“I don’t think your father likes me very much right now.” I said, taking her into my arms.
“I don’t really care at the moment.” She replied, turning to face me. “Emrick, I’m scared.”
“You don’t have to fight love.”
She pulled out of my embrace and walked over to one of the portholes. She turned to look at me with such a look of despair. I crossed the distance between us in two steps and took her shaking frame back into my arms. I raised her face towards mine with a finger under her chin. As soon as I touched her, I knew.
“You’re not
EMRICKConmael stepped up to us, “I will find you after the battle and answer all your questions, so no need to worry. I will be around.” He said right before he disappeared into thin air. I watched the men celebrate and felt content. I took Kerrienne’s hand in mine and gently pulled her towards our cabin. Tomorrow will come soon enough. Tonight I was going to cherish my wife.As if sensing my thoughts, Kerrienne turned to me and raised her face up to mine. I kissed her softly, passionately. We stopped kissing when the men started making lewd comments. We shook our heads and headed to our cabin as our men continued shouting loud and vulgar comments at our retreating backs.
KERRIENNEScota trotted up to me, looked from me to Emrick and back again. “You have started the bonding ritual.” She said in a surprised voice in our heads.“The what…?” I stammered.She looked from me to Emrick and continued “You have shared energy, sometimes even blood. It’s a gift that can only be shared between true soul mates.”“Yessss…” I said, still unsure of what that meant.“The mating ritual is different for every couple but there is always a sharing of energy. You can now share energy without touching, if one of you is weak,
EMRICKScota, now smaller, flew ahead, relaying what she saw to Kerri, and in turn to the rest of us. After a few minutes, she came back and perched on Kerri’s left shoulder.“There’s a small clearing up ahead where we can make camp for the rest of the night.” Kerri said.It was still dark when we got to the clearing. So we set about setting camp. Kerri sent Scota ahead to scout Alastair’s keep.We’d barely finished setting up camp when Scota came flying back. Kerri gave a sharp whistle. ‘Soldiers coming our way.’ She said to me through our bond.I whistled, and the men sto
EMRICKKerri and I walked to our tent in silence. For now, she looked to be at peace but I knew better. She was alert. I noticed it in the way she cocked her head this way and that as if listening to something. We entered our tent and I secured the door flap. We removed our armor but not our clothes, just in case. We crashed together onto the makeshift pallet on the floor.I was a seasoned warrior with Gods knew how many kills under my belt. But with one touch, she soothed the wildest parts of me and enhanced them all at the same time. Making me feel more powerful than I ever imagined I could be.We made love, slowly and quietly and I felt the bond between us deepen as we loved each other for what hopefully would not turn out to be the last time.
ALASTAIRHaving seen what this Kerrienne could do, I no longer wanted her dead. I now wanted her power. Draining normal humans for power was wearing a little thin. It was taking more and more deaths to sustain my magic. I thought Emrick was powerful but his power paled in comparison to hers. I stayed in the shadow of the battle, every death bringing more life and power into my body.As more bodies fell, my energy levels were at maximum so I stepped out from my hiding spot and walked onto the battlefield, unseen by the eyes of the men around me. Only Emrick and Kerrienne could see through my disguise so I made sure to keep out of their line of sight as I silently approached Emrick from behind.I was about to stab him when he suddenly turned and blocked my swing.&nb
LARSThe men and I watched in horror as lady Kerrienne knelt down by our dying laird. She placed hands now engulfed in flames on his chest and spoke softly but her words carried to us.“You are the starting line of a new race. Your children will become warriors of myth and legend. You’ve only just begun.”Her body started shaking, then wings of fire sprang from her back as she held her hands over his chest and spoke.“I cast this spell into the night, bind these two souls and give them back their light. Goddess, spirits hear my plea. Take what was torn and make it new. What was two will now be one and only by the death of the sun can it be undone.&
SITARA Pacing back and forth in the tent, all she could feel were the souls of the recently dead leaving this plane of existence and the weight of it all brought her to her knees. Her father had insisted that she stay in the tent no matter what, but she couldn’t let this go on any longer. Could she?As she knelt on the tent floor trying to breathe through the agony, she became aware that she was no longer alone. She looked up to find herself surrounded by the recently dead. Some faces she’d known since childhood and others she realized were from the tribe her father and his men were fighting. She’s always had the ability to see and feel spirits but she’d never seen or felt so many at once.She crawled backward
A few days later...SITARAThe moon shone bright through a circle of trees. Within that circle, stood a crescent-shaped altar. Upon which, a goblet of mead, incense, sea salt, a bowl of water, an athame and a binding cord were all lovingly laid out. In front of the altar, stood a high priestess. To her right and left, two lines gathered. A young man walked down the middle, wearing a sword that looked as long as he was tall but he walked straight and proud, looking every inch a laird’s son as he took his place to the right of the altar. His father has made a treaty with the neighboring tribe and this marriage solidifies it. Though he's not particularly happy about getting a wife, he's not unhappy about it either.