*Soleil* "I do not like it”. Luca leans against the wall with a worried look. “There is a long way to be from each other. What if something happens ? I can not hear you that far away". "It will be OK". I straighten the stiff corsage and stuff my stubborn breasts into place in the cups. "I have not heard from Lefu since that night and we have not received any alerts. There is peace of mind for now, so we better enjoy it and try to be a little normal”. "That's what I'm afraid of”. He grumbles. “It's way too quiet. We have been out on the farm, down in his apartment and everything is cleared. Where the hell are they ?" "Can't we take just one night off ?" I walk over to the mirror and check my makeup one last time. “I have promised that I would come to this party and I would like to see my friends again. You could go to that party yourself, the one the Elite has invited you to. Then you are not that far away if it worries you so much”. He does not answer, but his eyes has a faint go
*Soleil* “Did you miss me ?” He purrs. No ! "I'm so glad you could come". I back away as Lefu takes a step towards me, while I am frantically looking for a way out. "No, there are no windows down here, little kitty”. He throws out his arms. "So we will not be disturbed this time". That is true. I can not draw the air together to a firm pressure down here, and since there are still no nature spirits in the area, I can not get in touch with Luca either. I am trapped. "Lefu, no". I whisper. "Do not be afraid”. He comes to me. "I just want you to give me another chance". He puts a hand on my cheek. I recognize the old Lefu in his eyes. A look full of the same passion and love that I remember him for. "I can not”. The words are hard to get out. “Because of Fluffy ? That's okay, honey, I accept it. I can share you a few years if he is willing to work for me, of course”. He bends down and kisses me gently. When I do not answer his kiss, he withdraws with a disappointed expressi
*Lefu* Soleil's screams tremble against my eardrum. I am about to put a hand over her mouth, but then she starts to slap me like a hysterical bitch. She is nowhere near the brave warrior I admire herfor. I almost wish she would fight just a little against me, like for real, instead of this girlish slapping, though of course it is pointless. I let her scream and instead grab her hands in a firm hold so she at least lays still. I swallow her blood without pleasure. She does not taste of anything. The cursed witch powers obscurs her scent, and therefore also her taste. It ruins a bit of the mood, but it is pretty much irrelevant. Now she is finally mine. There is no longer anything that stands in the way of Our future. Soleil will not let me down, likeElisabeth had done. We will live happily and forever together. The rhythmic beats from her little heart dives and slows down. She twitches in my arms one last time and then becomes completely limp. Now it won't be very long, the
*Luca* 'If you can feel me, feel that I love you'. The plastic cup slips between My fingers as the sentence, served with a sense of desperate sadness, hits me in the diaphragm. "Hey !" Julie wrinkles her nose. "That is a Christian Lacroix rug !" "Sorry". I can not get rid of the feeling that something is completely wrong. Something that has to do with Soleil. I back out of the dancing crowd and crash outside. Down by the beach I stop and sniff the evening air. Fuck ! I can not catch her scent, she damn does not have one. Where was it that she had said they were going ? "Kin ?" I whisper. A light breeze catches the strings in my shirt. "Is something wrong with her ?" A strong gust of wind pushes me down on all fours. When I get up on my knees, my gaze falls on the forest on the other side of the bridge. That is true. The party is right over there. It does not take me many moments to assess the possibilities. It is probably also for the best, because when the cold water envelop
*Soleil* "Davina ?" I wiggle my face free of Luca's tight grip. Am I dead ?Am I hallucinating ? “I can hardly recognize you”. The creature rolls its eyes and grabs a lock of its hair, smiling. It unmistakably looks like Davina. That facial expression there is no one who can copy. "You're pretty as a brunette". I laugh hoarsely, but then I become serious. "I'm sorry I could not save you. I'm sorry for the things you had to experience before you died”. The creature lifts a finger up to her mouth and silences me. She turns and holds out her hand in the darkness. Tjalfe comes forward and sits down next to me. "Hey, Pips". His voice is mushy. "I did not think giants cared about meat habits”. I take his outstretched hand, surprised at how weak I am. "What happened ?" "I told you you were my favorite". He makes a grimace. “It was not your turn yet. Like it was not either Davina's turn. She helped me a little to cause enough trouble, so the Board overturned the verdict. She says she is
*Soleil* That is a good question. We are in northern central Scotland, where the nearest neighbor is several hours away, without means of transport in pitch-dark and cold. I consider whether to contact Tjalfe again, but the higher powers would hardly let him act as a taxi after what he has just exposed them to. "We'll call Martin”. Gudrun suggests. “He will come for us and I think we have some canned food so we can have a feast while we wait". "Uh, I might have smashed the window into the cabin" Luca runs a hand through his windswept hair. “It happened a little fast”. "We'll fix that”. Martha puts a hand on his shoulder. The gesture is not exuberant, but I know that recognition does not hang on the trees of the proud witch. After she had been connected with Harry, she has completely changed character. "Let's see if we have something to cover it with. We take care of that job”. Luca looks anxiously at me. "I'm safe here". I smile knowing that he would not let me out of sight for
*Soleil* The amulet glows as a wind whizzes in over the circle and brings the giant with it. “Are you sure about this ? Shouldn't you meet them with the sisters and the boys ?” The giant materialis in front of us. “Fine, if you carry us all back together, then they can come along. Otherwise I will leave myself”. I reply. “You know that’s pushing the limits, right ? I just raised a big free pass home to pick you up. The balance does not work like that. The board will not intervene further, it is your battle". I shake my head. There is a sharp clarity about the state of affairs once one has decided to act.Why I had not realized it before, I do not know, but there is no time to waste now. We only have 24 hours. “I'm not asking the Board, I'm asking you. I'm flying Luca home now. If I then have to refuel 100 times, then I will get him home, even if it kills me”. I defiantly meet his dismissive attitude. “The balance has already taken three innocent lives. I would think it's tilte
*Luca* The vortex dissolves and I look around feeling confused. A moment ago we were in Scotland surrounded by forest. Now we are standing on the roof of a building in the middle of a city that, based on what I can see, has to be in England. "Where are we ?" I turned to the wind giant. "Reading”. Tjalfe replies. "This is definitely the last time we can intervene. If we choose sides again, then it will have serious consequences. From now on, it is you who make the choices and face the consequences”. "Done !" I snort. "The game would not be fun if you did too many good deeds”. "Listen, Charmy, either you get into the fight or you sign out !" Tjalfe pushes me angrily. “Now understand that it is not us controlling the show. There are board members who do not exactly agree with you, and they do not appreciate that you get special treatment, okay ?” Soleil ducks under my arm before I can push back, and walk between us. "I thought they had the last word up there". She diverts Tjalf
*Soleil* "Oh! I never thought we would get away from Scotland”. I kick off my shoes and throw the backpack on the floor. "It was getting cramped up there”. "We're getting ok at it actually”. Luca closes the door to the small apartment and slams the lock. "We handed out some serious ass kicking” I huff. "Yes, we could win every time if you did not try to decide it all”. "You can just accept that I'm always right”. He grins. "I do when you realize that it's not about being right, but about what works !" I star defiantly up at him, but surrender as he pulls me into him. "I'm just happy you came back”. He bends down and kisses me. "So am I". The butterflies flutter joyfully inside me, and I pull him down in a deeper kiss. I twist my fingers into his tousled mocha brown hair and indulge in the feel of his lips and exploratory tongue. “Well, what do you say ? English or history ?” He withdraws and deftly avoids my aggrieved gaze. "Seriously ? You want us to read our hom
*Narrator* “Magnificent !” The lord of the wind's eyes shone with obvious joy. “I could not have done thatbetter myself”. "You were entrusted to bestow on this man your strength, and now this !" The lady of the earth thrust her arm out against a settlement, engulfed in flames. "We were just letting out a little smoke". The lord of the fire grumbled. "We just happened to realise that If humans do not gather as a people, then they will never overcome the brood and not at all the queen”. “It might very well be right. But this is not the solution”. She sighed heavily. “They were meant to live happily, not to be subjected to more tyranny”. A small lake began to trickle up from the ground beneath them and manifested itself in a figure like the other three. "It's over”. The lady of the water said. “There is no hope anymore. Tonight they will gather, and your kinship will be wiped out”. "Oh, I can not get air". The lord of the wind sobbed with laughter. "Very funny !" Snarled the fir
*Tjalfe* The villagers have never seen Hrazgouls so close before. Only a few, fleeting glimpses have been had. They always come after the Bakorshas have finished emptying their prey of blood, to eat the remains. In the morning, when the residents venture out into the daylight, there are only pieces of clothing, shattered bones and stinking piles of entrails left in rust-red stains on the ground. When one of them has tried to escape over the mountains, the remaining ones do not even get to see the Bakorshaer’s servants before the death cry of the fugitive resounds across the valley. Now they come in between the houses. One being more abominable than the next. Giant beasts with luminous, yellow eyes, whose long gaps flashes with large serrated rows of teeth. Their upright bodies were covered with dense coarse fur, while the broad shoulders and long, bulging arms end up in a paw-like hand so large that it could effortlessly crush the skull of a man. In between them comes smaller cre
*Tjalfe* Although darkness reigns behind the houses, it is easy to find the victim. The child’s screams drive Saren forward, and the fire blazes furiously in his hand. He finds the child just as life leaves the body. Like a breastfeeding infant it lays the arms of a Bakorsha, whose teeth sit deeply buried in the child’s thighs. With an insane scream, Saren sends a long beam of fire towards the monster. The heat is so high that it instantly sets both the Bakorsha and the child corpse on fire. When the last rays leave Sarens hand, both fall on the ground, charred and annihilated. The embers reveal the next victim and her assailants. It is the child's mother who lays helplessly on the firewood block while one of the dark ones brutally mates her and rips her flesh to blood with its dirty nails. Three others are biting into her arms and neck, where they greedily empties her of blood. Saren raises his hands to obliterate the creeps and free the woman from her afflictions, but nothing h
*Tjalfe* Malicious laughter and agitated voices intrudes in the dark, first from the west, but gradually the sounds spread until they surround the whole village. Bringing promises of carnage and death. The people flee back out of their houses, and all search for the relative safety of the fire. Quickly they get their torches lit and turn front towards the enemy, who is still hiding in the shelter of the darkness. Only now do they become aware thatthat their medicine man stands among them without a torch. The fear of Bakorsha had for a moment made them forget the new danger that had manifested itself in their midst, but then the burning house begin to give in to the ravaging of the flames, and it seems to dawn on them what they had witnessed as they scouted out the windows. Those closest to the medicine man hurried awayfrom him. This is a mistake and part of me wants to warn them, but it is too late anyway, and a shadow flies past and grabs one of the men. His howl is drowned
*Tjalfe* I am watching from my spot inside the storm, watching as things unfold below me. The people look up at the storm, which suddenly hangs over their heads. Panic and confusion arises in the village. Everyone let go of what they have in their hands and run into the middle of the square to seek shelter around the bonfire. Humans are no longer one, they have been divided by fear, and everyone care only to keep himself and his offspring alive. Everyone pushes and hustles to get closest to the fireplace andfarthest from the edge of the circle, for now that the sun's rays are hidden behind the heavy slate-gray clouds the Bakorshas will arrive prematurely. In the middle of the village a large bonfire is burning, and torches have been laid nearby, so they can be quickly ignited. The people has learned that the Bakorshas are not enthusiastic about fire, and that it sometimes happen that the sharp-toothed monsters will abandon the attack and instead throw themselves at another vict
*Tjalfe* The valley is a beautiful, small oasis between the high mountains, which in its time had attracted the inhabitants. They had lived in peace and perfect harmony. The mountains had shielded them from the worst winds, so the crops were diverse and the people of the city had never experienced distress. The only entrance to the village is an opening to the west where the surrounding mountains remain broken by a narrow passage. The view over the pass makes it possible to detect travelers coming from distant parts of the continent in good time, and show them hospitality. No one knew of anything but tolerance and no one dreamed that travelers could come up with anything but peace. It ended when the dark ones came. From then on, the valley became a prison for the people. During the day they were trapped, and at night they were harvested like grapes on stalks. There was no way out off there, all passable roads were blocked by Hrazgouls, the servants. Many had tried to flee, but eac
*Lefu* A tear rolls down my cheek. "Goodbye, Katje". I whisper softly. "I swear your death will be avenged”. "Now you see what they are capable of”. Strano puts his hands in the pockets of his night-black Armani jacket. "It is only the beginning”. I hiss angrily at him. "How can you choose them over your own ?" "You still do not understand, do you ?" Strano rolls his eyes. “They would not be here if it were not for you. Remember that”. “You knew it all from the start, right ? That there were several dogs and that I knew about them. That's why you did not kill me right away when you came up here and picked me up. That’s the truth right ?" I can’t help but seek assurance that I am right. He gives a small sigh. “I saw an opportunity and I took it. When the girls sacrificed Elisabeth, I could not prove that they were involved. I bet you would throw in the dogs as bait if you got the chance, and that Lyndsey would bite”. "What about her ?" I nodded down toward the figure with the
*Luca* My gaze is fixed as I step forward towards Harry. The dark blonde ulfhedin might be the pack leader, but this is my prey, and I do not shy away from the warning snarl of the alpha. Harry must have come to the same conclusion, for he goes silent and withdraws. I stop in front of the charred statue. My nails slide down the rough surface. Although the texture feels like charred wood, the shell is massive. I withdraw my arm and fire. The charred crust cracks, and I have to strike through once more to penetrate into the goal. When the shell breaks, a rain of coagulated blood sprays over me. I stick my paw into the evil bitch, find what I am looking for, and pull hard. The heart is still pumping weakly as I hold it up in front of the statue. I growl triumphantly and squeezeit in my powerful fist. The heart stops beating, and the red flesh-filled tissue gives way and explodes in a cloud of dust. It is over. "What do we do now ?" Soleil's cousin stands in front of the grotesqu