The Fire Within (The Fire of The Soul Series)

by Racquel Kechagias

  "And what of Anna? Will she go with you?" Kayden asks, I'm grateful for him asking the question because I am quite curious as to what Victor has to say.

  I see Victor flinch as if the question burned him, before he answers "She... She will remain here, where it is safe for her. Astoria and Augustus will be here to watch over her and my kingdom in my absence." Silence falls over the room like a thick fog, and somehow I know that Victor has sensed my presence, buying myself some time I run from my spot beside the door, back down the corridor. It is quite a stupid idea to run, I should have learned from my dream that it is impossible to outrun the supernatural, but obviously it hadn't sunk in.

  However, before Victor could catch me I ran straight into another body, one slim but muscular, and as I looked up expecting to see Victor I come to find a face that I thought I would never see again - the last time I had seen him I had been nine - he smiled sweetly down at me as if he had been expecting to see me all along, and I returned the motion.

  He lends out a hand to help me up and says "Hey Bells, long time no see." I laughed quietly, wary that Victor could still be around and reply "You are the last person I expected to see here William but it brings great joy to my heart to see you once again."

  William leads me away from the corridor and down another until we reach a bedroom. Will's bright smile illuminates whatever darkness is within me. He leads me to sit on the small bed beside him, and we easily get into a good conversation.

  "So how did you end up here? Are you a vampire like the rest of the people here or are you something else?" I ask excitedly, wanting to know all that I can about Will, and his life here.

  "My parent's brought me here when I started showing signs of a supernatural element, and no I'm not a vampire; I'm a werewolf," William says. I frown slightly, it is strange to think that William is a wolf. Weren't wolves meant to be savage? And yet William is anything but that. There is a knocking at William's door, and before either one of us can move Kayden walks in.

  "This is quite the coincidence. Blades, I came to ask you a favour, His Majesty needs someone to stay here with Anna, and I wanted to ask you if you would be willing, besides Shade your the second person I trust most, but I'm starting to think that it won't be a problem," Kayden talks quickly, but William or as Kayden had called him "Blades" follows quickly.

  "That is quite alright. Anna here is an old friend," William says, answering both questions - whether asked or not.

  "Then it is settled. I expect you to still help us organize strategies tonight. Anna, Victor is looking for you, he is expecting you in the throne room," Kayden says before leaving the room, I turn to follow him but I quickly say goodbye to Will before I actually leave.

  Victor's P.O.V

  I know that Anna had overheard me, but she needed to hear it, although I had preferred to do it differently, it is too late now. I had been planning to unleash war on the Skin-walkers for quite sometime, but it hadn't been until now that I had been prepared to do so and to overcome the bloody devils, I had to unite the Underworld. To start though, I'm to travel from the pure kingdom - which is my own kingdom - to the forest vampires. I hear a soft knock at the door and realize that Kayden has already sent Anna to me.

  "Come in," I call and I see my dark beauty enter into the room. She is hesitant to meet my eyes, but after a moment she finally does and it draws me in. I have nothing but mercy and love in my heart when it comes to Anna. "Anna, love, I don't know how much you heard of my conversation with Kayden but I want you to know that I'm not mad. However, I won't continue to allow you to eavesdrop on what was clearly a private conversation. I want to let you know that I am planning to leave for a few weeks to unite my people in time of war. Kayden has chosen someone to look after you, and you will have Meg here as well. Lord Augustus and Lady Astoria will be taking my place in my leave. It will not be long, and I will be back as soon as I can be. You can trust the people that I leave here with you," I know my voice is soft and soothing as I talk to her, but it is evident that she is scared.

  "Soon all of this will be over, the Skin-walkers vanquished and us Vampires will rule supreme. When peace has come to the Underworld, we will be united in marriage. Things will work out love, trust me," I whisper as I take her in my arms. I am going to make things work out in the end, simply because I want our happy ending to come to us at last.

  Meg's P.O.V

  I finish cleaning the dishes in the kitchen and take off my apron. Victor sent me to work in his castle as soon as we had gotten here, saying that it was my place in the human world and that I should not divert from what I already know, simply because I am in the Underworld.

  I sigh. I haven't even seen Anna once since I came here, but now with word that Victor is to leave, I will make it my goal to seek her out, and just relax and enjoy this new wonderful world with her. My thoughts drift to my only other friend, whom had departed from us before we could all leave together; Simon. I miss Simon with all of my heart, I miss hearing his voice and speaking to him, I miss having him present and just being with him. I miss his beautiful eyes and his lazy smile. I miss him speaking of the horses and his love for them. I miss joking around with him. I simply just missed him.

  My heart had not stopped grieving for him, I had not forgotten him and I doubt that I ever could. If only there was a way to keep him by my side forever. However, if it were to change him, I would not use it, even if there was a way because I wanted to keep Simon just as he is, human and full of life and I suppose that's how he will remain, forever in my heart and mind.

  Chapter 10 – The Devil and I

  Christian's P.O.V

  It has been days since the party in celebration of my return. I have made use of many of the maidens from that evening, and each of them is as young and inexperienced as the next. However, I am now sitting in a dark damp room, my warriors surrounding me. The walls are wet and bare, made of dark grey stone. There are chains attached to the far wall, and hanging from them is the King of Wersider, Rupert VanDyken.

  I nod towards one of my warriors, and with that slight movement of my head the warrior prods Rupert violently until he awakes, groaning with the pain his fragile human body is feeling.

  "Hello Rupert," My voice is cold, and I can feel fear stirring within him because of it. His fear feeds me, gives me strength and I continue, as a slight smirk grows on my face.

  "Mr Sitzman?" Rupert asks, still groaning in pain. He shakes his head, trying to get his mind clear.

  "Indeed Mr VanDyken, I am Prince Christian Drocona Sitzman, Prince and sole Monarch of the Skin-walker Kingdom. Hugo, lift his head, I want him to look at me as I take on my true form," I say drawing in the power that his fear has fed me with. The smirk grows on my face as Hugo - the warrior I had ordered to wake Rupert - grabs a fist full of Rupert's hair, and forces his head up so that he cannot take his eyes off of me as I shift.

  I can feel my flesh rippling, my insides churning, my bones snapping and rearranging as my body takes on the change. When my kind changes forms from one humanoid species to another it is usually a slight shift in skin colour, hair colour, height, weight but when we change into our true form, everything about us changes and so it is a more exhausting procedure. However, his fear feeds me, gives me strength and as he sees my true form his terror grows, giving me the power I need to rise.

  "This is my true form Rupert; I am a Skin-Walker. A man, who can change forms, can swap skins - so to say - with other men." I speak softly, venomously and I can see the effect I am having on him, as clear as day on his face. I can smell his fear in the air, can almost taste it on my tongue and I continue to push the man, until I can physically taste his fear.

  "My kind are carnal animals Rupert, who crave the flesh and blood of mankind. We enjoy killing the weak and taking control of the powerless. And I am the Leader of my people, which makes me the worst of them all. I have already taken your wife. She was warm and willing, her old body craving for my young human flesh. She begged me for more; to t
he point where she would do anything I said to have me take control of her. And soon it shall be the same with your daughter. But as for you, it is a shame you are not one of us, for you are just as carnal, you desire your daughter's body. Don't deny it because I can see it clearly in your mind, you think you'll find warmth and comfort there, however cold she may be to you. It truly is a shame but you are human, despite the fact that you had the supernatural living within you. I'm going to kill you Rupert, and it's going to be slow and painful, but first I will break you as I broke your wife, and when I'm through with you, you will be begging for more, more pain than you can handle." I finish bringing my little monologue to an end. My men have heard every word and they are grinning from ear to ear. They know that they will be taking part in this and the look on Rupert's face appears as if he is going to be sick. This makes me grin. The man deserves to have every horror of his own creation replayed back onto him and my men and I are going to see to it.

  It is awhile before my warriors leave the cell, tired from the full day they had spent breaking the prisoner and when I re-enter into the room - my humanoid form back in place - I see a broken and bloody Rupert hanging from the chains. I had ordered my men to be rough and not to spare Rupert, to do whatever it took to break him, to make him beg and want more, and when I enter the room that is exactly what I find.

  "Well I see they made good use of you, though you're a bloody mess. I guess there is not much left for me to do besides kill you. But that would be putting you out of your misery, and that is the opposite of what we are trying to achieve. I'm just stopping in for a moment; see how you're handling the royal treatment." I chuckle slightly at my own play on words. He is barely conscious and is hardly able to keep up with what I am saying so I leave the room, and continue to let him hang from the wall like a rag doll.

  I quickly make my way down the hall and I soon find myself in my throne room. I plop myself down on my throne as I had the night before and I close my eyes as a slight smile grows on my face. I seek out the human minds that I have come in contact with. First I find Darleen's. She is dreaming of the night I had spent with her, though it is more of a nightmare than a dream, of me torturing her with unspeakable pain. I soon move on to Rupert's mind, and he dreams of the torture and pleasure that he had been put through today, he dreams of what it would be like to have me take control of him, would it be just as good as my men or even better, and I soon find myself wanting to exceed his expectations. I then move on to Anna's mind, but she is not dreaming of me and I know that has to be corrected. I know I have to insert myself in there and overrule Victor's presence.

  "My Lord?" A voice resounded and I'm drawn out of Anna's innocent mind. I open my eyes to find Fawkes watching me with wide eyes.

  "What is it?" I demand, the irritation quickly showing in my voice.

  "It's the female prisoner my Lord, she is screaming your name and I do not know what is the cause of it. I thought you to be with her but instead here you are," Fawkes says, his voice wavering for a moment.

  I quickly sit up and with a slight quirk of my lip say "Then I ought to see to her at once, and silence her cries."

  When I didn't make a move Fawkes says "My Lord?" in a silent question.

  "You didn't think I was going to go do it myself, now did you?" When Fawkes does not say anything, I continued, "You must go in my place Fawkes as I have matters that need to be attended to."

  "My Lord I cannot harm you, I refuse to do so," Fawkes interjects, worry and fear coursing on his face.

  "Don't be a bumbling, blithering, idiotic human, Fawkes. It does not suit you. There is no need to kill me Fawkes or even to harm me. Do you remember when you first took this job, I gave you blood to drink. That blood was my own, and with that blood having been inside of you, you have the power to change into me for a short period of time. Use that power and make the female human succumb to you and if you have energy move onto her husband. I am trusting you with this gift Fawkes, don't betray my trust," I say before letting Fawkes leave.

  I stop him before he can leave though to quickly add, "Oh and Fawkes, do be rough with the female, she seems to enjoy it," I give him a slight smirk and his eyes seem to light up, joyful in been given permission to exceed the usual Skin-walker measure of pain.

  I know I would have to check in on Darleen later but for the moment I am desperate to get back to Anna's mind.

  I close my eyes, hoping to easily be able to slip into her mind and for once my wishes are met. She has no barriers guarding her mind, and there are no outside influences within her mind, that is to say any outside influence other than my own.

  I simply watch her for sometime. She is in a land that she does not recognize but I know it well, the rolling hills over looking the shoreline. She is in a simple white sundress, which flutters around at her mid thighs. Her dark auburn hair is loose and seems to dance in the gentle twirls of the wind. I am not dressed in my usual garb - a black attire perfect for the battlefield but light as well - instead I am dressed in tight black riding pants, a white frilled open shirt, and riding boots. I smile; realizing that it is not I who changed my appearance but she and for her to do so must mean that she knows I am here.

  "It's not polite to sneak into a Lady's dreams Mr. Sitzman." She says and her honey-sweet voice washes over me. I smile softly as I make my way toward her, and I take a seat beside her.

  "No I doubt that it is but when have I ever been polite, Anna?" I ask. I try to make my voice silky and seductive but she simply laughs, which puts me off course, if only for a moment.

  "Quite true, you were never polite and I never gave you the chance to be." It is soft and sweet but I can still hear her cautious behaviour seeping into her voice, and I turn so that I can look her in the eyes.

  "You do not need to fear me Anna, I won't hurt you." I say softly hoping she will believe me, hoping I can believe myself.

  "Oh I know you won't hurt me, we are within my mind and within my dream. You have no power here." Those words sting me, for they have a double meaning.

  "Do you wish me to leave Anna?" I ask softly, the hurt seeping into my voice.

  "I will not banish you from my mind while you are acting so kind, when you turn back into your usual self, well that will be a different situation all together," Anna says softly her eyes meeting mine, and I see warmth and understanding there. "Are my parent's well?" She asks a slight show of concern in her voice, despite how horribly they have treated her.

  "They are alive Anna, that's all you need to know," I say coldly as I look away from her. Her soft, petite hand reaches out, and grabs my chin in a strong hold, as she turns my head back towards her.

  "I don't ask to cause you anger Christian, they are my parents and despite how horribly they treated me, I am still a part of them. Make them pay for their sins if you must, but for my sake spare their lives." I cannot deny her, her wish. I stand up quickly and walk away from the beauty beside me; I cannot deny her anything, especially when she looks at me like that. As I prepare to leave her mind I turn back to look at her, she is watching me, and smiles softly as our eyes met once more.

  "I will spare them, not out of pity or kindness, but only because it is your desire to let them live," I say softly and I keep our eyes locked as I slowly feel myself slip away.

  Victor's P.O.V

  I am in my war room standing at the desk, the maps of the underworld spread across it. I am not alone though. Kayden's unit – the Acre Tempesta - surrounds me and thus Kayden is there and so is his second in command Shade, and his weapons master, Blades plus several others. We have been working and fining out the plans for the recruitment of the Underworld. I meet Kayden's eyes across the table, and he nods his head in one sharp but quick notion.

  "Alright so it's agreed, we separate into groups of four and go into the Vampire, Fae and Mermaid territories. Kayden you'll take three with you, Shade you will take three with you and the rest will come with me. We will be departing tomorrow afternoon. Spend the time with your
loved ones. William, Kayden and Shade can you stay back for a moment. I need to talk to the three of you in private." I wait until the other warriors have left the room, before I motion the three remaining men to take a seat.

  They look exhausted; we have been planning and organizing all night. I have left Anna sleeping in her bed, and I had dragged all of the members of the Special Force out of their beds. I wanted this to be done when no one would overhear us, and that time was somewhere in the middle of the night.

  "Kayden, as your the leader of the Acer Tempesta what area do you want to cover?" I ask it is common knowledge that I am to cover the vampire areas; it is simply because of who I am.

  "I'm going to cover the Mermaid territory, it’s a well known fact that I have connections with some of the people in their SA, and it'll be more likely that they will help us if they know a friendly face," Kayden says, his lazy smile in place as he easily talks about one of the deadliest people in the sea.

  "And I'll take care of the Fae, they play dirty and I can play back," Shade says and I acknowledge his request, with a simple nod of the head.

  "And I'm obviously staying here to guard the castle and to keep an eye on Anna," Blades adds and I give him a slight quirk of the lips.

  "Right since that's covered, you should all go and get some sleep while it is still night. We'll meet tomorrow afternoon as the sun sets," I say before walking out of the room, the three men following after me.