A/N: Trigger warning, this gets intense.
Julius watched from the safety of the teeming crowd of mortals, unseen by his selected prey of choice. This woman was all that stood between his brother's descent into evil and his final fall into the hell Julius called home. She was his unlikely anchor in this strange, but fascinating mortal world. Once she was gone, Varagon would be at his mercy. Helpless against the many demons that she held at bay inside him.
Julius' slight satisfied smile faded as he leaned forward to study her intently, curiosity gleaming in his maddening silver eyes.
This one kept his brother from turning? What made her unique enough to command his brother's undivided attention and adoration? What made her so different from the rest of them? She was beautiful, but not exceptionally so. She was smart but not a genius. What was it?
The slender red haired female was just sitting there in an open arena, talking to the others that were swarming around her like gnats. It didn't even register in her mind to scan for danger or use her newfound gifts. If she had even found them yet. She didn't know that she was already halfway into another world.
She was powerful for a young one and the change had already affected her a great deal. Typically human, she paid no heed to the fangs itching in her mouth or the new keen senses she had. She was like them, oblivious to the fact that they were hunted. No caution in their movements or forethought to anything that they did.
Perfect targets.
Perfect prey.
Danger was standing around them, its teeth closing around their necks with the killing snap and they didn't even feel the bite of its fangs. Mortal, immortal what did it matter? He'd feasted on them all. He'd call them cattle but at least cattle had the sense to run.
He started to move forward, his body responding with an inhuman grace as he stood. It was time to kill. Something made him hesitate and he looked at her closer still. He just didn't get it. Looking deeper into her, he saw the sad faraway look in her eyes.
Julius found himself touching his mind to hers' to find the cause of her wistful look. The image of his brother jumped out at him so abruptly, he almost stumbled back out of automatic defense.
In the memory, Varagon was looking down at her tenderly, brushing her hair back from her face. Leaning down, he brushed a kiss over her soft trembling mouth. Love for him welled up inside her mind and inadvertently touched his.
As something in him reached out in a helpless response, Julius tore away his light contact with a wrenching effort and crouched down to the floor, chest heaving.
It was too late. The warm tendrils had followed and were imbedded in his mind. He had seen the deep love in his brother's eyes for this woman. Something strong inside of him balked at the thought of killing her. When he gained his feet and started to go towards her, his feet refused to go forward. He tried again with the same result.
I can't touch her. He realized. He was incapable of physically harming her. He ran his hands over his face hard as he felt frustration well up inside his gut and begin to churn. His hands curled into claws as his mind began to crumble. He had to do something to satisfy this craving for suffering inside of him, yet not touch her in anger.
A plan formed in his mind and he smiled, his fangs slightly showing. That was better than actually killing her.
He stood from where he was and walked towards her, his gait stealthy and smooth. He blended with the crowd and shielded his presence almost without thought. Not that these fools would look, but it never hurt to be cautious.
He reached her side and laid a hand on her shoulder. She jumped startled, under his hand and turned to face him, her smile friendly. He looked into her eyes as she boldly met his. He passed through her shields as if they weren't even there and planted a memory deep in her subconscious.
Screams echoed in her mind as bloody images flickered. His grip on her shoulder tightened as he made the memory realistic and horrifying. The things nightmares were made of. The feel of her own blood on her hands imprinted itself into her memory. The pain, the intense agony of being brutalized and abused became reality. She could hear the echo of her own screams in her ears as her world went black...
She was walking to the hotel after the show and was in no mood for trouble. Her head hurt. Her chest was aching from the pain that she carried around continually since Varagon had kicked her out. A shadow swooped overhead and was ignored carelessly. Why had he done that to her? What crime had she committed that was so wrong?
By loving him? Was that her crime? She laughed bitterly. That could have been it. The dry leaves skittered on the pavement past her as the wind began to blow in gusts. A dark figure loomed up out of nowhere. She halted and spoke, hating how typically female the words sounded.
"Who are you? What do you want?" Eerie husky laughter echoed down the empty street, bouncing off the buildings and magnifying. The deserted empty street. Before the fact that she was alone had been a comfort. Now it was a threatening menace.
"My name is Julius." The lithe figure stepped forward into the light of the streetlight. "And I want my brother's soul." The light gleamed off of his eyes like a feral animal and the cloudy night threw dark shadows at him so that only his face could be seen. Silver eyes gleamed at her as his smile flashed at his own melodramatic humor. "My brother has excellent taste in women. I'll have to remember to tell Varagon when I see him again."
"What do you want with Varagon?" her tone was harsh and her fear hidden well. Her eyes were cool, pulse steady. For all her bravado, she was scared. No amount of shielding could have prevented Julius from knowing just how afraid she was. He didn't despise her for her fear. It was good that she was afraid. His knowledge and skill had been gained over many millennia of existence and she was no match for him. Her fear revealed her intelligence.
"Feel my pain."
With those softly spoken words, a pain like no other she had ever encountered struck her with excruciating force. Her small body twisted in on itself as wave after wave swamped her. Her knees started to buckle as she felt swords, knives, bullets, and worse slice deeply into flesh. Burning like she had never imagined engulfed her body, mind and heart. Wounds appeared as she struggled to remain upright. No one could bear up under that much pain striking at once and she sank heavily to the ground with a moan.
He stood before her, smiling evilly. His molten silver eyes glowed with malice and a terrible voracious hunger that she was just beginning to understand. A creature that had been through all of what she had just encountered knew only pain and suffering. Nothing at all of mercy or forgiveness.
"This is a message for my brother. See that he receives it." He bent down and gently lifted her broken body into his strong arms. She tried to fight it as he looked deeply into her eyes, mesmerizing her but it was no use. His silver swirling gaze entranced her and she felt herself falling into them.
She found herself leaning forward and sinking her newly developed fangs into his well-muscled chest. The rich blood flowed into her mouth and made her crave more. He made her drink deeply before he released her from the compulsion. To make it worse, he released her in mid swallow so that she realized what she was doing and tried to jerk back choking. He laughed at her horror and her vain attempts to retreat. He held her head to him and forced her to finish. His grip on her waist was unbreakable. "Do you want to know what women are good for?" he growled in a mock of romantic passion next to her neck as she drank. He spoke out loud deliberately so that she could feel his fangs brushing her vulnerable skin as they lengthened. She trembled despite herself at his implications. He jerked her against him tightly when she didn't answer. "If you don't answer me, then I have to go looking for the answer elsewhere." Before she had a chance to build any type of shield, he thrust his mind into hers smoothly.
With that act, he was letting her know that no matter how she fought him, she would do exactly what he wanted her to. Her rising fear started to drown out everything else even her basic need for survival. He felt her begin to falter and slide down into blessed oblivion.
"Oh no you don't, I want you coherent for this." he whispered as he cleared her mind with ease. "Let's see what I can do that truly terrifies you." An image of Varagon bleeding and dying swam into view. "Your first fear is sweet and endearing, but hardly relevant." he mocked in a bored tone of voice. "My brother's death will come, but his suffering will do for now." Delilah tried desperately to shield her fears from him but he merely swept the shield aside carelessly, rolling his eyes at her pathetic attempts.
"Please, don't..." she whispered as she felt his triumph at his discoveries. She had the fears every woman had when she was alone and vulnerable to a dominant male.
"Please don't, what? Rape you? I could do what you fear, but add an element to your experience that you seem to have overlooked in your terror. I could force you, but why go to that trouble? I could do it and make you beg me for more pain. More blood. I could do things to you that you have never even dreamed of in your most terrifying nightmares. I could take you repeatedly any way I wished, in any form I wished. I could make you cry out in pain, then weep because I stop, "His hands turned into talons and bit into her hips, making her stifle a cry. "If that was my plan, I wouldn't do it standing." he spun her around and started to shove her down. He changed his mind and became even more cruel. Julius released her and stepped back.
"Look at me." he commanded. "I can make you do things that would burn themselves in your memory and make you cringe centuries from now. Understand me?" Delilah found herself nodding in agreement. "On your knees. Gracefully too. I wouldn't want you to get unnecessary bruising." He smiled slightly at the irony. Despite her many injuries and her mind's screams of denial, she sank to her knees. He followed her descent down. On his knees behind her, he smiled at her mind's frantic denial. "Interesting picture." he said casually. "The many things I could do. Choices, choices. How to choose the best... I know. I'll let you decide." He withdrew from her mind, drawing her into his. Drawn into a churning vortex, surrounded by madness and dripping blood.
Swirling images of atrocities being committed jumped out at her then receded only to jump at her again. The screams and begging of the dying and soon to be dead filled her ears. All of them had died at his hands...eventually. It was then that she fully comprehended the true nature of the monster holding her captive.
She reached out to one of the images before she realized who it was. It was Varagon as he had been centuries before. Lying unconscious at Julius's feet. The shame of what he had done rose up and she witnessed the struggle he had went through afterwards. How he had called out to the gods for help and they never came.
He whisked her away from the scene deftly and surrounded her in the overwhelming yet somehow soothing darkness of his inner mind.
"I don't want you driven as insane as I am, now do I? Varagon has to understand your incoherent babbling. Your choices, my lady." The first image was graphic, the second undeniably barbaric and from there it went on. Scene after brutal scene of violence in a way every woman fears the most. But the acts themselves weren't the worst thing being done to her in these scenarios that he presented to her. In every single one, she was begging him to continue hurting her. After the last one, he pushed her from his mind back into hers and she was back in her own body with him not even touching her.
Her breath was coming out in sobs and her body shook uncontrollably. His rigid control of her mind was all that kept her from having a complete breakdown and he made sure she knew it.
"Turn and face me." he spoke softly inside her mind. She turned and looked up at him. A spark of courage still flickered in her mind and he admired her for it. She deserved a reward for even being sane after that. He cupped her face in his clawed hands gently. "What you saw will haunt you forever. Trust me when I say you'll never forget those images. You'll never be the same unless I say differently. They'll never happen to you though. You will be afraid for a long time, years even. Perhaps more, since you and my brother have separated for now. But, rest assured that I won't rape and kill you. I'm going to do something worse. Offer your blood to me." When she tilted her head back against her will, he shook his head. "You made two mistakes. The location. I'm not going to take blood from your neck. I'm going to take it from where you took mine. Your second mistake was in not asking me. For that I'm going to make you beg."
As he told her that, her mind, traumatized beyond belief, stopped whimpering and froze in fear. She had thought that after her journey into his mind, her pride had disintegrated. She discovered that she still had some left. And every bit of it balked at his command. "Take my blood. Please." she choked out. Her shirt disappeared as she spoke. She made no move to cover herself. Why bother when he already knew her better than she did?
"That is begging? You are on the same level as I and you call it begging? Again." She went on her hands and knees in front of him, hating herself but not being able to control it. She begged and pleaded. He made her try again twice more before he bent his head and sank his fangs into her flesh. The pain lanced through her as it usually did but this time it didn't stop. She screamed loudly in her mind, but never uttered a word vocally. Weakness began to spread as he kept drinking, kept taking. His mind kept hers from slipping into oblivion as he jerked his fangs from her, unconsciously sealing the wound. "You never answered my first question." he spoke in the same casual tone that he had used before. "Do you know what most women are good for? Their blood and their body. Tell my brother." He left her lying on the earth, disappearing in the mist. The last thing she remembered was his eyes glowing softly, the malevolence in them fading and being replaced with something resembling an apology?...
Julius withdrew his hand from Delilah's shoulder and gave her a tight smile. Her face drained of all color as she collapsed onto the arena floor. In the chaos that followed, Julius turned and walked out of the crowd. No one ever knew that he was there.
Dimos scooped her up as he scanned the grounds. Nothing was there, but something had made her collapse. Varagon needed to know about this.
"Varagon, your mate needs you!"
"I have no mate."
"She just passed out for no reason with fear on her face. Check her if you don't believe me!"
"Leave me be."
"Damn! " Dimos swore, walking towards the door and going out. Delilah stirred in his arms.
"Put me down." she said hoarsely, sensing who he was trying to contact. He ignored her and kept going. She pushed at his arms and added a sharp jolt. "Now." He let go with a curse and she started walking. She felt vulnerable and exposed out in the open. She called the protection of her goddess around her as she walked down the busy street. Delilah felt a warm enveloping blanket surround her and knew that her call had been answered. She straightened and went home, knowing that she was protected for the moment.
Aradia swore fluently in mixture of Greek and English and shoved away from her viewing globe. He had to go and do something like that, just when she was starting to like him. She paused in the act of kicking her cauldron and thought for a moment. But he hadn't actually hurt her.
Granted the memory was enough to make even her shiver, but Delilah lived still. Unharmed physically. She'd seen the struggle he had gone through in the rafters to the building. He had gone there to kill her. Delilah was suffering, but suffering could heal with time.
Couldn't it? Doubts swam in Aradia's mind as she glanced over at her globe that still showed Delilah clearly. If only Varagon would be there to help her. A goddess like her could only give so much protection.
Delilah stumbled into her room after shaking off the boys. Twice. Those two were driving her crazy in their efforts to guard her. She just needed to be alone to forget about what had happened to her. She shivered as she remembered the cruelty in Julius' eyes. She had thought she'd seen a glimmer of apology but she wasn't willing to take the chance. She would just lay back and sleep.
That's what she needed. Sleep. To dream of what could have been, had a certain wrestler had the guts to admit what he felt. She knew that he needed her. He may not love her but he needed her. She collapsed onto her bed in her hotel room, fighting back the pain. Alright, Delilah. Think of something else. Think of a good thing. Like the first time we'd met. With a wistful sigh, she closed her eyes and lay back.
Varagon landed on the balcony and looked in at Delilah. He hadn't been able to resist coming to see her. To check on her. Especially since he'd received word of an attack. He still owed her enough to protect her.
"I love you, Varagon. "The words echoed in his mind. He hadn't had a peaceful moment since she'd said those words to him. A part of him yearned to repeat her loving words and heal her heart, regardless of what it cost them both later. But what if...
Laying on her stomach, Delilah rested her head in her hands. She was daydreaming on the bed, unaware of his watchful gaze. She needed to be more careful. He could have been anybody. Wondering about the dreamy look on her face, he touched her mind, only to withdraw in shock.
Him. She was daydreaming about him. Varagon couldn't believe it. After all he'd done to her, she was still daydreaming about him. He is what was putting that incredible smile on her face.
Unable to resist, he opened the door and went in to the room. With a whispered word, he sent the impression of a dream. She looked up at him with a faint smile. Her visions of him had been strong enough to create a projection. They had said it was likely that her powers would increase with age. She thought with a sigh. Well, was there any reason she couldn't enjoy it while it lasted? She turned over and held her hand out in offering.
She needed the comfort of him right now even if it was an illusion. He took it and sank onto the bed beside her. He kissed her tenderly, moving his hands over her. She leaned back and gave in to the hallucination. That's what it had to be. He had made it clear what he thought of her. His mouth shifted to her neck and stroked it with his velvety tongue.
She loved it when he fed from her. It was an exhilarating feeling to know that you were providing for the one you loved.
Varagon's eyes closed painfully as he heard her thoughts. At least he could give her a night of pure pleasure. Anything she thought of, he'd do. Until dawn.
His fangs sank into her neck and her night of pleasure began. She had never seen Varagon like this before and it made her uneasy at first. He seemed too perfect. Then she realized something.
Of course he was. It was her dream. Whatever she wanted to happen would happen. All night they went on. And when she awoke the next morning, she was alone.
She closed her eyes against a sob and got up. She wandered around the room aimlessly, feeling brittle. She couldn't think of what she needed to do. She knew that there were things that she needed to do, but she couldn't concentrate. Her mind was shrouded in a heavy fog.
The only thing she wanted to do was crawl in bed and dream again. She didn't want to be alone but she didn't know anybody well enough to call them up on a whim. Then she would have to pretend to be all right. She wasn't alright.
She needed family. Didn't her sister move here a few weeks ago? Delilah picked up the phone and called her sister Amy.
"Hey, baby sis, what's going on?" her sister's voice made her stifle a sob. "Alright Delilah tell me what's wrong." her sister repeated in a firm voice, playfulness gone.
"It's Varagon. He..." her voice broke off.
"I'm coming over. You're still at your hotel, right? The one you insisted on staying in instead of my house? Good. I'm on my way." Delilah hung up the phone and started to crack. Ruthlessly she shored up her defenses.
About five minutes later, she heard a knock on the door.
"Hey little sister let me in. I've brought reinforcements." Delilah got up and opened the door. In the hallway, stood all thirteen of her brothers and sisters. Even Wendy had shown up.
She felt herself break and was soon surrounded in her family's arms. Amy, the one that knocked, came in and went into the kitchen, long auburn hair swinging loose behind her. As the rest of them came in, Delilah smelled fresh tea brewing. When Delilah seen even Angelina and Rain there, she knew she had sounded bad. Those two were rarely seen before the sun set. Their vampiric side gave them distaste for sunshine and it was dawn.
She let out a half sob half laugh when a light brown wolf loped up to her and smothered her face with affectionate licks. The ache inside her dampened some. She had been right to call them. They were overprotective, smothering but they loved her no matter what.
"Luke, stop it." He shifted into a man with the same shaggy hair as the wolf and hugged her tightly. He steered her toward the couch and sat down with her. Concern and love were evident on every face. She was one of the baby girls of the family and nobody liked to see her hurt.
Rain and Angelina exchanged glances. They should have never listened to Romanus. That wrestler had hurt their sister.
"Alright, so who do we have to kill?" Rain said lightly crouching in front of her, his long white hair pulled back, silver gray eyes intense. "Amy mentioned something about some guy." Rain's gaze sharpened as he sniffed the air catching a foreign scent on his sister. Luke and Rain's eyes met in agreement. He'd smelled it too. "Did he hurt you?" he asked, eyes narrowing. She shook her head at her brother.
"Not physically." she answered. Her other brother Michael winced as he came into the room and she groaned inwardly.
Great, just what she needed. The nosiest empath on the planet snooping around her broken heart. He smiled even as he rubbed over his heart.
"Emotionally is a different story." he said gently, sitting on her other side. His deep blue eyes were full of very real sympathy. He was irritating but she loved him anyway.
Delilah felt a warm hand on her shoulder and glanced up into her sister Heather's deep green eyes. It was no surprise her hand was warm. Really warm. Her and Amy shared the same fiery gifts. They were both talented fire witches.
Heather would understand a broken heart. She had already gone through it herself with Chrystain. She met Delilah's gaze and smiled with a sad understanding. She'd hoped her little sister wouldn't go through this. The fanged ones were harder to handle than most.
"You didn't answer Rain's question, Delilah. Who do we need to kill?" a deep flowing feminine voice spoke seriously. Delilah shook her head as Wendy and Johnny crouched beside Rain. Wendy's forest green eyes were sharp and watchful going over her with a penetrating stare. Rain put a cautionary hand on Wendy's leg.
"You aren't going to like what she has to say." he warned.
"Rain!" Delilah said furiously. She had no intentions of telling them that...
"She was being sweet and letting us settle, before she told us that she'd been attacked, right Delilah?" Angelina spoke sweetly standing behind Wendy, a hand on her shoulder.
Every one of her brothers straightened and looked at her with a censoring look. Sometimes having multiple telepathic siblings sucked royally, she thought miserably. She buried her head in Heather's leg, who stroked her hair soothingly.
Trista bit her lip and stood up beside Heather. She knew what it was like to be attacked and left for dead.
"Maybe she needed some time to heal first." she ventured cautiously. "Especially if it was recent." As all eyes went to her, she ducked her head and smoothed back her hair. A strong hand gripped her shoulder reassuringly and she glanced back at the big blonde man behind her with a smile. "Just a thought." She added. Hunter squeezed. He knew how hard it was for her to speak up. He hadn't gotten over having to leave her there, so he remedied it by quitting the order and staying with her. Constantly. They both knew that healing took time.
"Of course she did." Another voice chimed in brightly. "This is why she called us. Quit glaring, guys or this will be an all-girl party." Trista smiled at Leigh who had just came out of the kitchen where she had been helping Amy. She looked the part of a cheerful faery with her spiked hair and delicate features. Rain looked back at her with his heart in his eyes and was silently forgiven by Delilah. He was just worried about her.
"Why can't we do that anyway?" Melissa spoke from the doorway, her blue eyes sparked with mischief. "We'd be able to talk about them in peace then." Her gaze lingered on Johnny's blonde head and strong back for a moment, then looked at Delilah with a wicked smile and a wink. "Although, we'd have more fun with them here." Johnny smiled a decidedly wolfish smile then sprang up at her, shifting into the wolf and diving between her legs.
He nipped the back of her leg and when she whirled with an indignant glare, he shifted back to human form and smiled daringly.
"Agreed." he said, smirking. She laughed and hugged him tightly. She then turned and went into the room with the others, settling on the arm of the couch. An energy surge in the room had everyone but Michael looking around. He just looked up and smiled.
"I was wondering when you coming in, Hayley. I thought you were right behind me." he said. A black haired girl with a streak of bright green in her hair stood in the doorway. She answered him, walking in.
"I was but then this cute little cat got locked out of his room. I helped him open the door. He'd locked his card in the room." Michael frowned at the interest in her tone as Delilah laughed roughly.
"You met Garik." she said. "His room is next to mine." He was one of the many guards that had posted themselves nearby in case she needed them. Surrounded by the soothing energy of her family, she could see how worried everyone else had been too. She hadn't realized how many friends she had gained recently. Dimos was across the hall, Randy was next to him. Leo and Jason were on her other side. She half suspected that the whole floor had been commandeered.
"Little cat?" Michael said questioningly, breaking into her thoughts.
"He's a shapeshifter. A mountain lion to be precise. That's something I've noticed about this place. It's crawling with our kind of normal people."
"There's a thing as normal in our family?" a female voice asked jokingly. A short emerald-eyed woman with light brown hair and fair skin came out, carrying the tray of cups. She set it down on the coffee table and plopped onto the loveseat. "So who attacked you?" Tala asked, showing that she had been listening to the conversation. Delilah glanced at Wendy hesitantly before answering. Rain cursed and sat back as he read her answer as she said it.
"Julius." Wendy shot to her feet and was only restrained by Angelina's hand before she bolted out the door.
"We are needed here more." she said gently. Wendy bit back her anger and sat down, picking up a cup of tea. "Tell us what happened." Delilah took a deep breath and began. Her family sat back and listened, most with a rising anger at the people that attacked one of their own.
After the story was finished, they all moved away from the subject knowing the pain would only lessen in time. Besides, they could decide what to do without her there. She needed protection, they just had to decide how to provide it best.
They finally left as the sun was setting and no sooner had they left than the cramping started.
Randy burst into the room as she fell off of the couch, pain enveloping her. Her body hit floor before Randy could catch her. He'd smelled her scent start changing from across the hall. She was one of the few decent people that he'd ever met. He hadn't minded keeping an eye on her.
It was a good thing he had, he thought as he seen her double over. He picked her up and put her on the bed. She didn't even notice his presence.
Varagon was walking to his locker when he felt it. A burning, twisting, gnawing pain. He staggered and held onto the corner of the wall, trying to reach past the pain. His fingers gripped the concrete leaving indentations in the stone. That's when he heard Delilah's scream of agony.
In a panic, he reached for her only to find her in excruciating pain. She mentally sobbed out, calling for him.
"Varagon, help me. I need you." Helplessly, he felt the pain strike again. Unable to bear it, he pushed his way into her mind to shield her from the worst. Panic clawed its way up into his throat as the brunt of it hit him. What was doing this to her?
"I'm coming, Delilah. Just hold on... please hold on." The fact that he received no answer made him worry that much more. He searched her mind to find out what was hurting her and found that it was her own body turning on her. Her muscles were contorting and shifting inside of her, taking on a strange new shape. He took to the air, flying to reach her side.
His own stomach twisted as the pain tore through her again viciously. From out of nowhere, an invisible force hit him, pushing him irrefutably back. Varagon relentless in his goal pressed ahead. Delilah let out another anguished scream and he roared in powerless frustration, slamming against the barrier heedlessly. A figure hurtled at him from above, driving him to the hard ground.
He turned and fought it, blindly with an uncontrolled desperation. He landed on the ground and regained his footing. Varagon saw a figure materialize in front of him. The man smiled, showing gleaming fangs and bowed mockingly, eyes gleaming.
Varagon regarded the man in front of him, knew only that he was keeping him from Delilah when she needed him. Still, he felt her pain lashing at him, punishing them both. His eyes grew grim as he surveyed his opponent.
"You really don't remember, do you?" Julius spoke softly, his eyes expressionless and barren of emotion.
"Get out of my way." It startled Julius slightly, with its smooth pure purr designed to pierce even the most evil shell. It was a remnant of who he used to be. Only the storm growing reflected his anger. His surprise was masked and filed away for later thought. Julius remained motionless until white-hot lightning struck at him.
Like a rocket, Varagon took to the air again. And again he was cut off and turned on the only thing stopping him with a snarl. Julius countered with mocking ease. Varagon came at him with a blinding fury of punches and kicks. At first, it threw Julius off balance. It had been a while since he'd had to rely on physical force rather than magical. He threw himself into the fight with glee. This was fun.
He returned Varagon's punches with an attack of his own. Varagon landed a few blows and Julius threw back his head and laughed joyfully as his mouth filled with blood. It'd been a long time since he'd tasted his own blood. Another punch landed and he caught the next rain of kicks.
Then returned them with a joyful shout. They fought bitterly and long with Varagon's frustration mounting with each blow that was countered. He couldn't kill this enemy. This had to be the man Reaper had spoken of. He had more skill in battle than any Varagon had ever seen. He emptied his arsenal of moves then began using a combination of magic and brutality.
"Very good, Varagon. I see you haven't forgotten everything." Julius mocked with a taunting smile. Then blocked the attacks with an ease that infuriated Varagon. He called upon chain lightning that hit it's target. Seven times in a row, lightning struck Julius. The air sizzled as the final lightning flash faded. Julius' laughter came out of the inferno. Julius stepped out of it, untouched but with a large smile and shining eyes.
"Do that again!" he demanded with an elated smile. "It feels exhilarating to fight someone who knows how to go in for the kill with style. Unfortunately, lightning doesn't kill me. But speaking of death, how's Delilah doing?" he asked his face a mask of concern. Varagon cursed and started to rise. Julius flung him down. "Leaving so soon?"
Julius fought or rather toyed with him, certain of a win either way. For as the battle continued, Delilah was in pain and alone without him. Varagon could not win.
Delilah screamed, her voice cracking under the strain as her pores began to sweat blood. In a move that surprised Julius, he abandoned their battle and dove into the ground, unable to withstand her suffering.
Julius was inscrutable, not giving away the conflicting urges he was having.
The voice that drove him to madness demanded he follow and kill both Varagon and his mate.
The other urged him to follow and help heal them both.
In the end, he did neither and watched his brother as he tunneled under the earth. The fierce storm clouds started to dissipate and the first stars came out of hiding. The man watching his brother speed toward his salvation noticed only that the clouds had gone. The stars were of no use to him. He already had one of his own.