The First Touch

by Alice Sweet

  “Face Mirth?” he nodded and she puffed at him replying, “I am tougher than I look.” He soured and she smiled, “When this is all over I would like to go away just the two of us and talk.”

  Ivan watched her closely, “Just the two…?”

  She nodded, “Yes just you and me, if that is alright with you?” He nodded emotionless still watching her closely. She smiled sweetly and stepped out of the way distracting Ivan for the moment, as he watched her walk away eyeing her backside hungrily.

  When he looked back, Mirth’s male was already charging at him quickly, eyes wild and teeth flaring. Ivan jumped to safety with ease, and noises rose up from the dust covered crowd. Ivan turned to see the remaining members of Mirth’s clan making their way up to the stage. Then he felt the pain searing his arm and realized that his arm was bleeding from a deep cut that manifested itself there. Ivan looked at the male and realized that he could cut without ever touching someone.

  He looked at Mirth who seemed particularly pleased with the turn of events. Ivan shifted his weight and his face changed to that of Henry. Then Mirth’s male jumped up without touching him again and a large slice appeared on Ivan’s chest. Ivan growled and charged the man tackling him and ripping his left arm from his body. The male rolled away quickly and when Ivan stood up he had several fresh cuts even deeper than before.

  Autumn watched closely and her eyes dilated watching her mate being sliced up. Her frustration building quickly, she had to look away before her face gave her away. The look on Mirth’s face was even more frustrating, and she cut her eyes at him. Mirth saw her frustration and stepped closer his eyes dilating as well.

  It took her a second sweep before she noticed the blood in a vile in his hand. Then she looked back at the male fighting and sniffed the air. The male was all pumped up, snarling at the blood that dripped from Ivan. Autumn sniffed again, there was something else. She smelled something familiar, then it hit her she sniffed her wrist and bit it smelling her own blood, so similar to her own, so similar. Then it hit her, a vile of Isisa’s blood perhaps? She watched as Mirth slowly moved closer to her and her eyes narrowed.

  Blood, what was he planning to do? He knew more, something that gave him confidence, something that made the male brave, and strong and somehow gave him the power to cut with his mind. The look on Ivan’s face was of surprise, she was sure, as were the others. Only an eye could do that, she thought. Most importantly, he could not do it before, or else Ivan would have known about it.

  Then she watched as Mirth continued to edge forward. Then she felt a building tension behind her, so she turned to find Mirth’s men at the front of the stage. They were not watching the fight though, they were watching the council. Then Autumn felt the rush of her blood as another blow hit Ivan and nearly sliced his leg off. Autumn said to herself, Think, think…what can I do?

  The feeling washed over her and she smiled, “Finally.” Mirth stopped moving when she spoke looking at the two men still fighting. Then she focused in on Henry and said tunneling into his brain, pushing away from all the others, “Mirth’s men are going to attack once the fight is over.” Henry’s eyes grew wide and then he turned and nodded at Autumn. He slowly situated himself then, so that his back was not to the audience anymore.

  Following that, one at a time, she told each of the others, taking her time and being specific, to prevent leaks. Each one of them nodded and looked at the advancing clan until they found their match. Drake did not seem surprised by the words and he barely acknowledged them with only the slightest of nods pulling another smooth stone from his pocket. He slowly turned them both over in his hands in the same patterns as before, his eyes never leaving the fight, ready to fight.

  Autumn then watched as Mirth began again to try and close the distance between the two of them. Autumn did not regress instead she used their closing distance to flare her fire and the cold began to creep out again. What would it do to her body? Send her on a blood rage like Mirth’s man? Or would it simply kill her? Or was he going to drink it and rush her in attempt to kill her?

  The closer he came the more she felt the twist in her body, and the more the pressure built. This was going to be tricky; she would simply have to take it from Mirth. Then kill him and drink his blood, then defuse a volatile situation and attempt to prevent a war. Today would be a busy day for her, no, a pivotal day for her, one that would likely set her up for a long and wide future. She smiled though her brows furrowed, still pushing the possibilities through her mind.

  Then she felt a push on her side and realized that Galen was standing next to her. He seemed especially worried by the fight taking place. Autumn tilted her head and watched his eyes and realized something more was wrong. She looked at Mirth’s men carefully attempting to see who Galen’s challenger would be. Then a familiar cold whisper came up, Traitor.

  Autumn stepped over and placed her hand on Galen’s shoulder and whispered in his mind, “It is not too late Galen.”

  His head twitched not looking at Autumn, “I am not strong enough.”

  She nodded, echoing the next words into his mind, “But I am.”

  Galen finally looked at her, in disbelief, “You would take me?”

  “Stand with us, we need you.” Then she slid her hand out and took his, slicing it. He jerked his hand away, and then watched as she did the same to her opposite palm hold it out to him, with a serious look on her face. He instantly took it, and she squeezed it feeling his flutter of thoughts, while he felt the surge of raw power shoot up his arm.

  He smiled understanding immediately and then gave her a toothy grin his eyes already wild. Then she shuffled through the thoughts in Galen’s mind and saw that he would be true to his word. Mirth lifted his head at the new scent blood, catching Galen’s now unflinching gaze. For a split second, Mirth narrowed his eyes ever so slightly at Galen’s changed state.

  Mirth instantly beckoned one of his men to his side. The man watched the two of them closely then nodded and returned to his line. Autumn smiled at Galen who heaved at her side, pumped up on her blood. “It looks like Mirth has already chosen your first opponent.”

  Galen replied cockily, “I will take him easily.”

  Suddenly a turn in the tide occurred as Ivan suddenly beheaded the male, in an amazing feat of strength. Once undone, he leaned back against the wall looking at the dead man’s corpse, exhausted. Mirth signaled for his men to scoop up the remains after Henry signaled his approval. Autumn left Galen’s side and asked Henry as she approached, “What will they do with the body?”

  “They will take it outside and burn it.”

  Then she nodded her eyes unfocused, “Wait.” Smiling suddenly, “So he is dead then?”

  “Yes he is dead.”

  “It seems a shame to waste perfectly good flesh.” Henry seemed repulsed by her words, but Autumn continued anyhow, “I want to keep him.” Mirth even seemed a bit disgusted by her now, and she smiled brighter as the thought took hold, and she knelt next to the body and sniffed it, “Yes, I definitely want to keep him.”

  Then she turned to the audience, “Any objections?”

  No one answered and Autumn turned to Mirth, “Do you mind if I take him Mirth?”

  He tilted his head and said flatly, “What ever you choose to do with the body is solely at your discretion.”

  Autumn nodded then she frowned, “No I do not think I could take such a treat from you, Mirth.”

  Mirth sneered, “I have no use for weakness.”

  “Are you sure?”

  Mirth nodded his lip slightly curling in disgust, “He is all yours.” Autumn smiled even brighter then, and she turned her head up to Ivan who did not meet her eyes.

  Autumn barked her first order then, “Ivan come here,” he complied dragging his back leg slowly towards her. Then she said her voice still ruff, “Henry and Drake I will need you as well.” They both approached cautiously, as Autumn spoke her mouth never opening, “I am going to have to close my eyes and I want to ke
ep us safe as I heal him.” They both nodded and turned away from her as she took a deep breath.

  Then she slid her hand up and took the head from one of Mirth’s men and shooed him away. Then she placed the head back on to the decapitated body. Next, she slid her hand up and gripped his wrist roughly and then the body of the dead man’s in the other. As she focused, she began to hear the whispers as she closed her eyes, feeling at once, at peace. She slowly let her mind wonder to the two bodies in front of her.

  Ivan flexed his wrist, as she began to heal him and when she felt it working, she repeated the same healing to the other Male as well. Henry could feel the warm glow upon his back, as if he were standing in the sun and smiled. This was a powerful healing. One that she would likely be tired from, perhaps she was right about keeping Mirth’s man. He watched as all of the men stood watching her closely. One female in particular seemed anxious by the turn of events.

  Henry turned to Flora and saw that she could feel the female’s pain as well. This female was new to Mirth’s clan, raven hair and round cheeks, like a child’s. Her eyes were wide with anxiety and her button nose twitched as she swayed back and forth. The two males near her edged closer attempting to sooth her with hushed tones. As the glow grew brighter she was near breaking, and Henry looked at Flora.

  Flora seemed particularly worried by the female though it did not seem more than her over developed sense of empathy. Until Flora gasped as Mirth hit the female in mid air dropping her to the gowned, she curled into a ball and whimpered in pain. The two males pulled her back chastising her, while Mirth said nothing.

  Next, Henry heard gasps as a coughing sound began behind him. Ivan placed his hand on their arms, “All finished.”

  Mirth’s male stood looking at Henry and Drake with wide blurry eyes. He shook his head to clear his vision, looking back at Autumn, who was shaking and sweating profusely. He reached his hand back offering in a scratchy voice, “Thank you.” Autumn nodded looking more and more unsteady.

  Ivan slid his arm around her waist and pulled her to her feet, while Mirth spoke harshly, “Why would you heal one of my men?”

  Autumn answered back coldly, “He is no longer your man Mirth. Now he is mine.” Mirth looked at the male and raised his eyebrow. The male met his gaze and nodded defiantly. Autumn slid her hand up beckoning another of Mirth’s clan. “He will also need his female,” Mirth said nothing though his mouth tightened.

  The small raven haired girl stepped forward eyeing the male cautiously, “Jessup?” He nodded and waved for her to come forward.

  As she approached, cautiously, Autumn explained, “If you would rather stay with Mirth I will not stop you.” She nodded but continued on her course, to Jessup. “That goes the same for the both of you.”

  Jessup lifted his chin, “I am staying, Mistress.” Then he looked down at his female, as he whispered, “It’s alright Annie,” and she looked up at him in utter devotion.

  Autumn felt a stab of pain then, “Ann?”

  She smiled her eyes unflinching from Jessup’s face, “I am staying.”

  Autumn nodded and turned to the council, “All in favor?” They all raised their hands and she beamed turning to Jessup and Ann who were still staring at each other. “Well now that that is settled.” Then she waved frivolously at their intensity and turned back to Mirth, Ivan still holding her waist all the while.

  Attack

  “Now, Mirth, will today be a good day or a bad day for us?” Mirth watched her closely and played with the vile in his hand, contemplating his chances of success. A hunger pain hit her hard then and she gripped her stomach.

  He hissed, “Now.” The remaining members of Mirth’s clan leaped at their assigned council member’s, growls ripping from throats. Ivan pulled Autumn back behind him but not before Mirth jumped at them both.

  Ivan took quite a few blows before she could roll out from under the two of them. One of which nearly sliced him in two. Autumn took a slice at Mirth throwing him across the room. He hit the far wall and came back to face her a second later. He moved lightning fast for being so old. There was even a slight bit of pain when he hit her though her body still healed itself quicker than she thought possible.

  A few moments later, Ivan was standing with his back to hers and she felt the heat coming from him while he changed in to Henry. Mirth began with clean swipes as Autumn smiled moving with ease. Ivan grabbed at the other male that was jumped at her back. Autumn felt his power serge and her chest heaved as Mirth struck her across the face, knocking a few teeth loose. Autumn felt new ones grow back quickly, and she smiled, jumping at Mirth.

  Mirth fought fiercely, growling and taking chunks, while she swiped his neck nearly clear off, but he landed a hard blow to her chest sending her back a few feet away. She landed on her feet though and charged back at him again. It was just enough time for Mirth to drink the fluid in the vile that he had been carrying. Autumn was about to slice it clean off when he grabbed her wrists snapping them and throwing her across the stage, with a new power.

  As she flew through the air, she saw that the rest of the audience moved forward watching the action closely now. She also noticed that a few of them had already begun to get involved in the fighting, most of them taking Mirth’s side, save one particularly large male with fiery red hair like Flanagan’s. Autumn smiled at that as she landed.

  Each of her friends was fighting at least two or three of Mirth’s supporters. Although they were fighting well and managed to keep the others at bay, they already appeared to be a losing battle, by sheer numbers alone.

  Proudly though Galen was doing particularly well swooping down and taking the men high into the air to rip them to pieces, all supped up on her blood. Jessup and his mate were even fairing well against two of Mirth’s new supporters from the audience. While, Flora was singing a particularly dark piece of music convincing men to attack one another instead of her particularly well.

  Helen was zombieing nearly eight men into fighting each other, but a small female was giving her a bit of trouble, attacking her instead of the others. The other male that she was supposed to be fighting was attacking her, while she was attacking Helen. It was almost comical, Autumn landed noiselessly as her wrists snapped back in to place. Then she jumped into the air and landed in front of Mirth hissing.

  Once grounded, she noticed that Mirth’s eyes had changed as had his skin, it almost glowed in the darkness. He let out a deafening growl in response to her hiss and all eyes turned to Mirth, as he raised her up off of the ground by her neck. The howls broke from the crowd sending chills down her spine. He pulled her close to his face growling a challenge at her. Her eyes blinked unflinching as a final growl of her stomach, sent her hand back to her belly.

  Mirth sniffed her and felt her power twisting inside of her body struggling to get out, and he flinched, surprised by the discovery. He knew what she was and what she had hiding inside of her and he could not let it get out. He struck her so hard in the face that her jaw snapped and hung by a thin strip of skin on her cheek. Then he smiled as he disemboweled her, throwing her down as Ivan changed into Galen and bit his neck. Instantly, Ivan was thrown lifelessly to the ground landing with a heavy thud, still in Galen’s form. The howls rose up again and the tide turned as Mirth turned to finish off Autumn. Only to face Drake, who stood in between the two of them, snarling, his entire body aflame.

  Mirth was cautiously sizing him up and began using his mind to slice at Drake who growled each time he was cut but bravely did not move from the spot. Autumn meanwhile pushed her jaw back into place and healed slowly, her eyes watching Mirth closely. She realized as she slowly pushed her intestines back inside of her stomach that Mirth was worried about Drake’s fire. She could not burn, and if he was to be the eye he should not either. Her blurry mind raced as she realized that she was focusing on the wrong thing, two of Mirth’s men were approaching Ivan’s body slowly, carrying a torch.

  She called out to him but he did not raise his head. S
oon she felt the tears streaming down her cheeks, as she tried to rise but could not, her abdomen was still healing. He was injured and about to be killed, she needed to help him. Mirth saw that Autumn was repairing herself and when she called out, he finally jumped at Drake. Autumn saw Drake fall backwards and Mirth quickly decapitated him his head rolling away. The males lit Ivan on fire and the smell of his burning flesh sent pain running through her body.

  Then Mirth began approaching her again and another thud sounded. This time as a blood covered Henry crashed into Mirth ripping his arm from his body. Autumn noticed happily that the limb was badly burned though, as another pain hit her and she instinctively crawled to Ivan’s burning body. She put her hand on to his burning back and the flames felt good, she pulled them inside of her. Then Ivan gasped for air and Autumn fell over as the hunger hit her hard. She nearly blacked out then, but she heard Grayton screaming her name as Serena fell to the floor next to him.

  Through the crowd she could see that the fight had turned into a war, as the waves of cries rang out from all throughout the great hall. Sounds of dying men and woman rang out in her mind, echoing. There were more than two clans warring against the other five. When Henry fell to the ground, shaking it with his thud, Autumn returned her attention back to the two men fighting for her life. Mirth walked slowly to his fallen adversary, cursing him in a foreign tongue and kicking his lifeless body. Autumn felt Galen fall next and then Flora and Helen who screamed horribly attempting to keep the wave of men and women from enveloping them.

  The sound of their fall caused Autumn’s power to surge, they were all down, all of them now. She was utterly alone, the only one left to save the others. Then she screamed and felt the building shake as her rage began to release from its cage. The joy was instantaneous; her feeling of pain left her skin and entered her lungs. Then it too was eaten away by the smoke filled air that assaulted her.