Bound to the Abyss

by James R. Vernon

  Ean watched as she glanced over her shoulder at Jaslen and Bran, whom were both gaping at her, before finally turning around and resting her gaze on Ean. A small smirk touched her lips as she looked at him for a few moments. Then she bent down, bringing her face so close to his that their noses almost touched. The glow of the now returned summoning rune bathed both of their faces in its blue light.

  “Thank you for the freedom, little one,” she said, her voice sultry and playful at the same time. “I have never been out of the Abyss before. I will make sure to thank you properly in a moment as soon as I’ve had a little snack. It was awfully nice of you to provide me with two.”

  Opening her mouth, she playfully licked the tip of his nose before standing and turning towards Bran and Jaslen. As she walked over towards them, her hips swaying rhythmically, her words began to sink into Ean’s pain-riddled brain. Did she believe Jaslen and Bran were a snack? Fighting through the pain, it took all of Ean’s strength just to sit up.

  “Wait, you need to stop,” he was able to say through clenched teeth.

  Barely turning her head enough for him to see the corner of a blood-red eye, she raised a hand and waved him off.

  “I said I would be with you in a moment, dear. I have heard so many wonderful things about how a human’s essence tastes. I’ll try not to get too caught up in feeding off of them that I leave you waiting long. You don’t look to be in any condition to enjoy my company at the moment anyway.”

  Returning her attention to Jaslen and Bran, she took the few remaining steps to reach them. Ean was able to get a glimpse of Bran’s face and wasn’t surprised to see a bit of fear in his eyes.

  “Wait a moment,” Bran was able to get out before the creature extended a clawed hand and place it gently on his cheek. As soon as the pale blue skin of her hand touched him, he immediately grew silent. A look of wonder crossed his face for a moment then faded as his eyes glazed over.

  “There, there, no need to speak,” the creature said as her other hand moved as well. Ean couldn’t see where it went but he imagined it was touching Jaslen in the same fashion. Whatever the creature was doing, by Bran’s expression, it seemed to be putting them in some kind of hypnotized state.

  “Much better,” the creature cooed, her wings shivering slightly. “I prefer not to have any noise while I feed.” Leaning over, the creature moved her face to Bran’s neck, at which point his whole body shivered. As Ean watched, the color slowly began to drain from his former friend’s face.

  Ean didn’t know if she was killing them or not, and for a moment he wasn’t sure if he cared. They both had hurt him so badly, why should it bother him if this woman had her way with them?

  But it did.

  Ean took a step towards the creature. Every movement felt like he was walking through fire, but he pushed on. Ean opened himself up to even more energy from the Abyss, desperately trying anything he could to alleviate some of the pain. As more energy flowed into him, the pain did subside enough that he was able to move faster. When he finally reached the woman’s side, he grabbed onto her shoulder and pulled her away from Bran.

  She let out a little pouting sound as she was pulled away and turned to face him. Ean couldn’t read anything from her eyes, but her downturned lip showed off her annoyance.

  “You can’t feed off of them. They aren’t for you,” Ean was able to say through the pain. “Leave them alone.”

  Before he could say another word, the creature grabbed his shirt and pulled him in close, her mouth immediately going to his. When they touched, it was like an explosion of bliss throughout his body, erasing his pain at first and then pain and pleasure mixed together in such a way that his knees almost gave out. For a moment, he lost his hold on the power flowing through him and the feelings of pain and bliss tripled in strength. His knees did give out then, but the creature held him up with one small, clawed hand.

  “There, now you’ve had a taste,” she said, holding him out and away from her. As the pleasure and pain raced through his body, he couldn’t help but wonder at the strength this petite creature had. “I promise after I finish feeding, I will make sure you don’t even remember these two.”

  “Now let me get back to it,” she shivered slightly, causing Ean to sway about in her grip. “Your kind tastes a hundred times better than I had been told.”

  Then, with a mere flick of her wrist, she tossed Ean aside. He hit the ground hard, rolling a bit and coming to a stop next to the still glowing summoning circle. The feeling of bliss left him, and he struggled to turn himself so that he was facing the creature and his companions again. As he pushed himself up to a kneeling position, he also noticed that the pain from the summoning was starting to subside as well. Focusing himself as best as he could, he opened up to the energies of the Abyss again.

  The energy blunted even more of the pain he had been experiencing, allowing him to concentrate on the creature and his companions. The creature was back at Bran’s neck, the young man’s face a mixture of ecstasy and pain now. It was a sickly color, his skin waxy and pale, and his eyes were beginning to roll back into his head.

  Ean slapped his hand down on the summoning circle and pictured it opening again and the creature returning to the Abyss. Just as the thought crossed his mind, the circle disappeared and was replaced by a gaping and glowing hole. Putting as much strength into the thought as possible, he again pictured the creature being drawn back to the Abyss.

  The force of the effort caught her off guard. Her body jerked off of Bran. She tumbled backwards a few times before finally rolling into a crouched position. Digging her feet and hands into the earth, she turned her head and shot Ean an annoyed glare. Ean tried to use even more willpower into dragging her back to the portal, but the creature didn’t move.

  “You know, little one, this is starting to become bothersome.” Her voice still had a twinge of playfulness to it, but her annoyance was also starting to come through. “You’re clearly not strong enough to send me back, so just let me have my fun and then you can have yours. These two possibly can’t mean that much to you. I could feel the boy’s contempt for you as I fed off of him. You can’t possibly want to protect someone that thinks so poorly of you.”

  She could tell all of that from feeding on him? What kind of a creature was she? Would it be so bad to let her take Bran?

  He shook his head, erasing those thoughts from his mind.

  “You can’t have them,” Ean said. “They may not think too highly of me, but that doesn’t mean —”

  Ean was cut off as the woman launched herself directly at him. As the force of her body hit him, it knocked the wind out of him, and he lost all thought of pulling her back into the Abyss. They rolled over each other a few times before coming to a stop with the creature on top of him.

  “Are we having fun yet?” She got into a sitting position on top of him and smirked down at him. “You are making this a lot harder on yourself than need be. All this playing around is just wasting time. I’m going to win in the end. I always get what I —”

  “Bran! Jaslen! Run!” Ean hoped that his shouting would snap them out of whatever trance they were in. Relief flooded into him as he saw them both blink a few times before looking around with confused expressions. “Grab what you can and get out of here now!”

  They both looked at him for a moment, and then in unison got to their feet. Bran reached for his sword, trying to stand on shaky legs while Jaslen looked around for something to use as a weapon. They were going to try and help him? The words ‘pity’ and ‘pathetic’ leapt into his mind. Were they helping out of guilt?

  “You have no chance against her,” he yelled. “Just grab what you can and run, you fools!” It took little effort to lace his words with contempt, and it seemed to work.

  Bran left his sword in its sheath and grabbed their bag of food supplies instead. Bag in hand, Bran grabbed Jaslen’s arm with his free hand and attempted to pull her away. She paused for a moment, an unreadable expression on he
r face as she looked directly into Ean’s eyes. Then Bran’s legs almost gave out and her attention returned to him. Placing an arm around his waist, she took the bag of food from him with her free hand and began to help him move into the forest.

  “Blah, now I’ll have to go catch them.” The playfulness had completely left the woman’s voice now as she sat atop Ean. “You’re starting to cause me more trouble than I might be willing to forgive, little one. After getting a taste for humans, I certainly have no intention of letting these two get away.”

  Placing her hands on Ean’s chest, she began to push herself up and off him. Ean’s own hands shot out and grabbed both of her wrists, pulling the creature back down. A surprised look crossed her face for a second then was replaced with a sly smile.

  “Don’t want me off of you? Quite understandable, but like I said, I’m going to feed first and then we can have some fun.” She began to push off of him again, and despite his best efforts, Ean wasn’t strong enough to hold her in place. Unless …

  Ean opened himself up to as much of the energy from the Abyss as he could. It rushed into him, more than he had ever held before. He felt like a jar trying to contain a flood as it swirled about inside of him. The glove on his right hand as well as most of his right sleeve burned away as the tattoos encircling his arm blazed to life. Even the grass beneath him withered from the intensity of the power flowing through his arm.

  The feminine creature straddling his body stared down at the glowing tattoo in wonder, the blazing light coming off the tattoos made her pale, blue skin shine and put a spark in her pupil-less red eyes. Her violet bat-like wings stopped their flutter. Unfortunately, the light only distracted her for a few moments. The beautiful creature shook her head and tried to free herself from his grasp again. Tried and failed.

  She pulled and yanked her arms in every which way trying to get free, but Ean held on tight. They thrashed about on the forest floor, kicking up dirt and leaves. The power raged through him, giving him the strength he needed to keep her from going after his friends. From his position pinned beneath her, he watched as the creature’s expression changed from surprise to annoyance, and ended on anger. She sneered down at him, her dark red eyes seemed to glow as she struggled against him.

  Eventually she slowed, a blank expression washing over her face as she looked down at him. Was she giving up? Ean had no idea how fast she could run or fly, but he hoped that he had given Jaslen and Bran enough time to get away. As for himself, he had no idea what he was going to do about the creature straddling his body.

  As her struggling eventually ceased, she continued to stare down at Ean, her blank face masking whatever emotions she was feeling towards him. After what felt like a long period of silence, she finally spoke.

  “You’re an … interesting … human. What’s your name?”

  “Ean.”

  “Just Ean? How simple.” That sly smile had returned, and her arms relaxed in his grip. “My name is Azalea, Ean the human. There seems to be a little more to you than I originally thought. I find you quite … intriguing.”

  Her voice had taken on a more sultry tone at the end, and she leaned down a bit so that her face was closer to his own. Ean had no idea what to do. He still kept a solid grip on her wrists, but she seemed much calmer now. Had she accepted that the other two were gone? He watched her as she gazed right back into his eyes. Her lip twitched slightly as she smiled down at him. It was then that he realized the position they were in and could feel his cheeks reddening.

  “Well,” he said breaking the silence. His voice warbled slightly, causing him to wince before continuing on. “If you think you can handle not killing anyone for a few moments, I’ll let you get up.”

  “Who says I want to get up?” Her fingers curled into his shirt. Using the grip, she slowly pulled Ean up to the point where their faces were practically touching. “I said I found you interesting, Ean. Maybe I want to have some fun with you.”

  Her tongue darted out, brushing his lips for only a moment before disappearing back into her mouth. Ean knew his face must be red by this point; it felt like it was on fire. His hands relaxed slightly on her wrists as he tried his best to speak.

  “I’m … uh, glad that you have calmed down. It was —”

  “Shhh,” she quieted him with the sound, but even more so with how she did it, lightly touching her lips to his. He felt his jaw drop slightly but didn’t care. “Time for talking is over.”

  Leaning back, she gave him a seductive stare that melted his resolve. He let the energy from the Abyss flow out of him slowly until it was completely gone. As his hands slipped from her wrists, she let out a short laugh and that sly grin returned.

  “Oh, little one, whatever am I to do with you.”

  Before he could ask what she meant, she pulled him up slightly higher and brought her forehead crashing down into his.

  All Ean felt was a sharp pain as she struck but dropped into unconsciousness before his body even hit the ground.

  FLOATING IN DARKNESS, EAN struggled against the weight of unconsciousness. As the darkness slowly receded, voices seemed to drift through his thoughts. Although barely audible, the female voice with its impatient tone was loud and clear.

  "... better know what you're doing, imp. I have no intention of ..."

  "... trust me. In the long run, things will work out well for you, you just ..."

  "... and you're sure that he ..."

  "... looks young, but has ..."

  "... better not betray me ..."

  The snap of a twig to his left made him sit up. His vision returned, but cobwebs made it hard to remember where he was and how he had gotten there. Instant nausea hit. Trying to blink away the darkness, he peered into the dark shadows of the trees. His hands grasped at the earth and leaves beneath his fingers. Then that familiar tingling feeling, like pins-and-needles lightly jabbing his skin, caught his attention.

  "Zin." The imp resonated a distinct and noticeable presence through Ean's connection to Abysmal energy. "Is she still here?"

  He struggled to his feet. His stomach churned and it felt like something was crushing his head, but he kept it together. If only he could clear the cobwebs from his mind and focus.

  Zin's presence move a bit closer and then stopped. When the imp spoke his voice, was low and Ean detected a hint of annoyance.

  "We're still lost in the woods, in what little moons' light can break through the trees, and your 'friends' have left you, taking the food with them. There are plenty of squirrels and rodents for me to snack on, but I doubt I could catch enough to keep you fed. And then of course, there is our new companion ..."

  "New companion? What are you—"

  "Aww," a new voice said in the dark. "I hope you're not holding a grudge for the little tap I gave you on the head, little one."

  That womanly voice, a mixture of playful and sultry, brought everything back. The fight with Bran and Jaslen. Summoning the beautiful creature. The struggle. Receiving a head butt, then the blackness. Finding her by sight was impossible, but then he felt her, felt the Abyss covering her like a thick blanket and turned his head towards the sensation.

  "Can this human see in the dark like us?" Her voice sounded surprised, and a little impressed.

  "No, no," Zin's voice said from the darkness. "Apparently he can feel things connected to the Abyss. It's something new, and makes games of hide-and-seek incredibly unfair."

  "Interesting." He felt the woman rise and start to move towards him. Ean tried to climb to his feet, but dizziness overwhelmed him and he sat back down. Feeling around in the dark, he tried to find something he could use to defend himself.

  "You don't need to worry about her, Ean." The imp said. "She's agreed to join us. Whether or not that's a good or bad thing is up for debate, but at least she promised not to kill us. And trust me, that's a pretty big deal for her kind."

  Ean listened, trying his best to comprehend what was going on, but a fog still clouded his thoughts. And she
was still moving closer. If only he could start a fire or had a candle he could light, anything that would let him see ...

  With a thought, he opened himself up to the energies of the Abyss, letting the power flood through him. The tattoos on his arm lit up, basking the trees of Rensen forest in their blue light. Blurs of movement fled deeper into the woods from the light. When he caught sight of the blue-skinned woman, sitting cross-legged with her leathery wings folded against her back, the name Azalea flashed into his mind. She flinched at the light and held up a slender blue hand to shield her eyes.

  "Dim your light, little one," she requested. "Or are you trying to punish me for what I did?"

  "Maybe I am."

  "Aw, don't be that way. You started it, after all. You got me all worked up over a good meal and then denied it to me. Can you really fault me for being angry? If it makes you feel better, I didn't go after your friends, although that boy's angst and jealousy tasted absolutely delicious."

  "You only left them alone because I showed up, Yulari," Zin said with a grunt. Ean could see the imp clearly now. His beady yellow eyes were locked on the woman. A fresh scratch adorned one of his pointed ears, there were scratches all over his brown skin, and his clawed feet and hands were covered in dirt. "I had come back to check on Ean and found him unconscious on the forest floor while you were about to head out into the woods. It took me a bit to 'convince' you to stick around."

  The woman shrugged, not bothering to deny it.

  "Wait," Ean said, placing a hand on his head. The energy from the Abyss had eased the pain, but putting thoughts together was like trying to carry water in a sieve. "I thought your name was Azalea. Why did Zin just call you Yulari?"

  "Azalea is her name," Zin cut in. "Not that you can believe anything she says. Yulari is the name of her race. I figured a healer of your intelligence would have known what you were bringing out of the Abyss before you had the bright idea of summoning her."

  Zin paused to give Ean a snide eye roll. "If you recall, I warned you to never summon a Yulari. So imagine my surprise when I saw Azalea standing over you, about to leave you for wild animals to snack on. I had half the mind to leave you there, too. It would serve you right if a wolf came and had a little snack on your foot. Maybe then you would finally learn to listen to me."