[Any psychotic ex-boyfriends I should know about?] Prince Meets Princess [You have NO idea!]

As soon as she was within closer range, she stopped dead in her tracks seeing the look in Zartear’s eyes. What have I done now? A grumpy noise erupted from her throat as she considered what she should do in return, slowly growing tired of his constant bad mood. She knew very well herself that she was not a big help with anything but it was no reason to be a permanent grump. The dragon was heading towards them anyway so there was no reason to sneak around much like he was starting to now. Or was there? She grew a little worried when Zartear began scanning their surroundings for the dragon that had suddenly and ever so quietly landed somewhere without them noticing. Apparently, there is much more to worry about than I initially thought... The anticipation of slaughtering something – though whether it was only Zartear’s feeling, she wasn’t sure – was almost palpable in the air, sending shivers down her spine.

Observing Zartear as he readied himself for what was about to come, she realised for the first time how very unusual his sword was, unlike anything she had ever seen. Here was hoping that it was much better at slicing living things than a few swords she had seen in her youth. Snapping back to reality, she immediately obeyed the slayer’s gestures as he began to slowly advance towards where he thought the dragon might be. His movements were almost inhumanly catlike, one motion flowing effortlessly into the other, completely soundless. Selene struggled to copy him as much as possible, and to at least not make any unnecessary noise.

A wave of the dragon’s hunger hit her like a hammer as they suddenly came closer to it, the slayer keeping his gaze fixed in one specific spot. Only half a heartbeat later, Zartear urged her to retrace her steps and she stopped dead in her tracks as without further warning, the dragon suddenly burst out of the trees, immediately vigorously attacking the slayer. Yet apparently it soon lost interest in this more than capable opponent and turned towards Selene, whose eyes opened wide in shock.

When she saw the dragon advancing towards her, she felt as if her heart stopped beating for a few seconds. She had not been prepared for this. Watching the slayer at work was one thing but being considered as a main course – no way! Her first instinct was to run when suddenly Zartear’s cold voice cut through the night air, ordering her to hold her ground. “Easier said than done,” she inaudibly growled under her breath, forcing herself with all her will power not to pick up her feet and flee.

With every step the dragon took, Selene’s thoughts were whirling around quicker and quicker. Frantically, she was searching for a way out but there was no way. She could neither run from the dragon nor fight it, she would die if she tried any of those things. Her third option was hoping that her travelling companion would finally do something. However, Zartear might be a slayer but she was very uncertain at this moment in time if he was not already thinking about accidentally letting her get killed now already. His hatred was crawling across her skin like something alive, intertwining with the hunger of the dragon, both their lust for the oncoming fight and kill were almost touchable.

And suddenly the dragon was not her only problem anymore. The beast inside her roared to be released to feed on the emotions that were filling the air, almost seeming to claw its way to the surface. Selene tensed even more, not thinking this would be possible, and everything seemed to fall into slow motion.
The young woman could distinguish every beam of the scarce moonlight performing a little glittery dance on the dragon’s scales, the individual movements of its muscles as it continued to prowl toward its chosen prey. A flash of light as the moon suddenly struck the slayer’s blade, lifted for the next strike. The barely visible flicker of confusion in its eyes as it realised that the woman in front of it was not just a snack waiting to be devoured.
It was then that she couldn’t resist any longer; she had been fighting it since the beginning of their journey, not wanting to give the slayer a reason to straightforwardly kill her, but instincts took over and her wish for survival made her finally drop all barriers and release the vampire.

Gasping for air as if she had been drowning, Selene refocused on the dragon, who was now much closer than before her struggle, even though only mere seconds had passed. It frightened her that even in those few heartbeats the dragon had gained much more ground than she would have considered appropriate for still having a chance at survival – though how close could a dragon ever get without being dangerous -, all the more so because she had not even been aware of its progress. With an insecure grimace, she gave away ever so slightly pointed tips of her usually normal round teeth. The change in her was noticeable this time, in contrast to when she had lost control with Zartear, though it was still nothing fundamental. Inhuman powers or incredible strength were still beyond her reach and would always remain so, but her aura began to take on a slightly more dangerous vibrancy and her eyes had transformed into glittering dark pools that were now searching for the dragon’s gaze, locking eyes.

Completely ignoring whatever it was the slayer was doing behind the dragon, Selene never broke eye contact with the beast in front of her, finally realising that this had been the reason why the dragon had broken its cover and run for the slayer. Lowering herself into a sort of crouching stance as if ready to jump the animal, she let its hatred and its need to kill surge over her, through her, bathing in the emotion as if feeding on it. There was no bloodlust, only emotions rolling over her skin like soft waves in water. Yet, she still had no idea what to do, as her knowledge of survival in no way attuned to life in the wilderness. Neither did the vampire in her give her any predator-like instincts or any other apparently useful skills unlike she had hoped for and thus her nerves were beginning to crack. Just as she thought, even with the vampire released, she could not take it any longer and wanted to break into a run, Zartear’s voice again roared through the night, ordering her not to run. The dragon still did not stop its advance, leaving the young woman to wonder how long it could still be advancing like this before it reached her and ate her alive. All she could hope for was that the dragon would now consider Zartear to be more interesting than her, or the slayer finally bringing down that sword in a deadly blow...

As he followed hot on the heels of the rogue hunter dragon he espied a change overcoming the creature that he was ironically working to protect yet would have the task of killing later, funny how things worked out wasn't it?
With a final effort of the chase the dragon was now in snapping range of the creature and just as it recoiled it's head to come forth like the bite of a snake, it was then that Zartear chose his time to make his own move.

instead of ham-stringing the dragon, the ever so brief pause when the dragon had to stop, Zartear had gained enough ground to....
The dragon let out a terrible screech of pain, it's forked tongue flailing in the air and head and neck trashing from side to side, desperately trying to use it's tail to slam into it's assailant, but it was no use; and it dare not move because the pain was too great...The sword that lanced through it's ankle and to the ground has crushed the bone of it's leg and held the dragon in place, no, Zartear hadn't merely ham stringed his prey....

"Away from the dragon" He ordered once again, confident the dragon wasn't going to be going anywhere in a hurry...He felt pulses of it's fractured, pained communication trying to snap at his mind.
Twolegs two- two- hunger grargh dea death d

Zartear passed no visible feeling to the pitiful sight of the dragon that he felt shuddering about the sword, but now it was time to put it out of it's misery....With a deftly practiced movement he hauled the sword back from it's wounded leg and cut off the severed foot entirely, leaving no room for a rage induced retaliation he then plunged the sword then through the back of it's neck, a spray of displaced scales falling about the ground.

It was now that Zartear stood back from the dragon, waiting for it to roll over to the ground...

The sword remained lodged through it, bloodied and quite a horrific sight, the dragon let out a long hoarse groan and staggered, but without it's other hind leg to support it, it simply crashed into the leaves, like a new born defenceless creature, incapable of anything but crying for help. Alive, for it's last minute or two it's breathing was erratic and parts of it moved spasmodically. Still Zartear didn't even incline his head for even a moment of sympathy, as if observing it from a distance, a reconstruction rather than a reality.
The fragments of it's waves of mind-speak finally hushed into peaceful death, it stopped moving altogether, the mess of blood now speaking for itself.

Zartear raised his eyes to a straight stare at Selene, to her darkened bottomless eyes, while with a motion of the hand calling the sword back to him and into it's discreet stick form.
"Unfortunately, because there was no other choice, it has not been a clean kill...The blood and the carcass will attract all kind of predators...We must leave this instant."

Strangely though, his body spoke otherwise, he didn't look toward the horizon nor show a hasty march toward the general direction of their path- but he drew closer to Selene with curiosity, caution in his step, slow and deliberate. To examine the sudden change she had shown. He furrowed his brows, she disgusted him but he wanted to observe more of this creature that he couldn't exactly place one way or the other.

Using one hand to hold her neck in place, firm enough to hold a threat incase she'd try anything, he pushed two fingers to the top of her lips, pushing them back and observing the new slightly larger canine teeth,

"Well...I've killed one threat so far...You will have to wait for your time, vampire..." he whispered.
Pulling back the fingers he still held a gaze with her eyes black as coals, before quite suddenly breaking away, turning his back to her, toward where the journey carried on, he looked like he was about to add something to his words but the air slipped away from him and he simply sighed. Beginning to walk onwards.

A plan was definitely needed, even if not prominent teeth of a vampire, he didn't know enough to take the risk of it killing him.

The dragon’s teeth were within snapping range and it was frightening, but Selene still never took her eyes of the creature in a gesture of fruitless opposition. If something was not done soon then it was going to be over and Zartear would not even have gotten his hands dirty. But then the dragon let out an earpiercing scream and recoiled from her. At that same instant, the slayer ordered her to get away from the dragon and she immediately jumped back a few steps. Yet, she could not manage more than that. The dragon’s pain… Selene froze in place.

The pain, the immense pain was vibrating over her skin, making every single hair stand on end and it seemed to go on forever. With a scream stuck in her throat, Selene fell to her knees, unable to keep on her feet as the force of the dragon’s final agony seemed to crawl under her skin, when the slayer won the battle. Her head was swaying and the vampire inside her seemed to growl in satisfaction. Selene felt weak and very strong at the same time, yet she still did not understand what it was the vampire inside her was doing, other than feeding and strengthening itself on strong emotions. Pushing the confusing thoughts back, she got back on her feet and looked over the result of the slayer’s attack. It was very messy and it looked as painful as it had felt to her, but the job was done and that was the only thing that counted. But there was so much blood… It was almost making her sick to see. Still, somehow she managed to whisper “Thank you”, though she wasn’t sure that was what the slayer wanted to hear.

She nodded in response when he spoke and made to move but found that she couldn’t. Staring at the man and dragon in front of her, she shivered. This had been his work, he had caused all this gore, but he had also saved her life by doing it. A strange mixture of feelings were forming in the pit of her stomach and they were not caused by her beast. This was her. As she usually seemed to be when in a precarious situation, or around Zartear. Her heart began beating faster when he moved closer. She wanted to touch him, yet instincts told her to back away from him. The vampire was beginning to retreat, hiding back inside of her, yet still hovering, eager to feed on Selene’s own lust. There was something very attractive about the way he edged closer to her, almost as if stalking game he did not quite know how to handle. So she remained rooted to the spot, eagerly awaiting him.

When he went to grab her neck, she didn’t move. She still did not react when he put his fingers to her lips and pushed back to reveal her slightly elongated teeth. The gesture was surprisingly much more gentle than she’d expected and all the while they never seemed to stop looking into each other’s eyes. It was somewhat frustrating that she was so close to him but there still was a large pit between them. With her growing anger, Selene almost hissed maliciously in response to Zartear’s official announcement that he was going to kill her but she didn’t, only furiously held his gaze without uttering a single sound. As he finally pulled back his fingers from her lips – deep down she was disappointed that he was going to back away from her soon – she purred: “I’ll look forward to it.” Even if he were someone who broke his promises, he was not going to go back on this one, that was for certain. She might as well play with the fire, it wasn’t going to change a thing.

When he finally let go of her, she was stunned though that he turned his back on her. After admitting that he desperately wanted to kill her, how could he do this? Was he so full of himself that he did not think she could hurt him? She wasn’t going to try, despite the fact that she felt stronger than ever before – which nevertheless was not that hard to achieve – but she wasn’t sure that was why he turned his back. He sure enjoyed risky games but this was different…

Selene suddenly felt dizzy. The mixtures of so many emotions that had flowed through her were beginning to take its toll, not to mention the ones she felt coming from herself, and the vampire was retreating fully, leaving her to be her normal self. It made her feel more in control, even though she really was not composed at all. Despite the fact that she knew she was inevitably going to be killed by Zartear, she still felt attracted to him and it was all starting to be a little too much. She desperately needed to stop deluding herself. Dark spots were appearing in front of her eyes as the last holds of the vampire broke and she stumbled. No! She could not give in, she would not show weakness! She had already shown too much of it for today. Finding a tree trunk to steady herself, she took a deep breath and hurried up to follow Zartear.

The day passed quietly, and in Selene’s opinion rather quickly. This was probably due to the fact that she was lost in her own thoughts most of the way. Seemingly, it also blanked out Zartear’s hatred of her, or any other emotions for that matter. The only thing she felt was confusion, and maybe a tiny bit of fear. She couldn’t seem to forget what it was like to be completely taken over by the vampire, and even though there had not been much change, she was scared of the fact that she did not know why and how and… It was all a big bundle of questions and no answers, and nobody around to explain.

The young woman didn’t pay much attention to her surroundings, but as far as she could tell they were continuing their way through the forest, on a somewhat winding path that took them into a relatively dense part of greenery. At least this should provide enough shelter for a sleeping place, if this thicket wasn’t passed before Zartear decided to rest. Slowly, she was growing used to this kind of traveling, not stumbling quite as much, in turn getting less on the slayer’s nerves, unless he had found something else to be pissed off about, which wouldn’t surprise her much. Apparently, there wasn’t anything she could do that did not end in him scorning her even more. Well, she could think of one thing where he had not shown disdain….. but that was not an option.

But why was it that it was all suddenly so far out of the way now? Especially after he’d initiated it in the first place? She couldn’t understand how that could all be put aside just because she was not quite what she seemed at first glance. Or had it all just been an act? No, you can’t fake passion like this or can you? The question was burning on her lips, but she knew it would get her into trouble if she dared say it out loud and she should seriously stop obsessing about things past. However, she could not hold in any longer. Stopping dead in her tracks, in the middle of the tiny dirt road, which was probably only used by animals, she heatedly asked him: “What is your problem with me? Why do you hate me so much?! After…” Yet, she couldn’t bring herself to say the rest, she could already feel the heat rushing up into her cheeks, which was bad enough.

Since the dragon encounter the two had had very little to say to eachother, most of their conversations would be with words such as "Eat", "Follow", and sometimes even two words "Go sleep"
It seemed that unlike how it should have been, the longer the two were constantly together on this one hellishly long journey the more awkward tension seemed to build, showing through as wordless passive aggression. Getting territorial over the best places to sleep, choosing when to stay awake and when to go asleep to keep an eye on the other...Well, that was how Zartear was behaving at least, and outside of the single-word verbs between them, the most interaction they had was a reprimanding glare or an icy second of a gaze.

And it worked out, the journey had gone on for quite a while now but still they had yet to face the early mountain woods, and then the cold mountain woodland hike to the place beyond where their supposed target with their treasure lay in wait.
Progress had gone quite swiftly considering neither had a horse or dragon to use (apparently speed wasn't of the essence for the old man) Though it felt terribly uncomfortable for Zartear to not even know what he was searching for or how his follower would be of any use, Zartear would much rather have the plan fixed in his mind than be forced into doing something rash at the time.

He hadn't expected what happened next to actually happen though, as they were following a narrow dirt trail through a thicker part of the wood, he thought he had her entirely silenced, silenced so he didn't even have to give the mountain where they "met" even a moment of his time in his head. That was how he liked it, as Zartear despised that that was one thing she seemed to have control over.
But here she was bringing it all back again.
And then the idea came to him, he could right now turn around and half-asphyxiate her again like before in the alleys off the market, but then he realised that if she had still plucked up the revelry to come right back to this point it'd be useless.

All this while of thinking, he was frozen to the spot, not turning around to see her just yet as he attempted to align his thoughts correctly.

Well, he thought, who else has to hear? I might as well just spell it out for her.
And then he turned casually toward her, leaning on the nearest tree.

"You still haven't forgotten that have you? Well okay then, seeing as you still don't seem to understand I guess I will have to explain this word for word. Listening?" At the end, his tone taking on a slight hiss to it.
"Some would say I'd be a fool to say all this to you, that it'd give you some kind of power, but they'd be wrong because you and I know that you even trying to gain...leverage...over myself would be a grave mistake. So here it is."
He took a breath in before beginning for real,
"I am a slayer and you play a very special role in my profession, I am sure you know how that is. I get paid in the masses to slay your kind, because your kind spread like a disease everywhere they touch and plague us humans. This inevitably builds up a pristine reputation for me. I am paid to show no mercy." He paused then looking toward her.

"So think, for all those years of work if any words were to spread...what would the people think if this excellently trained slayer with years of experience were to be found to have been...hrm, how shall I word it? To have been...sleeping, with the thing that he was supposed to kill and burn the body of?" He sneered a little, "If anything this entire mess only validates what I've always known. A vampire is nothing more than a cunning, tirelessly evil spirit in a human's shell."
The explanation itself he was giving though seemed to be pulling everything into clear vision again though, when he looked at her he could still see what he didn't want to, could still see a bare and defenceless person, not even trying to push an advance of his own away, and then the familiar thing of disgust with his own mind resurfaced.

It seemed that his mouth had a mind of it's own too though,
"But then again, nobody has to know about this do they?" A malicious grin split from his mouth, the ambiguity in his words splaying over several paths, and he had surprised himself again. Because there wasn't even a past tense.

At first, Selene wondered whether he had even heard her, but then the slayer stopped dead in his tracks, without turning around though. Her cheeks were burning more and more as she anticipated his reaction, unsure of what was to follow. She knew she might just have overstepped the boundaries and actually challenged him to kill her on the spot, but she could not have not asked. She needed to know. The tension and the awkward silence were beginning to be horribly unbearable. Anything would be better than this. But then he turned around, and she was not so sure anymore, if this might not be worse, because the look on his face, his attitude, made her suddenly realise that she might have done better to keep her mouth shut.

Instinctively, she crossed her arms over her chest in a defensive gesture when he already started patronising her before he’d even answered her question. Dripping with contempt, his words made her feel like a little naïve girl who had no idea about how the world was really functioning. Even though he was right in a way, this was not the kind of speech she had wanted to hear. But it wasn’t over yet. Every further word he uttered was like a little slap in the face. It hurt. More than she’d like to admit, but she kept her face blank, as much as possible at least. The blush of embarrassment was slowly turning into one of anger and her eyes were staring holes into him, wanting him to drop dead where he stood. Of course, she didn’t really want him dead, it would be too much of a waste, but..

For only a brief instant, she noticed that the beast inside her was not stirring, despite the emotions he must currently be sending out like lightning strokes, destined to wound her. He could not be saying all this and feel nothing, could he? No, that could not be true, after all, vampire or not, his hatred for her could be felt in the air between them, like something living. How can he live like that? With such contempt for almost every other being around him, how can he not suffocate himself? Selene almost began pitying him, when he continued with his speech, and her anger evaporated.

“Are those the only reasons why you hate me so much? Because of what your profession is? Because of what other people think? Because of your reputation?” She snorted, shaking her head in disbelief. Then it hit her that even though he did not think she had anything she could, or rather should, use as leverage against him, but he had just given her the perfect leverage. A mischievous grin passed over her face at this thought. She could ruin his reputation so badly that, even if he killed her, he would be ruined. It would be a desperate act to get revenge, but it might be worth it, knowing that he was going to suffer for what he’d said to her, but she was smart enough not to blurt it out.
“You know? I’m actually feeling sorry for you, such self-loathing that you have to take it out on everyone else who is not exactly like you. Do you think I give a damn what other vampires might have done? Do you think I give a damn what humans have done to vampires? I don’t care, because the only thing that matters in the end is you and the people around you, the people you love. Nothing else!” Her flaming anger had slowly come back, making her words fly out in an attempt to hit a nerve – and finish before he could interrupt her. She was now scowling at him, willing him to shrink back into that tree he was leaning against and disappear. Yet she knew that he would only laugh at her. Her words would not make him waver, why should they? He’s been of this opinion for so long and it was so deeply rooted within him that probably nothing on this earth would ever shake it.

Shaking her head once more, in a gesture of giving up the conversation, she forced herself to move away from this place. Passing him, she murmured: “What have I ever done to you? I’m not like the others.” And with that, she broke into the thick undergrowth, away from the path they had been on, hoping that he would continue on his little dirt road and would leave her alone. She hit every single branch, every little piece of plant that dared to block her way, her frustration growing with every step she took. Why is he always getting to me like this?! It was annoying, very much so, that the same thoughts regularly kept returning and, most of all, that she was so affected by him.

In her haste to get away from Zartear, she had once again not paid any attention to where she was going, she had only left a little trail of destruction behind her, nature having left its marks on her arms and hands in return. However, now ,she was unexpectedly standing at the edge of a rather vast clearing, which she had not expected to suddenly appear in the middle of this almost impenetrable thicket. It looked so peaceful and quiet, just as if everything about this place was inviting, luring her in. But it was too quiet, not even the sounds of birds or little forest animals were to be heard.

A shiver ran down Selene’s spine as it occurred to her that she was alone, unprotected and unable to properly defend herself in an ominous and probably dangerous place. It didn’t take long for her to contemplate retracing her steps and returning to the slayer, who, even though he hated her, was safer to be around, because at least with him she knew what to expect.. or not.. Here, she had no idea what could happen to her.
Or what would be coming for her......
With a shrill scream erupting from her throat, she felt herself crash to the forest floor as something tackled her from behind. As her head connected with the floor, she went completely limp and darkness washed over her.

Zartear wasn’t all too surprised by her reaction, for a vampire, she seemed to be quite emotional and would often spontaneously explode with streams of it and work herself into a frenzy. So bizarre, he thought, nothing like he’d seen in other animals, and now it was accusing him of self-hatred. Another strange tact that he was unsure how to take.
Hate myself? Really?
But before he could react at all, she’d made it clear she wanted the conversation to stop right there, and had already made her way off down a detour, Zartear followed hot on her heels at a pacy walk, but somehow she seemed to have gotten away in just enough good time for him to lose her for a moment.
Just that single passing of time was the amount of time it took for the vampire to land itself into more danger and leave him picking up the pieces for it’s enragingly pathetic self, couldn’t it at the very least learn to think before it acted. He looked around sharply as her shrill scream played off of the trees before taking a chance on the general direction.
Taking no time to conceal his movement Zartear ran toward his best guess and as he caught a glimpse of what was going on, before he burst into the clearing he stopped sharply, crouching quickly hoping they hadn’t heard as he watched.

The vampire was there, sure, but she was out cold on the ground and there was a crowd of four humanoids around her, two looked human enough but the others seemed more like hybrids.
Disgusting. He silently noted.
One seemed to be picking himself up from having taken the vampire to the ground he assumed, this man along with the other two and a burly looking woman were dressed darkly and between them they had hunter bows and swords, snares, ropes and other typical track-and-kill equipment.
What? Tracker-slayers?

Zartear knew very well of people going out unassigned by others to kill pest breeds near their local area, but they were quite literally in the middle of nowhere, and it only took a quite going over with the eyes to tell this was no typical “job”
Not at all, he could now see the vampire (that he was supposedly protecting) had been turned onto her front, arms outstretched and tied very tightly, and similarly for her legs.

“You make that good and strong Kaysaf” The human male ordered, firmly but quietly, standing over the two hybrid males working on the ropes, the human female standing by his side looking down blankly at the figure in front of her. All their faces were concealed by hoods, but Zartear could make out an affirmative grunt from one of the working hybrids.
“It’s going to be a long journey back from here you know…”
“Just be thankful that we found it in the end, this type of vampire is very rare you know darling, and we do happen to need it.”

By now what he had guessed to be the mans wife, nodded agreeably, she seemed fascinated by the creature in front of her.
But she was so obviously ignorant too, “Alex, it looks just like a human.”
“That doesn’t mean it IS a human though does it? No, have a little faith. This is exactly what we want.”

Zartear chose his moment now, stepping out into the clearing. This wasn’t going to bode well.
“Leave that vampire now. You may not know this but THAT is under my protection, and I require it’s service. So unless you want to have words with the nearest city’s governor…or perhaps my blade…I suggest you listen.”
The group seemed a little rattled, yet not in the least put off by Zartear’s threat. Alex stepped forward,
“Really? Because all I saw was a slayer and his lover.”
Zartear held his breath for a moment, a shard of tenseness pulsed into his body.

“Do I have to repeat myself Sir? Untie that vampire this minute.” Zartear by now wasn’t taking any chances and morphed the black stick to it’s basic long, broadsword form.
“Please don’t force me to take matters into my own hands, I am not one for empty threats.”
“Ah a big fish in a small pond you are Zartear Straten, this may surprise you, but you have higher people to answer to in these lands. I am one of them, the lord over many cities for many miles…so let’s make a deal. Let me on my way with your love-affair, or…I’ll destroy your standing as a slayer to an irreparable state.” It was now that the man Alex allowed for a pause, “I’ll let you consider this for a minute I suppose. But isn’t the answer clear enough?”

Of all the people he knew, the beasts even…Zartear hadn’t expected this kind of a threat to come from the very type of person he was hired by, no, what he thought had been his main snake was now tied up and ready to be shipped off to skies knew where, Zartear snarled feeling like a foolish animal caught in one of his own traps.
Zartear kneeled down to check over the she-vampire, putting his hand on her forehead and then on her neck to see they hadn’t infact killed her fullstop, her skin was somewhat warm like a humans and smooth, with little bruising on it…She looked like she was simply sleeping peacefully, and there wasn’t the icy biting sensation of a dark vampires skin when he pulled his hand away, which in a backwards way unnerved him a little. This vampire really was almost a human, yet still there he was still kneeling and looking.
Almost, but never quite. It only took one drop of filthy blood to poison a pool of purity.
He was calculating.

His sword slashed one of the guardian hybrids, tricked into believing that Zartear was going to be civil… causing him to fall and shriek. Alex's wife screamed with horror looking at Zartear with raw terror, body twitching nervously to run...
It seemed Zartear would now have to kill everyone of the people here to save his face, and to a lesser importance, the vampire.
“Stupidity.” Alex replied.

A content sigh escaped her lips as she felt his hands suggestively moving up her sides, playing with the material of her clothes. She took a step back, hugging her body close to his, sighing yet again as she leaned her head backwards against his shoulder and closed her eyes to fully enjoy the moment. His breath came more raggedly as his fingers slowly found their way to the front, cupping her breasts in both his hands while he bent down and kissed her neck. He gently bit her, teasing, before his lips moved upwards, searching for her mouth while his hands ever so slowly began to undo the strings of her corset. She then turned to face him, her hands gliding up his strong, muscular arms, curling around his neck. His hands undid the last string and let the corset drop carelessly to the floor.
His lips finally found hers and he fiercly hugged her to him as they lost themselves in a long and passionate kiss. She could feel his heartbeat accelerating against her chest as both their excitement and anticipation grew. Her hands began to explore his body as far as possible in their tight embrace. When they finally broke from each other, and she had more space to move her hands, she soon made it clear that there was only way this could end. Once she touched him and gently began rubbing, he eagerly pressed his lips to hers again, the desire flying between them like almost visible sparks, and began pushing her towards the bed. Step by step, no rush.
He softly pulled away her hand and slowly let her sink onto the bed behind her, gently laying her down as she pulled him along with her. His hands began exploring her curves again, wandering to places further south with the clear intention of pleasuring her. Just as she was about to start moaning, his touch changed and became more of a patting down, as if he were looking for something. What on earth is he doing? Frowning, she wanted to look at him but found that she could not. Her eyelids were heavy and his hands began hurting her in a few places as they were almost examining her ribcage and other bones. And then there was a quick but almost caring touch to her forehead, cold fingers sliding over her skin..

Finally, she managed to open her eyes and stared into the blank face of Zartear, who looked... worried and as if he were in somewhat of a dilemma. What on earth is going on here? Selene frowned and was about to open her mouth when she suddenly heard a few more voices. It was a harsh awakening from a blissfully happy dream and Selene was grumpy at the sight of the pretty nasty reality she had just been pulled back in to, but she kept her mouth shut for now, preferring to listen rather than to pull their attention onto her. The only one now knowing she was halfway back into the conscious world was Zartear, who was not paying a lot of attention to her anyway, if he had even noticed at all. Though she did find it intriguing that he had checked up on her, feeling her pulse. She would have thought he’d be glad someone else would do the job for him. All the more intriguing she found the fact that her brain was functioning so clearly and so quickly after waking up again after a blackout.

However, the longer she remained awake, the more she realised that this position was actually rather painful and very tiring on her muscles. Every single one of her limbs was bound tightly and she was lying face down in the dirt, well not quite, but her cheek was definitely lying flat on the ground.

And then suddenly, Zartear attacked, already downing one of the people that were standing around her in the clearing. Out of how many, she did not know, but one less was one less, which could only be a good thing. The second henchman, she guessed that’s what he was, was already attacking but was fell just as quickly as the first one, his face landing not too far away from Selene’s and its ugly features made her jump away in disgust, thus effectively showing she was back into consciousness.

As suddenly everyone seemed to stare at her, as if she had been waving a ‘hello i’m here’ sign, she figured, she might as well use that to her advantage. “Let me the fuck go! Who do you think you are anyways?” she raged, trying to keep a little dignity in her low position by not shrieking in hysterics but adding a little depth to her voice at least trying to feign that she would make them pay for this, when in reality, she would much rather prefer Zartear to do that for her. In the very least, it would be more effective if he did.

Alex arrogantly sniggered: “Oh, a feisty one. But we already knew that from your earlier scenes with your lover. Isn’t that right, Zartear?” With a devastating look in Zartear’s direction, the man in turn pulled out his sword. “Looks like it’s going to come down to the two of us then.” The female stood completely forgotten behind the man, still contemplating whether she had not better to just run away and leave him to deal with this on his own. That was until Alex ordered her: “Go take care of that vampire, and make sure it does not do anything stupid, while I take care of this.” Selene shot the woman a glance, unsure whether the latter would actually do something or whether she would just try to stay out of harm’s way. For someone hunting vampires, she now looked somewhat liked a scared fawn.

Just wait a moment.... ‘lover’?! Selene wanted to mull this over, not having heard anything of the apparently not quite short conversation prior her to waking up but she did not quite understand what was going on. Then it hit her that these people knew what had happened between Zartear and her, which would have made her blush under normal circumstances, but somehow, it now explained Zartear’s behaviour. He was trying to protect himself and his investment. If he did not get her back, he would have to answer for it in front of their boss but at the same time, his reputation would be seriously damaged, which apparently was all he cared for, other than slaying everything that did not meet his standards.

Not knowing what else to do to help the situation, Selene just burst out laughing, albeit fake, but it did attract a little attention. “Lovers? Us? Are you kidding me? Do you really think that someone like me would be with someone like him? Can you really be that naïve to believe that a slayer and a vampire would...” Again, she added in a bit of laughter, slightly less fake now, because when she thought about it, the situation was indeed comical and the fact that Zartear and Selene had actually slept together despite all the devastating implications they now knew about... It seriously made her laugh out loud for real now, making everyone else stare at her in disbelief, and she hoped that it would make the denying more convincing. She only wanted to be out of the ropes and out of here, away from those weird people. If she had thought Zartear was scary... They were worse, even though they had not done much. Yet.

Before Zartear could carry on finishing off the people here, the vampire had already re-awoken, loudly.
Ordinarily he might have given her the look that would have screamed for her to shutup and leave him to it, but her words seemed to be buying him some time.
For one thing Alex’s wife tasked with keeping control of the vampire had turned quite ghost skinned herself, somehow, the vampire had put enough vicious inflexion into her voice to ward off the woman.
Alex also seemed to be taking his time now, commenting on her “feistiness” followed by a quick and taunting jibe to Zartear.
“Am I supposed to feel threatened, Alex?” He replied, not even for a second looking away from him, this man was dangerous and cunning. “Years of practice killing comes useful at some point.” Zartear grinned, “If it makes you feel any better, I can show your loose head to your wife so you can see her one last time.”
Alex raised his brows lazily, not put off in the least. Alex’s wife paled again.
“Straten, you seem to think that killing me will put an end to your problems. I am surprised you hadn’t put more forethought in.”
Zartear said nothing.
“How do you think I even know about you and the trollop animal? Just because you kill me doesn’t mean there aren’t other eyes following you. They’re waiting for you to stumble again. It’s not you we’re interested in, it’s the vampire.”
Zartear was an expert at tracking, hunting and slaying…Surely he’d have seen even the vaguest of traces of a spy, but could he risk it being true? “Give up your assignment, for now at least. The governor will be reasonable, he’s under me, allow me to have the vampire and we can forget any of this even happened.” Alex seemed hasty to make his proposition for the second time.

That was when the vampire had spoken again and they both turned to her, she seemed delirious too. Zartear willed her to shut up, but she wouldn’t. It was too late, Alex, truth-telling or not, would have to die.
He raised the broadsword offensively, and he caught the twink of fear scatter on Alex’s face, he struck.

Zartear’s heavy, brutal sword tossed away Alex’s and Alex fell back, but Zartear didn’t kill him. Yet.
Zartear was quick to roll him onto his front, one foot firmly placed on the mans back, his sword stroking the line of Alex’s neck.
“I don’t care how much land or supposed power you have, call me a liar but, you look fairly powerless now.” He glanced at the creature he was- in a twisted way- fighting for, on the floor, then back to Alex’s wife.
“Woman, free it now.” She didn’t move, rooted to the spot in fear, too stunned,
“Free her now!” Zartear hissed, and she gingerly moved toward the she-vampire, as if she might suddenly bite off her hands together.
Nevertheless she started to undo the ropes on it’s wrists and ankles. Zartear had faith in the knowledge that all the way out here, she wouldn’t be so stupid as to attempt an escape from him now…Though she had proved her unpredictability in the past.

“What did you want her for?” Zartear spat, it had to be extremely important to risk this kind of an expedition.
“Go on then, keep your word Straten, kill me, see if it ends your troubles. You’ll wish you had listened to me. Because you will never know.” Zartear bared his teeth slightly a growl forced from his throat, that was it.

No it’s not, look at the power you have. Alex wants to have the vampire, but he can’t have it. He will have to work by what you say.
Killing him in the presence of any potential spies would cause a manhunt.

“I am not going to kill you.”
Alex smiled, even face down in the grass and leaflitter, dirt seeping into his mouth, of course he couldn’t. It was akin to regicide. “I will complete my mission as I have planned, and then, you can consider the vampire as good as yours. You will order your imaginary spies to stop following me too. This vampire is of no significance to me.” By the end of the mission it would be too late, but Alex was already scheming a way to steal it from under his nose.
“I accept your terms.” Alex responded, then feeling the chill of Zartear’s sword leave his neck, and his leather and metal boot release his chest.
Zartear moved to the vampire, pulling her up by the wrist as the last of the rope fell away, now grabbing Alex to him, binding his arms behind his back with the rope, the remainder on his wife too.

“No more of this.” He concluded, but he knew that this wouldn’t end any time soon. “We head north, we’ll be entering the pine forest soon, then into the deep mountains and there…is what I seek…Come on, we’re losing light fast.” And that was that, Zartear lead the way, checking back every so often for Alex, his wife following alongside- they couldn’t steal the vampire now, she’d be able to get away with ease; besides…he could always hear that kind of attempt easily.

“Vampire.” He added, “Stay in front of me.” Zartear wasn’t taking any chances on losing it.
“A better view is it Straten?”

“You have no idea old man.” The two of them sniggered, but the tension between them didn’t pass.

Just because you kill me doesn’t mean there aren’t other eyes following you.

Selene raised an eyebrow at the back and forth between Zartear and Alex, wondering if they did this for a sport, which they probably actually did. Though she did not quite understand why more men were involved in this and apparently following Zartear’s every move when apparently it was her they were interested in. Why would they even care what the slayer did in that case? Of course, for a couple of days their paths were linked through an evil stroke of destiny but ... Maybe Selene simply did not see the whole picture, but in her opinion there were a few holes in Alex’ story. The other thing she was worried about was the fact that Alex seemed to desperately want to have her in his grasp for certain.

Despite the fact she knew Zartear a little by now and could bet her right hand on him being incredibly quick with his sword, she had not been expecting him to so radically and drastically overwhelm Alex within the blink of an eye. However, she quickly raised her eyebrows hopefully when he ordered the woman to free her and she eagerly waited for the woman to finally stop being a sissy and undo the ropes. Why on earth was that woman out hunting vampires if she was so afraid of them?! Selene could barely hold herself back from viciously hissing at the woman simply to see the reaction. All she wanted to do now was to get away from here as quickly and as far as possible. Funnily enough, she wanted the slayer to come with her, after taking care of her two remaining assailants of course. When he finally opened his mouth to pose a question she was actually interested in instead of the political blabla she did not even understand, she perked up her ears and stared at Alex, who was still lying in the dirt underneath Zartear’s boot.

However, that question remained unanswered and they were handling out a suggestion over her head. Her eyes opened wide and so did her mouth as she fought the urge to shout out loud at the slayer promising her to the vampire hunter as soon as the mission was done. What was she?! A piece of meat at a market stall they could randomly haggle over and use in any possible way they saw fit? Ooh no, she was not going to play along with that one, not a chance in hell. Her forehead creased in angry wrinkles and her mouth was set into a pout, yet she did not utter a single word.

And then the slayer, her nemesis, who in a way was also her personal hero, added that one little bit to his offer that would make almost everyone with a brain not believe him, namely that she was of no importance to him. Even if in his case this was true, nobody would believe it, especially not if they actually believed they were involved and wondered why he was so vehemently refusing to let her slide into the hands of someone else at this moment in time. Selene felt like sighing but she kept her mouth tightly shut, wishing she could stare holes into Zartear’s back to make him drop dead. Even a fool would have to think that she was worth something to him, if only as a means to an end, but the value was almost proven with such a statement, and it was only going to make life harder on the both of them.

Selene did not shake off his hand as he came to grab her off the floor, where unintentionally she had remained, frozen by the exchange between the two men. Yet, she did shoot him a nasty glance, hoping it would include all the rage that was currently building up inside of her at how he treated her, how everyone else treated her, the current situation. She hated being the naive little girl stuck in the middle of an adult conversation about the girl’s future without having any right whatsoever to speak her own mind. She would, she would definitely open her mouth if she saw any use to it but the current situation simply was so hopeless it seemed, for now there was no need for her to protest in any manner, the two men were set in their decision and she would not be able to even make them reconsider for half a heart beat.

Once they started moving, she had to focus on her surroundings however, in her agitation stumbling much more over roots, rocks and whatnot than she had earlier on in the journey, thus her concentration was on trying to tread carefully. After a bit of winding through undergrowth, they came onto a path, which might have been the one they had been on earlier before she had stormed off after their argument, or it might have been a completely new one. It all looked the same to her. It did not please her either that Zartear ordered her to move to the front, though in a way she was relieved at having a little more distance between herself and Alex. The man was creepy beyond reason even though he looked fairly normal. She liked his comments even less as they made her feel even more inferior than she already felt, and it made her wonder why his wife was with him in the first place. She had kept quiet for so long now, nothing of the initial enthusiasm left, she was afraid of what they seemed to be doing for a living and how could she possibly stand to be with someone like him who always seemed to think he was better and had to have the last word in everything. Inevitably, it made her want to draw parallels to Zartear but she refused to go down that road, already having enough trouble handling the situation and not wanting to be reminded of their own wordplays. Mixed emotions were twirling inside her like a hurricane and Selene felt sicker with every step she took, but she bit it back. At least, the vampire part inside her was silent for the moment, not stirring at all, though the emotions were not strong enough for it after it had only been sated not too long ago, she guessed. She desperately needed to figure out how it worked and what exactly it was triggered by and how she had even come by being one; it was all just too confusing and it was eating away at her, slowly but steadily.

Their environment slowly began to change, the thick undergrowth disappearing gradually, the leave trees being replaced by very large pine trees. Selene passed the travel in silence, trying as much as possible to ignore the so-called witty repartee between Zartear and Alex, a ‘conversation’ they could simple spare themselves – and the two women – because it did make neither the silence nor the whole situation any more comfortable. Selene regularly considered simply vanishing into the ground, disappearing for good and thus escaping this awful situation, away from both Zartear and Alex, yet there was no way out of this it seemed. She would have to follow Zartear for the time being, which she probably could live with, and then simply hope she would find a way out before it got to the part where she was to be handed over to Alex, for whatever purpose he had with her.

Not too far into the pine tree forest, Selene simply could not go on any longer. Her legs refused to move forward and her feet seemed to be glued to the ground from exhaustion. Every single rock or root that was not completely out of her path, she stumbled over, falling more and more often, not even bothering anymore to rub the dirt off of her hands from when she tried to break at least some of the falls. Alex of course was using every opportunity to make fun of her and Selene’s anger returned, fiercer than before, but she tried to keep her composure. That was until she fell yet another time, hitting her hand hard on a stone, thus slicing open her palm. Alex was snickering mischievously at this and that proofed to be the final straw. Rage contorting her features, Selene jumped to her feet, ignoring her fatigue and the blood dripping from her hand, and swivelled around to stare into his face. Fuming, she brought her face very close to his, and his wife gasped in shock, retreating as much as possible. “You are such an asshole! Think you are so bloody perfect and omnipotent, but just look at you now. In the hands of your biggest enemy and a vampire, both of which could finish you off without even breaking a sweat. What would your men say to that if they actually knew in what kind of ridiculous situation you have gotten yourself in to because of your incompetence? If I were you, I’d keep my absurdly big mouth shut.” Her hands were balled into tight fists, one of which was itching to simply hit him square across the face. Indeed, she lifted it slightly, oh how she would enjoy that smack.

By this point Zartear had stopped chipping in on Alex's comments, Alex often felt the need to keep chirruping his own special brand of stupid from time to time. It made his title of "Lord" seem very insincere, there was nothing noble about his conduct when at this time he should be reaching for every scrap of dignity he had. Zartear thought, maybe, he wasn't what he proposed; perhaps this wasn't the true Alex.Calaina, or if it was then he was just feigning with his smugness.
Whatever it was, it was ticking him off, but the vampire had beat him to the punch. She looked as if she might want to make it literal too. He stopped to watch them, Alex had his usual nonchalance about him but the vampire was making herself heard loud and clear and for all the animal she was, Zartear had to agree with her.

"Well Lord Calaina, it seems that I am not the only one that thinks your arrogance has no ground.” Alex made to make a retort but Zartear cut him off, "Come on old man, if even this weak vampire sees that you are inferior, in spite of your apparent wittiness” irony worked into his voice, “shouldn’t that worry you a little?”
Alex sneered, mouth ajar as if to begin some great riposte to put an end to all ripostes but he spoke simply and there was no trace in it that showed he was merely taunting.
“Both of you underestimate me, but that’s no problem of mine is it? And you…” He eyed the she-vampire, “Maybe that slayer doesn’t give you the due you deserve. True. Though if I were you I’d keep my absurdly ignorant mouth in check.”

Even if the man’s sudden seriousness was something for an inkling of concern, Zartear was familiar with this kind of a bluff too, so he took it in his stride and all but completely ignored Alex.
“It seems we are much closer now,” He broke off the futile chatter that would otherwise have probably happened between them. As the evergreens replaced the deciduous trees it was clearer as they had been walking the air was gradually becoming crisper, like a winter chill and taking on the thinner air of mountains.
From here on the trek would be steeper but then would level out into a rift between two larger mountain belts, unscaleable, rather like a dead end, then apparently, somewhere in the belly of the dead-end rift was the treasure they sought and the vampire would finally come in handy then. After which, Zartear would have to think about the least penalty-incurring way to detach himself from the vampire who became an “unfortunate casualty” as she was whisked away with the omnipotent-Alex.
Alex knew this too of course and his mood seemed to improve on the mention of them nearing “it” and he passed the vampire a fleeting look of interest.

Given the time of day, they’d have to take advantage of this as quickly as possible,
“We should be within range of the place soon enough. The moment we are on the flat of the ridge after this climb, we’ll rest there and eat, then immediately set out thereafter. We’ll use the night as an effective means of entering and leaving with what we’re after…”
He wanted to interrogate the vampire one last time on who their mystery opposition was, which could prove invaluable for when raiding them, but he didn’t want to discuss that with Alex around. He’d have to somehow divide her away from him and make sure they weren’t heard by the ears of the forest, namely his spies. Shouldn’t be too difficult, Alex’ s complete physical incompetence to escape from even ropes even if they were wrapped cruelly tight made Zartear doubt the man again. What was he thinking to just accept these terms?
“Well let’s see what you can do my darling vampire.”

The longer she kept her hands balled into fists the more the bleeding one began to hurt and soon she had to release the tension a little to ease the pain, even though her hand remained in a slightly lifted position, ready to strike at any moment should the man dare to make another remark. She could see in his face that he hated her guts and that he very much wanted to cut her throat right there and then, but to her utter surprise however, he said nothing and on top of it, Zartear suddenly came to her aid and agreed with her, stealing away the last of Alex’ barely remaining dignity. Or so it seemed. Alex’ next words caught Selene a little off guard and she turned away from him, following Zartear who simply moved forwards without paying the so-called lord any more attention.

Selene knew she was ignorant on a lot of things and Alex’ words had definitely unsettled her, despite the fact that she found it rather hard to believe that they were underestimating him when he was behaving in such a manner. Frantically forcing herself to ignore him, even when he grew very lighthearted all of a sudden, Selene’s mood grew darker by the second, if that was still possible. Getting closer to their goal would make the end of her life near as well and she had to admit that she was not quite ready for this yet. As usual however, Zartear’s words managed to rip her out of such brooding.

My darling vampire?! Selene thought she hadn’t heard correctly but refrained from commenting, or even snorting, as that would only ensue more snippy remarks and with the presence of Alex and his dearest wife, she just had about enough of those. Something about that couple made Selene want to cringe, the longer she was in their presence, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on what it was, aside from the obvious fact that they wanted to experiment with her or torture her or whatever other ghastly plans they had in mind. Her thoughts kept coming back to that particular point even though she tried to push them away but somehow the uncertainty was quite more unsettling than she even wanted to admit to herself.

However, they did as Zartear suggested. As soon as they reached the ridge, they rested a bit, or rather they did and Selene was forcing herself to sit down and relief her muscles a tad, but her thoughts were running wild, leaving her no means to calm down inwardly.
Following the trek for a little while longer afterwards, Selene at some point said to Zartear: “Maybe from here on out, I should go ahead on my own. If it’s me that’s supposed to handle the situation, I might do better on my own than have a slayer with his prisoners tag along.” Without waiting for a response, she turned her back on the three and kept on marching, trying to ignore the stare she imagined feeling on her back and the protest of her still exhausted muscles.

As she made her way through the area between the two quite imposing mountains, Selene thought about all the events up to this point and once more wondered what it was that would be awaiting her once she reached the far end of this pass. The information she had received had not been much and the only thing she was really sure of was that apparently her charms would get them the treasure and she was forbidden to give Zartear the name or any other information pertaining to this person; an order Selene thought particularly stupid and useless since she didn’t know much anyways. Not too far off, she suddenly glimpsed the flickering glow of a fire and decided to make her way towards it, relatively sure that it was her destination.

What she then saw sitting by the campfire was not at all what she had expected to come across, especially not with everything that had been told to her. She had imagined an elderly man with a pompous tent or even cabin, maybe with a few servants, but what she saw was a young boy not older than thirteen sitting by himself next to the fire, a plain and rather small tent not too far off behind him. There was nothing that indicated riches, rather the contrary, the scene yelled of poverty and helplessness almost. What was a boy his age doing completely on his own in such a place? At that precise thought, the boy lifted his head and looked towards her, thus Selene made her way towards him, realising there was no fear on his face, only curiosity.

“Isn’t this place a bit remote for a nightly stroll?” he asked in amusement but at the same time invited her to join him. Selene forced herself to overcome her nervousness and grinned: “Sometimes it cannot be remote enough.” A small smile spread over the boy’s face at this and he nodded his agreement. As she stepped closer, they were both eyeing each other with open curiosity and without hostility and the woman was about to ask what he was doing here on his own but she refrained from doing it. Before she could strike up a conversation however, the boy eyed her hand with sudden interest and exclaimed: “You’re wounded!” Selene smiled vaguely and waved his apparent worry away. “It’s nothing. I fell earlier and managed to cut myself on a stone. I’m quite clumsy sometimes,” she shrugged apologetically, but the boy didn’t want to hear it. Pulling out his water-skin, he motioned for her to come closer and to hold her hand out to him.

Once she had seated herself on the log next to him, he set about gently cleaning the wound with some water and a piece of cloth he suddenly held in his hand. Selene’s surprise was stamped all over her face at this and she began to consider this boy in an entirely different light. He was definitely not as weak and helpless as one might consider, seeing him on his own at a campfire in the middle of nowhere, all by himself. There was much more to him, but the young woman could not figure out what it was. Her eyes briefly flickered into the direction where Zartear was probably lingering around somewhere, and maybe it was exactly that which gave her away, despite the fact that the boy was bend over her hand. Or maybe he had felt her guilt at the knowledge that they would be stealing something from him, she didn’t know for sure.

“You’re not alone, are you?” The boy asked without further ado, though it was more a statement than a question and Selene’s face grew ashamed and scared at the same time.
“But you’re also scared of whoever it is that is with you,” the boy continued enumerating the facts. Selene grew even more worried and was extremely aware of the fact that he was still holding her hand, albeit very gently.
“You think I might be your way out of this twisted situation.” That last comment made Selene jump. She hadn’t even properly thought that idea out and he had already picked up on it. Could he read her thoughts?
“Who are you?” she whispered.

Alex was making a nuisance of himself, to no surprise for Zartear. The entire time they had eaten he'd had his eyes on Selene. No question, thinking on his plans. The meal had turned more into a staring match with each trying to read the other. On the one hand, Zartear had to keep a hold on the vampire until the mission was completed, but on the other hand, this man seemed to want her terribly for whatever reason. Maybe it would be more profitable to keep a grip on his commodity and make Alex do the jumping.
That was unimportant now, though.
As they had finished Zartear had simply nodded as the vampire went on ahead of her own accord, Alex made to follow her but found himself quickly hoisted back by the rope that bound his arms...
"Ideas aren't your strongsuit Lord. Calaina, you and your whore will stay put when I give the order. Come." Alex and his wife made no retort, following their apparent captor into a line of woodland that bordered the opening where the she had left to. After a while, a figure came into sight and the dazzle of fire in the darkness. It was regretable, but, he'd have to leave Alex on his own. Taking up the slack of the rope on him and his wife, he secured them each to a tree. Making doubly sure it was tight, Zartear was taking no risks, their arms bent back to prevent any escape attempts, before leaving he read the patterns of pine needles coating the floor...suspicion never left him as he turned away.

With the two of them immobilized, Zartear now glided in his usual stalking movement through the dark of the forest. He was silent, a flawless hunter, so he thought. He hadn't made any bets on the boy being quite the talented mind reader. By the time he had settled into a spot, eavesdropping on the curious boy and Selene, he found himself taken aback to have been noticed at all. Well, there was no preventing that. There was no use in hiding either.Pushing through the fauna and emerging into open grassy land, secured between the great mountains, there was he poor boys tent. He was tending the she-vampires wound.
"That is a true gift you have there." He said plainly, coming closer toward them. He glanced at the vampire, from what the boy had said. He'd read her mind and now he wasn't sure if that was a good thing. Perhaps she was aware of that too, but he could do nothing except hope his slight glare would tell her to control her mind.
The boy wasn't what he appeared. Zartear even reckoned he might be dangerous. Seating himself on a portion of log he looked over him with uncertainty..."Have you always had that ability?"

The boy had an intelligent look about him, or was that knowing? He shuffled away from Zartear subtly, looking at him with concern, feeling every prod of the man reaching out for answers. The man had a tainted mind and ill will...he'd have to buy time.
"My name is Henge...Selene, Zartear." The boy didn't realise he'd inadvertently made things more difficult for the she-vampire, who'd been resisting telling her captor her name the entire time and with a brief moment Zartear's eyes connected with hers and it was clear he was brooding on an idea.
The boy immediately realised his mistake, taking in the twist of emotions from Selene and the vague sinister nature of Zartear. He could tell the man was trying to hide his thoughts now, so they became a blur to his mind. That in itself caused him to back away more.

"I can only offer you some hospitality for now, I am afraid...water, food perhaps...I must be going soon though." Henge stopped short of adding on his sentence, catching fragments in Zartear's mind, more specifically his memories and alarm stirred in him. But Henge was wiser than his young looks, he played to not have noticed the lapse in Zartear's cover. To not notice the true nature of him.
"Lady, I can still help you, with that wound." He looked to Selene with sincerity that said there was a double meaning. That he knew a way out of this situation, all he hoped now that was that she wouldn't break down into a nervous wreck when she realised all the knowledge he had of her experience with the foul man opposite them. And hope she knew what he meant, too.
"Well, Henge," Zartear leaned in as he sat on the log, trying to see the goings on between the two. "You didn't answer me, how did you acquire that level of talent?" He smiled, his face and voice the picture of genuine curiosity, like a fascinated onlooker, seeing respectable skill.

Henge turned back to Zartear, biting on his tongue a little. There was no ideal answer for this, but now he was obliged to answer the man that he could sense was growing more eager to find out about him, for all the wrong reasons.
In spite of this, he liked the lady and felt a link of sorts, she had a similar ability he could tell. He would help her and she would help him. That's how it was to be.
"Sir, I have always had this ability, though I know it is not in my blood. I don't know who gave me this gift. Perhaps my parents."
Like a sudden sting, impatience pulsed in his mind, the overruling motion of Zartear's mind. Henge wondered just how Selene had coped. That is why Henge was here, alone in the wilderness. The only place where silence was possible for him, mind reading was not a choice he had and he terribly wished it was, this "gift" was the definition of a curse.

Zartear stood up, stating with a face of calmness
"I don't understand why you'd lie to me. It's only a simple question."

Unfortunately, Zartear had called his bluff.

As Zartear suddenly appeared from his hiding place where he had been eavesdropping on the conversation, Selene grew tense, more than she had been up to this point. It was one thing knowing that he was around somewhere at least observing the whole scene but it was something completely different to have him staring her down while she was trying to do something, whatever it was. With all the excitement and fear, she was slowly losing track of what it was she had actually come here to do.

The greeting glare he gave her already sent shivers down her spine, she didn’t even want to imagine what he would do to her the next time they were alone. He had most definitely heard the boy say that she thought this weird youngster might be her way out and thus that she was thinking of escaping. Although it should not really come as a surprise to him, this was definitely not the way she had wanted him to find out. Her heart was pounding so hard, she could feel it in her throat and her palms were starting to sweat and she unconsciously began rubbing them against her pants while the two of them were starting to do their cautious dance.

Yet another bolt of panic rushed through her and she immediately looked at Zartear when the boy revealed her name to him. It was the one thing she had kept from him, at first because there was not really an opportunity to tell him and afterwards because she wanted to keep it secret. Names gave power over someone and as long as he did not know her name, he held less power over her. Now… that had changed. Now he could track her far easier, ruin her life in short. But how had the boy known? In that very brief moment her eyes connected with Zartear, she could see what her gut was already telling her. Something was brooding within him, something strong, something dark. The boy had also realised his mistake but it was already too late and Selene was having a harder time than ever controlling her fear and panic, the beast roiling within her, bathing itself in the constant flow of emotions that was pouring in from all sides. Even if she had wanted to join in the conversation, Selene did not dare, for fear that any move she might make or any word she might say would give away her inner turmoil even more than her face and eyes already were.

Thus she simply observed, trying to grasp the real gravity of the situation but all of a sudden, she did not even understand what they were talking about anymore. Selene looked from Zartear to Henge, confusion all over her face and mind. Her thoughts were racing and so were her emotions, more and more, making her want to simply fall unconscious in order to avoid all this mess. She did not fully comprehend their conversation and it made her even more uneasy than she already felt.

The boy’s fear and Zartear’s burning anger were rushing through her wave after wave, mingling with her own dread, making the young woman struggle for control over herself and the beast within. It had not been very long since their encounter with the dragon but so much had happened since then and she had burned off so much energy that the beast was already jumping at every opportunity again to try and take over her body for its own purposes.

When Henge faced her with that look in his eyes which suggested that he could do more for her than just care for this small outer wound, her hope flared high. In a wild moment, she wondered whether he could read Zartear’s thoughts about her, wondering whether he might not have a shred of sympathy and attraction for her despite the apparent hatred he was constantly displaying, but she pushed that thought back into the depths of her mind as soon as it had appeared and rather concentrated on the true meaning of Henge’s words. He could get her out of this twisted situation! But why was he so intent on helping her all of a sudden? What exactly was it that he had seen in Zartear’s mind – yes, she no longer held any doubt as to the degree of Henge’s talent – that made him want to get her out of his grasp?

Even if she did not see how he would manage such a thing, she was willing to give it a try. More than anything did she want to escape from Alex, who in the meantime she had come to consider worse than Zartear. The nagging thought remained however, what was it Henge had read? What did Zartear have in store for her?

And all of a sudden, this was not her main problem anymore. Henge tensed, his hands tight around her own as he had once more clasped hers within his own to look after the wound and Selene jumped at the new wave of emotions. Zartear’s impatience and anger were threatening to choke her and the rush of panic that suddenly pulsed through Henge got transferred directly to her through their touching.

Henge jumped up, letting go of Selene’s hand but it was too late, her eyes were already shifting to complete blackness as the beast pushed away the measly leftovers of her control and growled at the two men. The boy carefully avoided standing too close to Zartear but neither did he want to be too close to Selene right about now, pearls of sweat forming on his young forehead and slowly rolling down the side of his face as his nerves were rattling like leaves.

The black eyes were staring at Zartear as if he was about to be devoured before they unexpectedly turned on Henge. “You,” came Selene’s barely altered voice. The tone was only slightly more melodious, a seductive undertone mixing in with the next few words. “Your extraordinary gift is something I am quite interested in.” Tilting her head slightly to the left, Selene was looking at Henge, interest and desire flaming up in her eyes. Something about that boy was off and Zartear had found out what it was. Now she wanted to know too.

But first things first…And with that her eyes turned back to Zartear, the desire for Henge’s ability turning into the lust for something completely different as she slowly advanced towards him, biting her lip as she did so.

Henge recoiled from the pair, Selene's vibe had changed in a fraction of a moment to the conscious of...something else. Suddenly, he didn't want to help her at all. Or “it”.
He shuffled backwards a little checking the area around him, how to get away from these mad people? Raising a finger to his temple he could feel the ache increasing, familiar to the strength that burned from negative emotions...and in such number.
But then, she changed yet again and her angle was now on Zartear. This was his chance. At first he backed away slowly, never taking his eyes off of the mysterious and god awful two, but then he turned as if to run.

Zartear made as if he was going to jump up immediately and pursue him, yet all he did was leave an arm reaching for the boy, looking to him with the boy returning the stare, before pulling his hand back, eyes rolling back over to the creature, the thing...the it...Selene...that was now approaching him.
Henge found he couldn't move from the spot, too confused by what he was seeing and what his mind was telling him. It was a constant flow of images and feelings from the two that made no sense to his mind.
Zartear watched her draw closer with his typical icy and analytical expression, yet beneath the exterior it felt as if his mind that told him everything about how terrible the thing in front of him was, could do nothing to move his body away from the natural abomination. To his loathing a shard of him now was convincing him to play along. So he did.
As she leaned in closer, he backed away with detest, made clear in his aghast eyes, and raised his hand to strike her squarely for her action. Though not before his sense disappeared and he found himself clutching her arm to draw her in quickly back onto him with a steely grip, stealing the moment in his laxness of mind to “kiss” her. Anywhere, it didn’t matter, and somewhere between pent up desperation mixed with a want to kill it immediately. He seemed frenzied and anxious as he felt lasciviciously for the soft and hopelessly vulnerable body to comply with his here and his now, his own form of revenge; a concept he didn’t care for, yet excited him. He took another pace back to sit on the camp log, pulling her familiar yet revolting body down to his level.

This vampire’s unique ability had helped him identify something of value that he would otherwise have not found himself. Zartear would never have stopped to pay attention to Henge, let alone get the real sense of him...So this boy could be the treasure?
Did this mean he could finally discard the vampire, or better yet, prove Alex’s helplessness towards him and kill it too, if anything, spiting him and ensuring it would never speak of what he’d done to it?

This line of thought slipped from him. The shouts of resentment from his “Unique” conscience seemed muffled and distant so suddenly. His sublime balance was in discord and his actions were impulsive. Zartear’s head blurred into stupidity, with only a single earthy thought clouding his usual crystalline clarity of thought. For now the “It” can be my “she”

Thoughts were racing through her mind but they all seemed centered around one thing, or rather one person: Zartear. The man in front of her, the man she hated, the man she felt incredibly attracted to. The burning want for Henge’s gift and for gaining the knowledge Zartear obviously had was almost completely forgotten in this moment and all she could focus on now was him, Zartear. As she kept slowly advancing towards him, she noticed him recoil and at the same time raising his hand, and a quick frown produced on her forehead as she stopped biting her lip and straightened up. Blinking, she observed him for a heartbeat, wondering what was going on, why did he refuse her? How could he dare lift a hand against her?

For this brief moment of confusion, where she oddly could think a little clearer, she wondered how this must feel like for Henge, the poor boy being able to read thoughts, he would now be flooded by a million images he might not have wanted to see and who nobody should ever have seen. It made a short surge of anger flicker back up inside her, knowing that this little boy would now know her most private and intimate thoughts. Her secrets, maybe even things she did not want to admit to inside her own mind.

All of this was very quickly forgotten however, when Zarter changed his attitude and abruptly pulled her closer. Pleasure was exploding throughout Selene’s entire body at this and an odd triumph began to spread. I knew I would get him! Without as much as a shadow of a doubt, Selene gave in to his searching lips, offering him what he wanted to have, gladly taking anything he was willing to give in return. It felt like coming home as their lips were sealed together as one.

Henge was still rooted to the spot, though he was not sure anymore whether it was fascination for the utter chaos obscuring both these minds, the tangle of their emotions threatening to make his skull explode, or whether it was the sheer fear of what these two might be capable of if he did not comply with their wishes. Then again, he did have his own defenses and he should not be scared of them, but something about this couple was frightening, on so many different levels.

As Zartear pulled Selene down to the log with him, she snuggled in closer to him, her own self gradually resurfacing without her even noticing it. Running her hand lightly along his cheek, she kissed him again, more heartfelt this time and less fierce than their first kiss had been. It was as if they were both sinking into an ocean of confused desire to be close to the other, disregarding any consequences whatsoever it could have for either of them. Selene’s heart was racing and her cheeks began to burn up, unable to believe her luck.

Something was nagging at her mind however, the distinct knowledge that this could not be real, that this could only be wishful thinking, no matter how real it felt. When Selene pulled lightly back after yet another kiss she had planted on his lips, she looked at him and was surprised, almost shocked at the expression on his face. Even though she could not read it, it was as if someone had emptied a bucket of cold water over her head. Gasping, she pulled away, the same thought going round in her mind, over and over again. What have I done?!

It was thoroughly enthralling, finally being able to to unchain his carnal side and blistering anger on the young she-vampire, it was clear in the way he pressed to pose her exactly to his wish, anticipating every move further. Though of course, and the thought came raging back, she was still a vampire. The defiant whore quite suddenly broke off, her face alight with what must have been fear...or disgust.
Zartear's haziness abruptly twisted to indignance, there was righteous anger written all over him and his words, she was hesitating; attempting to deny him what he deserved now. "What?" He said simply, as if perplexed by her sudden reluctance.
Impatience won over quickly. Ignoring the girl's apparent fears, whatever those counted for, Zartear snatched back her body. Whatever that expression was that passed on her face, he didn’t like it. The thing worth less than a single finger of his was refusing him. The nerve!
“You wouldn’t do that.” The threat was there, but his voice was changed, heavy and broken up, drinking in her body like he might never be able to again. Perhaps he wouldn’t, she was likely going to die, afterall. His arms firmly held her, the hands following down her spine eagerly, selfishly, and gripped at the form of her soft, weak flesh, so barely protected under her clothes.

“Give yourself up. It’s the least you can do.” He said, voice like the whisper of a snake in her ear, his muscles tensed and trained on her, all over and around her. His cold lips pressed hungrily to the side of her face. “Or am I going to have to show you?” His voice came again, fierceness in the hiss, even urgency, but the lecherous overtones were unmistakeable. The moment she’d stepped back from him it’d become a point of putting her back where she belonged and satisfying his insatiable hunger for a while.

Henge meanwhile found all of this terribly confusing and it made his head spin horribly with the current of ongoing pictures, messages and godawful thoughts straining through his mind and no way to tap out of it. He could turn and run but they’d still echo for days.
Then he’d also lose his only home, here.
He clamped his hands over his ears and squinted his eyes shut, this was no mere headache.
The things he saw he didn‘t want to see, as if they were images of people but with none of the value. The thoughts were muddy and scrambled. Unable to look away, a clear and cold moment sliced through the nauseating pulse of a person that doesn’t know how to acknowledge their feelings or those of others... and let’s their needs fill the space between.
That coldness was a moment of horrible clarity from the woman. Were it not for the screaming pain in his mind he had now, he might have been interested. But this was too much. Far too much.

As soon as she had gotten up from the log, Selene knew it had been a mistake. Her feelings were torn to say the least. She wanted him, she wanted to be with him, but she also knew that it would just be history repeating itself. He would still treat her the way he had done so far and he would still not want to consider really being with her. In addition, with the way she was, she was afraid of hurting him.
Thoughts were racing in her mind, even more so when she saw the flash of anger pass over his earlier much more passionate face. The change was scary and that one single word told her more than his face or any flowery speech could have expressed. She had infuriated him and she knew she was going to pay the prize for it sooner or later.

His voice was lashing out at her like a whip but still she could not refuse his alluring touch as he suddenly pulled her back towards him again. Yet, there was something underneath the chilly threat that lured her back in, whether she wanted to or not. Thus, she once more gave in to his touch and bathed in the desire he was obviously feeling as he took in her body, the one that had so willingly given itself to him once upon a night in a forest high up on a mountain side.
How could she not do it this time again? She wanted to.
But how could she do it? Knowing what would follow once she did?

Selene’s mind was racing, and her desire was growing the longer he held her, the closer he pulled her. His words were entering her mind but she interpreted them in her own way, ignoring any threat that might be contained within them. She only wanted to hear the good parts, and nothing else. She wanted him to want her, for more than just this, for more than just a mere moment of passion. She desperately needed him to feel this way about her for more than just a few seconds of him forgetting himself and losing himself in her appearance.

A cold fear began to creep up Henge’s back as he tried to shut their loud inner voices and images out of his head but there was no way for him to do this. Keeping his hands firmly pressed against his head, as if it were going to help accomplish anything, he tried to keep his eyes shut tightly but he ripped them open again after a short while, not wanting to miss what the two were doing. He simply could not look away.
If the images didn’t scream their reality straight into his head, he would have picked up his feet to run away immediately afterall, without further thoughts about abandoning his home. However, he now knew what both of them could be capable of and he was scared to anger them and provoke their wrath to rain down upon him. What would they do to him if he ran? Would they be able to find him though?
The pain inside his head was growing by the second now, every heartbeat causing renewed pain and he wanted to scream, obscuring his thoughts to the point of blanking them out completely. He wanted to scream his lungs out in hopes of this relieving him of some of the pressure inside his skull.

The more Zartear’s desire grew however, the more confused Selene got and the more she let herself be guided by her baser instincts, her libido and the insatiable creature lingering within her. Both of them wanted to give in and so did Selene herself. Night after night for such a long time, she had dreamt of this, of being in his arms once again but was this really the way she had wanted it to happen? She didn’t even understand how she had come to light his lust again.

Sighing in defeaet, she leaned into him fully, feeling his hands on her body and losing herself in her own feelings, not to mention his. She grabbed his face in both her hands and pressed her lips to his. “No need to show me,” she whispered, echoing his earlier lascivious tone. Pressing herself even closer against him so there was no space left at all, not even for a gush of air to pass through, she rubbed the inside of her left leg against his outer right one, letting her hands run to the back of his head to burry them in his hair before pressing her lips to his once more.

He was seeing spots, swarms of them, in his mind and in his vision. Henge sounded the words of distress weakly in his head, hoping his master would come and stop this madness that was consuming him. It was no wonder he'd grown to deeply resent seeing and feeling others' inner workings, without censor.

Though his mind was a mess, he'd seen through this all, Henge was all he would need to retrieve and this woman was dispensable.
Their employer said she would be useful, he'd doubted that and was unsurpsingly, right again.
Though, Zartear hadn't expected her to simply comply to his physical demands, and was almost feeling put out by her lack of a fight. A fight was what he was searching for, even if whatever she did to deny him would also anger him.
Hence, he did not speak all through this, seeming to show an intense concentration, his flaring indignance rather, was clear in how he proceeded.

Strangely now, the experience was as if being relived. There was barely any difference, in fact.
He had begun by tasting her, more of less as if eating the very soul from the creature. But the truth of it was, tasting was little more than teasing, and he hated that.
He moved her body from him for the briefest moment by her waist, to have her sprawled down across the grass, then descended to her level, as if deliberate and controlled.
He pushed his hands to her body, rolling her form aside promptly so she was face down, and agitatedly worked his hasty fingers to her garments. Zartear was never a man for romance where it was not needed.
He then indulged in the clinch he had of soft skin on her back, moving further down and gripping, piece by piece, pulling away the last of her fragile defences. It was all quite a methodical affair.

However, Zartear did not think to be compassionate at this point, he was practical with his desires. To not have to look her in the eye was all the better, all while being able to take as he pleased. She would surely be killed soon, so what better way to shame the disgusting animal. One that would dare consider making slights on his position, as she had done countless times.

Everything was forgotten. Nothing held any importance anymore.
Except for Zartear’s hands on her body. His lips on her skin. The taste of him.

Somewhere deep in the back of her mind, a voice was whispering to her that she needed to get a grip before she completely drowned herself in his ego. But had it not been her to initiate this? She wanted this. She wanted him, even if for now it meant the ruin of herself.

She let him do with her whatever pleased him, not questioning his actions, but rather embracing them. Following his every move, she let herself be guided to the ground, and onto her stomach without as much as a flinch or a frown, but rather looking forward to what he was about to do to her.
As his hands were gliding over her back to undo the straps of her corset, she even arched her back to his touch, pressing him almost to hurry up. Methodical and unromantic as the whole situation may be, she didn’t want to waste any time either with useless things if they could just as well get down to the good stuff.

However, once it seemed that he was not very intent on turning her onto her back again, she began to squirm a little, but seeing that he was rather concentrated on what he was doing, it bore no fruit.
Thus, she fidgeted harder until she was properly fighting against his hold, as wonderful as it was to feel his hands down her back and towards her backside, sending shivers of anticipation along her spine. Quite simply, she preferred to be able to touch him at this stage rather than merely let him do as he pleased. After all, she wanted to enjoy this and she wanted to get her way as well, not only fulfil his desires.
Although at the same time as fighting him and wanting to gain the upper hand, she whispered: “Take me any way you please.” She knew she was contradicting herself but in all the confusion and heat, she didn’t care. Maybe it would incite him to be a little rough. That couldn’t be so bad either, could it?

At some point, she had lost conscious knowledge of whether she was doing this of her own accord or whether it was the being within her pushing her to enjoy carnal pleasures. Either way, there was only one thought on her mind. She wanted him. She wanted to be wrapped around him. And she wanted it now.

» Arty} Just a case of girl meets boy... {Kat
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