Bound By Blood (14 page)

             
She ignored his gestures the same way she ignored Staphãyn's, even if the two males and how they acted around her was as different as night and day. This, itself, gave her enough reason to ignore Dǒntáe. Within their bloodlines, warriors were
becoming dangerous to a Vii unclaimed. Never thinking Dǒntáe would ever act as though Dĩas had . . . it was still wise not to give him reason. Not that Samanthŕa truly expected Dǒntáe held such interests. 
Still, to be safe . . . .

             
“Your horse looks nervous.
" He noted. "
Are you sure you don’t wish to ride with
me
?” H
is
offer
ing
again caus
ed
Samanthŕa’s
sisters to choke a little
more
. They had
to fight back their laughter, squinting, hiding their lips with their hands
, as their beasts joined theirs in the forest
.

             
“W
hile this is truly fun, w
e
should
be going
.
”
Jezaŕah
Disìr
pulled her hood over her
multi-colored
curls.
Her reminder
was a kindness
. It would
be
better for them all
if they
distract
ed
their
horses
with travel as the restless storm unnerved them
.

             
They
started up the trail
when
Samanthŕa
yelled from behind
,
“Go on ahead. I am going to the
t
avern
first.
"Even though the safety of the Lycãon borders were in reach, she could not bring herself to go. Not yet. Something urged her in another direction. "
I’ll be along shortly.”

             
The
y
all
jerked their beasts around with haste and dismay
,
while
Keysãe
Rom
ãe
began to protest. She was the youngest of
Samanthŕa’s
seven sisters fathered by
Dĩas
.
Her porcelain face was framed with sable hair
highlighted with soft blond
strands that
caught the light from the torch fire
. “Sister
,
no! Do not be a moth to a flame this night!
Not
this night!”

             
“I’ll be fine.
Go ahead
,
”
Samanthŕa
told them
,
but now
Dǒntáe
was throwing a fit
as well
.

             
“Then I shall go with you
,
”
h
e said
.

             
“
No
,
”
Samanthŕa
decree
d
,
short and cold. “
I need no warrior holding my hand.
I’ll be fine.
"

             
"Why must you go there?" Keysãe said.

             
"
Someone has to go to the
tavern
to find out if there have
been any unseen dangers
. With this storm, one never knows. We do not want anything unexpected happening. We do not want to find ourselves in trouble. Trouble will get us caught
,
if not
worse.”
The reasons she gave were not false. They were imperative.
If it had just been
Samanthŕa
on this adventure,
then she would have
felt
fine
proceeding
with
out
this precaution,
but her sisters and bloodlines were
also
defying the Elders
’
rule. The
realm
s were not the safest of places anymore.

             
“That’s no reason I can’t go with you. It’s not good for you to go alone
,
”
Dǒntáe
said with a warrior’s authority.
His horse began to
resist
when a flash of
blood colored
lightning snapped
and splintered
above them.

             
“
Dǒntáe
, no offense
,
but you are a warrior and very detectable. Even if you dim yourself
,
other warriors may sense you. You haven’t the
p
owers to claim
that
I do
,
and I haven’t power to waste on
cloaking
you either
.
Not this night.
Not with this storm and not while having to block
Dĩas
from knowing we are gone.
”
What power she
’d
used, she used before she left
Dĩas’
land. Th
at
way if he sensed her using any, it would be traced back to her chamber. He would then see the illusion of her sleeping in her bed. She
’d
planned well
,
and covered her tracks even better.

             
“
Samanthŕa
,”
h
er
fair
sister
Samaŕah
Lam
ãe
attempted to protest
;
Morrgãyne Sambr
ãe
cut her off.

             
“Just mist there,
Samanthŕa,
and then hurry back. We will wait.” Morrgãyne’s dark
hair and witchy features seemed to clash with
Samaŕah’s
lighter ones.
But her intent was harmonic.

             
“
No magic
,
”
Samanthŕa
reminded them. “Stay on the trail
.
I’ll be fine.
Go
.”

             
“
Then we shall follow regardless
?”
Samaŕah
inquired of the others.

             
“Nay,”
Sameŕald
Theŕéan
told them
as the wind gus
t
ed against her back
causing the edges of her garments to whip wildly
.
Sameŕald
had grown accustomed or a habit
of taking charge ever since Dĩas
separated them. Her maturity and independence flourished with each new moon. "We shall not follow."

             
"What?" Dǒntáe seemed surprised that Sameŕald would agree
with Samanthŕa's intensions
. His mouth dropped
, as if to the ground, with
shock.

             
“She is smarter alone. We will only distract her. Remember,
Samanthŕa
has a knack for
doing what has been forbidden
to do
. Have faith.” She nudged her horse onward
, all too calm,
a
nd
the others followed her up the trail
.

             
Samanthŕa
smi
led, liking the fact that Sameŕald took her side for once. Since Dĩas separated them, Sameŕald had a sadness shadowing her, and when the two were together, those dark moods strained the once-close relationship. Silence, and rarely a word spoken, seemed to
be the only way they could enjoy each other's company anymore. Anything else became too tense, painful.

             
With one small victory, Samanthŕa
spun her horse around and took off riding
before anyone changed their mind and decided to stop her
.
She rode
swiftly towards the
tavern
located where
the
Lampiŕ
Realm
ended and the
Phãegen
one
began. All
realm
s opened
invisible curtains of
portal
s
along the borders of the
tavern
. Anywhere there was neutral ground,
realm
s opened
;
otherwise,
their entrances were scattered and hidden.

             
The tavern was owned by a four hundred year old
Phãegen
named Syŕos Vr
ãe
. He
had
built the establishment on top of a sacred
ruin that was once
a neutral
haven and
T
emplus
(temple)
for those in need. In fact, the underground rooms that immortals lodged
in
now
were actually the same chambers that were underneath the
original structure
.
The remnants and essence of the ruins were what
dif
fused the
power, which
made this place unbiased. No one in any of
the
realm
s was older than the T
emplus
and that
meant no one, not even Dĩas
,
had power to break covenant and cause harm here. This was probably why even now, with the storm and its dangers, the tavern was filled.

             
Some would stop only to take refuge until they could reach their homes safely. Others came hoping to pick off the weaker of the species
as
they
left
.
Some would be here even if the end of the worlds had come, thinking there
could
be no better place to see the end than a
t a
table inside with a pint of something pleasant. Then there were ones like her
,
who came only to hear their drunken whisperings
and hopefully, useful gossip
.

             
A blood moon,
Samanthŕa
thought
,
looking upward at the dark stormy skies. The voice in her dream
had
said
,
Watch the signs
. There was no doubt that a blood moon was a sign. It mea
nt blood would spill this night but by who? By what?

             
The winds
turned strangely icy and
raged
with a relentless beating against anything in
their
path
.
They were not helping the
arctic
shivers
running
up and
down her spine
,
which
had
refused to leave
,
ever since she heard Dezarãe’s vision.

             
Fear not the unknown.
She remembered that as well
;
still, she could not help but feel
some
fear and even hesitation.

             
She stood outside for a moment, stu
dying the t
avern and
feeling the
energy inside. Her hand
hovered just an inch over
the
walls, which
were smooth and beige
,
built with mortar and stone. It was a large building, a warm building
,
but that might have had something to do with the hundreds of crystals hanging from the roof trim and
nearby
trees, glowing and su
ffus
ing their energy into the atmosphere.

             
After a moment or so, Samanthŕa
felt no harm from within
,
so she c
arefully
invoked the powers
to dim herself
upon
entering.
Why did she
dim
? For one, s
he did not want
any
one picking up the scent of her power
,
nor did she want to stand out in a crowd.