Dark Imaginings
Shadow Curse
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Cu’Ren’s presence when he arrived. The elf
sat with his back resting against the thick wood pole in the centre of the tent
and merely continued to stare fixedly at the hide walls as though he could see
something interesting that the Lycean could not.
standing over the elf. “Get up.”
although his eyes blazed a tad harder.
him to him feet and crushing him against his chest.
Cu’Ren started to brush against him.
Arithien hissed in outraged and he struggled against the Lycean’s hold.
thrust the elf hard, face first against the thick wood pole.
quickly when he heard Cu’Ren exhale a sharp breath and he realised his actions
could be misconstrued as encouragement. Instead, he glared at the Lycean over his
shoulder. “If this is another pathetic
attempt on your part to humiliate me, as soon as I
can, I promise that I’ll find a way to run you through.”
Cu’Ren chortled contemptuously.
“I wouldn’t bother wasting my time attempting anything with you.”
back of the elf’s shoulders to hold him still while he continued to wipe his
hard body against the Silheen’s lithe one.
“This is for your protection. As
soon as anyone smells my scent they won’t touch you.”
to fall for that rubbish?” Arithien
looked furiously over him shoulder. “I
can feel your...”
Cu’Ren’s voice was a soft, husky growl in him ear.
and drew a sharp, angry breath. “I can
feel your... arousal!”
and logically, I need to be aroused to excrete the pheromones to do that.”
Arithien’s own crisp, rich scent and floated on their body heat to fill his
nostrils in heady waves that forced shivers to erupt over his grey hued
skin. “Can’t you smell that?”
and inhaled deeply. “No.
– just. “And don’t flatter yourself,
elf. I may be marking you like a bitch
but I have no intention of making you mine.”
an expression of disgust. “You Lycean
into thinking you deserve a place among us but you are little more than animals
who can’t control your compulsions.”
Cu’Ren’s face. “You have your head
shoved so far up your own arse, Silheen
that you’ve grown accustomed to the scent of your own shit and think it smells
like Jasmine. Let me clue you in.”
you consider being covered in honey and staked over a live nest of flesh eating
ants as foreplay. They want you dead,
especially after what just happened with the Blood Guard.
enough to stand in the Ring of Law is my scent.
It marks you as being under my personal protection in the event you incite
one of the warriors to kill you by opening your venomous mouth – and from what
I’ve seen, you do that often.” He
straightened and eyed the seething Silheen up and down.
underhanded as you have proven yourself to be, as part of my pack, sickens me
more than you can begin to imagine. Even
more than it disgusted you, but it’s the only thing that will see you live
beyond the setting of the sun and Lycean laws upheld.”
what is or isn’t ‘underhanded’.” Arithien
chuckled contemptuously. “So much for
the Lycean claim that they hold the most enlightened law code the world has
ever seen. The fact that you have to go
to such extreme measures to ensure one of your prisoners isn’t murdered before
getting the opportunity to stand before your law keepers have just removed what
small credibility your people had.”
small that it was more like a twitch. “Our prisoners – and there are only two
records of the Lycean ever taking them - are never in any danger until they
stand in the Ring.”
Arithien’s lips. “Is that right?
never killed as many of you dogs as I have.”
incredulously. “No, Silheen.
limb from limb. Up until now you have
only killed in battle and we all do what we have to do on the field.
slithered among us like the snake you are; seduced us
and six of our men were murdered.”
slightly in an expression of confusion.
“The schadaw killed your
men? I thought - they were in league
with you -”
would still be alive and you wouldn’t be at risk of having your throat torn
out.” Cu’Ren saw the confusion in the elf’s eyes, just as he had hoped – or known
– he would. It was all the proof he
needed that Arithien wasn’t guilty of Evan’s charge and gave him all the more reason
he needed to protect him until he could stand in the Ring of Law.
though.
Cu’Ren gave him a final glare but the harsh edge was gone from his
smooth voice. “Now I want some answers.”
was overcome with some small sense of shame now that he knew the Blood Guard
had been tricked and slain. Like the rest
of the inhabitants of Tyragul he had always believed the worst of the Lycean
renegades. That the schadaw had killed the infamous Blood Guard of the Alpha
threw a number of his previous beliefs into an entirely different light, not
least of which was that perhaps the Lycean weren’t as close to the Dark hosts
as he had thought.
sudden feeling that something danced at the edges of his mind... something
important that he knew he had to figure out quickly...
mistaking his pensive mood for stubbornness and while he may have been looking
forward to a fight earlier, he had lost the taste for it now.
for the guards. Arithien was startled
from his thoughts when he stood aside for the two burly Lyceans to enter the
tent. They stepped forward to take his
arms and their grip was deliberately painful but Arithien was hardly surprised,
considering they thought he had acted dishonourably and in doing so, had
allowed the schadaw to kill six of their number outside of battle. When they
drew closer to him though, they stopped abruptly.
at Cu’Ren. Immediately they stiffened
with surprise and their tight grip on Arithien’s arms relaxed slightly.
though. He was thinking about the sudden
appearance of the schadaw and he realised that
particular variety of shadow creature hadn’t been seen in millennium.
had felt.
Spear. “Cu’Ren...”
turned to leave the tent.
face him and folded his arms over his chest, his head was tilted
impatiently. “Do tell.”
tone but he didn’t think that now was the time or place to argue the
point. He was a prisoner after all and the
warriors around him were not his own elves.
While he had been treated decently as far as being a prisoner went, no
one in the Lycean camp had to treat him with the respect he was used to.
with resolve. “My people call them Schadaw,
which basically means ‘of the shadow’.”
him an impatient look. “As I was saying
- this particular creature seduces its victims and drains their blood -”
humour and he interrupted the Silheen again.
“I thought you were going to tell me something I didn’t know?”
dangerously. “I will, if you’d stop
interrupting me.” He glared pointedly at
the Lycean. Cu’Ren didn’t say anything,
he just continued to look at him in amusement and Arithien had to bite back his
irritation. The Lycean was
infuriating. When he was sure Cu’Ren
wouldn’t interrupt him again, he continued.
“They also have the ability to control minds if the seduction fails but
it gets worse.” He took a deep breath
and eyed the Lycean, attempting to gauge his mood or at least to see how
receptive he might be to what he was going to say next.
are high.”
breath and ran his hand through his thick hair.
He looked back at Arithien and stared at him for a few moments.
transformation?”
sideways glance. “You won’t like any of
them.”
resolutely. “Try me.”
resignation. “The easiest way is to burn
the corpses but I know the Lycean prefer burial.”
drawn and quartered or drive wooden stakes through their arms and legs.”
honour them.” Cu’Ren said simply.
ones if they rise.” Arithien said
dryly. “Unless, draining the veins of
your former kin is considered admirable among your people.
will rise as well?” Cu’Ren looked at the elf sharply and Arithien’s voice dropped
a notch with contempt. His eyes took on
a faraway look as he searched his long memory.
“It’s like a plague, Cu’Ren and once it starts, it’s almost impossible
to stop. I thought we had destroyed all
of the vampires during the War of the Spheres.
through his hair and laced his fingers behind his head while he thought.
but notice the man’s fine physique, especially with the way he was
standing. He quickly looked away
although he found doing so a little harder than he had expected.
had scented him and although he couldn’t smell the Lycean’s mark, he felt
heady. Heady?
what he was thinking. He forced himself
to focus on the topic at hand. “Your
last option is to bury them with a branch of hawthorn but the reason most don’t
use that method is because it rarely works.”
while he considered the options. “How
long until the corpses rise, if they rise?”
a case of ‘if’, it’s a case of ‘when’.”
Arithien said. “And
the best part of three days and if the blood guard rose, they would do so in
the middle of the Lycean city. The
prospect had good and bad points in its favour.
On the positive side, there would be more than enough Lycean sorcerers
on hand to deal with the risen dead but on the negative side, there was always
a chance that some could be hurt or killed before they did.
rising.
loud. “Now, where do I find some?”
twitched. Cu’Ren often murmured his
thoughts aloud. “The tree is rare
Cu’Ren. Do you happen to know any
witches?”
ready supply of hawthorn, if not a fence of the stuff lining her property.”
the two Lycean guards. “We don’t have
much time to deal with this. I’ll need
to go to the Savage lands to get the hawthorn and it will take the best part of
a day and a half to reach the villages.
I’ll have to leave immediately.
Find Evan and tell him what you have heard here and tell him where we have
gone. He will probably be to the north
of the camp organising the wagons.”
clutched their fists to their chests before they left the tent.
sinister gaze on Arithien that clearly said he was up to something and the elf
wasn’t going to like it. Before Arithien
could even form a glare, the Lycean scooped him up and threw him over his
shoulder again.
The elf hissed furiously.
I’ll be able to walk myself!” Arithien
tried to arch his back so that his face wouldn’t bounce against the Lyceans
hard buttocks again.
escape?
was no use. He wasn’t going anywhere so
he settled for the next best thing. He
slipped into his native tongue and let out an angry string of what were, Cu’Ren
guessed, Silheen curses.
number of horses through the camp, and he whistled loudly to get the youth’s
attention. Dwryn smiled and waved and
then led the horses over the snow turned muddy ground.
rested?” Cu’Ren asked when the boy drew
closer.
reins the boy offered him before he led the rest away.
him. “Can you ride side saddle?”
contemptuously for an answer and Cu’Ren dropped his head back and laughed.
you my word I won’t try to escape until we return with the hawthorn.”
glance. “You won’t be able to escape
anyway.”
challenge. “You think?
for my speed.”
I know that even as a wolf I wouldn’t be able to chase a Silheen
down.” He smiled.
look. “I never repeat myself,
Lycean. Pay attention.”
sharp laugh and had trouble calming down long enough to mutter the words that
would unlock the elf’s binds. He knew Arithien was up to something but he also
knew the elf would not try to escape. He
left the elf’s hands bound just in case.
Cu’Ren guessed the elf was going to take advantage of the fact that he
was a prisoner in the Lycean camp to find out why Dyhedriel had met with
Evan. At least, that’s what the Spear
would have done if their positions had been changed.
mind about the plans he had made with Dyhedriel by the time Arithien deemed his
work among the Lycean was complete and tried to escape again.
not consorted with the creatures of the Dark hosts.