Throwing open the doors to their chambers, Cazer stomped into the room. Compelled by his hot temper, he yanked off his jacket. Throwing it onto the ground in agitation, Chiri observed his mood silently as she clicked the door shut behind her. Her back pressed to its cold handle, she leaned into it metal as if intending to guard against any intruders who might add to her husband’s vexation.
The rest of the meal, passing without further incident thanks to Cazer’s intervention, it had at least been bearable. Nonetheless, his temperament had been gradually worsening since they excused themselves from the table shortly after dessert. The poise Cazer displayed during dinner now crumbling completely under the pressure of his rage. It was clear that his family’s disrespectful behavior and Rhett’s unwelcomed advances towards her had managed to agitate him.
Unsettled at seeing him disturbed in this way, Chiri regarded him from
Chiri’s head resting in the crook of Cazer’s arm. She blinked, bewildered mildly by the soft glow of morning light filtering through the curtains behind him. Not seeming to pay any mind to the invading light, Cazer’s dark lashes shaded the deep pools of his eyes as he stared back at her calmly.Neither willing to permit the other any sleep, they had eventually fallen into their current position. Lying next to one another, limbs still tangled together, hardly any words had beed exchanged between them over the course of the night. Taking turns provoking each other until daybreak, they had not allowed a moments repose for their minds to wonder towards other less pleasant musings. Engaging in a constant game of give and take, their bodies had reciprocated each movement as if it were a delicate unspoken negotiation between them.His fingers still playfully caressing Chiri’s curves, they roamed and meandered over her edges
A muted sunlight reaching out in to him in the cold day, Allen strolled through the streets of Ineset with its comfortable warmth on his back. Seeking a reprieve from the staunchly reserved atmosphere in the Alliance headquarters among the bustling activity, Allen had wandered for several hours, before he could bring himself to conduct his undesirable errand.His feet finally leading him down a familiar dark alley, Allen stood in front of the dismal door. Heaviness weighing down on his stomach, he rapped on its wooden exterior. Dirtied by the grime and dirt from the street, Allen wiped the black soot from his knuckles as he waited for the little peep hole to slide open begrudgingly. The beady eyes of its guardian appearing in the little slat they narrowed on him suspiciously. Obviously unable to recollect his identity, Allen removed the pistol from its holster. Submitting the weapon to be inspected by the gloomy pair of eyes, they securitized its worn surface fo
A spiteful knock jarring her from her sleep, Chiri groaned. The sheets making a soft noise, they tangled around her as Chiri rolled onto her side. Blinking away the sleep from her eyes, she was surprised to find Cazer still there. Expecting her husband to return to his usual rotation of women once they had returned to the Alliance. It had been a curious occurrence when this had not transpired. Although his affairs had been steadily diminishing in number and frequency, Chiri was still mildly amazed each time she woke to see his head on the pillow next to hers. They had spent every night together since they had copulated their marriage at the Krane estate. Some nights passionate and others comfortable, Cazer seemed no less intrigued with the novelty of their encounters than he had been the first night they spent together. Lying on his side facing her, he propped his head up laz
Tossed around by the undulating waves, Allen’s last meal swayed uncomfortably in his stomach. Concentrated in his effort to focus on the grey horizon in the distance, he stood near the helm. Clutching a side of the vessel as the sicknesses and anxiety toyed painfully with his innards like a cat with a ball of string. Allen felt his feet wobble unsteadily on its rickety boards, as the ship crashed rigorously over the restless dark waters beneath them. Able to enjoy a short reprieve after their last mission, Allen and Chiri soon found another abruptly thrust upon them. The orders issued hardly a week after Chiri had returned with the Night Gate Director from his family estate. The assignment demanded that they venture further afield to the port city of Urgsea. Vemehurst’s primary location for the import and export of goods from other countries, it was the first time Allen had encountered a place filled with such diverse people and trade. However, his excitement towards exploring its mar
His cold eyes still bearing down on him, Cazer submitted himself to Atticus Krane’s scrutiny. Standing far beneath the grand rooms of family’s estate, in the darkly macabre interior of his father’s private study; Cazer met the disgusted glare of the Head of the Krane family with dignified composure.The lines his father’s face twisting into an unpleasantly familiar scoff from across the large bureau desk. This display of his abject disapproval common, it affected Cazer little to see his evident discontentment now. The thin moustache on the man’s upper lip twitching from his irritation at this most recent development, he stated severely, “I do not condone your marring of the Krane name with this Dhryzic, Cazer.” Not completely able to deny the compulsion to acknowledge her distinct presence amongst them, Atticus’s dark irises ro
Brooding over the words written on the page in his hand, Cazer skimmed over the details of the report again. Some his dark locks falling in disarray onto his forehead. They spilled over into his vision as Cazer held the document towards the dwindling light of the candle.Already, adopting a disagreeable demeanor since Chiri had departed for her next mission with her puppy-like partner in tow. Cazer’s mood only soured the more he regarded what had been scrawled across the papers in front of him. Finding their content to remain unchanged even after reading them for a second time that night. Cazer squinted at the details of the investigation handed to him a few hours earlier, once more. Before, finally tossing the pages back on his desk and agitatedly shoving them aside.Containing information pertaining to the insurgent group, which called
In disbelief of not having been swept away by the wave, Allen still clung to Chiri on the deck of the ship. Regarding the blade she had driven into one of the planks between them, Allen’s eyes widened as he caught sight of her desperate and bloodied fingers clutching the handle. Saved from falling overboard by her quick thinking, the knife had anchored them onto the seemingly doomed vessel with vehement determination. Both drenched as they laid on the rough boards, his partner spat the saltwater from her mouth before a daunting seriousness appeared in her sharp yellow irises. Long strands of her white hair sticking to her face, she flicked her head towards where the kraken had retreated. Chiri’s small mouth forming a pronounced grimace as she narrowed her eyes at the still swirling tides left in its wake. Allen’s partner stated resolutely,
Reclined on one of the dark velvet couches in the Director’s quarters, Chiri felt a terrible prickle of pain move throughout her body. The sensation like long thin needles, it pierced every inch of her from the crown of her head to nails on her toes. Lingering for several minutes afterwards, there would be no evidence of her agony externally.Even her face remaining expressionless, there was no indication of the torment that extended far below her skin as Chiri flicked through the pages of a thick book. Its spine balanced on the arm of the sofa, she scanned over the words. Considering its content in an effort to ignore the source of her aggravation, Chiri was forced to reread the same paragraph again due to her attention being so rudely diverted by the affliction.Not exerting any energy to look in the direction of the source of her annoyance, Chiri could feel Amelia Rose’s devious gaze upon her from across the room. Standing erect in a proudly self-satisfied manner, she positioned he
The office filled with the serenity of the subtle white noise of each person’s solitary or otherwise mundane activities. It was the frustrated sigh which stood out amongst them as Chiri stared at the black and white squares of the board in front of her. The mild amusement that her opponent as he derived some enjoyment at her expense, evident by the sly smirk on his face. Chiri finally plucked her bishop from the board, her brow furrowing as she placed the piece in the last movement available to her, she slouched back onto the soft leather couch in resignation.Aware of her defeat without him having to state it, Cazer still smiled as he declared smugly, “Check mate.” Sulking as she sustained another loss, Chiri crossed her arms in front of her chest as she muttered back at him sourly, “I hate this game.” The smirk of confidence he possessed from beating her repeatedly at chess that morning, unrelenting as he continued to stare back at her. The expression would have irked her more had s
The smell, like death and decay condensed. It seemed to cling to the walls of the tunnels and hang in the air as repugnant as one might find a corpse which still swayed in its noose. The heinousness of the scent, only becoming more egregious as they continued further into the catacombs beneath the bustling streets of Ineset, Allen found that each breath he drew provoked a repulsed churning in his stomach.A rat, made fat by feasting on the bones of the deceased and the other hapless creatures that might live within them, brushing past his foot. Allen released a mild gasp, before recoiling back against the wall of the tunnel in disgust. Already traversing the morbid labyrinth for at least an hour now, he began to hope for any sign of the rogue mages’ hideout to be uncovered soon. Whilst acknowledging that their unlit corridors and seclusion were perfect for those who did not want to be found, Allen could not fathom how it was inhabited by any member of the living for long.Their route,
The small wooden frame of the bed moaning as someone shifted on its lumpy twin mattress, the noise prompted Chiri’s eyelids to flutter open slowly. Awoken from her deep sleep, she rolled onto her back to observe the person who sat on the edge of the bed they had shared. Her long hair tangled beneath her, she watched his broad back silently as he pulled on the few articles of the uniform that had been scattered about the floor during the night. Her gaze, apparently felt by him after a while, Allen Pierce turned. Greeting Chiri with an affectionate smile as she blinked the sleep away from her eyes, the skin around his blue gray irises crinkled from the extent of the contentment within this moment. The springs of the mattress displaced again as he leaned towards Chiri, Allen cupped her cheek tenderly in his hand to say gently, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.” His thumb caressing her cheekbone lightly as he spoke, Chiri smiled back at him tiredly from the pillow. Her hand, rising
Amidst the forgotten streets and the forlorn inhabited who were relegated to their drenched cobblestones, was a place that remained far removed from the eyes of the public. The location of the business, only known to the few who required specialized or otherwise illicit magic items, Allen was perplexed to once again discover himself at the threshold of Ekral Manstein’s shop. The dismal weather, causing the gray steps that led down off of the street to become slick beneath his feet. Allen descended them cautiously, before finally arriving at the door. Issuing a knock, he passed a long minute or two out in the persistent drizzle, before the little compartment on the door slid open. A pair of dark and tired eyes revealing themselves to him, they scrutinized Allen, whose hair and clothes had come to cling damply to him as they grumbled, “What brings you here?” A few drops of rain from the mantle of the door, falling to slide down the back of his neck, Allen shivered as he replied, “I need
The final weeks of summer saturated by a persistent drizzle, it left gray pools on the footpath. Branching out into different avenues between the headstones, Cazer did not pause to consider the names etched on each nor did he become weighed down by solemn reflection as he progressed past them determinedly. The patent leather of his shoes, marred by the dirt of the cemetery as he entered into the more ancient part of the Alliance burial grounds that was shaded by the gnarled branches of a few mature trees. Cazer proceeded past the mossy and worn graves until he came to the one he sought.A sandstone mausoleum to one of the Alliance’s founders, Regus Sieg. The foreboding bars, clamped shut over the structure’s hollow opening, were only made more grim by the effects that time had over its once pristine stones and columns. Weathered and darkened by centuries of dreary days, such as this, Cazer mounted the few steps that led up to its gates. Placing a hand onto its cold metal, there was a
The room, silent, aside from someone tapping out an odd stunted interpretation of time with their fingers. Allen discovered himself in the company of an unusual assortment of friends and acquaintances he had never once expected to encounter. All there under the reasonable assumption of what joined them together, Tristan Hurst, Morose Akena, Horus Crouse, and Lance Armistice eyed each other awkwardly from their varying positions amidst the office. Unsure of whether to broach their purpose for being there or to feign normalcy by engaging in small talk as they awaited the final members of their group, Allen found that his foot too now drummed along to the peculiar rhythm set within the room. The anxious wiggling not ceasing, he contemplated the wisdom of joining these diverse characters together in their mission. Although operating seemingly well in their exasperating partnership, Cazer and Allen acknowledged that their plans to launch an more offensive strike on the Moon Gate mages wou
The rank smell of decay and mildew immediately enveloping her, Chiri knew that she had rejoined the dark catacombs where the cohorts of the Moon Gate’s malicious hoard gathered. Hissing as her form solidified again in the tunnel, Chiri again grasped at her side. Unsteady, the weight of her body found some stability as her back slumped onto the damp wall beside her. Expecting to be met with some snide remark in regard to her injury instantly upon her arrival, Chiri was to discover instead that her entrance had hardly been noticed amidst the affairs that had preceded her. Voices heard in the large junction between the tunnels, Chiri turned her head lazily in their direction. Leaning wearily against the dark tunnel, her eyes pinched together mildly as she squinted at the figures in the opening. Most of them the usual suspects that collected around Ryker Crouse, there was one amongst them that was only vaguely familiar to her. The woman’s hair matted and clothes dirty and torn from the t
Hurried steps and panicked voices arising from outside the Dawn Gate, the source of their alarm was indeterminate from what corner of the empty ward Chiri occupied. Disinterested by the distant sounds of their mingled unease faded into a buzz of unrest as she closed her eyes against the persistent pain which plagued her. Clutching the saturated fabric more closely to the gouge at her side, Chiri grimaced as blood oozed out from between her fingers and onto the pestine floor beneath her. The wound, not having cut deep enough to touch any vital arteries or organs. It only posed the immediate threat of blood loss as she remained a solitary entity amongst the empty cots of the infirmary. The injury’s presence, no less vexing in the least, this was to be the reward Chiri enjoyed from another one of Ryker’s misguided assignments. Reclining against the wall slowly, she hissed an embittered curse through gritted teeth, “Sodded slug suckers!” Fortunate enough to find that no one else should b
“Those damn toothy bastards can burn in Hell for all of eternity!” Cazer roared, the doors slamming shut behind him in order to punctuate the vehemence of this outburst. They were then battered again as he landed a ferocious kick onto the barrier of the office. The eruption of his fury causing the solid doors to shake, Cazer barely regarded the man who sat observing the dramatic display from his position on the couch.Allen’s eyes following him warily as he stormed into the room, Cazer found the silent pressure of his judgemental stare of little consequence as he marched over to his desk. Breathing agitated and his hair disorderly, he jerked open a drawer on the bureau. Withdrawing a half-full decanter and wiping the rim of a glass on the desk that had previously been used for water, Cazer poured himself a sizable portion of the spirit. Not offering any to the Hunter, he waited for Cazer to down the drink before asking, “No luck, I take it?” In too foul a temper to accept the smugness