Blood Will Flow, Pt. 5

valis-shotAs we made our way through the water, Marius kept pulling me back by shoulder and checking my speed. Did he not understand my desire to get Carrie out of the hell hole she was held in? Did he not sense my anger at those who dared took what was mine? A side glance back into his face showed me that he did indeed know how I felt.

That was why he was doing as he was.

Cherry however, took the lead for a short while. Blazing hair the only thing keeping her in my vision, she blended so well into the darkness it was hard even for me to keep track. She held up a hand and Marius halted me fully as she went around a corner, we heard a shot..and then another followed by a short scream and then a thump. Marius nodded and we continued past the now fallen mortal guard, his partner several feet beyond. Both downed with a shot to the chest.

It carried on like that for several slow, long moments. Cherry or Marius would drift forward, several shots would ring out and then we would advance once more. All the while I would try pushing past, I hated the slow pace of our advance and just wanted Carrie back in my arms safe and sound.

This place was dark, not in the sense of vision or brightness. No it was fairly well lit the farther we got, it was just a feeling that was settled over the halls. I had not felt something like that for several years, not since before I myself had met Pandora. My own guns were ready though, my fingers gripping it perfectly as Cherry had taught me. What was this feeling now? Was I worried? Anxious?

I was, and I knew it.

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Getting Back What Belongs to Us, Pt. 16

imageTime passed slowly, Cherry holding me through each second that went by. I could feel the hate within me, it had been awhile since I felt a hate this strong. Many, many years before Pandora calmed the storm of my mind perhaps. And now it was struggling to free itself once more, and how I wanted to let it loose. My magic did not work here, but I would destroy those who had shattered my family apart.

I did not move, I barely blinked even I planned and schemed. I stood no chance before these ancients but I would be damned if I would not try. Carrie, now Merida? These Draconian bastards would have their heads mounted upon my wall.

Madness is a very real problem in my line, I thought mine long gone. Cherry could see it writhing behind my eyes, dark as the depths of the ocean and perhaps that is why she tried so hard to calm me.

Nothing would stay my wrath. You do not piss off Va’lis Razele and walk away unscathed.

My daughters would be returned to me and held tight within my arms, or I would die.

There are no other alternatives. No other way for this to happen. If I had to rip the city apart, so be it.

Picking Up The Pieces, Pt. 2

Charlottenburg-Palace-Germany-NightNight was well set in as Pandora led Va’lis and Carrie around with Carries eyes still looking everywhere in awe, while Va’lis only looked straight ahead. So lost in his thoughts, he didn’t realize Pandora had stopped until he ran into her back. With a shake of her head and a gesture for silence, she pointed to a window set high above the ground.

“Cherry is in that room” she mouthed while he nodded. The nerves, quickly rising back again as she gave him a quick hug for good luck. It was her turn to buy him time, and she set off briskly with a letter for Esme. Whatever she planned to do, Va’lis knew he couldn’t concern himself fully with it. He had a short window, and only one shot.

Dragging Carrie, he inched alongside the wall slowly. Doing his best to avoid being seen, he pushed her down to her knees and hands. Looking up in a mixture of shock and bewilderment, it faded quickly to annoyance as he used her as a stepping stool. Grasping the next ledge and hauling himself up onto the balcony.

He could see her, sleeping in the bedroom wrapped in a blanket and facing away from the balcony door. A moment passed with his eyes closed, and before his nerves gave way again he went to open the door. And it was locked.

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Pain of Loss

Snow crunched underfoot, each step slow and measured before advancing further. It had fallen heavily over the past month and a half and without the usual servants tending to the accumulation, it was layered thick upon the steps. A fitting visual for the mood of the man that climbed slowly.

A month a half since she had fled after he failed to arrive. He could not blame her, but the man never faded. It merely grew stronger with each passing day, a driving searing pain that was pushing his already strained mind further against its limitations. Biting back a fresh surge of suffering, he fumbled for the keys in his jacket.

Hands which once were certain in all actions, now trembled as he inserted the key into the lock. Opening it by magic as he usually would have done was something he was fighting these days. Too long had he taken the easy way through life, when had he slowed and enjoyed the little things? Perhaps if he had, he could have seen the fear coiled about his heart as a serpent would be about a hare.

A creak and the door opened. Gusts of air scattered snow about the carpets within, yet he barely noticed. His gaze instead went straight to the ring sitting upon the note on the table, exactly where he had seen it last. Leaving the door open, Va’lis stepped forward into the past.

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