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Further into the Keep, Samara reappeared in the chambers Fechine was sleeping in. She stood frozen for a moment, nearly floored by the nostalgic wave of emotion that struck her. These rooms had belonged to Y’Roden… many hours of agonized pleasure had been spent here, when they were not entertaining themselves in the chamber Ghetsuhm presently occupied.
Ice-cold fingertips caressed the young boy’s cheek, stirring him from a heavy sleep where he lay sprawled on what had once been his Father’s bed. Dark lashes lifted slowly, an almost dazed expression in the emerald eyes they revealed. Then the full horror of his captivity came crashing back into the chestnut-haired youth's consciousness. He flinched back, eyeing the demoness as if she was a poisonous snake.
“Get your hands off my nephew.” An’Thaya’s voice rang cold in the chambers as she pushed open the door, eyes dark and flashing with anger. “Fechine… come to me.” Gold hilted daggers spun through the Amazon’s fingers in a graceful, though agitated motion. “Stop picking on children and come play with someone your own size Sammy. You want your revenge… come get it.”
Samara hissed and stepped back from the bed, her features warping with utter hatred as she came face to face with An’Thaya for the first time in centuries. Here was the woman that had taken what was most precious to her, and everything that went with him. “He isn’t going anywhere,” the Demoness purred, “but you… I’ve been waiting forever to feel the heat of your blood on my hands.”
"Dara Thaya?" Fechine's voice was hoarse. The boy could hardly believe his eyes. Someone had finally come for him! His heart beat faster in his chest as painful hope stole his breath. Then realisation of what he must look like swept over him and shame brought a crimson blush to his skin, his gaze dropping away. Shaking hands clutched sheets to his naked form, cuts and bruises painting dark stains over his tanned flesh.
Tay’s gaze flickered sideways slightly, her body stiffening with rage when she witnessed the damage done to her brother’s son. “Yes, it’s me sweetie… go on out in the hall ok? Daro Bran is waiting for you.” Her attention on Samara, the Amazon was tracking sideways, leading her way from the boy, and the Demoness… in her bloodlust, was following.
Go? He could go? Too confused to argue, the chestnut-haired youth wrapped the sheet around himself tightly and began to edge towards the door. Halfway there he froze, caught between two competing instincts. The urge to flee, to escape, was strong, but how could he leave his aunt with that... creature?
Bran's axe bit deep into the flank of an Uruk-hai, the fair-haired elf guarding the door and preventing reinforcements from reaching their mistress. Where the hell were they both? Surely An'Thaya must have reached Fechine by now? "Dammit! Come on. Get out of there!" he muttered under his breath, swearing as he ducked a blow to the head before driving his own blade deep into his attacker's belly.
“Fechine GO,” An’Thaya ordered, turning her head just for a split second to look at him, leaving herself open to attack. Her back hit the wall with a crack, the palm of her hand coming up by reflex and catching Sam in the jawbone. The Demoness’ head snapped back and Tay struck with her free hand, drawing blood along the other woman’s ribs. “GO!”
"But..."
A hand grabbed the protesting boy and yanked him out into the corridor. His exclamation died on his lips as he saw his uncle. "We need to get out of here" Bran bit out, propelling Fechine out into the corridor with one hand. "Thaya..." He stopped and then shook his head. "Just make it quick" was all the fair-haired elf said in the end, following his nephew.
“Right…” Tay muttered beneath her breath, pushing Sam back and wrapping her fingers tight around the hilt of her dagger. With a grunt she slugged the snarling Demoness square in the face, ignoring the spark of dark pleasure in the woman’s eyes that sang to the music of breaking bone.
The Amazon was in over her head, and she knew it.
A solid blow from Samara caught Tay across the cheekbone, the force bouncing the small woman off the wall. The world spun sickeningly as she hit her knees, seeing double for a moment.
“You… little… bitch,” Sam hissed, “well… at least you understand how I feel now. How it hurts to have your mate taken away… to be able to feel him, to hear him, but not truly touch him. Husband in name… but he loves her more, doesn’t he.”
“SHUT UP!” Scrabbling, Tay used the wall, leaning heavily against the cold stone as she struggled back up to her feet.
“The truth is painful… what if I told you… he never cried out for you once while I tortured him… but he did cry out for her.”
“I said… shut up,” Tay snarled, lunging blindly at the Demoness as something other than physical pain twisted and gnawed at her. Emerald eyes blazed with hurt and rage that had nothing to do with Samara and a howl of frustration had her slugging the Demon Bitch repeatedly, the harder the strike, the more pronounced Sam’s laughter became, a taunting hysterical sound that only roused An’Thaya’s anger further and left her screaming in pure, unadulterated rage.
An’Thaya’s striking wrist was crushed in the Demoness’s icy fingers, the arm fairly yanked out of the socket as it was pulled down then back and Samara’s other hand fisted into flaming red locks, doubling the redhead forward as she wrested the dagger out of the Amazon’s grip, then snapped her back up by the hair. Cold steel sliced through Tay’s flesh, plunging deep, piercing her solar plexus and driving up beneath the rib cage.
“No one… takes what is mine… and gets away with it,” Samara hissing, watching in sadistic satisfaction as Thaya’s eyes dimmed, her chest heaving with a cough, a gout of blood spurting from ruby lips. “Now… if you will just die quietly… I’m going to retrieve Fechine… and wipe out the rest of the pests that have invaded my keep.”
For a fleeting moment, caught between reality and the veil, An’Thaya was certain she caught sight of Chezlar. A rustle of dark feathered wings, a glint of softly glowing gold eyes. He had been there every time… had he not?
Every time?
The rage had cooled with reality of pain… with the reality of dying. “Well then,” Tay wheezed, a sharp cry escaping as Samara dragged the dagger back out of her flesh, “Why don’t … you give us a … kiss… goodbye? Wouldn’t… want to deny you the … pain.” It was a lot to bargain one’s life on… she was counting on Samara’s ego… on her obsession…
Yet, death would be so easy… so peaceful… beyond the pain…
Samara’s laugh was hard on the ears, the look in her eyes enough to make Tay want to retch. “Not so different from your brother… are you,” she breathed, “far be it for me to deny you a dying wish.” The Demoness leaned in, licking at the other woman’s bloodstained lips.
It isn’t your choice… there are too many lives hinging on your own…
The Amazon closed her eyes, hiding the revulsion in their depths as Samara’s hot breath feathered across her face… Time was the enemy; Tay could feel her life starting to slip away, the delicate tendrils of her bonds starting to unravel… ever so slowly. She had blocked out Galain before coming here… then Adarin upon the realization that Samara was in the room. This had been the only way to save Fechine, and even so… with her death, she was damning them all to this hell.
Agony laced through her lungs as they expanded with oxygen, pain that she shared with her killer as soft feminine lips pressed against her own. Samara’s moan of pleasure was a victory bell, Tay’s hands reached up, latching hard into Samara’s hair and holding her head tight to her own. If she lost her grip… she was already dead. A small intake of breath, and the deafening roar of the conduit, the magic was sealed before the Demoness realized her mistake.
Life flowed between their locked mouths, surging into An’Thaya’s veins. Dark and twisted perhaps, but life none the less… and Samara had more than enough to spare, eternity a spark on her horizon. The Demoness could not be slain, but she could be hurt, slowed down… and she knew it. Struggling hard she managed to tear her mouth from An’Thaya’s, glowing ropes of Aethyr visible in the air between their parted mouths, ripped mercilessly from the dark haired woman’s core and funneled into the abyss of the Amazon’s soul.
Tay’s eyes snapped back open, their hue darkened with agony, and resolute determination. Both women toppled to the floor, Samara twisting and screaming with the effort to break the deadly link. Her rage only served to feed Tay’s strength, the life-force of the Demoness increasing with the level of negative emotion in the room. The wound she had dealt An’Thaya faded from the Amazon’s flesh, re-knitting slowly, and reappearing on the Demoness. It wasn’t the first time Tay had done this, but it was the first time she had acted on it voluntarily. Her magic had killed an innocent human once… had nearly slain an insane Elyen Ilander, the conduit over riding her will and placing her life before others.
Sweat glistened on Tay’s skin from the effort, both physical and spiritual, of keeping Sam pinned beneath her will. Time slowed, creating its own forever until the Amazon felt the Demoness growing weak and she started to relax… doing exactly what the other woman had expected. With a surge of strength Sam pushed an immense wave of her own living energy through the conduit, catching Tay off guard and overflowing the channels carved by the Aethyr.
Too much life force could be as deadly as none.
An’Thaya’s world exploded in sheer anguish, the conduit virtually imploding in on itself, then expanding impossibly large. Green lightning crackled across her flesh, enveloping Samara as well and sending them both into screaming hell.
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