All Chapters of Shadows Of The Heart: Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

The virtual darkness tried even his vision, what little light followed him through the ruined door was soon lost and he was forced to use his other senses. Various scents came to him but they were all old, musty and useless. Similarly the sounds that reached him were so distorted and garbled it was impossible to tell what they were, where they had originated or how many times they had bounced from the stone walls. It was possible, however to pick a direction based on their strength and with only that information to go on, Vanadine leaned against the left wall as he made his slow way into the bowels of the citadel.Weariness tugged at him, his muscles aching as he walked, staggered, along. Pain, heat and a deep throbbing issued from the wound in his belly, his shoulders still ached from their jolting at the top of the crater and the three slashes the syphia had given him were itching with an intensity that was maddening. With an immense forced of will, Vanadine blocked out as much as p

Gentle rocking woke him, the action making his belly ache where the infection had made it swollen and hot. Knives of pain made it feel as if his skin was ripping and a low moan escaped his lips as he slipped to one side, laying on the cool granite.“Vanadine?”He opened his eyes a fraction, staring up into her twisted features.“Horann?” He asked thickly. “I should have detected your scent.”“You do not appear to be well enough for such,” Horann growled back.“Where’s the girl?” He asked.“Girl? I have seen no girl,” Horann said, sniffing the air. “There is a faint scent but long gone.”“No,” Vanadine said, his mind puzzled. “Just here.”“You are ill, Vanadine,” Horann said. “I can smell the infection from here,” she added.“Yeah, thanks for that,” Vanadine said with a grin.“We were trying to kill each other at the time,” Horann said, moving alongside him to sniff at his body.“This is deep,” she said. “The wound needs cleaning and draining. “This was not me,” she said, looking at th

The voices were incessant. Hitting the edge of his consciousness but not fully audible. Two were hauntingly familiar, the third alien to his ears. He was laid on something hard and rough, something light covering him and warmth coming from his left. He slept.“Carine!” He screamed, jerking awake.The room was almost completely dark and he was alone. Pain began, throbbing from his belly outward to consume his mind and a low groan rumbled from his chest.Am I drunk? Have I been drugged? He wondered as he lay there, unable to move.Weakness unlike anything he had felt before gripped him, making muscles ache with the smallest of movements. Confused and scared, Vanadine lay alone in the darkness until sleep took him again.When he next woke he felt the presence of someone else near him.Friend or enemy? He wondered.Even if it’s an enemy, you’re too weak to do anything about it.He supposed that was right and so simply cracked one eye open. The firelight cast long shadows but was able to s

Guilt ate at him as he relayed his tale to Carine. She was overjoyed to hear Laura was all right but concern clouded her face when she heard about Tony, Tommy and the bomb.“You could have been killed,” she said without malice or accusation.“There was no other way to get through the thin without getting caught,” he said sadly. “I hate that I had to kill so many but there wasn’t much time to get to you before…” He looked away, unwilling to see her face when he asked his next question. “Did anyone..?”“No, babe,” Carine said. “Adnanter would have if Marrin hadn’t helped me escape but no, it was all threats.”“You said he saw you naked,” Vanadine said with anger and misery swelling in his chest.“Yeah but I didn’t think there was any kind of attraction there,” Carine said, pressing herself more tightly against him. “It would be a means to an end with him. He looked at me like I was less than, if that makes sense. Like an animal, cattle. He would have used me but I doubt there would have

The two halves of him, only recently united, seemed to split once more.There’s no way you can even consider this. One part said. This is Carine we’re talking about here. What’s it going to do to you if you kill her?Yeah, but if you don’t do it and she dies anyway, how’s that going to make you feel? Knowing there was something you could have done and didn’t out of fear?The thoughts swirled inside his head as he recalled the first and only time he had used this power.***The fight had been brutal. Horann had picked a better known establishment this time, the Gilded Knave being frequented by slightly more affluent patrons than the dives she usually picked.It had been a shock to Vanadine when the fight broke out as she had led him to believe they were simply there for drinks and a meal. Horann had drifted over to the bar, elves watching her ass as she swayed through the crowd. Vanadine had continued his simple meal until he had heard the shouting..When he saw some of the elves pulli