by Rue Volley
I climbed up on his back and he started to run. I buried my face in his back as we moved so quickly I couldn’t even focus on anything around us. We flashed from the scene and into the field. I tried to look back at the chaos, but it fell out of sight so quickly I couldn’t see anything clearly. We were suddenly stopped violently and I rolled from his back across the grass and finally came to stop. I pushed myself up slowly and saw Johnathan fighting, blade to blade with some girl I thought I had seen before. Yes, I had… she was one of the kissing girls in the strange boy’s cabin that night.
She glanced at me as she pivoted on her foot and slammed her fist into the side of Johnathan’s head. I screamed as he fell and started to try to crawl towards him. The girl stood there and tilted her head at me. She took a step towards me and I pushed myself up and clinched my fists.
“You leave him alone,” I said as I felt something strange in me.
I looked down at my hands and they looked like they were vibrating. I lifted them and the girl cried out at me and started to charge me. I held my arms up to shield my face and I heard a thud as she was tackled to the ground in a flash and rolled out of my sight. I scrambled to Johnathan and rolled him over; he had blood on his lip… eyes closed. I leaned down and pressed my ear to his chest… searching for a heartbeat. I heard it slow and steady and my panic level lowered to a twelve, instead of the twenty it was teetering on.
I heard a voice and looked behind me.
“Rue Volley… you are looking well, my love.”
I looked up to see a boy with a top hat on.
He looked like he knew me, although I couldn’t recall him.
“Come,” he said as he held his hand out to me.
I looked at Johnathan and shook my head.
“He is hurt.”
The boy laughed and flashed to us.
“He is fine… but you are in danger of being eaten, love… Come, quickly,” he said.
I felt him lift me up. I watched as I was carried away from Johnathan. I wanted to cry out; I wanted to understand… Instead, I felt dizzy and my eyes rolled in my head from all the excitement. I relaxed as I felt like I was floating in the air. I had to be dreaming; I had to be. That damn bottle, I should never have drank it. I was now having a mega meltdown… dreaming of light, and blades and battle. I thought I heard laughter and I sank into nothing… blackness. Sleep.
Chapter 15
Friends and Enemies
Are All The Same
Josh and Caine silently walked towards the carnival lights. Josh was not one to shut up, but Caine’s declaration to him kind of put a temporary halt on his bantering. For Caine to reveal that he was truly a Lord was enough for Josh to realize the fact that his previous encounters with him were lucky… as far as surviving goes. It puzzled him as to why Caine simply did not destroy him right away there in Trial. The fact that Josh had not yet taken that final step was a good thing, at least for breathings sake. Joshua was powerful in his own right, having the genetic make- up of a Lord was something so rare, so powerful… able to accomplish pretty much anything killing wise, but to actually be a Lord was something else altogether. A Lord was the top of the food chain in their world.
Josh spent their time heading towards the carnival thinking of ways that he could kill Caine if needed. Nothing really came to mind that was sufficient enough to make him feel at ease. His thoughts became jumbled as Rue floated into his mind as usual. He was mid-daydream with her in mind when Caine broke his train of thought.
“So you assume that the mirror will allow us to portal from Trial,” Caine said, almost mockingly.
Josh stopped walking and looked at the back of Caine’s head, wondering if a large rock would be enough to crush it.
“Yea… why not?” Josh said to him.
“Would you stop trying to devise a plan to kill me,” Caine said as he half laughed at him.
Josh crinkled his eyebrows.
“Why would you think that?” Josh said.
Caine grinned and turned back to him.
“That is what I would be thinking, if the situation was reversed,” Caine said.
Josh shook his head and looked at the carnival.
“I am only thinking of leaving this place. I have two crazy bitches wanting me to fail… I plan on getting as far away from them as possible.”
Caine tapped him on the shoulder.
“Ahhh, yes. My mother and your new friend.”
Josh looked at him and grinned.
“Yea… my new buddy is a pain in the ass.”
“She is a nymph you know,” Caine said to him.
Josh looked at him and snorted as he laughed.
“Yea, tell me about it; she is all about the bed.”
“No… you idiot. She is a nymph, one of the oldest at that.”
Josh looked at him and a light bulb went off in his head.
“Oh shit… You mean a ‘nymph’. I thought you meant a nympho… you know.”
“Yes… she is a muse to the old Gods, Greek in nature.”
Josh looked at him and smiled.
“I know my history... I recognized her now.”
Caine shook his head at him and smiled.
“You know nothing of her; she is treacherous. After she was cast aside by her lover, the sun god Helios, she spent a millennia staring at the sky… looking for him. She eventually became a flower, as legend tells it, and she became rooted to the ground… to suffer in her state forever. What books do not tell you is that she has been in human form before. She lures young girls to give her blood, so that she can take their form and destroy the unfortunate girl who brings her back to life.”
Josh stopped and looked at him.
“Are you saying that she hurt Rue?”
Caine laughed and turned to him.
“Oh no… it would seem that for the first time Clytie… as she is called, met her match. I do not know when Rue encountered her, but she was able to trap Clytie in memory, not allowing her to consume her as she had done so many times before.”
Josh sighed and then rubbed his neck.
“That’s my girl,” he muttered.
“Oh shit… Wait, it’s Clytie…? Isn’t she the one who told that Persian princess’s Dad that Helios was doing her… out of jealousy, and then the Dad killed his daughter?”
Caine laughed.
“You do know your history then. Yes, Clytie is a jealous lover. Once she has had you, her jealousy is her only motivation. She will go to any length to ensure that you are miserable and she will kill the other woman in most instances, in fact all until now. I am sure that she is causing as much havoc as she can in Valon as we speak.”
“That is great, just great. I had to sleep with some crazy nymph bent on revenge… My luck is so sucking right now,” Josh said.
They came to the top of the hill and looked down at the carnival.
The music sounded warped and you could hear faint cries coming from that direction.
“So… ummm. Did you ever sleep with Clytie?” Josh asked him.
Caine stared at the carnival and shook his head.
“No, she came to me once. I turned away her charm,” he said.
“Lucky you,” Josh muttered as they started down the hill.
“Well, no. I was the last to plant her back in the ground. I encountered her hundreds of years ago. She had taken some poor girl’s form and then I stumbled upon her in the forest one day. I will not say that I was not tempted to take her; she was quite convincing. Once she realized what I was, she was insistent that I turn her, give her my blood. She begged me. I refused.”
Josh glanced over at him.
“Well, that doesn’t sound like you… no offense.”
Caine grinned.
“None taken. You would be surprised to know that I can love, and did at one time. Clytie, on the other hand, decided that she was not going to allow me that pleasure. She turned my love against me, believing that I would then have her… with no love of my own.”
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“Who was that… your girl that is?” Josh asked him.
Caine stopped and looked at the stars in the sky.
“It was Grace Valon,” he said in a whisper.
“What the hell?” Josh asked him.
“Yes, I did love her… more than life, more than the light that burns in me. Once she left me for good I found life tedious… mundane. Clytie succeeded in blackening my heart.”
Josh became quiet as they came closer to carnival. The thought of Caine loving Rue’s mother was a stretch, but here they were… in a shitty situation with little chance to escape. Josh did not believe that Caine was lying, although he wouldn’t put it past him. I mean, it was Caine that he was thinking about… the same bastard that abducted Rue and dragged her to Valon, the same bastard that killed his own Father. The thought of him loving someone, having that compassion in his heart, was a thought that was hard to wrap your head around.
Caine stopped and held up his hand as he stared out into the field in front of them.
“Did you feel that?” he asked Josh.
Josh shook his head and then laughed. He held his hands up.
“Mortal, remember?” he said.
Caine looked back at him and smiled.
“Oh… yes. Sorry, I forgot about that detail.”
“Well, I haven’t. It sucks ass,” Josh said to him.
“A problem solved in due time, I am sure,” Caine said to him.
Josh looked around and heard laughter. He looked at Caine and whispered.
“Who the hell is that?” he asked him.
“I fear that you are being hunted,” Caine said.
Just as Caine ended his sentence, a flash came from behind Josh and knocked him to the ground. Someone grabbed his ankle and started to drag him through the grass. Caine flashed over him in a backward flip through the air and came down on the creature with force, slamming his blade through it. The creature cried out as it struggled to free itself. Caine leaned over the dark body and laughed.
“You should be mindful of who you attack,” he muttered.
The creature hissed and continued to twist under him. Caine quickly pulled his blade out of it and slammed his hand into its back. A bright flash of light welled up like a beacon in the night sky and the creature lay still. He rolled it over and it was a young boy, no more than fifteen. Caine touched his face and turned it, there was bite on his neck, freshly made.
“It would seem that rogues are made here. Look,” Caine said as he looked at Josh, who was still shocked at the attack and his apparent lack of being able to ward it off.
“Yea… give me a blade,” he said to him.
Caine stood up and stared at him.
“You will not be able to wield it right now; the weight of it alone will render you useless.”
Josh pushed himself up from the ground and stared at the rogue at his feet.
“I will… just give me one,” he said as he held his hand out to him.
Caine grinned and handed a blade to him.
It dropped, pulling Josh with it to the ground. He tried to lift it as he grunted.
“’As you can see, I was not trying to mock you. The weight of the blade is too much for the human hand,” he said.
“I am not human; I am just sick,” Josh said all deviant.
“Oh is that what we are calling it?” Caine asked him.
“Listen, I know that we are not friends. I know that I should be happy that you haven’t chomped on me yet just out of spite, but I am the closest thing to a friend that you have here. I would appreciate it if you would just bite me already and get it over with. I have to regain my strength.”
Caine stared at him and smiled.
“You would like me to bite you, here under the moonlight…? How romantic,” Caine said.
“Oh, shut up already and bite me,” Josh said as he struggled to pull the blade up.
Caine stood there and watched Josh struggle with the blade.
Josh grunted and stopped as he noticed Caine watching him.
“Oh… I would guess that you are loving this right now… Right?” he asked him.
“I am just weighing my options,” Caine said.
“What options, dude...? I mean we are stuck in Trial; we need to get the hell out of here. I know that we can.”
“Well, perhaps it would be to my advantage to go on my own,” Caine said.
Josh tilted his head and dropped the blade he was struggling with.
“You are kidding me, right?” Josh said.
Caine paused and then looked at him.
“Well, we need to establish some rules, before I help return you to your former self,”
Josh laughed and looked at the carnival.
“Rules… okay. What would you suggest?” Josh asked him.
Caine smiled. “I would suggest that you be bound, never to be able to do me harm,” he said.
Josh stared at him and shook his head.
“Are you familiar with good guy, bad guy?” he asked him.
Caine tilted his head. Josh grinned.
“Well, you see. I am what you would call the ‘good guy’. You on the other hand are… and no offense, ‘the bad guy’.”
Caine laughed.
“I am to not take offense to that?” he said.
Josh stared at him and shook his head.
“Well, your track record would suggest that you have bad tendencies, evil really. I mean, you are hell bent on power and shit.”
“You know nothing of me,” Caine said as he turned and started to walk.
Josh sighed as he walked behind him. Now is the time for him to do the one thing that he would have never considered in a million years…never…ever.
“Okay, fine,” Josh said.
Caine stopped and looked back at him.
“Fine what?” he said as he gritted his teeth.
Josh looked at him and threw his hands up in the air.
“Your ‘rules’… let’s hear em,’” Josh said as he quoted the word ‘rules’ in the air.
Caine smiled and shook his head.
“I don’t like you,” Caine said.
“Well, I fucking hate your ass… so there,” Josh said back to him.
Caine laughed, not a mocking laugh, but a genuine one. Josh tilted his head.
“Are we having what the girls call a ‘moment’?” Josh asked him.
“It would seem to be the case,” Caine replied as he cleared his throat and stared at him.
“Okay, so now that we have established that two assholes can at least be civil; let’s get to the ‘rules’ business,” Josh said.
“Okay then,” Caine said as he stood up straight in front of Josh.
Josh had to slightly look up which was annoying enough.
He stood up straight to… to counter Caine’s couple of inches on him.
“I will bite you; I will turn you… In return, I will also place a binding on you… one of which will cause you great pain if you ever try to harm me again,” Caine said.
Josh snorted as he laughed, then realized that he was the only one finding it humorous.
He straightened up again and stared at him.
“What choice do I have?” Josh said.
Caine looked around.
“Well, seeing that I am the only protector here, I guess your choices are limited.”
Caine looked at him and started to lean towards him. Josh held up his hand and stepped back.
“Whoa… Okay, so I want a guarantee that when you do this… I will not, you know… uh, wanna hump you or anything freaky like that,” Josh said.
Caine shook his head.
“Are you always such an annoyance?” he asked.
“Dude… seriously. I wanna just make sure that…”
Caine lunged at him and knocked him down as he tore into his neck. Josh cried out as Caine’s teeth broke the skin on his neck and he could feel the blood leave him and enter Caine’s mouth. Caine groaned as he drank him. Josh star
ted to feel dizzy; he struggled for a moment and then his body started to relax. Caine pulled from his neck in a flash and cried out as he fought the urge to kill him. Josh tried to push himself up, but he was too weak.
Caine stared at him and then bit into his own arm… He watched the newly made cut well up with his own blood and then he placed it on Josh’s mouth. Josh drank slowly at first and then felt his strength returning to him. Caine slowed his breathing and started to chant in Latin. His cut started to glow at Josh’s mouth and Josh cried out as he was thrown back from him. He rolled on his side and grabbed his stomach as he groaned and hit the ground with his free hand. Caine stood up and held his hand over his self-inflicted wound. A light welled up and the cut pulled itself back together and he rubbed it.
“Oh, god damn it,” Josh said as he pushed himself up from the ground.
Caine stood there staring at him with a wicked grin on his face.
Josh looked at him and shook his head.
“That hurt like hell!” he yelled at him.
“As I knew it would,” Caine said.
“Thanks for warning me, you dick,” Josh said.
“Well it would have been pleasant, but it was the binding and the fact that you cannot harm me… in any way,” Caine said.
“But you bit me!” Josh said as he bent over and spit on the ground.
“This is true, but the binding does not see a difference in such matters,” Caine said.
“Perfect,” Josh muttered.
Josh leaned down and picked up the blade. He held it up and stared at it as the weight felt as it always had to him… like nothing.
Caine smiled at him.
“Are we ready to leave this hell?” Caine asked him.
Josh flashed a wicked grin at him.
“Hell yeah,” Josh said.
They both flashed across the field towards the carnival as quickly as they could.
***
I rolled over, after dreaming about cupcakes. Big, fluffy pink ones, which for me is definitely a dream… considering that I hate pink, and purple, and basically anything that falls under the category of Easter egg colors. Yuck. I will admit though the cupcake looked glorious in my dream; so much so… I woke, lying in a wet spot of gross drool. I blinked a couple of times and then I focused in on a foreign room, with foreign smells, and foreign sounds. WTF? I swear I heard weird screaming, the kind that sounds more like fun screaming… not ‘Oh my god, I am dying’ screaming.
