, I’ll just meet you back at the room.” She turned to face Sam and Kara. “It was nice meeting both of you.” She hesitated briefly then continued in a very soft voice that Jaqueline could just barely hear. “You two look good together.”
Jacqueline nodded sadly but Kara shook her head. “Stay if you want.”
Shelly blinked and looked at Kara. “You sure? I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”
Kara shrugged. “There seem to be allot of Kindred here, and as you figured out, I’m with Sam so no doubt I’ll be meeting allot more. I may as well start getting used to it now.”
Sam’s hand reached for Kara’s and gave her a reassuring squeeze, but he remained quiet and Kara sensed he was feeling as nervous as she was.
Shelly chewed her lip lightly. “For what it’s worth, I’m a little nervous too. I don’t really have many were friends. At least that know what I am. It was kind of…discouraged when I was growing up.”
She shrugged apologetically. “My family isn’t exactly what you call progressive."

Roses and Fangs: ch. 3. Convergence pt. 4.

2010-05-24T00:03:00.001-04:00

Kara looked up from her screen, startled as someone knocked on her door. “Come in,” she called. She flinched as the door opened to reveal Erica carrying a brown bag.
If Erica saw the flinch she ignored it and gestured to the edge of Kara’s bed. “Mind if I sit?”
“Go ahead,” Kara saved her work and turned to face Erika trying very hard to hide her anxiety. “Thanks again for switching with me.”
“No problem, I hope Monday is enough time for the moon’s effects to be less…” Erica hesitated searching for words.
“Problematic?” Kara supplied helpfully. “Yeah. Saturday is the full moon so by Monday it will have waned enough that I can handle it without shifting.”
“Good, that works out for me anyways. I have an exam on Tuesday that will be a bitch.” She reached into the bag she had brought with her pulling out two cans. “Want a beer?”
“Please,” Kara shrugged reaching over to nudge the door shut. “Aren’t you on duty?”
“Not for a little while yet,” Erica shrugged as she popped open her own can and took a sip.
Kara sipped her own and awkward seconds passed slowly as she and Erica sat eyeing each other over their beers. Finally Kara broke the silence. “So somehow I doubt you just stopped by to share a beer, so what exactly is it you do want?”
Erica sighed and sat holding her beer in both hands. She let out a slow breath before meeting Kara’s eyes, wincing at Kara’s flinch when their eyes locked and reacted “Sam is in love with you.”
Kara nodded slowly never taking her eyes off Erica. “I know. He’s made it pretty clear.”
Erica studied Kara’s face intently. “And do you feel the same about him?”
Kara sighed setting her beer on the desk behind her and leaning forward. “I told him not to pressure me,” she growled.
“Relax, he doesn’t even know I’m here.” Erica held up her hands as if to shield herself from Kara’s anger. “I came on my own. I realize you and I have never exactly been as close friends as I would have liked, but I always liked you almost as much as Sam does. Haven’t I always treated you as a friend?”
Kara relaxed a little and nodded. “Yeah you have.”
“Then can you accept that I might have my own reasons for wanting to know if you feel the same about my cuz as he does about you??”
Kara hesitated for a few seconds before finally nodding slowly. “Okay, I’ll accept that. I guess it would only be natural to know if a were dared to love a vampire.”
Erica sat up and slamed the remains of her beer onto the desk next to Kara’s, leaning down so she looked Kara in the eyes. Kara flinched and backed away as the dark-haired vampire glared at Kara. “I don’t give a damn that you’re a were, Kara. What I care about is the fact my cousin is so in love with you that it sometimes hurts to watch. He has never even looked at another girl. You are the girl he wants.”
The vampire continued to glare at Kara. “I know he does,: the werewolf said softly.
“Do you love him?” Erica pressed.
“Of course I do.”
“As much as he loves you?” Erica’s eyes searched Kara’s.
Kara hesitated. “Probably.” The vampires arched her eyebrows but Kara continued before she could speak. “He is so intense about it, and at times his intensity almost scares me. I do love him, Erica. I just don’t know if its as much as he does me, or even if I love him enough,” she admitted softly, her eyes dropping to stare at her lap.
Erica backed away from the werewolf, taking her beer with her. She sipped it thoughtfully, the silence in the room building into a palpable tension. At last she tossed the empty can into the trash and headed for the door much to Kara’s relief.
As she opened the door Erica turned around to face Kara. “Kara, I can’t tell you what to do, but I think you are causing yourself and Sam both allot of unnecessary pain.”
Kara sighed, “What if they come after us?”
“This isn’t the seventeen hundreds anymore Kara. It’s not even the nineteen hundreds. I doubt that many will come after you, and if they do, you’re not alone.”
Kara blinked. “You don’t care if I date your cousin?”
Erica shrugged. “You gotta follow you’re your heart Kara.” With that she walked out and pulled the door shut behind her.
She’s so scared of vampires she can’t see what’s in front of her, she thought to herself sadly. She’s missing out because she is afraid of what the vampires will do to her if she goes out with Sam. She shook her head sadly. Well, there might be some that would do something stupid, but there’s bigots everywhere. I just hope she won’t let her fears prevent her from a chance at happiness.
Back in Kara’s room, Kara was turning thoughtfully back to her computer, her mind only half focused on her assignment.

***

The next day Jacqueline came back to her new dorm room to see Shelly stocking up the refrigerators. “Hey, probably only want to use the one in front,” she suggested, as the dark haired girl came into the room and closed the door.
“Why’s that?” Jacqueline asked.
“Well I store the blood in the back one,” Shelly explained. I hide it behind some pop cans, and it comes in sealed packs but, I find the smell and taste still tend to get into everything else,” she scrunched her nose up. “And if its unappetizing to me, I can only imagine what it would be like for humans.” She shrugged.
“Um yeah, I’ll use the one in the front then,” Jacqueline smiled. “Thanks for the warning.”
“No problem. Thanks for not getting all grossed out by your blood drinking roomie.”
Jacqueline chuckled. “It’s just nice to have a roommate that doesn’t seem to hate my guts.”
Shelly shrugged. “Well I haven’t had any problems with you yet. I’ll admit it’s a challenge living with humans, but it is easier now that I don’t have to hide what I am from you.”
She gave a warm smile as she finished with the refrigerator and stood up. “The other girls want us to join them for dinner at VWK. I figured we could hang out a bit until then if that’s okay?”
The darker haired girl couldn’t contain her grin. “Sounds great. What did you have in mind?”
Shelly cocked her head to the side. “Well I figured we could talk while we figure out while we rearrange the room a bit. What do you think about moving the desks around to the side and putting the refrigerators over there?”
By the time the knock on the door told the girls it was time for dinner, the two had managed to rearrange the room at least twice to find the maximum open area and were already coming up with ideas for how to spend the weekend. Shelly couldn’t help but notice how happy her roommate seemed just to have someone that genuinely wanted her around and couldn’t help but wonder what had happened to make her so sad and lonely.