Bloodlines 2 Ancestry

by Toni L. Meilleur

  With a thought the fire immediately snuffed out, swirls of smoke curled around Allantra’s body, and now he saw the thin trickle of blood that poured from her nose. Her beautiful hair had been badly singed. He strode up to the pit and approached her from behind, mentally untying the knots that bound her hands. He rushed forward before the last tie loosened to catch her before she fell into the smoldering woodpile. Carefully he laid her on the ground. Thank the Gods she was still breathing! People around him began to mutter and cry their apologies. Some tried to scramble away. “Don’t move. I will kill anyone who does.” He laced his voice with magic so that it boomed across the clearing, every note declared violence on anyone who disobeyed.

  Carefully he examined her, noting the burns around her foot and ankle. There were nasty burns on her back where her hair had hung against her skin. Rage, more powerful than he’d ever known, churned in him, but for now he kept it at bay. His first priority was his mate, his second priority to kill all those involved even if it meant the whole village. Za’rae suddenly appeared, her wrinkled body immediately moved to Allantra’s other side. She laid cool hands on the woman and muttered something low.

  “She is comfortable now, she feels no pain.”

  “Why did you let this happen?” he spat at her.

  “Mind yourself, boy,” the old woman snapped. “Take care of this situation and then you may ask me questions.” With her hand still laying upon Allantra’s belly they both disappeared. Now Dharean had full rein to unleash his anger and revenge.

  “Where is the quisling?” he asked the crowd. His eyes settled on the still standing figures of Nani and her husband. “Where is the quisling?” he pointedly asked her, “and do not lie, I am in no mood for your games.”

  Perhaps she was drunk on the power of the moment. Perhaps Nani even thought that she had the support of many villagers, but whatever her foolish reason, Nani decided to throw caution to the wind.

  “You dare hurt your own people, for that whore? What of the vow you took, not to use magic against your own people?” Her jealousy was palpable. “She has done nothing but bring us evil. Minn was nice enough to befriend her and look what happened. It could have been any of us, more even, if we had shown her such foolish kindness.”

  “Whore?” It was hard to tell if Dharean called Nani a whore or if he was merely picking up the word from her statement. It was at this moment he opened his mind to Masque so that he could witness the events “You call her the whore, yet it was I who you have been bedding since you have married this fool.” He jerked his head toward the tall True-blood who now looked at Nani with glittering eyes. “You have had your part in this because of your jealousy, you will be punished forthright. My vow is still in effect, for those who have not crossed me.”

  “You would kill me?” Nani said incredulously.

  “No, venom-tongued bitch, there are things worse than death. Your beauty hides your true nature;, perhaps that needs to be changed.” With a smattering of words said low Dharean looked directly at her. But Nani felt nothing. She laughed at him instead.

  “Perhaps you are not as good a wizard as we thought.” She began until she heard the murmurings from the people. A woman screamed as she looked upon Nani’s face. Then her husband looked at her as if he were ready to vomit. Nani then felt the tightness under her skin, and the feeling of movement under it, the sensation was quite painful.

  What looked to be small snakes seemed to slither under the skin in her face and neck. Occasionally a forked tongue would flicker out of her nostril. Nani reached for her face and felt the slithering serpents. Sheer horror filled her eyes. “And you have helped her harm my mate, you shall remain with her for all your days.” He decreed to the tall True-blood. The man found himself being pulled like a magnet towards his wife. When his left arm connected to her right, it melded together to form one arm. Some of the snakes began to make their way to his body. He looked upon the visage of his once beautiful wife and saw the serpents crawling, sometimes seeming to bulge out of her neck. His repulsion led him to turn and retch, only to realize there was no escaping his wife, no escaping the serpents that now dwelled in his body as well. The people cried their apologies and begged for forgiveness. Dharean sensed that these people had been misled because of their own fear, he would punish them but not as severely—later, but it was one person in particular he needed to kill.

  He knew it was Dysil, he smelled the scent on Allantra. He heard the name whispered in the minds of the people.

  I have him in my sight. Masque told him, giving him the location where Dysil was cowering. Dharean transformed into the panther as he was running, the animal in him demanded to take the life.

  The panther followed instructions from Masque until his feline nose picked up the scent. He ran as fast as his powerful legs would carry him. He slowed as he came upon Dysil’s hiding place. Dysil was no more than a large chameleon-like shifter. He could change to blend in with his surroundings. But Masque, with his raptor eyes, could see right through the blending. The panther circled the tree trying to appear as if it were confused. He could hear the heavy breathing that Dysil tried hard to slow. He smelled the blood as it pumped furiously throughout his body, the fear giving it a pungent odor. Then without warning the panther took a bite out of the trunk of the tree. Dysil cried out as his intestines were ripped from his gut; he fell forward, the ability to blend with the tree lost to the intense pain and the wound. The panther spit out the entrails, and then shimmered as the form of Dharean towered over the fatally wounded shifter.

  “Why?” was all Dharean asked, yes he could have just plucked it from Dysil’s mind, but the nature of the panther made him want to play and torture his prey before he killed it.

  “She is the harbinger, the end to us all.” Dysil rasped out, blood spattered about his lips as he coughed.

  “She has caused no one here harm.”

  “It was only a matter of time.” He retorted weakly. Now the blood flowed freely from his mouth, his hand tried to futilely cover the wound. “The servants never found us until she came.”

  “You gave them Minn and the pups.”

  “It is best to sacrifice three than the whole village. You get a chance to romp around with fresh pussy and you lose all wisdom, can you not see what she is?” Dysil beseeched him.

  “She is a key to our existence you fool. She is a synergist.” Dharean let the words soak into his pain addled brain. “That’s right, you tried to kill the one thing that could save us all, without her gift, the vampyre and I couldn’t possibly take on all the vampyres.”

  “You lie.” Dysil insisted. “I did what needed to be done. I have saved the people. I gave them what they wanted so they would leave us alone. You should have let me burn her, she is impure.” His fear and hatred poured from him. Dharean realized he was just bad seed.

  “Yes, you gave them Minn and the pups, and the servants will go back and tell the vampyres there is an entire village of us. They will come back to kill us all.”

  “No, they promised. They only needed three.” He rasped choking on his own blood. Dharean sat on his haunches in front of the slowly dying man. He guessed, with the wound, the man could live a few more hours if he didn’t bleed out.

  “You hurt my mate, tried to kill her. You betrayed our people. You went against my orders. You are a traitor and have been sentenced.”

  “You are a fool, Noir Brujo.” He laughed spitting blood. “I am already dying; there is nothing more that you could do.” His entrails quivered as he tried to laugh. “I have saved our people and if I could have another chance, I would burn that bitch of yours quicker.”

  Dharean’s eyes took on the black funnels that showed his anger was almost beyond control. Dharean lifted his face to the sky and dark clouds began to rumble overhead. The tattoos on his arm became glossy as they protected Dharean when using such magic. The three shadow demons rose around Dysil, their insidious whispers echoed in his ears. One came close to Dharean but stayed a respe
ctable distance back; the tattoos forbade it to come any closer.

  “You give him to usss?” It whispered, the dark form hovering over the ground, its yellow eyes looking hopeful.

  “I do.” Dharean answered. “I understand it is feeding season.”

  “It issss” the thing answered.

  “I give him to you under the condition that you grant me a favor.”

  “Hmmm,” The thing pondered for a moment looking from Dysil to Dharean. His hunger evident, it wanted nothing more than to bite into the dying shifter and suck the very marrow from his bone while he was still alive, it was so much sweeter when they were alive. “You must let me hear the favor first.” The demon wisely bartered.

  Chapter Nine

  Dharean strode into Za’rae’s hut without preamble. Though punishing the main participants in the event that hurt Allantra took off some of the anger, there was one last persistent part. He was angry with Za’rae. She could have prevented all of this from happening. She had just as much power as he, more in fact. Why she would go through the trouble of protecting Allantra from him in the beginning then letting the people hurt her? He didn’t understand, but he was determined to find out.

  The fire, as usual, was going at a moderate intensity. Allantra was laid out on a mat with a thin cloth covering her with special markings. It was the healing cloth. A cloth that only Za’rae possessed and only used sparingly, he wondered how bad Allantra’s injuries were. Za’rae, as usual, sat by the fire hunched over. Her coal-black, glossy eyes never wavered from the fire as she spoke.

  “I will forgive you for the trespass this once because of circumstances, but I warn you yet again do not push me.” She hid the smile behind her annoyance at his obvious insistence to see his mate.

  “Why did you not stop this from happening? Why did you let her get hurt?” he demanded speaking harshly but low, afraid to wake her.

  “Because I needed to know where your heart lies,” she answered simply, her gaze still intent on the fire. “I had to let things unfold as they did because they needed to. I cannot interfere. If you did not come to her rescue all could have been lost.”

  “You have the power. You could have stopped Dysil and the others before they hurt her.” To his horror his voice broke. The idea of what happened to Allantra rooted in his soul, and made him want to cry in anger, in frustration. He wished he could take away what happened. Hadn’t she been through enough?

  “Yes, I have much power, Dharean, and for that reason must be very careful how I use it. The prophecy is to be taken seriously. If you were not sufficiently bonded to her, I could not let you go on the journey. You would have revealed us with no hopes of winning. But you came for her.” She turned her coal-black lashless eyes to Dharean, a smile on her wrinkled face. “You came for her when you felt her fear. You are bonded as you need be and all events fell into place.”

  “Of course I came for her,” he bit out, still angry with her.

  “You say that now, but do you not remember how you fought the very idea of being her mate in the beginning? And now you love her.” Za’rae said simply.

  “I don’t know that I love her.” He said finally sitting in between Allantra’s sleeping form and the old woman.

  “Look at you, even now you put yourself between her and any possible danger. I, dear boy, am not a danger to her.” She chuckled. “She is healed and no scars shall remain, though she will remember everything. If it eases your mind, I would not have let her die had you not come for her. She would not die for your foolishness.” She turned back to the fire. “By the way, you must deal with your feelings of the Triad. The vampyre is just as much her mate as you, and she will need to fully bond with him as well upon her return.” She paused before starting another thread of conversation. “You will need to set out first thing when the sun sets this evening.”

  “But she is freshly injured, will she be able to travel?” Dharean looked down at her singed hair and lightly stroked the braid, trying to ignore Za’rae’s wise but unwanted look at the future.

  “That is why I used the healing blanket. When you are ready to set out, she will be more than ready, trust me on this. Go now, get your supplies ready and come back when the sun sets.” With these words she effectively dismissed him. Dharean leaned over and kissed Allantra above the stone on her forehead, then he rose and quickly left. Za’rae let out a breath of relief. Perhaps her time to finally rest was near; very soon there would be nothing she could do to help her people. It would lie in the hands of the vampyre, the wizard, and the synergist.

  * * * *

  Allantra felt the end of her hair and winced. Dammit, now it needed cutting. She hadn’t cut her hair in a very long time. She was grateful for the traveling clothes Za’rae provided for her. Black leather like pants clung to her body. A matching cropped top with ragged edges hugged her breasts. The material was light, comfortable, and excellent protection against thorny plants. Za’rae had explained the events and why she had let them happen. Of course Allantra was pissed, as the memory of waking up and being cooked would not go away. Eventually the smoke inhalation knocked her right back out. She picked up the shiny sharp knife she had asked Za’rae for and began to chop at her hair, until it fell just below her shoulders. She braided the very front of her hair on both sides and tied the ends with pieces of the leather like material she tore from the shirt; it wasn’t like anyone could tell she ripped it. She then took the stone and put it back making sure the string was hidden in her hair. The soft padded boots allowed her to walk quietly, undetected. She felt damn sexy!

  A knock at the door tore her from her self-appraisal and she bade the knocker to come in. After all, no harm could come to her inside Za’raes hut. Dharean walked in, with the same leather like material encasing his powerful legs, he didn’t wear a shirt though, choosing instead to go topless … fine with her. He carried his herb satchel with him. Another satchel was slung across his chest and looked heavy. He paused as he took in her new appearance.

  “Had to cut it,” she said softly, suddenly unsure of the appearance that she felt was totally awesome moments ago. He came quietly to her, his gray eyes riveted on her face and hair.

  “You look beautiful,” he whispered to her, bending down to finger the fresh braids.

  “Well, thanks,” she said, suddenly shy.

  “I’m sorry for what my people did.” His eyes became dark. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

  “Za’rae told me what you did to Nani and her husband, but she said it was best I didn’t know what you did to Dysil.” She looked him in the eye. “I don’t think differently of you, Dharean. You did what you felt was right. I just wish I could have added my own justice.” She grinned at him and his heart lifted. He didn’t know he had been holding that burden. But yes, now that he was willing to admit it, he had been afraid that once she heard what he was capable of she would fear him. “I don’t fear you.” She added.

  He looked startled as she read his thoughts. “I guess it was the bonding. Your thoughts come easily to me. At least I’m making some progress as a shifter.” She joked.

  He pulled her into his arms and sighed. “Yes you are, but there is still much for you to learn in such a short time. I will try to be more patient with you. I have not been a very good teacher, have I?”

  “No, you suck actually. But maybe I can teach you while you teach me.” She pulled back long enough to kiss him lightly on the lips, but he was having none of that. He immediately escalated it into a full-blown mind blowing kiss. Pouring all his fear of losing her into the first kiss he could give her since it happened. Za’rae’s scratchy voice was the only thing that broke them apart.

  “Hopefully there will be plenty of time for that later,” she said gruffly, suddenly appearing before the fire. “The people will evacuate soon and find a new place to hide until the outcome. Masque is waiting outside, and though you could never tell from his expression he is most impatient to go save his family.” Guilt registered on both of their f
aces as they thought about it from Masque’s point of view. Dharean pulled Allantra up.

  “Remember, do no falter,” Za’rae said to them.

  “Good bye, wise one,” Dharean said.

  “Thank you for everything,” Allantra added not sure if she’d ever see this freaky looking but wise character again. At the same time Dharean and Allantra both bowed before her, letting one knee touch the ground with bowed heads. They paid homage to their one living ancient. When they rose Za’rae was gone.

  “She’s not used to affection. She’s kind of a curmudgeon in her old age.” Dharean joked and led her out of the hut to a waiting Masque.

  As they walked in silence, each one was entertaining their fears of the journey. When they reached the outskirts of the village, Masque turned to Dharean.

  “So how do you propose we go about finding their trail? We had no luck earlier.”

  Dharean reached into his satchel and pulled out a bottle of ink. He bade the other two to sit down. On the right arm of both he drew symbols with the ink. “These are symbols that will protect you.” He said as he drew the last part of a symbol on Allantra’s arm and before either of them could ask the burning question: ‘Protection from what?’ Dharean’s eyes funneled and a low rumbling quickly ensued. Sinister whispers seem to surround them. The shadow demons appeared … sort of. Allantra even with her shifter vision could barely make out the demons if it weren’t for the yellow eyes.

  “As you agreed, shadow demon,” Dharean said, his voice full of authority.

  “Assss wasss agreed.” The demon answered. “Thissss way,” it beckoned them to follow.