The Crimson Z

by Robert Cloud, Lee Rush, Richard Savage

  Chapter Seven

  Small, colorful lights spun around her, darting back and forth, up and down, causing the ends of her hair to lift in the slight breeze they were causing. She smelled cinnamon and spices, apples and even lavender. The little lights spun faster and faster, starting to make her dizzy.

  Terran's mind was reeling. She couldn't nail down one solid thought. Through the mist of spinning colors, she could see that the clearing was full of the lights, darting this way and that. She was moving now and she wasn't even sure if she were walking herself, or if she was merely floating along with the movement of the lights. They were so beautiful, so mesmerizing, she thought as her eyelids and limbs grew heavy. She felt as if she could sleep for an entire year she was suddenly so exhausted.

  "Enough." a deep voice said softly. Just the one word and nothing more and all of a sudden the lights were no longer there, all that was left of them were the tracers behind her eyes and a soft giggle as they disappeared up into the Oak's branches.

  Terran was in a daze and she had somehow ended up on her knees. Her eyes were still heavily lidded and her body pulsed with all the energy the little orbs of light had infused her with. It seemed contradictory that she be in such a dream-like state and also so full of energy, but that is how she felt.

  Her hand began to tingle and she lifted it to her face, already knowing that it would be softly glowing.

  She was wrong. It wasn't glowing, it was blazing. And it was sucking her into it's depths as she gazed at it, mesmerized.

  "So, you have finally come home to me, my love."

  It was him, the man from her dreams. He had snuck up behind her while she wasn't paying attention ... again. Well, not this time by the gods, this time she would be in control!

  She spun around to face him, beginning to rise to her feet and gasped at what she saw. He was absolutely the most beautiful man she had ever seen. Oh, she had seen her fill of beautiful men, but this one ... this one was ... well damn! That one word just said it all. She ran her eyes up his body, drinking in every drop of him. His feet were covered in soft brown leather boots that came up almost to his knees. Her breath caught in her throat as her face came level with his muscular thighs, which were covered tightly by his pants. Oh, so very tightly.

  She gulped loudly. Oh lord, she didn't have the strength of will not to touch him, if she didn't back away from him, she was going to lose all self-control. As she rose to her full height, now fully standing on her own two feet, she took in the rest of his body ... broad muscular chest and shoulders, covered in some strange shimmering material that seemed to change color as he shifted, blending him into his surroundings. His hair fell in a golden wave just past his shoulders and his eyes...

  She was drowning...

  ...in two deep pools of aquamarine ... his gaze was mesmerizing and innocent ... calm and absolutely peaceful...

  At the very moment her gaze touched his, those two pools of aqua were no longer calm and peaceful. They were quickly filling with liquid heat and desire as he reached for her with large, strong hands. She began to back away, afraid of the emotions coursing through her body so quickly, she felt she would choke on them if she didn't calm herself down and get away from this god-like creature ... right now.

  "Terran, come here." He demanded softly, holding her gaze to his.

  Her body betrayed her and began to shuffle towards him, her hands clenched at her sides, and her body trembling.

  She was terrified. Not that he would harm her, but that she wouldn't be able to control herself once she ventured too close to him.

  Terran had spent her entire life learning and mastering her self-control ... and for what? To see it shattered at her feet the moment a good-looking guy showed some speck of interest in her?? Gods, she was so weak.

  She stopped just short of touching him and he grasped her chin lightly with his fingers, raising her face to meet his gaze.

  "You are mine, Terran. You always have been and you always will be, no matter where you go or who you pretend to be. Mine." He growled this softly against her lips, the vibrations traveling over her lips and through her body, to touch her in the most intimate of places, causing her to moan softly. He captured her moan with his lips, drinking in her restrained passion, swallowing her self control and making it disappear as if it never existed.

  She lost herself then, though maybe she had been lost from the moment he had first whispered her name inside of her dreams. She raised her arms around his neck and he gripped her against him tightly, deepening their kiss.

  The ring was now blazing so brightly it was almost surrounding their bodies, enveloping them in its power.

  "I want you NOW." He said urgently. “I can't wait any longer ... “ he pushed her roughly against the trunk of the enormous oak, lifting her legs around his waist as he did so. The bark bit sharply into her back, but she hardly noticed the sensations as she was swept away in desire.

  She didn't respond to his words ... how could she? She felt safe with this man, safer than she had felt in many years and she wanted him. Needed him. And he needed her. She knew that now.

  They kissed passionately, their tongues dancing, tasting ... devouring each other. He broke the kiss only to trail a string of kisses down her neck to her shoulders, where his tongue flicked out and ran over the hollow in her throat, causing her to throw her head back with a gasp. It felt so damn good.

  His hands roamed her body and found the buttons on the front of her dress, ripping them apart to expose her white lacy bra. He growled low in his throat as his gaze melted her, causing her to go limp around his body. He tightened his hold and lowered his head to her breast, taking a swollen nipple into his mouth, right through the material of her bra. Her breath caught in her throat, the sweet ecstasy of friction on her nipple combined with the hot wetness of his mouth tugging and pulling ... caused her to come undone.

  She tangled her fingers into his silken hair and pressed him harder against her. He broke contact and looked up into her eyes, smiling wickedly.

  "Do you want this, my love?"

  She nodded at him frantically, not able to find her voice.

  "Then, say my name. Tell me who I am and who you know me to be; who you've always known me to be.” He said softly as he gently licked her nipple again.

  "I ... I don't know your name! You haven't told me!” she shouted in a whisper.

  He raised his mouth to her ear and kissed her there, his tongue entering inside, causing her body to arch against his.

  "Say it Terran, say my name or I will stop right now and leave you wanting ... “ he said the last word as his tongue entered her ear again, causing her to cry out.

  "I don't know! I swear I don't, please tell it to me, please ... please ... “ she said desperately, in a small voice.

  "Say it now, Terran." She moaned helplessly against him. “NOW!" he growled into her neck as he bit down firmly on her shoulder.

  A flash of blinding white flared behind her eyes...

  She was racing through the forest, her tiny slippered feet scarcely touching the forest bed as leaves floated up around her to join in the merry race. Beside her, his hand clamped tightly in her own, was her dearest friend...

  "ROLAND! Roland, please Roland, take me now, NOW! I need you Roland, I've always needed you!” and then she knew. He was her life mate, her consort, her lover ... her savior.

  He smiled with triumph as he released his teeth from her shoulder, licking the marks he had left on her and relishing in her moan. She was his again.

  He took her then, right there, against the tree, tearing her clothes from her body in his passion and slamming into her in one long stroke. She was ready for him, as he knew she would be. She screamed his name into the branches and the glow surrounding them closed in tighter, pulsing with their energy.

  They came together in an explosion of aquamarine and copper light that bathed the forest in its glow. White hot fire burst up her back and she screamed Roland's name again as she lost
all conscious thought...

  * * * *

  The lights were back, flitting around them and tickling their skin, playing in their hair as she opened her eyes, still in Roland's arms. He looked down at her with love in his eyes and just a bit of amusement.

  What the hell? She had just had the most amazing experience of her life and he was sitting there and laughing at her? Oh, hell no! She became angry and started pushing away from him.

  "'Terran, don't,” he laughed.

  She growled at him and pushed him away, ready to have it out with him, right there and now, right here in the nude. Right here in the ... sky ?

  She screamed as she began to fall and found herself in Roland's arms again. She was too terrified for words.

  "Oh Roland, Roland I almost died! Thank goodness you were here to catch me before I fell.” She sobbed into his shoulder.

  "Terran, look." He whispered tenderly.

  She opened her eyes and looked up at him questioningly.

  "Omigod, Omigod! Roland, you have wings!” she shouted loudly.

  "You mean, WE have wings, love." He laughed as she looked down to discover they were still in the air, floating in place above the old Oak tree.

  She screeched and hugged Roland tightly, burying her face in his chest.

  "What is going on Roland? Why are we in the air, why are we flying, why do we have WINGS?” She was babbling now and didn't care.

  All of a sudden the little balls of light were surrounding them again, but this time, she could see that they weren't just light, but beautiful tiny beings ... with wings just like Roland's! Fairies! They were fairies! Roland was a fairy ... she was a fairy! She must be...

  "No, you are not dreaming my love. It will all come back to you soon. We have always been mated to each other. Meant to be together forever.

  "You were taken away from me when we were very young and I have been searching for you ever since. I knew that you had to leave and be a part of the human world so you could come back and rule our race with a kind and generous heart.

  "I sent the ring to you to keep you safe and to bring you back to me when the time was right. Only after you had been through all that human beings go through, could you be the best ruler you could be.

  "You now know what it is to feel innocence and kindness, what it is to feel the happiness of your hard earned accomplishments without the aid of magic and servants at your beck and call ... but most importantly, you learned what it is to suffer the loss of someone you love and still make it through with your spirit intact. You've made it Terran. You're home now."

  His speech ended with a sweet kiss on her lips and it all flooded back to her then, on the wings of a dream. She was with her prince again, and she was a princess, daughter to the King and Queen of the Fae.

  Her head was reeling from all the recovered memories. This had all been one big test. Her life as a human ... a test ... and she had passed with flying colors.

  A flash of light and they were no longer surrounded by tiny orbs of light, but were part of them. She looked over her shoulder to see her wings pumping ... her beautiful, beautiful wings! She never knew how much she had missed them. Copper and cream, with lacings of black, they shone in the moonlight, flashing as she danced in the air with her soul mate.

  Everyone that she knew and loved was here, even her...

  "Liam! Oh my god, it's really you!" Terran screamed with tears running down her cheeks as she and her brother, whom she thought she had lost forever, met in the air for the biggest, longest hug of her life.

  She was sobbing openly now, so happy to be home, so happy to have all of her family here together.

  "I thought I had lost you little brother. I've missed you so much. You have no idea what excruciating pain I have been through.” She cried as she hugged him closer.

  "I love you too Sis.” He laughed and cried with her, doing twists and turns in the air, playfully swatting at each other.

  Her family surrounded her then, welcoming her home and congratulating her on her accomplishments.

  They had the biggest party that night, her family and friends all attending. They celebrated far into the wee hours of morning and she fell asleep in her lover's arms, feeling completely content for the first time in her entire life.

  As she slept ... and dreamed ... the ring on her finger faded and returned to its rightful place, waiting for the time when it would be needed again...

  Blood Ritual of

  The Crimson Z

  The Grand Opening

  An Interlude by Robert Cloud

  The Grand Opening

  "I remember the day the ring reappeared in the cabinet.” Zachariah said as he took a short pause and kissed Melanie upon the forehead. “I saw a flash behind the closed doors of the cabinet and when I opened them it took me a moment before I noticed that the once empty spot had been filled."

  "No piece of jewelry I had ever made had returned upon its own like that. I reached in and the moment I touched it all the images of what it had been through since it had left the shop entered my mind."

  Melanie sat snuggled close to Zachariah. She was so at peace as he spoke that her heart nearly sang. She could not remember ever feeling this much like she belonged. Slowly she sighed as she realized the story was over, and with sad eyes looked up at him and nuzzled against his cheek.

  She smirked as his rough evening beard rasped against her cheek. It was the first time she had felt it and though it was scratchy against the soft skin of her cheek, something about it was wonderful. His stories were so full of magic. Even though she knew how fast the tiara had been completed and knew that had to have been done with magic she still had disbelief in many of the stories. Dragons, Androfoxes, Fae, ghosts that could seek revenge, people being reunited in life after one had died, it all made wonderful tales of mystical love and magic but it was more than she could believe.

  She looked at his eyes. They were the color of the deepest ocean, and bright and full of life. They did not look like the eyes of a man over a hundred years old and yet they looked like they had seen more than their share of years. She could see from his eyes that he believed the stories he told her. Perhaps his mind had turned the stories real with time. She had heard that happened sometimes with people that had grown very old. She sighed, it did not matter, she loved him dearly and even if his mind was slowly going she would love him still.

  She slowly ran her hand across his face and turned his lips towards hers. Kissing them softly she whispered, “I guess I should get dressed and head home. It is late, and mother will be looking for me soon."

  Zachariah looked at her and his eyes clouded with tears. She laid her head against his shoulder as if she really did not want to go, and he was glad for the moment for he did not want her to see the tears in his eyes. He could feel her gentle breath flowing under his chin and his heart melted for the pain she'd carried by herself for so long. He knew her mother would not be looking for her. The sad part was he believed she believed she would because she wanted to believe there was at least a little goodness in her mother. The truth was that the woman that Melanie called a mother did not care whether Melanie ever came home. Looking outside he realized it was late, and dark. It seemed even darker than normal like all light had vanished from the sky. Zachariah knew that was not the case, that it was it was another sign pushing him to make a choice. He knew he was making the right one. “Sweetheart, your mother was in here this night."

  Melanie sat up quickly! “She was?"

  "Yes. She came by and spoke to me."

  "Oh.” Melanie lowered her head. Zachariah's heart melted, the poor girl was trembling. He knew from the waves of emotion emanating from her and flooding his mind that she was terrified her mother had told him something horrible. Then like a sudden blast as she looked up into his eyes he was hit directly with a solid thought of hers. She told you I was not allowed to come here anymore! Oh god, I can't loose you!

  He had to recover from his shock quickly and not let her kn
ow what had just happened, not yet. His hand went to her cheek and he kissed her lips, “She did not say anything bad about you, only that she trusted you to make your own decisions. That if you wanted to work here and stay here that it was up to you."

  Tears filled Melanie's eyes. Zachariah could feel the relief washing over her as she wrapped her arms around him and asked, “What are you trying to tell me, Papa Zach?"

  "I am saying that I think it is too dark for you to try to walk home by yourself. So if you want to stay the night you can."

  Suddenly her arms squeezed him even tighter as she hugged. “Thank you, Papa Zach, thank you.” Then her tears flowed freely as she wept. Zachariah would have been worried if he could not feel the waves of happiness that were engulfing them both.

  This girl was far more special than Lilith knew and he now knew he had to do whatever it took to protect her from Lilith even if it meant he had to sacrifice his own life to do it. He hated the idea that such an act would hurt Melanie, but she was young and had a long life ahead of her. The gifts he felt coming from her had to have a purpose in serving God, not in being the host of a monster like Lilith.

  Abruptly she sat up and waved her finger close to his face and he could see by the look upon her face that she was teasing him as she said, “But you know, it still means no sex.” Then she smiled at him as she wrapped her arms around him and held him close.

  Zachariah stroked her hair lovingly, “Hun, I would not want it any other way. There are two bedrooms upstairs or we can pull out the folding bed in the Master bedroom, whichever you prefer."

  He could feel the smile on her face broaden even through the fabric of his shirt, “I would like to be in the same room, so the folding bed sounds nice."

  Zachariah turned his eyes to the ring that he still held in the palm of his hand. Deftly he lifted it between his thumb and index finger and looked at it a moment and was struck with an idea. He took his other hand and lifted Melanie's face so he could kiss her lips gently and then said, “Sweetheart, I know you believe in a touch of the magic that lies within this shop but something tells me you have strong doubts about the real magic that is here."