A breath away from life (ONC2024)

II. A favour for a favour

“I’m glad to see that you remember our special night,” Kovan whispers suddenly, his breath brushing my lips, and I know that he feels my torment.

Opening my eyes, I have no choice but to meet his gaze. “Special...” My eyes narrow. “Yes it was, special indeed.” That was the night that I awoke to cruelty and betrayal. The very night that I made a vow to the god of virtue, to take revenge upon all of those who betrayed me, and to pay penance for aiding such a malevolent creature. Though I often wonder if my vow was ever heard, yet now I find myself by his side once again.

“Since you have behaved yourself, little bird, I will defer your punishment for defying me until later.” He steps back, his oppressive air relinquishing me, even though I express nothing. His gaze lingers with a prideful gleam, before he turns and leaves. I smile wryly, apparently being shackled and hung from a wall is not punishment. Though the raging strain and tension in my shoulders feels almost unbearable, I look down at the pale floor. The runes having once decorated the pentagram, no longer there, but that one mysterious sigil still haunts me. The other runes I had recognised as elemental, along with the sigils for the sun and the moon that night.

I have searched, traded and read tirelessly in an effort to find enlightenment, but that mysterious rune still eludes me. I’ve often dreamed of those runes, as though they are my only salvation. The key to my revenge and the answer to breaking my bond with Kovan. The witches’ coven, in a distant mountainside cliff, only revealed that my feelings were my true path. The covens also lay hidden and out of reach, for they too fear the lords of sin and their lust for corruption and power. Their appearance was incredibly rare. Only once had two of their coven sought me out, and it had been the first and the only time.

I still bear the imprint of their pentagram upon the centre of my chest, the sigil, dark red. A magical seal that protects them from me, should I ever be forced to reveal our brief words to one another. Letting my head fall to the side, exhausted, my thoughts gradually begin to drain away, fatigue fracturing my senses into broken shards, missing their final pieces. Even as my shoulders ache, their slow-grinding dislocation tears away at my longing for oblivion. The pain not quite enough to send me on into the darkness, yet it lingers on the edge of feeling unbearable. Whether hours or minutes, a greying shroud gradually veils my gaze, as I’m left to languish.

Time has no meaning, my torment leading on into an endless abyss. I hear whispers, soft laughter and feel the touch of phantom fingertips, all shadowy illusion; until the lightest of caresses lifts my chin, to raise my gaze, drawing me from my descent into turmoil.

“So this is what you dream of... Your deepest desire of the moment.” The softness of the voice, is spine shuddering. A lazy languorous melody pouring from their lips in the form of enthralling words, as though caressing the very air around them, soothing and yet indifferent, carrying a carelessness.

Despite the pain, a small kernel of curiosity spirals within me, as I struggle to pierce my blurry vision. Sweat clings to my eyelids, mixing with my silent scarlet tears, that trickle unnoticed. I feel his cool breath flow over my lips in waves, as I finally meet his gaze. His bearly golden eyes, flecked with silver, watch me with a patient intensity. The longer we stare at one another, the bolder his other-worldliness becomes. His pale skin holding a subtle glow, that sharpens the light slant of his narrow eyes. There’s an innate beauty to his fine features that not even nature can compare to, just like Kovan.

“Who are you?” If not for his closeness, I would cast him aside as nothing more than a tempting illusion.

A slow smile gradually appears upon his lips, but his expression is still solemn, as though he feels no real amusement.

“You appear to already know.” He tilts his head, the movement imbued with an effortless grace.

“You’re one of Kovan’s seven brothers. A lord of sin.” The words are raggedly torn from my burning throat.

Stepping back, his elegance is marred by a sensuality plain for anyone to see.

“I am Lorne, the prince of sloth.” His slight bow is mocking, but regal. Not waiting for me to answer his provocative manner, he gently waves his hand in a half-hearted sweeping motion. I watch as a pentagram begins to formulate, marking the floor in rapid flecks of light. Watching closely, I realise that the runes are the same as those from the night of my ritual. The elemental, sun and moon sigils painting themselves in the same dark crimson, as our blood from my memories.

I hold my breath as the last sigil, the mysterious symbol, inscribes itself at the top of the pentagram. So lost in the sight before me, it’s moments until I look up to see Lorne standing aside, leaning against a pillar of intricate carvings, telling a story of their own.

He gently nods in a lacklustre way towards the sigil that has been haunting me, since the very night of the ritual.

“That rune is the desire you hold so dear. Though my prideful brother fails to see it, not that that’s surprising, since his thoughts are filled with himself.” He snorts softly in disdain. “Though ridiculous, he’s also highly entertaining.” His gaze flickers as he turns from the pentagram, back to me. This time a subtle shimmer of mirth greets me, but only for a moment before disappearing. “Ask, we both know that you will in the end...”

Taking a moment, I inhale a shallow breath to keep from passing out. Seeing Lorne, I know that he is anything but trustworthy. Though I will never trust anyone again, perhaps a bargain would prove more useful. I blink slowly. “Assuming you know this sigil, will you exchange a favour for a favour.”

He quirks an eyebrow, the movement strange for someone so expressionless. “You’re brighter than most.” He suddenly smirks. “Why ask if I lack the possession you yearn for... I will tell you the meaning behind the rune you so desperately seek, and I will even tell you a tale of old; but in return you will entertain me.”

I tense, sending another searing ache spiralling throughout my shoulders, and although the movement is subtle, it still does not escape his notice.

“I will never force you. You can entertain me in any manner that you choose, as long as you fulfil that particular desire that I have chosen.” Lazily lifting his chin, his black hair brushes past his shoulders, the silky strands, ruffled and wild fall enticingly across his face, tempting and daring.

“And how many desires will this rune cost me?” I look up, finally voicing the one thought that truly matters, for I know the price will be high.

Stepping forward, he gracefully closes the distance between us, holding out his hand. “Three of my desires will bring you the enlightenment you seek, but if you fail any one of those, you will have to fulfil another three, and so on, and so on.” His eyes flash with a hint of mockery and amusement, but I still discern the hint of a dare veiled there.

“A favour for a favour.” Speaking quietly, my voice resonates clearly in the eerie silence between us.

“A favour for a favour.” Echoing my words, his slender almost feminine hand grasps mine, a silvery cord wrapping around our wrists before vanishing. Our bargain has been forged, and now if I renege, I will never be able to find the truth of the mystery sigil. It will always elude me, those are the unspoken terms, but I've already exhausted every other means possible to find the sigil without success. There is nothing more to lose, or time to waste.

Lost in my thoughts once more, his almost tender touch at the hollow of my throat, provokes a shiver. His fingertip gently tracing the line of my throat up to my chin, finally coming to rest upon my lips.

“At Kovan’s, next occasion, find a way to show another’s true colours, and shame as many as you dare, but without using your vampiric gifts or your former status as mistress.” Brushing my lips lightly, he lets his finger fall away, as his slinking strides melt into the stillness of the room and he disappears.

Thank you for reading ❤️
(Word count 2214)