Rider Of The Pale Horse

Begging

Kael stared intently at the Google search he had done on ‘Morrigan Letalias’ it had brought up a lot of weirdo’s on websites using Letalias as a username, there were Latin scripts that recognized her last name.

He had to be on his 700th search page, he rubbed his face with his hands trying to keep himself conscious. The glare of the computer screen always made him drowsy.

“I could have killed you seven times by now” Kael nearly fell out of his chair at the sound of Orion’s voice.

He pushed back from the desk and rose quickly slamming his hands down on either side of the keyboard. Finally his eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room filtering out the glow of the screen. Kael may be a Demon but that didn’t mean he was all powerful, he was going to get caught off guard in the beginning.

“Damnit Orion, don’t do that” Kael hissed through his teeth.

Orion rose from the bed and glided across the room to stand in front of Kael’s desk, their eyes met and the glow of the screen shifted illuminating Orion’s face. He glanced down at what was there and Kael heard a deep bass growl rumble through the air.

The skin on Orion’s face began to shrink in as his control slipped; the skin around his eyes sizzled and turned black as the entirety of his eye paled white. Kael leaned forward snapping his fingers in front of Orion’s face and watched everything switch back to normal.

“Don’t go sneaking behind her Back Kael. Just ask her about her past” Orion sighed rubbing the bridge of his nose.

“She’s mentioned Guards, death row, she has bruises, and she looks as though she’s barely slept. Who the hell is she Orion?” Kael snapped his eyes becoming engrossed by the darkness of his demonic soul.

Orion gave a heavy hearted sigh shaking his head and turning away from side to side, “I left her things in the living room, I assume she is sleeping now?” He ignored Kael’s question instead turning the conversation backwards.

“Orion, don’t test me. At least tell me why I was forcefully branded, why I didn’t get a chance to decide. Is she really that special that you had to make me take this?” Kael snapped his anger breaking.

Orion looked around the room turning his back to Kael, he tapped his cane off the floor three times before turning back to look at Kael. Both men just looked at one another for a while not sure what to really do.

“When I found her Kael, I brought her straight to you. There is not another thing on this hell-bent earth that I would take her to. You are the only one who can keep her safe… that I trust to keep her safe”

Kael narrowed his dark grey blue that darkened like a storm on the sea. “Why? Why Orion is she so important to you?”

Orion scoffed rolled his eyes tapping his cane on the floor again, “You mean other than the fact that she is the one who will succeed me one day?” He snapped dropping a heavy glare on Kael.

They returned to silently glaring at each other waiting for the other one to break, Orion took a step forward and stopped frozen mid-motion. His eyes flickered to glance at Kael’s door then back to Kael himself.

Very slowly and quietly Kael caught his door swinging open, something that resembled the grudge shuffled through into the dark bedroom.

It was only when she got closer did Kael realize it was Morrigan half asleep and looking lethal. Her dark auburn hair waved around her face in knotted locks, there were dark bags underneath her eyes which themselves had somehow gone from a light pale green to a dark dangerous colour.

She glared directly at Kael, which left him with two people leveling him with a darkening stare.

“Why not just show him the damn articles?” She snapped turning to look at Orion.

He shook his head, “No, we agreed that we would keep those hidden for as long as possible. Besides that is in the past, he has no need to know” Orion sighed looking towards her.

She glanced to Kael her eyes suddenly shifting back to the soft light pale green from before. It was shocking to watch the change happen so quickly in somebody Kael had never been on the receiving end of a change of eye colour before, always on the giving end. Now that he had seen it he understood how it unnerved even the most stubborn hunters.

“You’ve already branded him, just let him know. It’s not like he can’t relate to me!” She shouted pointing at Kael with her thumb as she and Orion continued to stare each other down.

“No, that is my final decision Morrigan. Do not argue with me, Kael does not need to know. That is not the path you-”

Morrigan moved across the room faster than Kael could follow, she brought her fist into Orion’s chest plate causing him to stumble backwards. Shocked all Kael could do was gape at the feat, not in the million years he had known Orion had he even been close to doing that.

“Screw you and your goddamned paths. I don’t want to hear about it, there is no such thing as destiny, or fate. It’s all just some crack pipe dream.” She snarled at him her hands bunching around the sleeves of her pastel purple shirt.

She turned on her heel and walked to the door stopping before looking back at Kael, she looked as though she wanted to say something but Orion interrupted, “Morrigan wait!” Orion shouted at her.

Her shoulders went back and the muscles in her arms tightened, she spun on her heel not pausing this time as she slunk from the room. Kael had never seen something like that happen, he was sure of one thing Morrigan Letalias was a very peculiar girl. Even if she was meant to be the next Orion she was weird.

“Damnit Morrigan” Orion hissed his hand closing on air.

“What was that all about? Isn’t she supposed to believe in that ‘Crack-pipe dream’?” Kael spoke quietly glancing at Orion from the corner of his eye.

Orion released a heavy breath and dropped his head forward his dark pit black eyes focused on the ground, his pale white hair shifted from the movement. The tension rose in Kael’s bedroom until even breathing seemed to sound awkward.

“Morrigan had a troubled childhood Kael, she did not grow up as normal children did. And I did nothing to help her when I should have.” There was a feeling of heaviness to his words as though Orion, Death, himself carried the burden of her troubles.

It made Kael shift uncomfortably, he had never seen Orion look vulnerable before, it was unheard of. Slowly Orion raised his head back up to give Kael a pleading look.

“I need you to keep her safe, If anything more were to happen to her Kael…” he cut off and his hands tightened on the top of his cane, “I am asking you as a friend, to keep Morrigan safe and happy” Orion let out a long sigh.

Kael felt frozen, he couldn’t possibly turn Orion away after hearing how troubled he obviously was over this girl. Maybe Orion was in love with her? That would certainly explain why he would pick Kael to watch over her.

But the last time this happened Kael failed him, was there something else? Swallowing the striking and unfamiliar fear Kael cleared his throat.

“I can keep her safe, Happy may take a miracle. Are you really sure about choosing me Orion? I mean after what happened before-” Kaels voice choked off as he remembered the pain in his own chest, it was the only time Orion had ever been weak, and now he was the same with this woman.

“There is no other on this planet Kael that I could or would trust with her. Morrigan is dear to me. But I am not fit to protect her, nor will I ever be.” A death sentence if he had ever heard one, Orion had given up on even trying to protect her, whatever it was they were hiding it had affected Orion badly enough that he lost a confidence in himself.

Now Kael was even more interested in what secrets Death and Morrigan were hiding. And if anything a Demon was good at getting information.