Bound By Blood (43 page)

             
Samanthŕa allowed her to pull her away, feeling Daŕ
ēus’
abrupt
large hands jerk her behind him.
He was acting li
ke
more than just someone who had a claim in name only over her. She was to
o panicked to argue about it
.

             
“Daŕ
ēus
.
” Kaléé appeared
also in the room
,
but only as an
illusion. Her silver hair was blowing in an ethereal breeze. Her thick crimson r
obes were sweeping up and merging
in
to
bluish flames. “Daŕ
ēus
,
hear me!” She shouted from beyond the vision she was sending them. Her staff slammed down causing the floor to rumble with her power, demanding attention. “Those who ha
ve escaped of the Theŕéan bloodli
ne have gathered in Chymeŕah’s
Realm
. Hear me!”

             
They all turned just before Kaléé’s image faded. The faces of the shifted, battle tired Theŕéan warriors relaxed only somewhat with the news.

             
“I want answers.” Daŕ
ēus kept a
tight grip on Samanthŕa as his eyes glowed a deep red and his features softly distorted
,
showing hint of his beast. The supple outlines of a wolf growling from the deep
shadow
threatened to make complete
the
shift.

             
“Then let us start with the symbol and what she knows
,
” Dĩas raged.
“She saw the same necklace on the one
Staphãyn renounced
us for.”
He
boasted
,
as if he were s
omehow
elevated by what he had to reveal
about her brother
.

             
The illness, the pain, the whirlwind of attack came crashing over
Samant
hŕa
again
tenfold
. Her body wavered against Daŕ
ē
us’
s
weight as she collapsed
.

             
“She saw him this day. She snuck away from Chymeŕah’s
Realm
and knows the answers we seek.
Ask her
,” Dĩas demanded.
“It seems she isn’t so easily kept in a cage
,
now is she?
”
He
mocked
Daŕ
ēus
, who
had taken
his daughter to her mother
’
s because he claimed
Dĩas lacked
the ability to keep her safe.

             
“Enough
,
Dĩas
,”
said
Chymeŕah
.
“No one gave my daughter orde
rs that she could not leave my
Realm
. I do not lock her
up
as you do. She broke no rules of mine or
Daŕ
ēus’
s
.
”

             
Dĩas
sneered
low. He was tired of
Chymeŕah’s
interference
and he said so
. “
St
a
phãyn
, my disappointment of a son, chose a
Phãegen
woman and her bastard children over his own blood.”
Dĩas was
clearly up to something. “Wish to know who was behind this attack? Look towards him. His armies head to the North carrying the corpses he gathered here as we speak. He carries them to the
realm
of the NORSŔAH
as an offering
to prove
his loyalty.
The sign, the symbol is of them.
”

             
“What is this he speaks of?”
Daŕ
ēus
looked at
Samanthŕa
.

             
Her face became pallid
and
sharp pains stabbed throughout her body. She couldn’t speak. She needed to get control of herself first. Her mind panicked. Did
Dĩas
know of
St
a
phãyn’s
children
,
or did he simply think the woman a whore
who
had conceived by another?

             
“She will not tell you because she refuses to see him for what he is. It nearly kills me to speak of it but he made his choice.
The
NORSŔAH
have returned but with war on their minds. They have joi
ned forces with Syŕos
Vr
ãe and have been secretly meeting with him.
St
a
phãyn
came to me wishing my allegiance to them
even though they seek to destroy o
ur bloodlines and create a world
for NORSŔAH and Ph
ãegen alone
.
When I refused, he renounced me and the blood. He ran to that woman and now he leads their armies. By attacking one of our
families,
he has allowed his true face to be known.
Tell him
,
Samanthŕa
. Do not protect him!”
Dĩas
yelled. “
He
paced back and forth with his hands behind his back. “Wonder why I join with the thirteen Evil bloodlines and make a truce? It is because we have a common enemy, the
NORSŔAH
. They will be your enemy to
o,
Daŕ
ēus
;
mark my words.”

             
“N-no...”
Samanthŕa
barely whispered. It felt as though her throat was swelling up. She felt her beast start to claw underneath her skin. Was it the herbs or this horrible place? She couldn’t pin point it
,
which meant she could
not
get
control.

             
Daŕ
ēus knelt
down in front of her. He tore off his leather glove and felt her face.
"She is burning with fever yet she shivers as though the cold has
taken her.
I sense she cannot
speak.
“Allow me to enter your mind
. Do not make me struggle doing so,
”
h
e commanded.

             
“I
. . . I am trying…” she fought
to say.
“
The pain
…”
Samanthŕa
shook her head
no again. It was hard
,
as she felt her muscles stiffen
ing
. It was so painful. Was the evil in this place making the pain she felt from the herbs worse? Was she under attack?

             
“Stop lying to him
,
Samanthŕa
,
”
Dĩas
ordered. “Look at her. The
Phãegen
wench he was with has made her ill. She has been cursed! Can you not see?” He said
this
as if mocking the Father of the Blood.

             
“Nod to me
,
Samanthŕa
. Is it true what he says? Are you under a spell or curse?
I will
kill the woman if she
has
attacked
you in
any way.
”
His eyes became concentrated
beacons of
concern and threat.

             
Samanthŕa
shook her head again. This time
,
no matter how painful
,
she would force
out
words even if she died trying. She didn’t know what
Dĩas was
up to
,
but she would not allow any harm to come to
St
a
phãyn
or his woman. She remembered seeing
Dalaŕéah
outside. She thought of
St
a
phãyn’s
unborn children
being like that. Dying in the womb?
Her heart threatened to shatter.
             
“Not…why…not…why…I’m...I’m...
pain
.” Just
then,
her body fell to the floor and her face turned slightly blue. Her throat felt as though it had swollen shut. She struggled for air. Her body began to jerk.

             
Dĩas rushed
towards her but
Daŕ
ēus growled
. He lifted her up into his arms. T
ogether t
hey vanished. He would deal with
Dĩas later
. He would deal with all of them
later.

~
Chapter 13
~

Forsake
n

***

Wolves prance about in the flesh of sheep
,

Forcing
blades in
to
the hearts of the weak
,

Destroying the strong who may oppose me.

So does rise the God
of all
that is bleak.

And you swallow this easily,

As I manipulate the
Pagães
of time.

You love to fester in glorious hate,

And I love to fester eternally in mine.

In the end one question is left and asked,

Did man create
g
od or did god create man?

Whose image hides behind its mask?

How long will this masquerade last?

You . . .
the Forsaken.

***

             
S
pasms jerked and shook her body
as if it were nothing more than a flimsy rag doll.
Kaléé shoved
a piece of wood between
Samanthŕa’s
teeth while she and
Chymeŕah
struggled to hold her down.
Daŕ
ēus raised
his palm from the foot of the bed. He whispered something in an ancient tongue
,
causing her body to rise and fall peacefully. Her eyes rolled back into her head
;
her body
was
stiff, yet she was at least at a standstill now, motionless. He heard
Maŕ
ēus in
his mind call for him. The two women worked quickly over
Samanthŕa’s
unconscious
body.
Daŕ
ēus moved
away and answered him.

             
“We have found some sort of tracks leading
n
orth
,
Brother. We are following them now
,
”
Maŕ
ēus
said.

             
“Wait for me. I do not trust the situation. It’s too convenient
,
”
Daŕ
ēus
replied
,
thinking of
Dĩas
and the wretched company he kept.

             
“Brother
,
if you wish to remain with
Samanthŕa
,
we certainly understand
--
”
Maŕ
ēus
tried to say until
Daŕ
ēus
bluntly interrupted him.

             
“I said,
wait
for me.”
He
closed off the connection. He turned back around looking at
Chymeŕah
and
Kaléé
fuss
ing
over
Samanthŕa’s
body. He could not enter
Samanthŕa’s
mind or body with his. Whatever was harming her was beyond his reach. Whether she closed the connection somehow to him or the affliction caused it, he didn’t know. He only knew that he was about to lose his temper because he could not help her. If there had been more time, he thought, if she had allowed him to form a bond with her
-- h
e stopped thinking. It was doing him no good. What was done was done and what couldn’t be done, well
,
there was no use in tormenting himself over it. It only caused him to become insanely angry. His anger would be better served against the ones his
Brothers
now hunted.