Ancient Darkness (On HOLD)

Chapter Thirty - Aftermath

After Sang's cry and Silas' echoing roar dimmed, the sky seemed to explode with darkness. Clouds had been gathering to cover the sun but in what appeared to be a split second it went from the beginning of dusk to the severest covering of night in which Sang had ever witnessed.

In fact it made her feel as though Hell had come to Earth.

Her knees gave out as her wolfy friend extracted his teeth with a whimper as he tried to push in close, the fur on his snout dampened with snow and blood.

"Sang!" The sound of her name seemed reverberate through space and time as she tried to make sense of her surroundings.

There was so much pain and her eyes were beginning to darken at the edges as she reached forward to grip the fur of the wolf she had begun to silently refer to as Filos. Silas was a mass of deep burns as he crowded in close to one side, his eyes flickering with more than what she could comprehend.

As her teeth chattered and snow slowly soaked into her pants she felt the ground begin to rumble, the intensity increasing until it was all she could do to stay upright without passing out from dizziness and shock.

"S-S-Silas?" She whimpered, her body tipping until the wolf's shoulder met with her cheek. "Are you ok?"

From what she had seen of him, she couldn't even begin to comprehend that type of agony, and even more bewildering to her was the fact that he had been willing to lose his life in order to protect her from a perceived threat.

"I will recover," His voice answered gruffly, the vocal cords obviously strained. "The others will join us momentarily and assist me. How bad is your wound?"

Drawing in a ragged breath, she tried valiantly to ignore the fact that Filos' canines had gone down to the bone, "I'm sure that I'll be fine."

"You're lying," He berated.

Although she hadn't been able to track his progress, it seemed that the Immortal had found the strength to move closer. His fingers were gentle as they slowly moved through her hair.

"They're coming," He whispered.

The sudden noise coming from within the house was horrendous, an indication of how violently the others felt.

"Will they kill me now?" She asked, squeezing her eyes closed. Owen was going to be furious that she had ultimately been the cause of Silas' injury.

If only she had stayed in the house!

"I'm tempted," A vicious snarl came from close behind her. "Let go of the wolf, Sang!"

Although she was beyond terrified, Filos was the only thing keeping her upright and she knew that if she let go of him, Owen would attempt to finish what Silas had started.

"He didn't mean to hurt me," She pleaded, not raising her head as she listened to unmistakable the sound of the Immortals surrounding the three of them.

"Silas," Sean murmured. "We need to move you inside."

"All I need is blood," He answered roughly, his hand trailing to cup the back of her neck. His warm breath heated the curl of her ear as he leaned in, "You need to let Sean look at your arm before you pass out from blood loss."

Something in that croon had her inner most instincts jerking up to take notice. Her eyes burst open, her vision clouded by black fur as she quickly realised that blood was pooling underneath the tips of her fingers as her arm lay useless in the snow.

Blood.

The substance which these ancient, and non-human, creatures consumed for sustenance.

"We can smell it," North snapped, his voice so terrifyingly dark that her body nearly bowed under its weight. "Move away from the creature."

"I won't let you kill him. Silas attacked him first," She stuttered, the black behind her eyes no longer having anything to do with Filos' coat tickling her face.

A growl rumbled before another voice intruded, one she thought could only belong to Victor. The angel with eyes of simmering ember.

"You have our word that the wolf will not be harmed."

"Victor..." Lucian protested, his gaze unwavering as he watched the minute movements of the creature currently wrapped around the petite woman.

"You are reading her as I am. She is telling the truth, the wolf showed no aggression until Silas attacked."

Dakota shuffled closer, peering into the wolf's eyes, "I sense nothing but remorse from the creature."

"Very well," Owen snapped with impatience, his anger at the situation still blowing like fire through his veins. "The animal is to remain unharmed. Sang, you must allow us to move you all inside so that your wounds may be tended to."

"Silas needs more help than what I do," She whispered, her voice losing strength as she continued to bleed out.

Owen was more than a little alarmed when he realised that his fingers were shaking as they drifted over the top of her head. He would almost call the roiling of his stomach...fear. Fear for both his brother and the woman who had become an obsession.

His nose was filled with the sweet scent of her blood, a perfume which made his jaw ache with the need to allow his canines freedom. But even as he fought down the vast waves of unfamiliar and unwanted emotion, he could sense how scared she was.

And that was one thing, it seemed, that pushed him over the precipice.

He growled at the wolf, the order clear as the animal took a small but wary step back before Owen simply unclasped Sang from her hold on the black fur and lifted her into his arms.

Silas looked up at him from his sun ruined face and sent a silent apology for allowing the girl to be hurt but Owen simply shook his head, "North, help Silas to his feet and bring him inside."

His whole attention then was on the small, trembling bird in his arms. "Sean."

His friend immediately supported her ruined arm, lifting it slightly so that the entire limb was raised above the level of her heart. "To her bedroom, Owen."