‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ ☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙
"That's not fair!" Ayaz said, throwing down his deck of cards onto the table.
"You have an awful poker face," Caspian muttered, taking a sip out of his ale.
"No, I have a fine poker face," Ayaz said, running a hand through his hair. He blew my cards out of my hand so that they fluttered onto the table, revealing my hand. "It's not my fault that Eira's face is just frozen in place. Pun intended." We were currently on one of the numerous balconies that jutted out from Vellichor, sitting at a table, cards in our hands, drinks at our sides. We had taken today easy, light training, a big breakfast. It had been almost...peacful. Needless to say, I was enjoying it.
"Yeah, she's almost as bad as Sable," Gray muttered, taking a long sip of his wine beside me. He had put a new meaning on the term "day drinking". I was tempted to take the bottle away from him...because that was what he had moved onto...the wine bottle.
I glanced over at Sable to see him leaning back in his seat, completely stoic. He really was the perfect card player. He looked angry, but then again he always looked angry, so he was practically neutral the entire time. Ayaz was a terrible card player, with Nazira coming in at a close second. She grinned too much.
"Sable could glare Eira under the table," Caspian said.
"Well thanks for taking my side," I said, glaring at him. Caspian shrugged, hiding a grin behind his hand.
"We're taking sides now?" Sable asked. It was one of the first things he had said since we started the game. The cadre took their card games very seriously. "I didn't know we were dueling."
"Duelings a strong word," I muttered, looking at him over the rim of my glass. I only had tea in my cup since the last time I had anything to drink it ended up with me making Sable confess all his darkest secrets. I certainly was not letting that happen again. Especially after the...progress we had made. It had been two weeks since the trip to Nereid and things had been oddly...comfortable. I had been progressing with my training, I had even taken up dagger fighting. Nazira had taught me how to wield one and I had actually gotten quite good. I had also been growing closer to the cadre, who had taken me in as one of their own, acting like I had belonged the entire time.
"I'd duel you," I said suddenly. Sable's fingers drummed against the tabletop, he stared down at me, the corner of his mouth raising ever so slightly.
"You think you can?" he asked. His voice was quiet, lethal, it sounded somewhere between a growl and a hum.
"I've been advancing in my training," I said, leaning forward. It was a warm day outside, and I was wearing a blue dress, one that billowed in the breeze. Sable was wearing his usual getup, except today he was wearing a shirt with stripes...quite the statement.
"A little snow doesn't scare me, love," he said.
"And you think your shadows do?" I asked. The multiple markings on my skin from those shadows seemed to burn under his gaze. We both knew that was a lie. They scared me less than they had when I first met him, but knowing what they were capable of...it was hard not to get terrified.
"I think they do," he said, leaning back. As if on cue, a shadow suddenly wrapped around my ankle and the leg of the chair. I gasped as my chair was pulled forward, squeaking against the ground. My chair only stopped when it hit his own. My legs bumped his and his boots trapped my ankles.
He leaned close to me, licking at his lips. "Want to take back that dueling statement now?" he purred.
"Nope," I said, my voice nothing but a rasp. He leaned forward, when a voice sounded from across the table. Someone else cleared their throat. I heard Ayaz cough loudly into his sleeve.
"Seems rather hot today, doesn't it?" Ayaz said, pulling at his collar. I practically jumped away from Sable, who was now leaning back in his seat, his expression relaxed. I felt something soft touch my neck and I nearly jumped out of my skin as I realized it was one of his shadows. The tendril prodded at the sore muscles of my back and shoulders, that ached from all the training. I nearly moaned right there.
"Wow, do I see steam in the air?" Ayaz asked, scratching at the back of his neck.
"You guys should get a room," Gray muttered, taking another swig. I had practically forced him to come today. Sable had protested at first, saying Gray wouldn't have wanted to come, and he didn't, but I was stubborn and practically dragged him. Well...Caspian dragged him, since he was the one to carry him up to Vellichor. That man was strong as hell.
"Don't you think you should slow it down, Silver?" Ayaz asked, looking over at Gray.
"No, I think you can shove it, Breezy," Gray said. Wind whistled around us, causing my hair to stir. It wasn't a natural wind...but a magical one. I saw Gray clench his hand and the metal knife beside him crumbled into a ball.
"Not all of us like to see you off your face all the time. You think it's attractive?" Ayaz asked.
"Do you?" Gray asked, squinting up at him. Ayaz's cheeks flooded pink and he swallowed hard. More wind billowed around us, and Sable got out of his seat, his shadows flickering around him.
"Shouldn't you be screwing some princess?" Ayaz asked. "Oh wait, you fucked that one up already. Fucked it up so bad she took your cousin-" Gray burst forward across the table, a fork clutched in his hand that was already morphing into some sort of sharp blade.
Nazira grabbed Ayaz by the shoulders and pushed him back at the same time I blasted ice at Gray's legs, freezing him in place. He cursed something colorful as he continued trying to lunge at Ayaz, who was fighting against Nazira's hold. Originally, I thought only Gray and Sable had some secret tension between them. But now I was starting to realize that it seemed that all the members of the cadre had tendrils of tension between them.
"Let me go, Eira!" Gray snarled. I stormed up to him, pulling the strange weapon that used to be a fork out of his hand.
"Not until you calm the hell down," I said, letting the ice crawl up until it was dangerously close to something he'd rather not have frozen. "You've been drinking all day, you're not thinking straight."
"I'm sober enough to know that little weasel insulted me," Gray practically spat at Ayaz.
"Weasel?" Ayaz let out a sharp laugh. "At least I'm respected in the palace." Gray snarled and leaped forward. I built more ice around his legs, scared that somehow he'd shatter the impenetrable stuff.
"Alright, that's enough," Sable said slowly. I turned to see that he was roiling with darkness. Ayaz had been cut off, but he had said something about a princess and Sable...what did he mean? And why did I want to know so bad?
I saw Ayaz's face fall as he faced his friend. "Sable, I didn't mean-"
"You did," Sable said. "Ayaz, take a breather. Gray, take a tonic and a shower, and neither of you come back until you can stop yourselves from ripping off each other's heads." The fire between Gray and Ayaz simmered down until both of them looked less angry and more ashamed.
"Sable-" Gray started.
"Go," Sable said, interrupting him. I gave a confused look to Caspian but he simply shook his head, sticking close to Nazira, who leaned her shoulder into him. Those two had been getting awfully close lately. Not that I should have been thinking about that now...
Ayaz had just started to leave when there was a strange buzzing in my head. I let out a gasp as a sharp pain pounded through my head. My legs gave out and I collapsed to the ground, or I would have, had an arm not wrapped around my waist.
"Eira, what-" Sable's words were cut off with a groan of his own. He staggered back into a chair, pulling me down with him so that I was in his lap. I would have been embarrassed had the pain not been increasing tenfold. Sable and I weren't the only ones in pain though. I watched as Nazira, Ayaz, and Caspian all doubled over, clutching at their heads. The only one unaffected was Gray.
Come to me, my cadre. I have a mission for you. A voice growled in my head. I could hardly contain the horror bubbling up deep inside my chest. That wasn't any voice...that was king Gabriel's voice.
The pain suddenly vanished and I sucked in a breath, feeling that otherly power slowly start to leave my body. Hot blood dripped down my nose and into my mouth. "What the hell was that?" I gasped. Sable shifted underneath me and I sprang up. Gods above, I had been in Sable Diedre's lap.
"The king," Nazira said, starting to stand. Her eyes were foggy, but no blood dripped from her nose. No one's nose was dripping. My human mind...fuck. My mind gave too much resistance. I had probably been in more pain than the others.
Sable stood and I felt his front brush my back. "Looks like Eira's going to be going on her first mission as a member of the cadre."
"That's impossible. We cleared out that space once before," Ayaz said, taking a step forward. We were in the throne room. The cadre and I were before the king. He had made us bow once we got in and I knew I hadn't imagined it as I felt some other worldly power force me to bow lower.
"There are half-fae there still, so it appears that you didn't do your job correctly," the king growled, leaning back in his seat. He looked worse today than he did before. His face was pale, his gray hair clinging to his temples. His amber eyes looked bright, feverish. But the worst part of it all was his crown. It looked to be a darker shade of black than it ever had before. And the...power emanating off of it, off of him....it made me want to be sick.
"My apologies, your majesty," Sable said. He had stuck by my side as we entered the throne room, not bothering to head to the front of the group to face the king. He could probably taste my fear. "We'll get it done."
"I'm sure you will, my killer," Gabriel growled, I saw Sable's shoulders stiffen ever so slightly. He had centuries of experience with the king, and yet he still made him tense. "Remember, any stragglers you see will be sent to slavery, anyone showing any type of resistance is to be killed, understood?" I sucked in a sharp breath, my heart hammering against my collarbone. I felt a shadow wrap around my elbow, as if that would've consoled me.
"Understood, miss Gellert?" the king asked, noting my discomfort. I couldn't rely on my voice so I simply nodded, trembling in anger. "Good. Now get out of my sight," He threw down one of his black marbles, the ones that'd transport us places, and the world dissolved in smoke. I felt Sable's hand grip my arm and I didn't rip it away, I let him hold me as my stomach dipped and the world swayed.
The smoke cleared and the smell of ash and burning wood met my nose. I stepped away from Sable the moment I saw the carnage before us. We appeared to be in some sort of village. Or....what used to be a village. I looked on in horror at the cottages that were either smoking, burnt to ash, or were actively aflame. The whole village was in shambles. Broken glass littered the floor, shoes were on the ground, probably from when the half-fae were desperate for an escape.
"They didn't go into hiding," Ayaz said, cupping the back of his neck. His cheeks were flushed, his breathing heavy. "We told them to go into hiding." Nazira placed a hand on his shoulder, comforting him. Everyone was wearing leather, including me. I had five different blades on me. I even had a dagger strapped to my thigh, some tucked into my boots, others to my arms. Sable had a large sword strapped to his back, something he always brought to battle, apparently. Ayaz had a bow across his back, Caspian had his throwing stars, and Nazira had her staff.
"What do you mean you told them to go into hiding?" I asked.
"We've been to this village before. We lied to the king when he told us to kill all the half-fae. We told them to run instead," Ayaz sucked in a breath, running a hand through his hair. "They didn't leave though, they must've stayed."
"Idiots," Sable muttered. I glanced over at him to see his face was ashen, his eyes dark. "Fae soldiers must've found them out and ransacked their village."
"And now we're stuck doing damage control," Caspian said, his hands tightening at his sides. I tried to fight the nausea welling up inside of me. Damage control.
We walked through the village, scanning the streets for any sign of life. We had only been walking for a few minutes when a scream pierced the air. The temperature around us dropped as my powers stirred.
"Eira-" Caspian said, "You're still new, you shouldn't-" I wasn't listening to him though, not as I saw Sable evaporate into nothing but shadow. I turned on my heel and sprinted in the direction of the scream. Ice burst from where my feet fell and I felt the tips of my fingers grow blue. I needed to help those people. I needed to stop Sable.
I skidded to a stop in the center of the village, gaping as I saw Sable plunge a dagger into a man's leg. He screamed, slumping against the wall Sable had him pinned to. He was a half-fae man, his features much less prominent than the fae I was so used to seeing now. His face was pale, his features pinched as he tried to keep in his pain.
"Sable stop!" I screamed, starting to run forward, but then two solid bands of shadow wrapped themselves around me, keeping me in place. I screamed as I was forced to my knees, his shadows wrapped themselves so tightly around me that I couldn't even use my hand to steer my power at him. "You bastard," I growled.
"Don't be rash, Eira," Sable said. The man lunged to run away from Sable, but the killer shoved his fist into the man's throat. The man fell to his knees, coughing. Sable didn't give him time to rest as he grabbed him by the collar and hauled him to his feet.
"Where are the rest?" Sable demanded. "Not all of them could have been found by soldiers. Others are hiding, aren't they?"
"Let him go!" I screamed, fighting against his hold. I opened my mouth to scream again, but something soft wrapped itself around my mouth, keeping my cries in. A shadow. He was gagging me with a freaking shadow.
"You wouldn't protect them before but you want to now?" Sable demanded. The man only shook his head, tears sparkling in his eyes. "I should kill you." I screamed through closed lips, fighting to rip myself from the shadows. "But I'll settle for ripping the secrets from you instead." I watched in horror as two dark tendrils shot towards the man and slipped...slipped inside his skull. The half-fae's eyes turned all black and he went slack. So I was finally watching the great interrogator himself shred through someone's mind for their secrets. I felt like I was going to be sick.
Sable's shoulders tightened just moments before he grabbed the man and slammed him against the wall. The man went unconscious and Sable threw him to the ground, panting hard. As soon as the man was on the floor, the shadows around me fell away and I fell forward, sucking in huge gasps of air.
Sable turned, looking back at me. "Eira, let me explain. I-"
"Don't," I said. "You...you're just like the stories they tell about you." My voice shook as I struggled to my feet, my entire body trembling. My teeth chattered together.
"I thought you were different but you're not. You should be terrified of yourself." He took a step forward, his hand, which was covered in blood, reached out to me. "I know I am." He opened his mouth to speak but I had already raised my hand. In a moment, a wall of ice separated us. I watched his silhouette move forward behind the wall. Running at me. I heard the dull thud as he banged his fists against it. He yelled something, but I was already running down the street, heading towards the trees I saw in the distance. I always went to the forest for solace. And right now, I needed solace more than anything.