The Toll (39 page)

“
A curse, then?” Lachesis
piped up.

“
A curse?” Niniane
whispered fearfully, hands clutching at her stomach protectively as
she moaned, belly roiling hard.

“
Hmm. Not a bad idea.” With
a nod, in deference to ‘she of things that are to be’, Fire
shrugged. “A curse, then, I say.” Glancing sadly as the Lady of the
Lake started to protest, he held his hands up. “It is of your own
making, sister mine. A curse can be broken.” The great mountain of
a man’s eyes softened exponentially at the look in his sister
Elemental’s eyes, the stark desperation, the remorse and pain.
“Death, life’s great equalizer, cannot.”

“
But...” she protested
weakly.

“
It is not a bad plan,” Bo
murmured in agreeance, rubbing at his freshly shaven chin
idly.

“
Can we not just.... lock
her up for a few thousand years? In a...a... in an old tree or the
bottom of an ocean or something?” Zeme grumbled, frowning as her
gaze took in the ravaged landscape just beyond the clearing. Zeme,
mother of earth, was clearly conflicted, mourning the loss of all
that once was and never shall be, while fighting her love for
Niniane, sister-water.

“
You cannot be serious?”
Blinking up at her, Bo snorted, gesturing to Water’s burgeoning
belly. “What of the child within? As we speak, he is grasping for
this world.”

“
Soon,” Clothos replied
quietly, head still bent, rocking back and forth as her fingers
filled with golden thread, “very soon.”

Zeme’s face pinched and she swallowed
hard. “Then we must decide soon. I say she sleeps, and the child
sleeps with her. No harm shall come to him, and he shall greet this
world upon her release.”

“
No!” Struggling to her
feet, the Lady of the Lake gasped and panted, face red with anger,
delicate cheeks mottling as her eyes flashed dark blue. “No one
touches my son!”

“
He will remain as he is,”
Zeme reasoned. “He will be safe with in you, Nin. You can protect
him,” she stressed, eyes darting between burgeoning belly and
soon-mother-to-be.

“
No.” Niniane was firm and
set, teeth gritted as she forced the words between panting
breaths.

“
It would seem as if we are
at an impasse,” Phaestus stated mildly, standing back a step when
Bo and Zeme advanced on one another, immediately starting a
shouting match that had the earth rumbling and wind whipping around
them wildly. “I still say she is to be cursed.”

“
Asleep! Where she will do
no more harm!” Zeme was adamant.

Bo was just as ox-headed. “Awake! She
must atone! How can she do so if she is sleeping peacefully, no
better to us than if she was dead? No, it is too soft, too easy.”
At Gaia’s startled look, he calmed slightly and explained, “I
agree, what she did was wrong, she has taken what which was not
hers to take. Punishment must be doled out, and severely. She must
pay, but four corners are not four with three, and we cannot assign
another for water if she still lives! You know of this, and yet
you’d suggest such a thing? If a summoning came, the world would
fall. Do not be such a fool, Gaia. We would all rot.”

Mouth opening and closing, Zeme
paused, her unlined forehead pulling down as she frowned. “I...
I... I was not thinking of that.”

“
You haven’t had a
summoning but once,” Lachesis murmured knowingly, running the tip
of her finger over her smiling lips, ignoring Atropos when she went
to rib her. Seeing it coming, she deftly missed the pointed elbow,
expertly moving just off to the side. “Of the future,” Lachesis
reminded, giggling.

Atropos sent her a teeth baring smile,
eyes narrowed, fingers rubbing the hilt of her scissors. “And I of
the end.” She gave her tool a quick pat.

Eyes shooting back to the Elementals,
the sister-fate in gold’s eyes lit up. “So it has been done,”
Lachesis intoned, her voice booming out as her hands spread out
wide. The four Elementals all looked to the oddest of Fates
searchingly. “But, as it is not in you to agree, your natures too
different from one another’s to come to a means to an end, the
Fates shall pose the terms.”

“
Oh, but...” Zeme gasped in
protest, a trickle of fear peeking through.

“
That is not what was-”
Phaestus protested, eyes wide.

“
We didn’t even-” Bo’s face
had gone ashen.

Niniane, in the final stages of labor,
threw her head back and screamed, legs trembling.

Atropos tossed a hand out, stopping
Zeme when she would have gone to her. “The terms, sister,” she
prompted her sister.

“
It shall be done,”
Lachesis hummed, inclining her head to Clothos, who’d suddenly
stopped her fingers, staring sightlessly into the night.

“
Blood is required, given
willingly. A virgin’s gift, Ornthren bonded. Love, pure in its
intentions, of clear conscience, will ease the way,” Clothos
murmured quietly, her face unblinking as her eyes glazed
over.

Waving her hand, Lachesis motioned for
Wind to continue.

“
The heart is the source,
claim it wise,” Bo added reluctantly, swallowing hard as he licked
his lips and continued, “repercussions are never biased. Do to me
as done to thee, so as not to be done again.”

Nodding, the Fate in gold gestured to
Zeme.

“
The body lives, the mind
divides,” Earth whispered in a shaky voice, “distancing one’s self
from mortals, minds do forth rend.”

She was making sure Niniane
never forgot who she’d be hurting, ordering her to stay close to
humans. She’ll bond and feel close to them, or go mad from
distancing herself, I assumed. Wind’s verse was along the same
lines with his last, but the first was more a
warning
—don’t give your heart over so
easily, protect it and hand over only to those
deserving.

How do I know all
this?
I wondered.
Is it the dream?
‘It wants you to
know
.’ My senses tingled, urging me to be
still and listen.

Lastly, it was Phaestus’
turn.

“
I have no words of verse,”
Phaestus grumbled hesitantly, “I’ve never had use for them. I only
wish to tame the lady, so as not to harm more. A lesson, so she may
never do... do this.” Tossing his head, his thick mane of red,
shimmering with bits of iron and gold, following in his wake, he
nodded to the village of death just beyond.

“
We shall finish,” Lachesis
whispered gently, smiling a bit sadly before taking the string from
Clothos fingers and gesturing to Atropos.

“
The child shall carry the
curse, and all those that follow after. Should you give your heart
and your body unwisely, Niniane, Lady of the Lake, the proof will
spoil in your womb.”

“
No!” The Elementals all
cried out.

“
Silence!” Atropos boomed
out, the vibration of her bellowing shout rustling the leaves in
the farthest trees. “A lesson shall be learned, and she shall never
forget. Penance shall be earned. If she cannot break the cycle
which started this whole atrocity, she will suffer for eternity. If
she continues, if she cannot learn the ways of man, it will only
worsen more. Her son will carry her scars—the sins of his mother
and father. It is fitting, and so shall be done.”

“
Wait! No! That is cruel!
You cannot even think it! I... I wish to say my verse now,”
Phaestus spluttered, large hands now trembling.

“
It is already done and
won’t be rescinded. Clothos?” Atropos prompted, ignoring everyone
else.

The sister in purple’s eyes flashed
and she blinked, large orbs going completely black, enveloping the
white. Expression vacant, she sang in the softest, most beautifully
haunting voice I’d ever heard.

“
Sacrifice, a virgin’s
given
.

Gift of the bonded, submit
within
.

Take the source, claim it
wise
.

Repercussions never
bias.”

Lachesis hummed along happily, fingers
slowly measuring out the bit of thread the spinner of life had
passed over.

“
Do to ye as does to thee,
never harm and never flee.

Feel it ill, sicken
still.

The body lives, the mind
divides.”

“
But...” Niniane
spluttered. “You curse him for life! You give him no
reprieve!”

“
As you have given no
quarter to all the innocents you’ve slaughtered! You gave not a
thought of them! Why, I ask, should we spare your child?” Clothos
roared in a rare fit of pique, speaking for the Fates three,
letting her emotions for all the threads she’d woven, cut down by
another’s hand much too early, show, anger radiating off of her in
waves.

“
If we did not need the
four corners to keep the balance,” Atropos snapped, “we’d have
ended you eons ago. You are mere children with too much power,
playing at gods. If truth be told, you could
all
use a lesson.” Slicing a hand
through the air like a sword, she glared at them all. “Be glad we
have not done just that! Be warned when meddling with man, we will
not take further grievances lightly.”

Screaming in anguish, Niniane toppled
to her side, groaning as a gush of wetness soaked her gown. Blood
and fluid soaked the earth, bleeding into the ground.

“
He has come,” Lachesis
whispered soothingly.

A few gut wrenching screams later and
a startled cry rent the air, the Lady of the Lake’s fellow
Elementals gathered around her, Gaia herself assisting the new life
into this world.

At first sight of the bald, thick grey
skinned, squalling infant, Niniane’s eyes shot up.

“
What have you done?” she
whispered in a choked, shocked voice. “Don’t... don’t do this,
please! I... take me! Curse me! And only me! Not my... no...
Please! I beg... Don’t... no.”

“
It is too late. The will
of the Fates has been set.” Not an ounce of remorse or pity in her
gaze, Atropos pointed to the abnormal babe. “You have no one to
blame but yourself. A curse was called, a curse it shall
be.”

“
B-b-but... What... what is
he?” The new mother ignored her crying young as it wailed in her
arms, little, thick arms flailing desperately, crying out for his
mother’s warm comfort.

“
A product of your selfish,
calloused nature. He, my dear, is an Ornthren—your cursed
one.”

“
No! NO!!
NO!!!”

Turning, the Fates left in a swirl of
mist and smoke, Niniane’s screams carrying out across the
land.

Faint but still there, I
could hear Atropos’ voice, whispering softly,
“Heed the warning, claiming Ornthren
.
Distance weakens, minds do forth
rend.”

The dream immediately faded out as the
curse, in its entirety, registered, the small babe with grey skin
flashing before my eyes, brilliant orange eyes wide as his hands
reached out, but once more I was swept away, left in a sea of
nothingness.

Somewhere In
Between

Lips, hot and searching, nipped mine
before a thick tongue dove in, wide, sturdy fingers gripping my
hips as he tugged me towards him.

We were naked and panting, skin to
skin, perspiration dotting our sweat soaked bodies as his broad,
fat cock nudged my hip.

“
Ah, luv. Was beginnin’ ta
think I couldna even have ye in dreams,” a deep, rumbling voice
murmured huskily, lifting my leg over his hip as he lined us up,
his thick member nudging the lips of my dampened sex. “Closin’ me
eyes weren’t good fer nothin’ ‘cept makin’ me bellow out. Right
nasty ones I’ve been havin’.”

Fingers drifting down between us,
tickling over my mound before they unerringly found my sweet spot,
they eagerly dipped into my body’s wet heat, a low hiss slipping
past his eager lips at how ready I was for him.

“
Have ta say, nothin’ nasty
about this, luv.” Thick fingers delved deeper, twisting slightly
and pressing down as my sheath adjusted to the sweet invasion.
“More than ready for me, nugget, eh?” His thumb circled my clit,
swollen and needy, quickly withdrawing his wickedly teasing digits
as my throbbing channel clenched, grasping at nothing.

“
No... Don’t...” Gasping,
my back arched, pressing my breasts into his thick, meaty chest
hard, that furnace like warmth he emits surrounding me as he
grumbled low.

Everything in my foul-mouthed Troll
lover froze and he tried to slowly withdraw. Taking my ‘no’ as a
sign to stop, he went to pull back.

“
No, not don’t stop. I
mean,
don’t stop.”

Hairless brows beetled as he stared
down at me, a puzzled, little boy look marring his brutally
fashioned face. It was an odd look for him, and my stomach knotted
at the sight of it. To me, it made him more human,
somehow.

“
I know what happened ta ye
can...” he stopped himself and his lips thinned, tightening, the
runes along his skin flashing quickly before dying down.