Bound By Blood (41 page)

             
“You have the nerve to question why
our
High Priestess is here when you dare to bring the likes of them
?
”
Daŕ
ēus’
voice remained calm but
reveal
ed the intensity of his disgust.

             
“You were told of the peace between us. They had nothing to do with this
,
which means whatever happened here is as much of a threat to them as it is to us.”
Dĩas
defended himself
thus,
though
Daŕ
ēus
was not impressed
, any
more than he was convinced.

             
His expression plainly said so
as well
.
“That remains to be seen.”
Daŕ
ēus
growled again.
His beast was rising.
“As for the Priestess, she has every right to be here. Since you cannot insure her safety
,
then I must. By my
side,
she shall stay until I determine otherwise. She was claimed
,
remember?”

             
A
thr
ill passed over
Samanthŕa
.
Before
,
his claiming her had seemed like the end of nights
,
but now having him use it as a defen
s
e against her father
,
who was treating her like a weakling, it was exhilarating.
She felt ten feet tall hearing his words. She couldn’t explain to herself why. It merely felt good. The word
‘
claimed
’,
though
,
still
caused the chills to cling to her spine rather than disappear. The intensity of the situation caused her hands to shake again.
She tightened them around the reins.

             
Dĩas
began to open his mouth when
Chymeŕah
materializ
ed. “
Dĩas
, silence
;
put your personal problems away. The Priestess
should
be here. We do not know what we are dealing with. We may have need of her.” She flipped the edge of her silver cloak over one shoulder and walked past him as if he were nothing. “Daughter, what did you see? I sense you were about to share your vision before you were rudely interrupted.”

             
Samanthŕa
looked at
Daŕ
ēus
. She swallowed hard
,
knowing all eyes were watching her. The presence of the
E
vil Elders troubled her even more.
The eyes of her father troubled her most.

             
“I cannot sense any of our bloodline. The coldness is thick and heavy but it’s not from anything immortal
that I can name
. There is a symbol burning in the court yard, a sign
,
left from the ones who did this.”

             
“See, it’s not immortal so you cannot blame evil
,
”
Dĩas
began to boast.

             
“
That she can name
.
” Daŕ
ēus
whipped around and threatened
,
“If you do not silence yourself then I will slap a muzzle on you.” He then turned back to
Samanthŕa
. His eyes which
had
showed
anger
subsided and reflected nothing but calm and patien
ce
towards her. “Please continue.”

             
Samanthŕa
took another deep breath. She began to bask in the glow of feeling important. He did that to her
;
she was just realizing it.
It especially made her
want to
swoon because of those he did it in front of
--
t
hose like
Dĩas,
who
’d
never e
ncourag
ed her importance but instead held her back. “
Whatever is behind this is something we have not seen as of yet.
I am afraid that I know nothing else. It doesn’t make sense to me.
I cannot describe what does not make sense.
”

             
“You
’
r
e
right, it doesn’t make sense. You see she is not ready for something like this. She needs to be sent home.”
Dĩas began
to snarl again.

             
Daŕ
ēus jumped
off his horse. He marched towards
Dĩas
in
his
mountainous
black gothic armor. He looked down upon him
from his great height
as if he were nothing more than a child. “I will decide if she is ready or not. As for you, if you cannot shut that boar’s trap of yours then I will see to it that
you
are sent home. Understand?” He then turned towards the Evil Elders. “As for the rest of you, your presence is not needed here.
You may have a truce with him
,
but I have agreed to nothing.
” He looked at all who came with
Dĩas
except
Chymeŕah
. “None of you are needed.”

             
“You have no right--”
Dĩas
began to say
;
Daŕ
ēus drew
his
sword and pressed it to his throat.

             
“Don’t I? Where are
your
warriors
,
Dĩas
? Why did you come here
without them
? Do you not see
my
warriors here? You dare to speak
of
my rights when it is our lives on the line? I
am
the Father of the Blood. You have
no
authority over me. You have
no
authority over anyone here,
especially
the Priestess. Now gather your playmates and go home. When we have sorted this
out,
I will send word.
Wait
for my word. If I see you again-
-
” Before he could finish his threat
Samanthŕa
gasped. All eyes jerked towards her.

             
“There-- in the fog…do you not see it? Something moves!”

             
Daŕ
ēus
rushed to her side and looked. Something
did
move. He returned his sword to his sheath and mounted his horse. They split up and began to search the fog.
Daŕ
ēus
reached over and pulled
Samanthŕa
onto his horse. It took
him
little effort and caught her by surprise.

             
“The fog is thick. I do not want you separated from
me,
”
h
e said as he
wrapp
ed his arms around her to hold the reins. She lost her breath when he did this. Her stomach twisted from nerves. It bellied up against the queasiness she had been feeling all night from the herbs.

             
“Anything?
”
Daŕ
ēus asked
the Brothers in their mind
s
. He opened the link so
Samanthŕa
could hear them
,
as well as the other
Lycãons
.

             
“
Fog,”
Danyól said
. He carried his ability to make jokes everywhere he went. “
Wait
;
here is something. Guess what? More fog
.”

             
“There is nothing here
,
Daŕ
ēus
,
”
Maŕ
ēus
told him.
“We should approach the
dwelling
. I prefer
facing it
rather than the fog
.
If anything was here, it is gone now and possibly
was
an attempt to lead us astray.
”

             
“I did see something…”
Samanthŕa
whispered
,
causing Daŕ
ēus to lean in
to her ear. The smell of him, the musky,
sandalwood
scent stole what little air she managed to hold onto. She would have pulled away or even protested if the situation they were in was not so dangerous. Besides, s
he didn’t want them thinking she had led them on a wild goose chase.

             
“
I
believe you. I
saw it as well. Whatever it was, it is gone now
,
”
Daŕ
ēus
assured her
with his whisper into her ear
. He
made her feel so important it
raised her glow again.
His hot breath made her limbs quake.

             
They came to the entrance of the
Theŕéan home
. The silence was unsettling. The
large
drawbridge
sealing the entrance
was beaten down, covered in some sort of burning black ooze and split in places.
Samanthŕa
pushed herself back
against
Daŕ
ēus’
large chest without thinking. She felt the hardness of his armor crush
ing
her but she didn’t care. If she could have crawled into his
skin,
she would have done it at this point
,
as long as she could have peeked out with one eye. She may have been a bit spooked but she was also insanely curious
,
as always
.

             
Just as they breeched the inner
walls,
they saw something burning.
Samanthŕa
inhaled quickly for it startled her. She had seen this when she reached out with her mind, though now that she stood before it, she realized how frightening it was.

             
A large wooden structure
,
shaped like
a half S with a slanted line running through it diagonally
,
was driven into the ground. Something very large,
black,
and charred was hanging from it.

             
Daŕ
ēus
raised his hand towards the object burning. He turned the fog into wet moisture
and
then suffocated the fire with it. Steam rolled off of the object with such a force that
Samanthŕa
had to turn her face.
Daŕ
ēus’
other arm covered her
,
offering more protection. Once the steam cooled from the
ever-ruthless
cold, he removed his arm and she looked up.

             
Lushãyen
leaped onto the structure, sniffing out the charred shape. He flicked at it with a long extended claw until something dangled from the top end. He jerked it off, rubbed it with some linen hanging out from his armor, and then leaped down. He threw it at
Daŕ
ēus, snarling.
“Does the Priestess recognize this?”

             
Daŕ
ēus
held it up for
Samanthŕa
. Her heart sank. She swallowed hard
,
almost choking. She gently pushed it away. “
Dalaŕéah Theŕéan .
She was with child.
Rare for our kind.
I just preformed a blessing a few weeks ago. She
wa
s the first in her bloodline to conceive for such a long time.
”
She almost cried.

             
Daŕ
ēus leaned
back, ripped his armor away, leaving nothing but
the
black sparkling mesh underneath, tossed it to the air and watched it vanish. The others followed suit. Whatever was here, they wanted to handle dead on, hand to hand, flesh to flesh. Their tempers were soaring.