“A tricky little bitch, you are!” Arlina cursed as she threw me against the tree. “I wonder what part of you should I tear apart first?”
I spat out the blood that filled my mouth. “Come near me again, and it’ll be you who loses something.”
“Is that so?” Arlina laughed. “In that case, let’s see how well you try to tear a limb from me while I rip out your heart. Unless you shift into your dhampir form, you’ll never stand a chance against me.”
“I can kill you without shifting,” I assured her. I forced myself to stand and tried hard to hold the fighting stance Shadow taught me. “Come and take my heart, murderer…if you can.”
Arlina growled as she rushed at me. Before she could lay a hand on me, a white blur rammed into her—Azrael. I watched the ruler of Blackwen City curse Shadow’s mare as she struggled to stand, and Azrael let out a harsh neigh. I knew what she was trying to tell me and I ran to mount her. Another blast echoed when the mare began to run, and we both fell to the ground again. Azrael cried as she tried to stand, and that was when I saw the flower of blood on her rear leg.
“Damn you, Shadow’s pet!” Arlina yelled. “You’re just like your master! That infernal elf meddled in affairs that did not concern him either!”
“Meddling is more my specialty than his,” a voice corrected.
Talisa came into view. I was never so relieved to see her. I was confused when I saw her wearing a nightgown and stopped myself from asking her questions.
She moved in front of Azrael and me, and I saw bloody cuts and cloth tears along her back. What happened to her?
“You,” Arlina spat.
“Time hasn’t been kind to you, hateful bitch,” Talisa said. “I didn’t think it was possible for full-bloods to develop wrinkles. Oh wait. Those are just your veins popping. I didn’t think that was possible for corpses either! You must really be under so much stress!”
“And I see you’re still as miserable as ever, crone,” Arlina retorted. “Still wandering Arrygn, cursed to be Kiare’s pawn until she sees fit to release you from the chains of life. It must be tiring, seeing all the ones you love waste away as the centuries continue to pass.”
“I will not watch this one waste away,” Talisa swore as she gestured toward me. “You cannot have her, Arlina.”
“Try and stop me, witch!” Arlina cried as she rushed after Talisa.
The two grappled with one another, and Talisa barely managed to shove off Arlina.
“How badly is Azrael hurt?” Talisa asked as she blocked Arlina from attacking me.
“She can’t run!” I answered.
Talisa swore loudly and fell after the Mistress of Blackwen punched her in the jaw.
“Once I’m through with you, crone, I’ll kill Artemis and that damned horse!” Arlina yelled.
Talisa cupped her jaw and faced me. “Touch the tree beside you, Artemis! Do it now!”
There was a veil this close to the city gates? How?
“I won’t leave without you, Talisa!” I argued.
“No one is leaving here!” Arlina screamed as she ran toward Azrael and me.
Moments before Arlina could reach us, Azrael bucked at me and I hit the tree beside us. I groaned when I felt a sharper pain in my head this time, and I waited a moment before forcing myself up from the ground. When I had, I realized I was in a new environment. I saw Talisa’s cottage close by.
A snort drew my attention, and I saw that Azrael was here too. It was then that I noticed strands of hair from her tail were in my hand; she was able to come because I held onto her.
Before I could apologize, I felt light-headed. My legs buckled beneath me.
“Avilyne’s hell…” I coughed before slipping unconscious.
Arlina froze once she saw Artemis and the mare disappear. Her niece was in her grasp and that witch let the dhampir brat slip through her fingers!
“Better luck next time, Arlina,” Talisa smiled. Her chin was red from the earlier punch the Mistress of Blackwen dealt her. “You’ll never catch her. Not while I and Shadow are around to protect her.”
“I will kill all of you if it is the last thing I do!” Arlina swore.
Arlina gripped her sai. The cries of those calling her name stopped her from attacking that damned crone. She spotted Latos and several other soldiers running towards her. Latos joined her side, his jaw and other parts of his body covered in congealed blood. The soldiers flanked in between Arlina and the witch. Talisa merely glared at them.
“Why are you here?” Arlina hissed.
“I did not spot the Tamina look-a-like, but I did find the Hall of the Elders,” Latos reported. “I thought perhaps she would be hiding there.”
You’re too late, imbecile, Arlina thought. She suddenly found herself smiling. Artemis slipped away, yes, but there was one more person in this wretched realm worth killing.
“Well done,” Arlina replied. “Take me there at once.” She glanced at Talisa and waved. “Catch me if you can, crone! I have a meeting with a certain rose.”
aresu raced through Ellewynth to locate the jail that held Netira prisoner. When attacked by an elf soldier, he held back any killing strikes and simply incapacitated them so that he would not be followed. When encountered by his fellow full-bloods, Karesu came up with the excuse that he had an urgent message for the Mistress.
The full-bloods of Blackwen had always been confused at Karesu’s “code” of fighting; he would always meet an opponent head on. He may have pretended to be a despicable person, but Karesu still valued the ideal of the “honorable warrior.” If it weren’t for him being a mage, Karesu was sure Arlina would have disposed of him because he gave too much respect to those he met in battle.
As Karesu ran, he wasn’t sure what worried him more—finding the prison yet being too late to save Netira, or encountering Arlina and being forced to hunt his love with her. In the end, he decided his ultimate objective was to find the prison and figure it all out from there. To do that, however, he would have to locate an Elder.
In the elven society, the Elders were the ones who had complete control over the prison. Karesu scowled as he thought he should have kept that bothersome witch hostage. Surely Talisa would have saved him the time and effort of locating the prison.
As soon as the thought crossed his mind, an arrow grazed his right ear. As his fingers brushed his cross charm earring, he was relieved to find it still intact. Another arrow shot past the now torn sleeve of Karesu’s tunic, and when he found the tree that concealed the archer, he leaped and knocked down his attacker. When they both reached the ground, he was horrified that the archer was nothing more than a youngling.
She stared at him with angry blue eyes, her long blond hair now filthy with dirt and scrunched leaves.
“Do your worst, vampire!” she spat. “I do not fear death!”
Karesu sighed and got off of the girl. He stretched out a hand to help her up, and she stared at him with confusion.
“Do you wish to keep to the ground?” Karesu asked, kneeling on one leg while still holding out a helping hand.
“You’re trying to trick me,” the girl said. “If I let you pull me up, you’ll slip that fancy sword of yours into my belly and drain me of my blood.”
“I thought you did not fear death.”
“I don’t!”
Karesu rubbed his temples. “Just how old are you? Why are you fighting?”
“I’m defending my home like any other elf of Ellewynth!” she snapped, pushing herself from the ground while keeping her distance from him. “I’m older than you think. I’m as old as Shadow of Ellewynth when he first became a soldier. You know of him, I know you do.”
“You may be trained, but you’re no soldier, girl,” Karesu replied. “Don’t go chasing the fame that will curse instead of enrich you. Go run to the veils while you still can. Ellewynth has fallen. There’s nothing more you can do.”
“I can still fight!” she yelled, pointing to the tear in his sleeve.
The girl flushed and went to charge him. He sighed and was about to side-step away from her swinging bow, until he saw one of his full-blood comrades run toward the girl from behind. Karesu saw the girl’s eyes widen as he moved his sword forward. She fell to the ground to avoid his swing, and she was startled at the sound of Karesu’s blade parrying the other full-blood’s short sword.
“What treachery is this, mage?” the full-blood spat, his fangs fully elongated and his face and clothing covered in elven blood.
“It’s none of your concern,” Karesu answered. He looked at the girl after shoving off the full-blood. “Run.”
“What are you trying to pull?” she said, evidently shaking.
“I already told you! You’re just a youngling,” Karesu explained. “It is not yet your time.”
“Arlina will hear of this!” the full-blood threatened, as he pressed forward for another attack.
Karesu pushed off the full-blood once more and parried multiple sword strikes. With a sweeping arc of his blade, the full-blood’s head rolled to the ground. The elf girl shut her eyes while covering her mouth. The calligraphy suddenly brightened, and then it dimmed once the blood disappeared off his blade. Karesu knelt beside the girl.
“Now you see that if I wanted you dead, you would have been,” he explained. “Run while you still can.”
“But…why?”
“I…I’m not the same as them,” Karesu said, remembering his conversation with Talisa. “Perhaps you will be willing to trade some information with me in exchange?”
“I don’t trust you, full-blood,” the elf girl growled. She then sighed. “But for saving my life, I might feel a little generous.”
“Where is your prison?”
The girl was confused. “What for?”
“I need to save someone I love before my kind gets to her first.”
The girl was silent and looked away. “Love?”
“Yes. It’s imperative that I find her. Can you tell me where your prison is?” Karesu begged.
The girl stood up and grabbed her bow, notching another arrow. Karesu’s grip on his sword tightened, but she shot the arrow in the western direction. Confused, he noticed her preparing to dash away.
“Looks like I missed,” she said, with a hint of sarcasm.
Raising an eyebrow, he realized she had given him a direction in which to find the prison.
“Will I know what it looks like?” Karesu asked.
She nodded. “You’re bound to find an Elder in that direction. One of them is sure to be guarding the prison.”
He watched her dash away before he could thank her, and he smiled when he saw her run in the direction away from the fighting. Running west, he took a deep breath and prayed.
Arlina stood before the Hall of the Elders and frowned as she stared at the carvings and other intricate woodwork. She very much wanted to destroy the building and see who would call it “pretty” afterward.
“This is the Hall of the Elders, Latos?” she said, unimpressed.
“Yes, Mistress,” Latos answered. He licked what was left of the congealed elf blood from his chin. “We’ll burn it once your business with there is done.”
Burning it wouldn’t be enough, Arlina thought as she kicked the door down to enter.
The scent of tea wafted through the hall, and Arlina scowled. The damn elves and their obsession with tea! She never understood the need to consume watered-down leaves.
It was disgusting.
She spied the three main doors, and she grinned when she saw the door with the silver rose. “This one is Clarayne’s.”
“I would have assumed so, since she is The Rose,” Latos muttered.
He yelped when Arlina smacked the side of his head with the onyx-jeweled hilt of her sai.
“When I want your commentary, I will ask you for it,” Arlina berated him, as she walked closer to the door. “Stand guard outside of the hall. I do not want any interruptions from that witch or pitiful elves thinking to pull off a rescue attempt.”
Latos bowed his head while still rubbing it, and vanished from the hall. Arlina pressed a hand against the wood and felt excited when she noted the Elder’s presence on the other side. She tapped her nails along the door, and when she felt the Elder startle at the sound, Arlina kicked through the door and held out her arms as if expecting an embrace.
“Lady Clarayne!” Arlina mocked her with a bow. “What an honor it is to see you again! The Rose herself! Kiare be praised.”
“Spare me, Arlina.” Lady Clarayne’s hand gripped the hilt of her curved blade. “I knew you would come here. How could you pass up such a glorious opportunity, Mistress of Blackwen?”
“I’m touched!” Arlina put a hand over her heart. “Truly, Clarayne. Here I thought you’d forgotten all about little ol’ me.”
“Even when you’re sent to the abyss, I will never forget you,” Lady Clarayne hissed, pointing her sword at Arlina.
“Still sour after all these years?” Arlina sighed. She began to pace the room while twirling both her sai. “He was only a husband, you know. They can be replaced. It happens all the time! I’m sure there were plenty of other men who were willing to take his place.” Clarayne’s face darkened, and Arlina pretended to be shocked. “What? You mean to tell me after all these years you haven’t taken another man to your bed? That is a dreary thing, to deprive yourself of some fun.”
“Be silent,” Lady Clarayne demanded, her control of her patience diminishing.
“I’m sure your dead darling wouldn’t mind. After all, don’t they always say to live on, just for them? The whole ‘live for each moment’ speech?” Arlina chuckled. “Oh wait…he didn’t say any of that. What did he say before I broke through his ribs to rip out his still-beating heart? Oh, yes! I remember now.”
“Don’t you dare, you bitch!” Lady Clarayne yelled.
“He said, ‘I will always love you, my rose.’ He said, ‘We will be reunited in Willow’s Grove once more.’ Do you have any idea how hard it is to keep down the bile after witnessing such a sickening moment?” Arlina taunted. She enjoyed the growing anger she felt from the Elder. “I’ve heard better lines spewed from drunkards.”
Lady Clarayne shut her eyes and took a deep breath. She then began to laugh, which confused Arlina.
“Goddesses, am I witnessing the first crack of the lady’s sanity?” Arlina frowned, while folding her arms.
“I pity you, Arlina, truly,” Lady Clarayne said, mocking Arlina by using the same gesture of holding her hand over her heart. “Destroying the joys of others, just to gain as much power as possible. Even vampires cannot live forever, let alone in solitude, Arlina. Were you so jealous of your sister because she had things you could never have? The promise of a throne? Love? A child?”
“Only weaklings allow themselves to be tied down by such useless anchors,” Arlina scoffed. “I rather like power. I can do whatever I want, however I want. Why would I want to ruin that with an annoying, attention-seeking child and an overbearing husband? After seeing your husband, I knew right then and there I had made the right choice of taking the path I did.”
“You’re despicable.”
“You’ve known this for ages, Clarayne. Why should now be any different?” Arlina reminded her as she jumped past the desk and backed Lady Clarayne against the wall. Her sai created sparks along Lady Clarayne’s sword.
“I will not go easily, Arlina,” Lady Clarayne growled, shoving Arlina off.
“There’s no fun in an easy kill!” Arlina beamed. “How I’ve waited for this moment…”
Shadow ran as fast as he could to the Hall of the Elders. It was taking him longer than he thought, for there was a full-blood at every corner and Shadow was too well-known for them to ignore. He fought his way through each one, and Shadow stopped himself from running off once he saw a familiar face doing battle with a full-blood.
Her po
inted blue hat was missing, and he wasn’t sure if he should laugh or be horrified at the sight of her fighting in her nightgown. Talisa caught sight of him and glared.
“Don’t you dare judge me, Shadow!” Talisa snapped while catching a full-blood by the throat. She tossed him into the flames of what was once a cluster of oak trees. “Shut it!”
Shadow moved to strike down a full-blood who attempted to sneak up on her, and he then succumbed to laughter. “Do I really want to know, Talisa?”
“You stupid elf!” she fumed as she stole a sword from one full-blood and killed it. “I am the last person you want to toy with right now!”
He grinned after he disposed of a full-blood who leaped at him from above. “You’re amusing when you’re annoyed, did you know that?”
“I would smack you right now if the circumstances were different,” Talisa grumbled, while rubbing her hands along her bloodied and dirt-stained nightgown. “This was my favorite, too…”
“I’m sure you could find a spell that would fix that, Talisa.”
“Enjoy all of this now while you still can. You still have many favors left to do.” Talisa glared.
“And you call me a killjoy.” Shadow sighed.
“My good mood ended the moment Ellewynth caught fire.” Talisa huffed.
“I sent Artemis to your cottage. She is with Azrael.”
“I sent them to my cottage,” Talisa corrected him. “Arlina nearly succeeded in killing them both.”
Shadow froze. “No…”
“She is safe, I swear it. They both took my personal veil,” Talisa explained. “Kiare will reprimand me for letting that happen, but I am willing to suffer the consequences. They’re both hurt, but they will be fine. Jack will know what to do with them.”
Shadow clenched his fist. He was angry. Arlina found Artemis and he wasn’t there to protect her. And Azrael hurt as well? It took a lot to stop himself from abandoning Netira’s rescue just to go find them. They were in great need of the Blackwen City dhampir.
Child of Blackwen (An Artemis Ravenwing Novel Book 1) Page 21