Bound By Blood (40 page)

             
“Yes.” He was blunt.

             
“Is there no way I can stop it?
Please,
you must tell me how I can
stop it.” She even grabbed his shirt, pulling it away from his massive chest. Again, her emotions were out of control. The sickness was unbearable and she was on the verge of tears. Saving her sisters was one thing
,
but she could not make another suffer as well in the process. She felt helpless.
She felt as though she were going against the grain. It wasn’t enough for her to save the few. She needed to save the ‘all’.

             
He took her hands
gently;
his energy moved through her and instantly calmed her. She didn’t even fight it. She
wanted
to feel calm. She wanted to feel some sort of peace
,
finally.
“I promise you Samanthŕa
,
that you have none of these things to worry about. I will swear on my blood that I will allow you to know no misery such as this. You, Priestess
,
do not understand now but I assure you that you have suffered enough. I have laid claim over you, remember? Your state of mind and being is
of utmost
importance.”

             
She nearly melted into him. His words,
voice,
and promise w
ere
serenity.
She felt hypnotized by his presence. He was something like a song, haunting her, playing her into his very own tune. Wi
thout knowing, her natural instincts
leaned
her
into him
even closer, feeling the effects of the herbs fade and the sicknesses
finally
subside. In just that one moment, she was free of it, free of her worry, free of her problems. Without knowing it, her lips were nearly brushing against his, if he only leaned downward just a bit more
.
And he did…
             

             
“
Daŕ
ēus
,”
Maŕ
ēus called
from the doorway
just as Daŕ
ēus’ lips nearly grazed hers
. “
Daŕ
ēus! The
Theŕ
éan
bloodline is
under attack.”

             
Daŕ
ēus
turned
while Samanthŕa was jerked free from his
spell,
feeling herself blush from what almost happened
.

             
“What attacks them?”
Daŕ
ēus demanded
to know
as he let go of her hands
,
which were trembling in their effort to pull away.

             
“It remains unclear
,
brother
,
”
Maŕ
ēus
replied
.

             
“Tell
Lucēan
to see to it that the sisters return
to Chymeŕah’s
safely.”
Daŕ
ēus
started
out
;
t
hen he realized
Samanthŕa
still
stood there. She was shocked
by what just happened and by what she just heard
. The
Theŕ
éan
s were
under attack?
Surely there was a mistake, she thought.

             
“Aren’t you coming?” He raised a curious brow.

             
Samanthŕa
was even more surprised now. She never expected that he would take her.
Dĩas would
have never allowed it. She started to stutter a reply when he grabbed her
fur-trimmed
cloak.

             
“I told you
,
Priestess
;
by my side
. No secrets.
Now c
ome.” He held out his hand and she took it. The same intensity tingled upon her flesh
as
before
and
a warm wave of energy cradled her. She might have floated alongside him,
buoyed by
the idea that he
wanted
her there,
with him
. She might have
, and
in fact,
she did.
He took her title seriously. For once, someone took it seriously.

             
"
Stephãyn!"
She called out in her mind to share her excitement. Only
he
would have appreciated this. "
Stephãyn
, the Father of the Blood treats my title--" But then she remembered . . . remembered
Stephãyn would not nor could hear
her. And that brought back a sadness that not even the moment could shake.

~
C
hapter 12
~

The
Theŕ
éans

***

Golden beast sleeping in flesh
,

So goes hide and
all
.

Snarling feline,
rise no less.

Who will hear
your graceful
call?

Theŕéans fight,

Theŕéans wake.

For centuries of imprisonment will come.

And your souls Evil will take.

***

             
An
eerie fog formed over the lower lands
. From the hill above the
Theŕ
éan
home
,
which looked like a large pyramid
,
it appeared that nothing moved. Lights didn’t flicker within the stone archways
of the rain forest perimeter
nor did they reflect from the many windows or open
entries
. Coldness clung
to
the
tropical
terrain
, which was unnatural
ly unlike
its
customary
sweltering heat,
like a tightening spasm gripping
the land’s
muscle and nerve.

             
The
wintriness
was not from the weather.
It
came from something else, something evil
,
or the presence of something unholy and
foul, clinging
within the d
ark lush jungles, forcing silence
where nothing of natural habitat moved.

             
“Stay close to me
,
”
Daŕ
ēus told
Samanthŕa
from
the saddle
. Without
argument,
she made sure to nudge her horse even closer to his. She tightened her cloak
around her
. Her breath looked like white smoke. She thought of
Sameŕald
,
whose mother was a
Theŕéan
. She wondered if she knew about the attack. She also thought of
Dǒntáe
,
Trynaté
,
and their other twin
,
Thoŕn
. She thought of all the
Theŕéans
wh
om
she loved. Her hands shook from fear and worry.

             
The Brothers and the
Lycãons
wolves
surrounded them with
fur and fang or
their armor
ed presence, s
words ready to pierce.
             

             
She hardly noticed that they were there. Her nerves were too much on edge. Her body
was
still sick and weak
; illness
returned immediately after she tore herself from Daŕ
ēus before
,
but she held
herself
together for the
sake
of her bloodlines. She reached out to them from beyond the cold evil darkness with her breaking heart.

             
They could have misted or materialized easily
at their goal,
but sometimes it was best not to.
For the unknown it
was best to use the
Phãegen
way
-- c
reep in on horses, undetected
--
until they got a feel for what they
faced
.
Daŕ
ēus was
never one to do the obvious nor did he do the same thing twice. He remained unpredictable
,
which gave his enem
ies
cause to worry
, or at least that’s what he was allowing her to pick up from his mind now.

             
Daŕ
ēus
’ inner sight was searching the area.
She could tell h
is senses
were at their
peak and w
ere
ready to home in on anything which moved, possessed a pulse
,
or an
y
abnormal essence.

             
“What do you sense
,
Priestess?”
h
e
aske
d in a low
,
drawn out voice. Was this his way of testing her powers
, t
o see how much she had advanced despite
Dĩas’
attempts to hold her back? Or was it simply her duty
,
or his way to include her in things?
Either way, despite her failing health, she was more than up for the challenge.

             
Samanthŕa
held up her palms towards the
pyramid
. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. She had to draw power from beyond her hunger and pain. If she could not do this then he m
ight
sense that something was wrong with her. It wouldn’t reflect well
at all
.

             
Her third eye reached out into the darkness and fog. It knifed through the coldness and
the
peculiar aura which seemed to devour and latch its claws onto every single thing. She withdrew. Her mind
had
touched something unfamiliar. Her eyes began to glow a dark
sapphire
, almost black
. She inhaled sharply
,
trying to replace
the
breath which felt stolen
from her. All those around
awaited her reply.

             
“What in the name of the Gods are you doing here?”
Dĩas’
voice snarled
suddenly
from behind them.
Samanthŕa’s
body jerked
, and
the faces
of those
wh
o watch
ed her turned towards him. “And you! What are you doing here with him? Is this what you do under your mother
’
s care
, r
un about as though you haven’t any sense?” His eyes narrowed in on
Samanthŕa
.

             
She straightened her back and lifted her chin to him.
These
gesture
s
were to
show that his words did not affect her.
To be honest, she felt somewhat embarrassed. Not two seconds before, all were looking upon her for her vision and
in
sight. Now she
was treated as
a child, scolded for not staying in her room with the rest of her toys.

             
Out of the shadows The Elders joined him, covered in their majestic robes. Behind the Elders came three Elders of Evil’s bloodline
—Aréel Lakéém, Draykǒs Vãlãh, and Re Ve
ŕatü.
Daŕ
ēus began
to growl low.
His reaction was matched by all the other warriors with him.
Evil
retreated a few steps back.