Valkyrie Rising

by GR Griffin

  Brahms stared transfixed at the way Silmeria deftly cleaned the blood off her fingers. The hand on his chest moved, sliding over muscles in it's travel towards his throat. And when it reached it's destination, her claws began to dig into the cut, to quicken the blood flow. Brahms let out a hiss, cautioning her. "Your fangs Silmeria. Use your fangs!"

  She seemed to nod in understanding, placing her right hand on his shoulder. The left hand continue to play with the blood, smearing it across his skin. Silmeria would bend over him, Brahms moaning when he felt her tongue press against the cut. She'd lick at the bleeding wound, tongue washing over every inch of it, and it was all Brahms could do not to snarl.

  "Fangs!" He said, his hand fisting in the back of her hair. He heard Silmeria snarl, her eyes wild in the moment. But he forced her to look at him, the grip on her hair a controlling one. "Feed with your fangs...."

  Was that a petulant pout that crossed her lips? It flashed by so quickly, Silmeria hissing as Brahms released his hold on her hair. The instant she was free, Silmeria went for his neck, teeth scraping over the sensitive skin of his pulse point. He shuddered, his hands going to grip Silmeria's waist. She'd hiss in warning, assuming Brahms was trying to pull her away. But he wasn't, Brahms merely gripping her closer to him.

  His heart beat was thundering in his ears, his pulse rocketing faster. Her teeth continued to caress over his skin, Silmeria not yet biting down. He tried not to tense in anticipation, for that would only make her bite hurt. And yet Brahms couldn't quite control his reaction, his excitement coming off him in waves. One last scrape of her teeth, and then he felt the pointed tips pushing into his skin.

  It was an uncertain bite, not that pleasurable compared to a sure one. And still Brahms moaned, his grip on Silmeria's waist turning bruising. "Harder!" He gritted out, commanding her. "Bite down with all you've got."

  It didn't take much more than that to get Silmeria to do as he wanted. She instantly clamped down, her fangs sinking beneath his skin. He felt the pull on his vein, Silmeria quickly figuring out how to draw the blood out of him in large mouthfuls. And with that pull, the pleasure came, Brahms moaning. His own eyes closed, Brahms whispering her name. "Silmeria!"

  She actually purred, reveling in feeding from him. Her hands were moving, one in his hair, smoothing back the spiky tips of his long, dark mane. The other hand was caressing up and down his muscled arm, her claws teasing over his bare skin. Brahms found he could not be still, trembling in reaction. It was a struggle to behave, to keep his hands in place around her slim waist. He wanted so badly to touch her, to return Silmeria's caresses.

  And then she bent a leg, her knee pressing against his groin as Silmeria pressed more insistently against him. That knee of hers ground against his groin, his own sex reacting. What blood Silmeria didn't take, quickly went to his groin, his cock lengthening, becoming stiff. Brahms found himself pushing back against her knee, grinding with her to increase his immense pleasure.

  His claws were tearing open the sides of her dress, digging holes into the fabric from how hard he gripped her. Brahms wouldn't be surprised if he bled her, but Silmeria did not notice, too taken with the taste of his blood. Silmeria continued to purr, drawing harder on his vein. A few more pulls, and she would have to stop. And yet he didn't want her to, Brahms moaning, wishing she would put her hands elsewhere on his body. And then he was acting, grabbing her by the wrists. She growled a warning but did not fight him, Brahms forcing Silmeria to slide her hands down his waist.

  He was concentrating so hard on making her go lower, that Brahms nearly missed it when the lightheaded feeling began to overtake him. He opened his eyes, noticing the room seem to be spinning. That was the signal to stop, Brahms reluctantly letting go of Silmeria's hands. But she didn't stop touching him, actually pawing at his body. His words came out a strangled moan, Brahms reaching for her shoulders.

  "Enough Silmeria....enough..."

  She didn't immediately pull back, greedily trying for another mouthful. Brahms would start to ease her back carefully so that her fangs didn't tear out of his skin. Silmeria made a whining sound, eyes still fixed on the bleeding puncture wounds. There was more to do, more to teach her, but he had a feeling she hadn't yet recovered enough to lick his wound close. So he kept her at a distance, Brahms looking over her body to make sure her wounds had sealed seamlessly shut. He couldn't help noticing other things about her, the way her own arousal and satisfaction came off of Silmeria.

  Her eyes were glazed over, not yet changed completely. But there was already flecks of crimson amidst the blue. Her lips were a dark red, and Brahms wanted nothing more than to kiss them with the pretext of licking them clean.

  Silmeria's body was still trembling, and her breath was coming out faster. She kept looking at his neck, as though she would fall upon him the first chance he gave her. Even worse, he wanted to give her that chance. Wanted to experience the pleasure of her bite once more. If it was half as arousing for her as it had been for him, no wonder Silmeria was having a hard time staying away from his neck.

  His eyes did another quick once over of her body, noting the way her nipples had stiffened against the fabric of her dress. Brahms almost smiled then, taking it as a sign that yes, his bride had enjoyed her first feeding after all. The only thing that could make the occasion even more memorable would be if they were to make love. But Brahms had a feeling that for all of Silmeria's arousal, she was not yet ready for that kind of outlet to channel that pleasure into.

  Somehow, Brahms regain his ability to speak. His voice came out hoarse as he questioned her softly. "How do you feel?"

  A quick blinking of Silmeria's eyes, the girl still looking so dazed. "I.....I..."

  Brahms wasn't sure what he expected. It had been ages since he had last fed someone personally. Silmeria herself looked overwhelmed, expression startled as she glanced once more at his neck. Her tongue came out, licking over her bloody lips. She seemed shocked by the taste, and quickly brought her hands to cover her face. A moan followed that covering, her shoulders starting to shake. It left him concern, Brahms finding the strength to rise out of his seat.

  "Silmeria?"

  She didn't try to avoid him when he put his arms around her. Silmeria actually let Brahms embrace her, leaning her body against his as she shook. Even in his concern for her, he savored the feel of his unresisting bride, Brahms letting his fingers tangle in the end of her blonde hair. She continued to shake, and it was then he realized she was CRYING.

  "Silmeria..." He started to make a soothing sound, but she began to speak.

  "I didn't think it would feel so good." She whispered from behind her hands. "Didn't think blood would taste like that..." He said nothing, not even asking how she could not have some notion, after the way she had hungered after any blood spilt around her. "Why was it so good...why is everything about this so damn good?!" Silmeria continued to speak, but didn't appear to be waiting for answers to those questions. "No wonder you...we vampires are so dangerous." She concluded. "It's impossible to resist such pleasure."

  "Not impossible, just difficult." Brahms told her. She shifted in his arm, lowering her hands so that Silmeria could peer up nervously at him. He noted with some pleasure that the color was returning to her face, Silmeria no longer so pale. "You will have to learn, to master over your darker impulses. It will take time, but you will overcome them. You won't be ruled by the blood, by your hunger for it."

  "Until that time I am a danger, aren't I?" Silmeria asked.

  "A danger only if you feed on mortals." Brahms corrected. "Until that time, it will be best if I see to your feedings."

  She made a face then, showing she wasn't entirely pleased with that thought. "Somehow that might be more dangerous....."

  "Why?" He asked, then challenged her. "Because of the intimacy it gives us? If anything, it's because of that intimacy that I should be the one to continue to feed you. It would be intolerable to see my bride seek sustenance from another vampire."

>   Naturally she chose to ignore the feelings he revealed to her, instead asking him a different question. "Your bride...you keeping calling me that. It gives me the feeling it means more than what it does to the humans....as though it inspires a closer bond than that of husband and wife."

  "It does." Brahms was pleased by her observation. "You are my everything now. You've been mine since I turned you....no....you've been mine since I first held your life in my hand and let you go."

  "I don't belong to you." Now she was angry, Silmeria trying to pull out of his embrace.

  "Don't you?" Brahms tightened his hold on her, possessive and showing she still lacked the strength to get away from him.

  "I don't!" Silmeria insisted.

  "Even if we didn't have that connection, you'd still be mine. I am ruler of the vampires....a people you are now a part of." Brahms smirked. "Every last one of them owes their allegiance, their very existence to me."

  "What do you mean by that? Their existence?" Silmeria demanded. "Surely you couldn't have turned every vampire!!"

  "I may not personally have been the one to deliver the bite that changed them....but as you will soon see, I did have a hand in their fate." Brahms told her, watching her eyes widen. "Search your memories Silmeria. Try to make sense of the things my blood has told you."

  "I..." She hesitated, and shook her head. "I can't...."

  "You can't or you won't?" Brahms asked, the abruptly let her go. "No matter. The memories will come. Either you embrace them willingly, or they will overtake you in your dreams. You cannot avoid them, any more than you could avoid ME."

  Silmeria was unsettled by that, stepping back from him. Her arms were hugging around her chest, her eyes wide as she stared at him. He hadn't said that to scare her. Brahms was simply speaking unavoidable fact. His blood was in Silmeria now. The memories would come. How she dealt with the onslaught of them would be up to her. Would Silmeria continue to deny the truth, to hide from the fact that Odin was not the hero she imagined him to be? Brahms did not know. She might even disappoint him with her reactions to what she learned. But the knowledge would be shared, the truth out there, casting doubt every time she thought of Odin and the things that he did. It would be like an infection, worming it's way into everything. The truth wouldn't care about sparing Silmeria, it wouldn't try to hold together her weakening perceptions of Odin. It would simply come to her, and there was nothing Silmeria could do now to stop it.

  ----

  ...

  Chapter 30 : Thirty

  Much of her day had been spent with the sorceress, Lenneth getting to know Mystina just a little better. Mystina had made an effort to be nice to the Valkyrie, all smiles and friendly talk that could not quite hide the sly, calculating look in the sorceress' eyes. Lenneth was sure Mystina was up to something, that the sorceress had ulterior motives that extended beyond earning Lenneth's forgiveness.

  That suited Lenneth just fine. After all, she too had her own motives for cultivating a friendship with the sorceress. She wanted knowledge almost as badly as Mystina did, though their interest was in two opposing directions. Mystina was eager to learn about the heavens, to learn about divinity. She wanted to recreate it, to learn the key to making one immortal.

  Lenneth did not think she could help Mystina out with that, regardless of what she knew and did not know about the subject. But Lenneth pretended to indulge her, going so far as to allow Mystina to take a sample of hair from her head. She thought it harmless, Lenneth assuming Mystina would in no way be able to discover the key to immortality through a single strand of her hair.

  They had talked about a great many things, topics ranging from the upcoming wedding, to the alliance forged between Asgard and Nifleheim. Lenneth had been especially interested in that, hoping to steer the topic in a way that would reveal something she could use against the Goddess Hel. Unfortunately for Lenneth, Mystina either did not know anything valuable, or was too good at guarding her words. Lenneth had yet to decide which one it was, and was more than a little put out to have wasted a day without learning anything of value.

  Lenneth supposed though it was better than doing nothing, or wandering aimlessly about the castle. She had NOTHING to do with her time, and no real friends to wile away the hours with. Nor had she wanted to return to her temporary quarters, especially with the memories still so prevalent of the mishap that had occurred between Lenneth and her betrothed.

  It had been a welcome relief when Mystina had suggested they go into the city. Lenneth had all but jumped at the chance, all eager smiles as she agreed to visit the small laboratory Mystina kept inside a private house located a quarter mile from the castle. There was a public laboratory inside the castle, in addition to the one inside Lezard's private workshop, but Mystina like so many of the other mages preferred keeping to herself when it came to her work and research.

  Lenneth had been very curious, carefully looking over the experiments that lay out in plain sight. There had been no bodies, but the Valkyrie wouldn't have been surprised if Mystina had another room with the more dangerous and depraved experiments hidden away. If such a room existed, Mystina made no mention of it. Instead the sorceress had been proud, near boasting as she showed off her work. Lenneth would even get to see the chamber that allowed Mystina to separate her soul from her body, the device that allowed the sorceress to astral project herself.

  Mystina never allowed Lenneth a moment by herself in the laboratory. Even as she showed off, the soceress was careful, determined not to have any of her work stolen. Lenneth was inwardly disappointed, thinking there wasn't anything she could really use to make a case against Hel's planned betrayal. But she played at being polite, interested as Mystina set off to examine Lenneth's hair at length.

  That strand of hair was currently in a rectangular glass case, floating in some kind of neon green liquid. Lenneth had not really understood the things Mystina said that single strand of hair could show her. What did a former Goddess know of DNA and molecular structures?

  They would not return to the castle until well into evening. It was near the end of the day's dinner, and many of the nobles were still gathered inside the dining room. That included Lezard, the man rising to his feet, his expression displeased as he gazed at just who was besides Lenneth. Mystina took it all in good stride, cheerfully announcing their arrival with greetings for everyone present.

  That included Lezard, Mystina making a flippant comment that nearly drove the man to scowl. "Oh do wipe that sour look off your face lest you give yourself wrinkles before the wedding."

  "I do not have wrinkles." Lezard grumbled in protest.

  "You will if you keep worrying." Mystina shot back. She took her seat amidst her usual group of admirers, though the women were restraining themselves from making demands at the moment. They were too busy looking back and forth from their Lord and the sorceress, intent on every word exchanged.

  Others had risen, the men and women paying their respects to the former Goddess as she made her way to the head of the table. Lezard had one last glare for Mystina, before he turned to look at Lenneth. His smile was strained, the tension in him apparent as he reached for Lenneth's hand. She tried not to stiffen in response, tried not to overreact to that simple touch of his.

  "Lenneth..." Lezard bent, bringing her hand up so he could brush a kiss over her knuckles. "Your presence here is a welcome bit of light."

  "Thank you." Lenneth said, relieved when she could take back her hand. It had actually started to tremble in response to the kiss Lezard had given her, Lenneth hoping no one else had noticed that betraying reaction.

  "I understand you've been with Mystina for most of the day." A question was in Lezard's eyes, the man not sitting down until after Lenneth had taken her seat.

  "Yes. She was very kind, very informative."

  "Informative?!" Lezard exclaimed, and Mystina laughed.

  "Relax Lezard. I told her nothing that would put you in a bad light. Lady Lenneth and I were merely having some
girl talk, getting to know each other and what not."

  Lezard didn't look pleased to hear that, his lips parting as though he would demand further explanations.

  "It was really just things about the wedding." Lenneth quickly explained. A servant was bringing a plate to her, the day's dinner piled on it. "I've never been to a wedding before." She added, many of the women present reacting startled to that confession. "I was not sure what would happen, what would be expected of me."

  "And Mystina filled you in?" Lezard asked. He didn't look like he trusted what the sorceress would have told his betrothed.

  "Yes." Lenneth nodded. "The ceremony won't be as overwhelming as it could have been for me."

  "Ah...of course. I should have prepared you myself." Lezard looked chagrined.

  "You've been busy." Lenneth told him.

  "I still should have taken the time for you!" He protested. "I just hadn't realized that you have had no experience with that which the rest of us take for granted." He put a hand over hers, giving it a squeeze. "I won't make that same mistake again."

  "There's no need." Mystina spoke up. "I can tell Lenneth whatever she needs to know."

  "Somehow I don't trust your motives for doing that." Lezard grumbled.

  Mystina fluttered her eyelashes, almost pouting at him. "Am I so untrustworthy that you have to fear my every word, every action?"

  "Do you really want me to answer that?" Lezard demanded.

  The pout deepened, Mystina trying for a wide eyed, innocent look. "So cruel. When I have done nothing but try to make myself be of service to you."

  A man started coughing, caught in mid laugh as he choked on his food. Randolf immediately began pounding his fist on the man's back, trying to help him calm down. "Sorry." The man said, a sickly smile on his face. "I must have swallowed too much."