Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Bloody Skies	By : TokiMirage Category: Harry Potter AU/AR > Slash - Male/Male Views: 44832 -:- Recommendations : 3 -:- Currently Reading : 4
Disclaimer: JKRowling owns Harry Potter. Everything else is mine. I do not make any money writing this fic.

Chapter List
- 16
- 17
- 18
Bloody Skies
oOo
Chapter Seventeen:
oOo
“Something tells me it is rather serious if you are coming to me so late on a school night. What’s the problem, Mr. Obsidian?” Rivehn asked from where he’d sat, relaxed, on the edge of his desk after inviting Cyrus into his office.
The human nervously licked his lips and cast his eyes around the room. It looked the same as it had when Yankovich had been frantic with Marianna’s disappearance, and the following… Kiss. Taking a fortifying breath, he turned his eyes back to Rivehn. “I’m in a bit of a… bind. And I was going to ask Yankovich for help, but I can’t find him. So I thought… maybe you could help me.”
“Ah. Yes, he’s busy with a project right now. So what is your problem?” The vampire raised an eyebrow.
Cyrus bit his lip. He might as well just get it out. “A while back, Tara… um, I don’t know her last name. She’s the librarian’s TA. Well, I’m her donor and she took me to a student vampire meeting. There we ran into Dalesh and he implied that he had… raped and killed her old girlfriend, Amelia.”
Rivehn’s eyebrows climbed towards his hairline. “Implied?”
The human scowled. “He all but outright said it. He was taunting Tara. Anyway, when Tara just let him continue mouthing off Amelia, I sort of… got angry and cast a cutting curse. He managed to dodge, but he threatened my life and Tara used it as an excuse to kill him. I don’t really understand the politics of it all… but now ACIF is looking into it, and Tara says that if we don’t find proof that Dalesh killed Amelia, then I’m as good as dead, and she might be killed too.”
Rivehn blinked, slowly. “How you manage to land yourself in these situations I will never know.” The human blushed and looked down at the buttons of Rivehn’s relaxed, muggle dress shirt. Huh. “Dalesh is one of the descendants of Akkad. They may do worse than kill you.” When Cyrus looked up, worried, he winced at the firm line of Rivehn’s mouth. “What will you do if Dalesh did not kill Amelia?”
The human blinked. “I don’t know. Try not to get killed I suppose. But I’m sure Dalesh did it. He’s still refusing to tell me even though…”
Rivehn raised an eyebrow. “’He is still’? Obsidian… what have you done.”
A ball of iron sank in his stomach at the expression on the vampire’s face. “Well, in order to find proof, Tara and I figured if we could raise Dalesh, we could get him to confess. Except… Tara got captured after we stole the body and I just barely got out of there alive.”
Rivehn let out a sigh and covered his face with the palm of his hand. “You stole his body.”
The human nodded nervously.
“Were you injured?”
“Well, I had a shield up so most of the curses didn’t hit, but I got bit-“
Suddenly, Rivehn was standing right in front of him. “Where?” the vampire asked, a no-nonsense tone making his voice sharp.
Cyrus floundered for a moment. “N-neck,” he said, touching the left side of his neck. He was unprepared for the vampire grabbing his head and pushing it to the side in order to examine the mostly-healed wound. When Rivehn said something in that demonic language that sounded distinctly like a curse, he really got worried. “What? What is it?”
“The bite of any magical being or creature can have a side-effect, Obsidian. When vampires feed, normally there are no ill effects, but there are also lover and servant bites. If a servant bite isn’t overpowered by another vampire within a certain time period, then the one bitten becomes bonded to them. Some humans are powerful, or willful enough to fight a servant bond in their own right, but most are not. If you had let this bite fester, you would have been bound to that vampire. Though, I am unsure whether the mental aspects of the bond would allow the vampire to enslave your mind, as you are an infractus mens.”
Cyrus’s jaw just dropped. “What?! How- how do I get rid of it?! And how come I didn’t find anything like this in those books on vampires?”
Rivehn snorted. “Vampires hardly wish to explain their customs and culture to outsiders. Most of the people who write those books are such outsiders who have managed to gleam enough information to put it in a book. I am not surprised they’re lacking. As to how you rid yourself of it… If you’d like, I can break the bond for you.”
Hope lightened the lead in his stomach. “Really? You’d do that for me?”
The vampire chuckled lightly. “You came to me for help with this situation of yours, did you not? Breaking a servant bond for you will merely be added to your debt.”
Cyrus blinked. “Debt?”
Rivehn raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t think I would go through so much trouble and not expect payment, did you?” The vampire had a wicked gleam in his eye.
Cyrus licked his lips. “Um, what kind of debt is… would this be?”
“Well. It would not be a life debt, but it would be substantial. And I may not call on it for many years. It is your choice.”
Cyrus chewed on his lip, thinking about it. Rivehn didn’t seem like a bad vampire. In fact, compared to most of the vampires out there, he was downright civil and open-minded. And a cool teacher at that. Would it be a horrible thing to be indebted to him? It wasn’t like he had much of a choice, though. “What will the limitations be?”
The vampire raised an eyebrow. “Limitations? What ‘limitations’ would you like?”
Cyrus swallowed, remembering his not-so-pleasant experience with another adult. “No sexual favors?”
Rivehn actually smiled. It was small, but it was there. “That is understandable. Anything else?”
“Uh, nothing that would kill me? And… I don't want to be forced to kill someone else against my will, either. If I kill someone it’s in battle, or because they bloody deserve it.”
Rivehn’s smile grew, an amused gleam to his eyes. “That is a rather high demand, Obsidian. But… As I am perfectly capable of killing someone myself, I will let it stand. Are there any other limitations or shall I break this bond now?”
Cyrus thought about it for a second. What else would he never be caught dead doing? “Oh. Forcing me to reveal my secrets against my will.” It would be very bad if Rivehn told him to reveal that he was Harry Potter to the world… And even if it was highly unlikely that the vampire would ever do that, it was best to be prepared.
Rivehn inclined his head. “Very well. I accept your terms.”
The human swallowed nervously. “That’s it? Just like that?”
A slow smirk spread across his face. “No, that is not it. I would advise you to be more careful in your wording when making deals with vampires in the future.”
The human’s eyes widened, but before he could say anything Rivehn gently tilted his head to the side and sank his fangs into the column of flesh. He let out a hiss of pleasure as aphrodisiac set his unprepared nerves on fire.
Letting out a helpless moan, he couldn't stop his weakened knees from collapsing on him, but he was caught in Rivehn’s hands before he could hit the floor or dislodge the vampire’s mouth from his neck. To his growing horror, an erection strained against his basilisk pants, eerily reminiscent of the last time the vampire bit him.
His consciousness faded in and out on the high, until finally he came, fireworks of pleasure going off behind his eyelids. Coming back down to earth as the aphrodisiac metabolized, he found Rivehn watching him with a hint of concern. He blinked languidly. “W-whoa,” he croaked, bringing a hand up to rub his face.”
“You are fine? I am afraid I may have been close to using too much aphrodisiac. The person I have been feeding from lately… has a high tolerance.”
Cyrus let out a whistling breath. “High tolerance… how can you get tolerance for… stuff like that,” he muttered to himself, disbelieving.
Rivehn’s lips quirked. “You can hold yourself upright now?”
Cyrus blinked and abruptly straightened his spine to stand again. Yeesh. He’d just collapsed into a boneless pile of goo there. He could see Rivehn’s bites getting… addictive. Looking down at himself, embarrassed, he cleaned up the mess in his pants with a burst of wandless magic. He was getting pretty good at casting spells from all body parts. Healing class had helped with that. If you were aiming to heal tissue or bones, you had to move your magic to focus on that area of your body. Though it did feel… weird, to cast spells from your… groin area.
It was more inconspicuous, though, which was what he was going for.
Rivehn just raised an amused eyebrow.
“So, is this bond broken now? Do I have to worry about being some vampire’s human slave?”
The Runes Professor leaned back against the edge of his desk and crossed his arms imperiously over his chest. His posture screamed ‘just who do you think I am?’
The human blushed and cleared his throat awkwardly. “Er, right. Thanks.”
Rivehn licked the last remnants of blood from his lips, chuckling throatily. “Do not thank me yet.”
Cyrus didn’t think he liked the sound of that. “Er… So… how are you going to save Tara?”
The vampire moved away and sat back down on his desk. “I need more information. Her location, the vampires you have pissed off, and any other stupid mistakes you may have made so they do not come and… ‘bite me in the ass’, as you humans say. Or ruin her Trial.”
Cyrus blinked. “Wait. Trial? What trial? Tara never mentioned a trial. She said the Akkad were investigating her, but never anything about a trial.”
Two black eyebrows rose in surprise. “Indeed? Perhaps she did not wish to worry you. It is common knowledge among the Bast and Akkad clan students here at Shikaan. I am surprised you did not hear of it through the ‘grapevine’.”
The human stared in incomprehension.
“From my understanding, ACIF wished to execute her and BIS delayed by demanding a Trial. That is why you were not approached until recently. The two clans have been preparing their cases.” Rivehn smirked slightly. “And the paperwork.”
“Wait, so… when’s this Trial?”
“I believe it is tomorrow. Well, if you consider that it is after midnight – today.”
Cyrus’s eyes bugged out of his head. “And she never told me?!”
Rivehn raised an eyebrow. “Does it appear that I know the inner workings of a vampire student’s mind?”
“No… I guess you wouldn’t… So you heard about all this through the gossip in the school?”
Rivehn snorted softly. “Hardly. There are other sources of information available to a vampire of my age, and Tara and I are both vampires of the Bast clan. You are fortunate this is the case, or I may not have been so willing to help you.”
Cyrus nervously licked his lips. “Yeah…” Thank Merlin for small favors. “So, how do we get her free?”
The vampire stared thoughtfully at the far wall. “As I said before, I need information about the circumstances in regards to the theft of Dalesh’s body, and any other information that may cause problems later. Leave nothing out.”
“Well… Tara got us through the wards. The guards didn’t catch us then. It was after we’d already stolen the body. I’d already put a permanent conjuration in place of coffin and corpse, so hopefully the guards didn’t check the burial vaults after they discovered us in the mansion.”
“I see. I will confer with BIS as to what we’re going to do with the stolen… goods. They may wish to keep it or send someone to surreptitiously return it. As for Tara herself… she will probably be held in the ACIF dungeons. If she were captured not long before you arrived here-“
“Actually… I tried to raise Dalesh before I came here. I was going to go to Yankovich for help, but he wasn’t here.”
Rivehn shook his head with a disappointed breath of air. Cyrus couldn't meet his eyes. “You should be glad that he is not here. He would have gutted you. And told you to… ‘solve your own fucking problems’, I believe.”
Cyrus stared at the vampire that had just so uncharacteristically sworn. “Oh,” was all he could come up with to say.
Rivehn raised an eyebrow. “Indeed. Is there anything else I should know before I contact BIS?”
Cyrus thought about it. “Um… well,” he started counting on his fingers, “killing Dalesh, raiding the corpse, getting caught… Can’t really think of something else. Sorry.”
The vampire nodded. “Very well. Please place your hand on my arm, as I am going to shadow walk us to the BIS headquarters.”
The human nodded and did as instructed. He felt the familiar sensation of falling, except this time it lasted longer than all the other times he’d experienced it. When they finally came to a dizzying halt, Cyrus would have fallen over if not for Rivehn. He looked up at the vampire’s puzzled violet eyes and blushed, embarrassed. “Sorry,” he mumbled. “Magical forms of travel hate me.”
Rivehn’s low chuckle echoed in the large hall they had appeared in, making Cyrus look around himself curiously. He’d never seen anything quite so… vast. He stood with Rivehn on the edge of an open space that was even larger than the Great Hall, with giant pillars holding up the ceiling. As Rivehn led him through the maze of vampires and white marble, he couldn’t help but stare curiously in ever direction around him. Most of the other beings ignored his existence, but a few watched he and Rivehn curiously as the older vampire led him to the far end of the hall.
They passed through a large archway and into a wide hallway, continuing at a pace that was relaxed for Rivehn’s long legs and on the edge of speed walking for Cyrus. After the human got thoroughly turned around in the large building, Rivehn finally brought them to a stop in front of two double doors. The vampire slipped inside, holding it open for Cyrus and then quietly closing it behind him.
It was pure pandemonium inside. Vampires were rushing left and right with stacks of papers in their arms and harried expressions on their faces. The apparent ‘conductor’ of the chaos stood in the middle of the disaster zone, barking orders with a look of pure fury on his face. Cyrus inched behind Rivehn, slowly, when the vampire’s attention turned to them.
“High Priest! I’m sorry, but we’re a little busy at the moment, as you can probably see,” the vampire said as he walked forward, tempering the anger in his eyes. Cyrus blinked. High what?
“Chief Investigator,” Rivehn intoned with a respectful nod. “I can see that you are quite… preoccupied at the moment, but I have a matter of some importance that should be brought to your attention.”
“Of course, High Priest. How can I be of service?”
Rivehn was about to speak when a woman came stumbling up to them with a hasty bow to Rivehn, the skin around her eyes strained with stress. “Forgive me, High Priest. Chief, we have a problem. ACIF is demanding that the Trial be cancelled and Bast be executed in less than an hour.”
The vampire’s eyes narrowed angrily. “Damn them! We’re barely getting caught up with all of this shit. Tell them they do not have the authority to cancel a Trial. It will proceed as scheduled, regardless of whether or not we have already lost it,” he barked, and she nodded quickly and vanished in a blur of inhuman speed. The Chief growled under his breath, “Stupid fledglings destroying proper procedure.”
He probably would have continued muttering, but Rivehn brought his attention back on track by clearing his throat quietly.
“Oh, I’m sorry, High Priest. Please, go on?”
Rivehn inclined his head. “It is concerning Tara of Bast.”
The Chief’s eyes bugged out of his head. “Tara?! You have more information?! I’ve been trying to figure out what that blasted girl had in her mind, going and torching the body of a material witness, but no one seems to know anything!”
“Excuse me?” Rivehn asked, though he probably wasn’t nearly as flabbergasted as Cyrus. “She burned a body?”
“Yes! We got a call from ACIF half an hour ago saying that Tara of Bast infiltrated one of the Akkad mansions with the help of an unknown assailant and destroyed the body of Dalesh of Akkad. ACIF insists that she was trying to cover her tracks, but last I heard the girl was dead set on Dalesh being the one who raped and killed Amelia Tatrean a couple years ago. Terrible case, that. The curse cast on the body melted it only a few hours after her body was discovered, and with no leads on a culprit, the investigation went cold. And then the blasted girl went and burned the evidence! After we just finished negotiations for use of the body during the Trial, and what does she do? She flushes all our work down the toilet and destroys any chance of winning her Trial.”
Rivehn stared at him for a moment before turning his head to look down at Cyrus. “Obsidian?” he asked, as if he couldn’t decide between feeling amusement or befuddlement.
The human was staring at the Chief Investigator in shock. What the hell?
“Who is this, High Priest?” the vampire asked, a confused expression on his face. “A human? Why is he here?”
Rivehn’s violet eyes stared intently into Cyrus’s own, ignoring the Chief. “Obsidian? Would you care to explain? I was under the assumption that Tara had been captured, not that she had burned a body.”
Cyrus shook his head, still not fully comprehending what he’d heard just moments before. “It’s impossible. There’s no way that that was Dalesh’s body.”
The Chief looked incredibly annoyed. “I saw the remains of the charred corpse myself, human. My material witness is nothing but charcoal.”
Cyrus shook his head. “No. That’s impossible. Because I have his body with me right now.”
The vampire’s eyes narrowed and he stalked forward, getting right in Cyrus’s personal space. “Now listen here, human,” he growled quietly, “we don’t joke around here about shit like that. So you had better explain or retract your words.”
Cyrus resisted the urge to touch his pocket where the shrunken coffin of Dalesh sat. “I meant exactly what I said,” he said stubbornly, drawing on his courage in the face of the vampire’s furious expression. “Tara and I went to the Akkad mansion to steal Dalesh’s body, and that was exactly what we did. I left a permanent conjuration in place of the real body and casket, so again, it is impossible that the body burned was Dalesh’s because I have it here in my pocket.”
The Chief stared at him, taking a step back. “That’s impossible. You- you were the unknown assailant that accompanied Tara?” Cyrus nodded, and the vampire’s eyebrows climbed into his hairline. “And you got away… they still don’t know how you did it.” He frowned. “Show me the body. I want to know if this is real or a pipe dream.”
Cyrus shrugged and pulled the coffin carefully out of his pocket. The vampire reached to snatch it, but the human took a step back and held it to his chest distrustfully. He’d gone through a lot of shit to get this thing. But when the Chief hissed at him, his survival instincts kicked in and he handed it over. He watched as the shrinking charm was removed but the stabilization charm was left in place. Cyrus hadn’t wanted the body to get jostled by accident – didn’t want to have to explain any more bruising. He’d already crushed a hand by accident. Well… Dalesh had crushed it, technically.
The Chief touched the body in disbelief, and Cyrus began to feel awkward when other vampires in the room stopped what they were doing to come and stare.
“Why would Tara want to steal Dalesh’s body if you guys were going to get it for this ‘trial’ anyway?” Cyrus asked as the Chief inspected the corpse with deft fingers.
The vampire snorted. “She’s a fledgling. In order to win a Trial, we often have to keep secrets from our own in order to keep information from getting back to the opposition. I suppose it was too far a leap for her to figure out we’d ask for the body ourselves. Who knows.” He frowned and sat back on his haunches. “They must have done a good job sealing him back up again. In the reports it said he got cut in half… You’re a hundred percent sure that this body is authentic?” the Chief asked, not looking up.
Cyrus nodded. “Yes.”
“Hm. And how do you know you didn’t steal a copy of a copy?”
The human was beginning to get annoyed with being second guessed at every turn. “Because I raised it myself, and he is as much a dick in death as he was in life,” he snapped.
The Chief looked away from the body in surprise. “You’re a necromancer?”
Cyrus shifted nervously. “Only a first year. I couldn’t get him to tell me anything.”
The vampire nodded. “Yes, that makes sense. My childe couldn’t successfully raise a magical vampire for a few years when she went to school.” Suddenly, his somber expression was destroyed by a vicious grin. The Chief cackled. “Take that, ACIF! I can’t wait to see the looks on their faces when we show up with Akkad’s body. I bet they planned to burn him from the beginning, and Tara was just a convenient scapegoat to pin the blame on.” He shut the coffin with a wide grin and shrank it before slipping it inside his pocket. “I’m not letting this out of my sight until the Trial.”
Rivehn raised an amused eyebrow. “Indeed. And what of Tara’s capture?”
The Chief looked thoughtful for a moment before he barked out a name. Another vampire appeared at his elbow in seconds. “Contact ACIF. They will relinquish custody of Tara of Bast over to us until her trial, or the clan standing in as neutral party: Xie Long Zu. I want her out of their hands as soon as possible. If she gets killed by ‘accident’ while in their custody, our Trial falls through the floor and we never find out if Dalesh of Akkad did kill Amelia Tatrean. Understood?”
“Yessir!” the vampire barked before disappearing with a blur of color.
The Chief turned to Rivehn. “Is there anything else you require? There are a few loose ends I have to tie before the trial tomorrow morning. With Tara in ACIF custody, she is unable to bring her human donor to the Trial herself, so the responsibility falls to me. And no one seems to know his name.” The vampire blinked and turned to Cyrus. “You’re a friend of hers, right? Do you know who her donor is by chance?”
The human shifted nervously on his feet. “That would be me.”
The Chief grinned. “Perfect! One less thing I have to deal with.”
Rivehn inclined his head. “It seems as if you have everything in control, Chief Investigator. It is taking place at the Tribunal, I trust? What time?”
The Chief looked surprised. “You’re coming? I mean, forgive me, I didn’t mean to be rude, I’m just surprised that you have taken such an interest in this case.”
Rivehn inclined his head. “I will be attending.”
There was an awkward pause until the Chief seemed to clue in. “Oh, right! The Trial begins at 8 am. The necromancer is scheduled to come at 10 am.”
“Very well.” He turned to Cyrus. “What will you do with Mr. Obsidian until the Trial?”
The Chief frowned. “Well, I guess we’ll have to put him somewhere. He’s a rather important witness, and while he’s not under Trial himself, he did play a significant part in Dalesh’s death. Without Tara here to bring him to the Trial… we’ll have to keep him here. But we don’t have any quarters, so we’ll probably lock him in a cell for the night.”
Cyrus’s jaw fell open. “What?!”
The Chief flashed his fangs in a grin. “Sorry kid. Unless there’s another vampire here to vouch for you and make sure you make trial, the dungeons are the only rooms we got. We’ve just got to hope you don’t get eaten by accident.”
Cyrus paled. “Y-you’re not serious… right?”
The Chief shrugged. “It’s happened a couple times before.”
Rivehn’s lips quirked, amused. “I will leave him in your care, then.”
Cyrus stared as the vampire just walked out the door, leaving him standing there. That… that… bloody vampires! So Rivehn’s end of the bargain was over, huh? Just like that? Next time he made a deal with a vampire, he was accounting for every eventuality. And putting it on paper! So they couldn’t find any loopholes!
“So, human. Or was it Obsidian? Follow Anne here to where you’re going to sleep tonight. I have other things to do,” the Chief said before walking off to bark out more orders at his staff.
After glaring at his back for a moment, he turned his attention to the female vampire that had appeared beside him. She gestured him to follow her without a word.
When they’d finally arrived at what appeared to be the dungeons, she motioned him inside with a bored expression.
Cyrus looked between the cell and the vampire. “Wait, you’re just going to lock me in there? No food? No blankets?”
She looked annoyed. “You have a wand. You can conjure yourself a bed. Don’t try to disapparate, though. There are wards. And lastly, human, we are vampires. We don’t keep human sustenance in our dungeons. Now get inside, or I will toss you in.”
Glaring angrily, magic broiling under his skin, he walked inside. The door closed with a clang of metal and flare of magic. He hated being locked up. It reminded him of the time Dumbledore had kept him captive inside Hogwarts. At least this time he didn’t have magic-suppressing cuffs on him.
Pulling out his phoenix wand – fine spell casting was easier with a focus, and his concentration was shot from fatigue – he started conjuring all the materials he’d need for a decent night of sleep. He didn’t bother to change out of his basilisk armor, instead just casting a cleaning and refreshing charm on himself. Feeling not quite so gross anymore, he reached into one of his bottomless bags and pulled out a bottle of water and an apple he’d packed for the ‘stake out’ of the Akkad wards. It was a good thing Tara had had the presence of mind to tell him to bring some provisions.
Leaning against the uncomfortable stone wall, Cyrus let out a sigh. He wished he’d had the opportunity to ask after Tara’s safety – he had no way of knowing if she managed to get released from ACIF. If she got ‘accidentally killed’, as the Chief had said, he was going to be very pissed. One, he now owed a debt to Rivehn. Two, he’d broken in and out of a vampire mansion to get a body that had now been confiscated by BIS for evidence. Three, if she died…
He was just as dead.
oOo
Cyrus stared around himself in surprise at the building the Bast vampire, Anne, had shadow walked them to. Well, castle was probably the more accurate name. It looked very similar to Hogwarts. Which brought to question that if vampires were so old, why would their Tribunal be a medieval castle?
Maybe Tara would know… If he even got the chance to talk to her before the Trial. Which didn’t seem all that likely.
“This way, human,” Anne said, walking down a side corridor. She’d picked him up from his cell a half hour before the Trial was scheduled to start, saying he needed to be there early just like everyone else. He’d tried to ask her about what he should expect, but she hadn’t been very forthcoming with any information. In fact, she’d outright told him to ‘shut up’. Bitch. He’d never even gotten the chance to ask how long this Trial was going to take. He had classes to go to if he didn’t get killed at the end of it. Welkins was going to be pissed he’d missed Weapons and Battle, but luckily Healer Svea and Professor Catchpool were a little more forgiving. He’d just have to go pick up the assignments he missed. Professor Claerant, on the other hand… well, his Dark Arts and Their Defense teacher could be just as bad as Welkins.
Ugh.
Clearing his depressing thoughts, Cyrus walked quickly to catch up, glancing around at the sparse walls and occasional tapestry or suit of armor. It wasn’t long before the small corridor opened up into a large lecture hall, benches curved and raised towards the back, where Cyrus currently stood and a crowd of vampires milled about. At the front of the room, sat a large desk and gavel, as well as a bunch of what were probably assistants. The ‘judge’ had yet to make an appearance.
Cyrus frowned at the foreign-looking vampires that lined the walls and stood guard at the front, weapons bare and red dragons decorating their armor. Almost all of them appeared to be of Asian descent, and they looked very intimidating with how… seriously they seemed to take their duty. One vampire who had gotten too close to the ‘floor’ was backing away from the blade held to his neck, hands raised in surrender.
“The fa guan will call you to the stand when it’s time for your testimony. So be a good human and sit,” Anne commanded before she disappeared abruptly into the shadows of the corridor.
Cyrus’s mouth fell open before he glared at the shadow she had vanished into. Feeling overwhelmed, he forced himself to stop staring at the sight of the militia surrounding the court hall and instead searched the benches for any signs of a familiar face. Catching sight of Rivehn, he let out a relieved breath and picked his way through the milling vampires, careful not to bump into anyone who might decide to snap his neck like a twig.
“Oooh, a human. Looks like the buffet just walked in,” a female purred as she stepped right in front of him, trailing a long, red nail down his cheek. “What is your business here, human?”
Cyrus tried to keep the mixture of annoyance and anxiety churning in his stomach off his face. “I’m a witness in the Trial,” he said, bringing his magic to the surface of his skin in case he needed it to protect himself.
She pouted, and then suddenly focused on something over his shoulder. Cyrus frowned and looked behind him, catching sight of one of the warriors staring right at them. He could feel the tickling of mental communication between the two vampires, and after a moment, she completely disappeared into the crowd as if she hadn’t stopped him at all.
Frowning, he continued on his way to the bench where Rivehn sat, pausing at the end. The vampire sat a few feet in, reading a book. “Excuse me, Professor? Do you mind if I sit with you?” he asked cautiously, glancing around at the vampires watching him approach their… what had the Chief called him? ‘High Priest’? Not that Cyrus had any clue what that meant.
Again, he could feel the slight tickling of telepathy. He tried not to be bothered by the fact that he couldn’t pick up a word of it, even though he knew some non-vampires could. Xanthir had tried to teach him once but failed miserably. Cyrus didn’t know if this was because he was terrible at mental arts (such as Occlumency), or it was a part of being an… infractus mens.
But somehow he didn’t think asking Rivehn, the only one who seemed to have any information on this mental ‘disorder’, whether he’d ever be able to eavesdrop on vampire conversation was the way to go.
Said vampire finally looked up from the book he’d been reading with a blank expression, and all telepathic communication nearby slowed to a trickle. His eyes examined Cyrus for a moment, until finally he inclined his head and turned back to his book. Letting out a relieved sigh, Cyrus sat down at the edge of the bench, leaving enough room for another person between them. In an attempt to relax, he reached into his bag and pulled out one of his Runes textbooks. He found it really difficult to concentrate, though, with the low murmuring voices around him and the growing anticipation he could nearly smell in the air.
Nearly twenty minutes later, a voice finally came from below.
“The Tribunal of the five honorable vampire clans with the Honorable fa guan Cheng of Xie Long Zu, the Blood Dragon clan, is now in session. All rise.”
The vampires who had been milling about disappeared in blurs of light, quickly finding seats. Cyrus followed Rivehn’s example and stood, quickly shrinking his book and slipping it inside one of his bottomless bags.
Two guards exited the door first, eyes alert and swords raised in defense as they cleared the area as absent of threat. When Cyrus first saw the flash of red robes, he stared in disbelieving shock. Two guards followed the exit of the red-robed figure, and all four soldiers escorted the slowly walking vampire to the stand and finally the desk. It took a moment, but the short figure’s head reappeared from behind the wooden structure as he hopped up onto his chair. The four soldiers took up guard behind him as he surveyed the room and the two arguing parties before him.
A child. A child dressed in formal, Chinese robes decorated with a black dragon flaring across the shimmering red fabric. He couldn’t be more than twelve years old. Or he was a very unlucky, very short teenager. What kind of monster turned a child?
The voice in which the vampire commanded the assembly to sit with was the light soprano of a boy who had yet to reach puberty, but the weight and power behind it left you know illusions that this was a vampire to be reckoned with. Cyrus couldn’t help but stare in dazed shock as he followed everyone else and sat back heavily in his seat. He watched with curious eyes as one of the assistants handed the petit vampire a sheet of paper, and the entire hall sat in silence as the fa guan looked it over.
“Ladies and gentlemen, the Trial that follows is to determine the punishment or lack thereof of one Tara of Bast concerning the death of one Dalesh of Akkad. The defendant, Tara of Bast, will be defended by her representative against the accuser, Julannia of Akkad. Does the representative of the accuser wish to make an opening statement?” he asked, his light voice carrying easily over the silence of the room.
A vampire on the right side of the main floor, where the accusing party was sitting, stood. “Yes, honorable fa guan,” he said with a respectful bow.
The boy inclined his head. “You may continue.”
“The evidence in this Trial will prove that Tara of Bast killed Dalesh of Akkad without due cause, an act in our society that is considered murder.”
The fa guan inclined his head. “Representative of the defendant, do you wish to make a counter statement?”
A female vampire on the left stood. “Yes, honorable fa guan. The defendant will prove her own innocence by proving that Dalesh of Akkad is guilty of the crime she killed him for: the rape and murder of Amelia Tatrean of the Marinus clan.”
Murmurs of outrage and curiosity spread across the hall like a grass fire, only silenced when the fa guan hit the surface of his desk with his gavel, once. That one hit was enough to wipe out all conversation in the room, returning it to order with eerie ease.
“You wish to involve another case to win your Trial?” the fa guan asked, expression blank as ever.
“Yes, honorable fa guan.”
“Very well. The representative of the accuser will state their case first.”
The female Bast vampire sat down with a respectful bow, and now that she had shifted, Cyrus caught sight of a familiar head of black hair. Tara leaned over and spoke to her representative. Cyrus wondered if they had cast a silencing charm or if they were speaking so quietly that human ears couldn't pick it up.
“Thank you, honorable fa guan.” The representative stood and brought a pile of papers to the fa guan’s assistant, who then handed it to the petit vampire. After a moment, the vampire placed the papers down on the desk. Cyrus wondered what it was exactly. A list of witnesses? Or an outline of his accusations?
“You may call your first witness.”
The representative nodded. “I call Thumbalina de Lorme of Akkad to the witness stand.”
A familiar vampire glided up to the stand with a seductive sway of the hips. Cyrus stared. It was that same vampire that approached Tara during the meeting at Shelby’s Blood Bath! He mentally scoffed. Sure, call an enemy of the defendant to the stand. You’ll get the truth then.
“Are you willing to testify under a truth spell?”
Thumbalina blinked and looked to the representative of the accuser. He nodded. The female vampire turned to the fa guan with a smile, but it wilted at the serious, unaffected look on his face. “Y-yes, h-honorable fa guan.”
A second assistant came forward with a stone and placed it on the booth that surrounded the witness stand. After a complicated waving of her wand, it glowed white. “Mademoiselle de Lorme, would you please tell a truth, and then a lie to show the truth stone is functioning properly?”
She did as instructed, and the stone flashed white, then red. With a bow to the fa guan, the assistant moved back to her seat to the left of the stand.
The events that followed had Cyrus seething in his seat. Thumbalina hadn’t even been there for the actual killing of Dalesh, and hadn’t heard anything, but the questions that the representative of the accuser asked about Tara and Dalesh’s history and relationship implied lie upon lie, even though Thumbalina spoke nothing but truth. It was a devious skill, one that made Cyrus want to kill something.
Finally, the representative of the accuser sat down.
“Representative of the defendant, would you like to cross-examine the witness?”
The woman stood again with a nod. “Yes, honorable fa guan.”
Walking up to Thumbalina, the woman was silent for a moment as she examined the witness. Thumbalina must have seen something she didn’t like because she shifted nervously in her seat.
“De Lorme, would you say that you have a positive relationship with Tara of Bast?”
Thumbalina’s nose scrunched. “No,” she finally said, reluctantly.
“And would you say that you are a friend of Dalesh of Akkad?”
“…No.”
“So you have acquired most of your information about Tara and Dalesh’s actions through gossip, have you not?”
“…Yes.”
“Thank you. And did you hear any part of the altercation leading up to the death of Dalesh of Akkad?”
“…No, I didn’t, but-“
“That’s enough, thank you. It is clear that you have seen nothing of the circumstances of Dalesh’s death, aside from the death itself, and you do not have a close relationship with either Tara or Dalesh. Therefore, fa guan, I declare her a useless witness and ask that the next be brought to the stand.”
The fa guan frowned. “And what do you say to the implications of failed romantic relations between Tara of Bast and Dalesh of Akkad resulting in the death of Dalesh – a crime of passion?”
It felt very odd to hear a child speak of sex – even in the most vague of euphemisms.
The representative crossed her arms over her chest. “The defendant has stated that neither she nor Dalesh ever engaged in a sexual relationship, nor a relationship of any kind, as she will elaborate when she is called to the stand.”
Cyrus’s hopes began to rise as more and more witnesses were called to the stand that said about the same things as Thumbalina – rumors of jealousy and hatred – which Tara’s representative shot down with professionalism. Biting his lip, he hoped the testimony of Dalesh himself would be enough to put this Trial in the bag.
Finally, after the fourth vampire left the stand, it seemed even the fa guan was losing his endless patience. “Representative of the accuser. The last four witnesses you have brought to the stand have provided very similar information – rumors of deceit, negative relations, and jealousy. If you do not have a material witness who can provide an account of the incident or a memory to be viewed in a pensieve, then I will rest your case for you.”
Cyrus couldn’t see the man’s face, but he imagined it wasn’t pretty. “I would like to call the defendant’s donor, or human servant, to the stand. A human who witnessed the incident first hand.”
Cyrus was about to stand up when the fa guan spoke. “Do you have a name for this human?”
There was an awkward silence. “He is just a human, honorable fa guan. I received word from BIS that they would be ensuring he did not miss the Trial.”
The fa guan’s eyes narrowed. “I see.” He didn’t sound very impressed. “Very well. Would the-human-donor-of-Tara-of-Bast-who-witnessed-the-incident please come to the stand?”
Taking in a deep breath, Cyrus pulled himself to his feet. Every eye in the hall settled on him, unnervingly, as he walked down the path that separated the benches in the courtroom right down the center. Once he’d passed through the hip-high doors that opened onto the main floor, past two guards that watched him menacingly, he made his way to the stand.
The truth-stone assistant stepped forward again, waving her wand over the stone and Cyrus himself. “Please speak a truth, and then a lie.”
Cyrus nervously licked his lips. Truth? Uuuh… “I have green eyes.” Lie… “My hair is purple.” Phew. One disaster averted. Because what if he said ‘I have blond hair’ and it turned red? Because originally his hair was bla-
“Please state your name for the record.”
Cyrus felt his heart jump in his chest. Well, technically he had two names, but at the moment he was none other than- “Cyrus Obsidian.” It didn’t turn red. Thank Merlin. But why didn’t it turn red? Was it because he thought of himself as Cyrus Obsidian and not Harry Potter? Or was it because he’d been going under the name for a certain period of time, or-
“How do you know the defendant, Mr. Obsidian?”
Cyrus could see the man’s face now, the representative of Akkad. He distinctly reminded the human of a weasel with his squinty eyes and flared nostrils.
“Tara… I’m her donor… as well as her friend.” And he was, really. Well, they fought a lot, but you didn’t hang out with a person as long as he had and not be friends with-
“You're her friend?”
Cyrus blinked. “Yes.”
“I see. And you witnessed Dalesh’s death, did you not?”
“Yes.”
Cyrus had no idea what the man was nodding about with such a thoughtful and smug look on his face. Was the vampire trying to psych him out?
“Will you please account the events leading up to Dalesh’s murder?”
Cyrus resisted the urge to glare at him. It was so not a murder. Dalesh got his just desserts. “I’m afraid my memory’s not that good. I’d prefer to provide a memory for a pensieve.”
“Really? From the documentation I received from ACIF when they applied for a warrant to search your mind, and were declined, you have quite the set of Occlumency shields. Why do you say you don’t have the superior memory attained by all Occlumens? Have you modified the memory and prefer to show it in a pen-“
“Objection! The question is not relevant to the case, and both personal accounts and pensieve memories are admissible in Trial,” Tara’s representative called out as she stood from her seat.
The fa guan nodded. “Objection sustained.”
The Akkad representative looked annoyed, shooting a glare at the Bast representative. “Please provide the memory to the bailiff, human,” he growled, stepping away from the stand as one of the assistants – bailiffs – stepped forward with a stone basin.
“Do you know how to extract a memory, Mr. Obsidian?” she asked quietly.
Cyrus shook his head. No one had ever shown him how before. He should probably get Severus to explain it to him the next chance he got.
The vampire pulled out her wand. “Would you mind if I removed it myself? No harm can come to you in the middle of a Trial.”
Cyrus bit his lip. After a moment, he nodded. “What do I do?”
“Just think about the memory, from beginning to end, and don’t be alarmed by the odd feeling of the memory being extracted. You may wish to close your eyes.”
Taking a deep breath, he followed her instructions, closing his eyes and focusing on the memory. Where did it start? When Dalesh first approached. He felt the vampire’s wand at his temple as he fell into the memory, already imagining the silvery liquid that would be pulled from his mind like a string.
Tara chuckled. “His name is Dalesh, love. “
“Oh right! He’s here, isn’t he? I’m sure I saw him with those sluts at some point…”
“You should be careful who you call a slut, my dear. They might consider it an insult,” the familiar voice of Dalesh came through the gentle cacophony of voices.
…
“Of course. What did the human offer to your for your protection, Tara? Perhaps he keeps you company during those lonely nights without your Amelia.”
…
“Oh, I’m sorry. I was merely asking what we were all thinking, I hope you understand. He’s such a fine specimen of human beauty. Of course, he cannot hold a candle to the beauty of Amelia.”
“You would do well to be silent, Dalesh, before you are silenced forever.”
The vampire didn’t seem to notice. “I was only asking out of concern for your well-being, Tara. It would be better if you spent your affections on one deserving of them, after all. Or maybe you found a better lover than Amelia? She was lacking in a certain grace. I could understand your reasoning for not being seen with her again.”
“You know very well that she’s dead, Dalesh. You should be careful insulting the dead when they’re not here to defend themselves.”
Dalesh snorted. “Really? But I have not insulted anyone, Tara. I was merely observing your fascination with this human.”
…
“After all, such fascination really does not flatter the skill of your past lover. And oh, she was skilled.” He leaned forward and whispered. “I had quite the taste of her before she disappeared forever.”
…
“She would never sleep with the likes of you, Akkad.”
Dalesh’s mouth formed an ‘oh’. “Wow, we’re reduced to clan names now, Bast. And no, she didn’t sleep with me.” He smirked. “There wasn’t a bed involved.”
…
“They never did find the vampires that raped and killed her, Akkad. Are you implying that you were involved in some way?”
Dalesh adopted an innocent expression. “I have no idea what you mean, Tara. They never found any evidence.”

…
Furious on Tara’s behalf, and never quite liking Dalesh in the first place, Cyrus unleashed his magic and sent a wandless cutting curse at Dalesh’s dick. The vampire dodged the attack fast enough that it only sliced his hip in half. Blood gushed onto the varnished floor.
“How dare you attack me, you pitiful human!” Dalesh’s easy confidence was destroyed as he held a hand to his hip and tried to hold the wound shut. He turned to Tara. “Your human servant attacked me! I will cut off his head!” Dalesh cried out, pulling a sword from its sheath on his back, ignoring the female vampire at his side that had gotten sliced as well. She was crying pitifully on the floor, her ‘twin’ casting healing spells on her.
Tara started laughing cruelly, and it silenced every conversation in the room with finality. “You forget, Dalesh, that as I am his owner he is my responsibility to protect.” Cyrus looked up to see Tara with the darkest look of sick pleasure he had ever seen on a vampire’s face, the glow of her crimson eyes burning with her fury as she summoned her rune-covered sword to her hand. “Thanks for giving me every excuse to kill you, Dalesh.”
The vampire’s look of horror was still etched on his face even as his cleanly cleaved body split down the middle and fell to the floor with a spray and gurgle of blood.
After the memory had been extracted and finished projecting above the pensieve , the Akkad representative smirked viciously. “So you see, honorable fa guan, Tara is guilty of the crime. She killed Dalesh over a human donor. A human who attacked him first, based on ‘suspicion’ of Dalesh having murdered another vampire.” Righteous fury filled his voice, and Cyrus felt the blood start to drain from his face at the sight of so many vampires nodding their agreement. “As he is a direct descendent of the Akkad line, his life is worth more than a human’s, so she murdered him in cold blood.
“And in light of her guilt, honorable fa guan, I would like to present evidence that could have warranted another Trial, but ACIF has decided to admit as evidence for this Trial instead.”
The young-looking vampire’s eyebrows rose. “Very well. Continue, representative.”
At that moment, the doors at the back of the room opened and two cloaked figures walked into the hall. Cyrus blinked before it clicked. It must be ten o’clock already if the necromancer, or rather, necromancers had arrived. Everyone’s attention focused on them momentarily, but the representative of the accuser just faced forward again and smirked before continuing. “Thank you, honorable fa guan. Tara of Bast, just last night, broke into the Akkad Mansion where Dalesh was entombed, with the help of an accomplice, and burned the body of Dalesh.”
The Tribunal dissolved into chaos.
Cheng looked particularly annoyed as he banged his gavel several times to regain order. “Do you have evidence?” he finally asked.
The man nodded and took a bag from one of his assistants and then handed it to one of the bailiffs who then handed it to the fa guan. Cyrus didn’t get it. Why couldn’t the representative just give it to the fa guan? Or was this some sort of ridiculous legal procedure he had no idea about.
“Those are the remains of Dalesh’s corpse and coffin. The fire was very powerful, honorable fa guan. It has destroyed all possible methods of identifying the remains, but we are confident that that was Dalesh’s body.”
Cyrus held back a snort. He was so full of shit it leaked out of his ears. By trying to cover up the evidence for Tara’s trial – burning the body – they had made it impossible to know themselves that the body had actually been stolen.
The vampire’s smirk widened even more as he turned to address the room. “So that means that the services of the Necromancy Guild are no longer required. You may leave.” The two, cloaked figures looked at each other, but before they could stand and leave, the female vampire stood.
“Objection!” she shouted angrily, glaring viciously at the Akkad representative. “As it was BIS that hired the Necromancy Guild, the representative of the accuser does not have the authority to dismiss them!”
The fa guan nodded. “Objection sustained. If the Necromancy Guild representatives would please remain, we will continue with the Trial. Does the representative of the accuser have any other closing statements to make?”
“Yes, honorable fa guan.” He turned to Cyrus. “Were you the unknown accomplice that accompanied Tara of Bast to steal the body of Dalesh?”
“Objection! The human is not on trial for any crimes, and therefore that line of questioning is out of bounds.”
The fa guan inclind his head. “Objection sustained. Are there any other statements the representative of the accuser would like to make.”
The vampire didn’t look pleased. “No, honorable fa guan. I believe I have made my case quite clear.”
The fa guan nodded, his childish features back to being as blank as a sheet of paper.
Cyrus felt his world start to tilt on its axel, and forcibly reminded himself that Dalesh’s body was in BIS’s hands… But what if he hadn’t done it? A little voice in the back of his mind spoke, born of his insecurities and fear of a painful death. What if Dalesh hadn’t killed Amelia? Or what if BIS had fucked up? Or an ACIF inside job burned the body? If Dalesh didn’t get up there and admit to everything … Cyrus was as good as dead.
“Does the representative of the defendant wish to question the witness?”
The woman stood with a shake of her head. “No, honorable fa guan.”
“Very well. Cyrus Obsidian may leave the stand. Would you like to call forth your next witness?”
Shakily, Cyrus stood and walked out of the booth, trying to keep his legs from collapsing under him. He was done. Well, unless he got called to the stand again. Which seemed unlikely, but you never knew. Letting out a relieved breath, he left the floor and started climbing the steps up to his seat.
“If the representatives from the Necromancy Guild would please come to the floor, the defense would like to call Dalesh of Akkad to the stand.”
The room exploded into noise and motion. The Akkad vampires started shouting at the Bast vampires, most of whom didn’t appear to know what the hell was going on either, and the representative of the accuser looked positively pissed as he verbally tore into the smug Bast representative.
Cyrus, who was only a few steps up the stairs, very awkwardly found himself in the middle of it all.
Cheng slammed the gavel into the desk, actually breaking the handle. With an extremely irritated expression on his face, he shouted, “ORDER!” His boyish voice was so loud it shook the hall. Most of the vampires gripped their ears in pain, and quiet groans echoed in the room as each side of the verbal war sat down to fume.
The angry expression on Cheng’s face dissipated as his assistant handed him a repaired gavel. “Representative of the defendant. Explain.”
Cyrus couldn’t see her face from his vantage point, so he forced himself to turn around and get back to his seat. He passed the black cloaks along the way, and jolted in surprise when someone pinched his ass. Spinning around, he stared in shock at their backs. Who- what-
“Certainly, honorable fa guan. When Tara broke into the Akkad mansion, it wasn’t to burn the corpse, it was to steal it. She was unaware, however, of the fact that BIS had recently negotiated with ACIF to use the body for the Trial. The fact that she has now been accused of burning this body, when she didn’t, brings to question who did the burning? Tara is convinced that Dalesh of Akkad will provide her with necessary proof to win this Trial, so why would she burn it? I can only conclude that it was in fact the Akkad clan-“
“Objection!!”
“Overruled,” the fa guan intoned without even glancing in the accuser’s direction, eyes firmly set on Tara’s representative.
“I can only conclude,” she continued as if she hadn’t been interrupted, “that it was in fact the Akkad clan who burned the body in order to destroy the evidence, as ACIF would likely know he was guilty and take measures to protect their own.”
The fa guan frowned and closed his eyes for a moment. The mature, deliberating expression looked extremely out of place on the boyish features. Cyrus, who had finally arrived at his seat, sat down, glancing at Rivehn – who was reading his book, again – and giving him an odd look before fixating his attention back on the floor. The eerie silence in the room was only interrupted by the soft sound of the vampire next to him flipping a page. Why had the Runes professor come to the Trial if he was just going to read?
Finally, Cheng opened his eyes, a determined set to his mouth. “I rule Tara of Bast to be freed from the possible charges of breaking into the Akkad mansion and stealing Dalesh of Akkad’s body – ORDER! – in the event that providing this Trial with such evidence implicates Dalesh of Akkad in the crime he is being accused of in death. I call Dalesh of Akkad to the stand.”
The necromancers, who had been barred from entering the floor by the foreboding guards, were finally allowed to pass as the Chief from earlier walked to the middle of the floor and set the coffin on it. He enlarged it with a wave of his hand. When he opened it, the audience in full view of its contents, many gasps spread through the room. Apparently some people hadn’t believed the defense to be telling the truth.
When the necromancer’s removed their hoods, it was Cyrus’s turn to gasp. None other than Mikhail and his apprentice, Ashawyn Thalla, stood on the floor. And then it clicked – Ashawyn had pinched his ass?
With quiet murmurs, Mikhail ordered his apprentice to work. Wondering what they were doing, Cyrus opened his senses as he’d done to raise the zombie army and felt specifically for death magic – ignoring all the other sensations he got from the magical beings around him. He felt the familiar click as a channel connected Ashawyn’s death magic to his master. Keeping a close eye on the raising, he watched in disbelief as Mikhail channeled magic and death magic into the dead body at the same time, actually channeling more magic into it than death magic. His brow furrowed when the necromancer finished and there seemed to be… about twice as much natural magic in it in comparison to death magic.
The hell?
The body came alive without a sound, stepping out of the coffin and turning to Mikhail with a blank expression on his face. He seemed very… dead. When Cyrus had raised Dalesh, he was very much… alive. So he found this new and improved version to be quite creepy.
“Move to the stand. You are to answer all questions posed by the Judge, the defense, or the prosecutor honestly and to the best of your knowledge,” Mikhail ordered before moving back off the floor, dragging his tired apprentice behind him, and sitting at one of the front seats – the vampires had shifted over to create more room with distrusting looks. Did people fear necromancers or something? Cyrus hadn’t come across that kind of prejudice yet, thankfully.
“Please state your name for record,” the fa guan commanded, an interested look on his face for the first time during the Trial. Had he never seen a zombie before or was the case finally getting interesting for him?
“Dalesh of Akkad,” the zombie intoned in a dull voice, flat without inflexion.
“Representative of the defendant, you have the floor.”
“Thank you, honorable fa guan. Dalesh of Akkad.” When she paused dramatically, Cyrus wanted to AK her. “Did you rape and kill Amelia Tatrean of the Marinus clan?”
“Yes.”
The room fell absolutely dead silent.
“Did you have help in killing and raping Amelia Tatrean?”
“Yes.”
“Objection! This has nothing to do with the case at hand!” the Akkad representative shouted as he stood.
“Objection!” the female representative shouted, glaring over at him. “I wish to invoke the clause of killing with just cause to prove that Tara of Bast is not culpable of any crime.”
The fa guan’s eyebrows rose. He looked between the two vampires. “Overruled.”
The Bast representative continued. “Who helped you? Give names and clans.”
“Objection!”
“Overruled.”
“Frascela Haintas of the Akkad clan, Noscala Haintas of the Akkad clan, and Michel Rud of the Bast clan.”
The fa guan barked something out angrily – in Chinese – at one of the guards at his back, and the vampire disappeared into the shadows with a bow. When it appeared Tara’s representative was waiting for Cheng, the fa guan motioned her to continue.
“How did each of these people help you?”
“All three of us raped her, but Rud refused to do the killing himself. He left before we snuffed her.”
Tara’s representative continued after a moment of silence, “Do you know, or can you guess, why Michel Rud left?”
“Rud was a rat. He was the one who got us all together, planned the entire thing, but he wouldn’t kill her himself.”
“Do you know why he wanted to rape and kill Amelia Tatrean?”
“He wanted to date her. And then he found out she was gay when she got engaged to Tara. He’s quite the homophobe. So it was probably both his hate of homosexuals and the fact that she wouldn’t date him that made him want to kill her.”
“What were your motivations for raping and killing her?”
“She was hot, and it was perfect revenge for Tara refusing to ever date me. I’ve been wanting a piece of her ass for-“
“That’s enough, thank you.” The zombie fell silent. “When you were alive, did you enjoy killing people?”
“That was okay.”
“Did you enjoy raping people?”
“Y-”
“Objection! Honorable fa guan, this line of questioning has nothing to do with the case at hand!”
The fa guan looked extremely irritated, and actually bared his fangs at the man. “Representative of the accuser,” he intoned, magic crackling in the air around him. “A member of your clan has raped and killed another vampire – one of the highest offenses that can be committed among our kind. You will cease and desist, or I will have you restrained and gagged for your insubordination in what is my Tribunal this day.”
The man trembled with anger for a moment before sitting down stiffly.
Tara’s representative bowed to the fa guan before turning back to Dalesh. “How many people did you rape while you were alive?”
The zombie tilted his head to the side in thought for a moment. “I lost count.”
“So this was a common thing for you. Raping people.”
“Yes.”
“What did you do after you raped them? Kill them? Wipe their memories?”
“I killed some of them, wiped the memories of others… but it was always more amusing to see the poor little humans flinching away from me in the hallways. They knew they couldn’t do anything about it. Most of them were just slaves, though I raped a couple students at Shikaan to. The thrill of not knowing whether they’d ever become powerful enough to get revenge on me was exhilarating.”
Cyrus felt sick to his stomach. Closing his eyes, he reached into one of his endless bags for a bottle of water – he had some left over from the provisions he’d packed yesterday before the stake out. He’d finished his last protein bar that morning, though, so it did little to fill his stomach. He really hoped this trial finished before lunch. It was mid-morning already. Twisting off the muggle cap, he sipped at it and sighed when the nausea began to ease. Dalesh… Dalesh had been a fucking raping serial killer. He had enjoyed what he did to those… people. Humans… women? Men? Did it even matter to him? Cyrus was suddenly very glad that Tara had killed Dalesh. What if Cyrus had become the crazy bastard’s next victim?
“Why did you approach Tara during the student meeting at Shelby’s Blood Bath and taunt her about killing Amelia?”
“It was fun, watching her fall apart after Amelia’s death. But then she started pulling herself back together. That human, her donor, didn’t help, either. She was never very social at the student meetings. I don’t know why if it was because she just didn't care or she was depressed. But a while after she met that little human, she started moving on… So I rubbed her nose in it. To see the look on her face. And it was delicious.”
It was very odd hearing words that held character, but a voice that held none. He could almost imagine the way Dalesh would have actually said it, if he were alive, but this parody spoke words of passion and anger in a dead monotone.
“So you held nothing but… lust and contempt for Tara?”
“Yes.”
Tara’s representative turned to Cheng. “That’s all, honorable fa guan.”
“Would the representative of the accuser like to cross-examine the witness?”
The man was silent for a moment, before finally saying, “No, honorable fa guan.”
“Would the defense like to bring another witness to the stand?”
“No, honorable fa guan.”
“Would the representative of the accuser like to make a closing argument?”
The man on the right side spoke with Julannia of Akkad for a moment in the privacy of a silencing ward before standing. “Honorable fa guan,” he began. “The accuser would like to address the fact Dalesh, a direct descendant of Akkad was killed by a vampire with Bast blood so diluted she is barely a descendant, after having been attacked by a human for inflammatory comments. We request that both Tara of Bast and the human, Cyrus Obsidian, be executed for killing one of such noble blood.”
“Noted. Would the defense like to make a closing statement?”
Tara and her representative, who had been speaking to each other during the accuser’s statement, broke apart and the representative stood. “The defense will address the fact that Tara was completely within her rights to execute Dalesh for the rape and murder of her bonded and fiancée, as allowed by the ‘Killing with Just Cause’ clause, a raping and killing that not only affected Tara on a traumatizing, personal level, but also had diplomatic consequences. The bonding of Tara of Bast and Amelia Tatrean of the Marinus clan was supposed to cement ties of friendship and truce between the two great clans Bast, and Marinus, but instead created conflict and distrust. As Dalesh of Akkad, who already admitted to raping and killing Amelia Tatrean, is already dead, the defense demands the lives of the other three people involved in this atrocious act. We would also like it enforced that the Akkad clan may not get revenge on Tara of Bast or Cyrus Obsidian for events related to Dalesh’s death, and that they may not hire, bribe, black-mail, or otherwise coerce or ask a party outside of their clan to do the same.”
“Anything else?” Cheng asked. He waited a beat before hitting his gavel. “As fa guan for this Trial, I rule in favor of the defense, and that all demands made by the defense be granted. The warriors of the Xie Long Zu are currently retrieving the guilty parties involved. I also strongly suggest that ACIF refrain from destroying evidence in the future, else it will be taken up with the Supreme Vampire Courts. Again. I rule this Trial closed.” He hopped off his chair and was escorted from the room by his entourage, his assistants staying behind and working furiously at the paperwork.
Tara jumped up and hugged her representative. Cyrus stayed where he was for a few moments as one by one, most of the vampires left the Tribunal. Some stayed and talked softly to one another, probably wanting to witness whatever Tara did to the other vampires involved. Glancing over at Rivehn, he raised an eyebrow at the sight of the vampire still reading his book. A few moments later, the vampire closed it with a quiet snap, turning his attention to Cyrus. “It appears events have turned in your favor. You may wish to congratulate Tara,” he said with a blank expression before falling through the shadow of the bench.
Blinking in surprise, Cyrus stared at the spot where his Runes professor used to be for a moment before forcing himself to get to his feet and navigate the gossiping vampires to get to the floor. No one stopped him on the way, thankfully, and the guards let him pass to go see Tara – though that might have had something to do with the fact that the fa guan had retreated to the back room. He tried to ignore the eyes of Ashawyn watching him as Mikhail and the Chief Investigator of Bast spoke in soft voices. Walking a wide circle around the angry Julannia, he glanced curiously at Dalesh (her son?) as the body was placed back in the coffin.
“Cyrus!” Tara called out with a wide grin, breaking his fixation on the dead body. “How’s it shakin’? You were great up there, by the way. Good idea not lettin’ him run you into a corner! It’s easier for the accuser to make a person look bad when the witness tries to recall what happened – but a memory’s just a memory. No way to fuck that up.”
The woman standing next to Tara sighed and crossed her arms. “Tara, I do wish you would cease that plebeian muggle speak in my presence. You know it… vexes me.”
Tara glared at her representative. “Aunt, anything I do embarrasses you, most times. I can’t help it if my speech relaxes because I no longer have a death sentence hanging over my head. Let me have a little fun! I’m going to live to see the sunset.
The representative – Tara’s aunt, apparently – scoffed quietly. “Very well. I will over look it this once. Now, will you introduce me to the human who defended your honor so valiantly in that memory? Or must I.”
Tara grinned. “Chill out, Aunt Kephri.” The look on her face, Cyrus had to admit, was quite amusing. And Tara seemed to agree, if the teasing glint in her red eyes was any indication. “This is Cyrus Obsidian. My donor. Cyrus, this is my aunt, Lady Kephri of Bast.”
Cyrus stuck out his hand. “Nice to meet you,” he said with a smile. She stared down at the proffered limb in surprise for a moment before gripping it with a vicious grin.
“A pleasure as well, Mr. Obsidian. Though I must ask – what are your intentions concerning Tara?”
Tara’s cheeks turned red. “Aunt!”
The woman shrugged, releasing Cyrus’s hand. “I have the right to ask. Does he wish to be your human servant? Or perhaps a lover?”
Cyrus let out an amused puff of air. “Er, no, Lady Kephri. We’re just friends. I give her blood and let her use my library, and she stops the other vampires in Shikaan from snacking on me.”
Kephri’s eyebrows rose slowly, surprised, and she looked at Tara for a moment in disbelief. Tara just grinned with a shrug. When the women turned her eyes back to Cyrus, there was an amused light shining in their maroon depths. “Mr. Obsidian, in vampire culture, there is no such thing as just friends. When you declared yourself a friend of Tara’s before the entire assembly of vampires, you informed everyone of where your allegiance lies.”
“Oh,” was the only thing he could think of to say to that. He wasn’t even sure what ‘allegiance’ meant to a vampire. He really needed an instruction manual. “What do you mean by allegiance?”
Tara laughed. “Don’t mind him, Aunt. He grew up in Human Realm.”
Her eyebrows rose. “Truly? He is rather powerful for a purebred human. Are you certain he is not part demon or fae some generations back?”
Tara shrugged. “I don’t know, Aunt. There are no records of an ‘Obsidian’ family.”
“Hmm.” She looked him over with critical eyes, making the hairs on his arms and neck stand on end. “If you were attracted to men, he would have made a lovely bonded for you, Tara.” The vampire grunted noncommittally and got an irritated, warning glare from her aunt. “Loyal, powerful… unafraid of the vampires attempting to intimidate him. From what you told me, he acted… competently, with that errand you had to run.”
“Yeah, I guess. Speaking of which…” Tara cast a silencing ward around them and stepped in close. “How did you get out, Cyrus?”
The human blinked. “To be honest, Tara, I have no clue. One minute I was there, the next I wasn’t.”
Both of her eyebrows rose, and she glanced at her aunt who was watching them with an annoyed expression. With some surprise, Cyrus realized Tara must have left her outside the ward. “You must have some idea. The wards weren’t destroyed, so you didn’t use that ‘ability’ of yours. How did you get out? Not that I don’t appreciate you… well. You know.”
Cyrus rolled his eyes. “You’re welcome, Tara. And I’m serious, I have no idea. I’ve disapparated accidentally before, and that wasn’t it, so I have no clue how the hell I got out of there. Can we just drop it? Before your aunt has a conniption?”
Kephri, who had crossed her arms and was tapping her manicured fingers on her arm, stared at Tara with a very intense set of eyes. Under that glare, Tara took the silencing ward down with a sheepish half-smile. Kephri didn’t look impressed.
Before she could tear into Tara for perceived wrongs, a bunch of the Chinese warriors started coming out of the shadows of a nearby wall, bringing three bound and silenced bodies with them. Two of them Cyrus actually recognized, and he stared in shock at the sight of the two blond sluts that used to hang off Dalesh’s arms before he got sliced in two.
Cyrus leaned closer to Tara and whispered, “So, who exactly are these… soldiers?” he asked curiously. “The Bast, er, officer who dropped me off wasn’t exactly a fountain of information.”
Tara’s eyes were focused solely on the warriors’ captives, even as she answered his question. “They’re part of the Xie Long Zu, the Blood Dragon clan. You know how there’s the Bast and Akkad? They’re one of the five great vampire clans in Other Ream.”
Cyrus blinked. “Oh. And a fa guan? Is he like a judge or something?”
“Fa guan is Chinese for Judge. The ‘soldiers’, as you called them, are the warriors of the clan – kind of like our law enforcement. They ensure the Trial goes smoothly and bring in any witnesses, criminals, or other people trying to skip out. These three, as ruled by the fa guan, are mine now for their crimes against Amelia, as I was her bonded.”
Cyrus’s mouth formed into a small ‘o’. “Thanks,” he murmured, watching with morbid curiosity as the struggling vampires were forced to their knees in a line in front of Tara.
“Michel Rud, Frascela Haintas, Noscala Haintas,” one of the Chinese vampires intoned, his rather heavy accent butchering what probably should have been a French accent on Rud’s name.
Tara stepped forward, sneering down at them. First, she turned to the twin blonds. “So, what did you two have against Amelia?” she asked through gritted teeth.
The silencing charm apparently had been removed, because one hissed while the other jeered, “Like we’d tell you, whore.”
Cyrus didn’t even see the movement of Tara’s hand as she bitch slapped the one who had spoken. “It’s a simple question, you cunt. Did you have anything against Amelia, or do you just enjoy a good fuck and kill?”
A quick glance at the aunt told Cyrus all he needed to know about what Kephri thought of Tara’s language.
The blond just smirked, blood dripping from the corner of her mouth as a result of the slap. “Go fuck yourself.”
Tara cast a flesh-melting curse and watched with stony eyes as she screamed and writhed and eventually just fell over, dead, the muscles and tissues melting off her frame and onto the stone floor, soon followed by the bones themselves. Tara turned to the next blond, who watched her twin die angrily. “How about you?”
The vampire just spat at Tara’s feet with a sneer. Tara sank her hand into the vampire’s chest and watched her expression as she slowly ripped out the heart. Cyrus gagged at the cloying scent of blood. He’d killed people before, watched others kill… but the sheer brutality and cold blooded anger that drove Tara was a sight to behold, and he could feel the eyes of the vampires who had remained behind watching eagerly. What was it with vampires and bloodshed?
After Tara squeezed the leftover blood from the muscle, she dropped it at the feet of body as it collapsed into the remains of what used to be her sister. Tara stepped slowly up to Rud, left hand dripping blood, right hand wielding her wand. “So, Rud. You hate gay people, huh? I never would have expected that from you. You were so good at hiding it – dancing with everyone at the nobles’ parties, even other men…” She leaned in close and flicked his nose with her bloody hand. He glared at her with eyes filled with hate and disgust. The blond twins had just been angry and spiteful, but Rud… Hate poured off him in waves; the air was thick with it.
“Being involved with people of the same sex is disgusting. You should all be killed for your unnatural disease.”
Tara’s eyebrows rose. “Really now. You must be a turned vampire. No born vampire would hold such infantile illusions of homosexuality. Contrary to what some muggles think, simpleton, being gay is not a disease, and you can’t catch it. I’m surprised you’ve survived so long as a vampire with that kind of attitude.” She grinned viciously. “I’m going to enjoy beating it out of you.”
He sneered. “You can burn my flesh or rip out my heart, but I will always believe that Amelia got everything she deserved. And you deserve worse.”
She kicked him in the balls and watched him keel over with a pitiful whimper. “Aaah, that’s too bad for you, because I wasn’t going to do either. You see, I have this friend, and I owe him a favor, so I’m going to let him tear your magical core out of your body and use it in his experiments. Then I’m going to sell you to a brothel for muggle vampires that specializes in homosexual clientele.” She leaned in close to his face. “They’ll train you to suck cock and love it,” she taunted, laughing cynically and dodging out of the way when he tried to bite at her with his fangs.
Cyrus shifted nervously on his feet. He wasn’t sure how he felt about the idea of there being brothels of slaves in Other Realm. A glance at Kephri told him – if the smug look on her face was any indication – that she approved of the punishment.
As the warriors held the struggling vampire in place, Tara brought a knife to her hand and cut the tips of two of her fingers. Cyrus watched, fascinated, as she ripped off Rud’s shirt and started drawing symbols all over his chest. He could feel her infusing magic into the markings at random intervals, and it intrigued him. Was this another aspect of that ‘blood magic’ she’d used to get them inside the Akkad mansion?
Tara cut her fingers many times before she finished, as vampires had rather extensive regeneration capabilities. When she finally finished the last markings, placed on the vampire’s forehead, Cyrus watched as a jolt of magic pushed into the blood had Rud’s eyes rolling up in the back of his head as he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
“Aunt? Would you mind throwing him in the dungeons at the manor? Cyrus might still have some classes he can make, and I have some things that I have to look up in the library for my masters. I’ll pick him up later tonight to take him to my… friend.”
Kephri nodded and grabbed him by his hair. “I’ll see you later tonight, then. Don’t work yourself too hard.” She stepped into Cyrus’s shadow and disappeared, surprising the human enough to take a step back.
Tara bowed to the Chinese warriors, and they bowed back, disposing of the remains of the corpses before dissolving into thin air like wisps of smoke. It was the oddest form of transportation Cyrus had ever seen. When Tara turned to him with a half-hearted smile, he inclined his head, hoping he could convey to her through eye contact his support. She had gotten revenge for Amelia’s death, but now she had to come to terms with it all over again.
She didn’t try to hug him, thankfully, because that would have just been awkward, but she did clap him on the shoulder. “It’s almost lunch. You must be hungry. Want to go back to Shikaan now?”
Cyrus nodded. “I had a few more questions to ask, if you don’t mind.”
Tara glanced at the remaining vampires milling about, watching the two out of the corner of their eyes. The Akkad representative and Julannia had left ages ago, along with the Chief Investigator. Mikhail and Ashawyn had also disappeared.
“After I take us to Shikaan,” she said, pulling him over to the wall and shadow walking them through it.
They came out into a hallway with a few students walking past, probably on their way to lunch. Tara stretched, looking around at the familiar black marble walls with a happy grin. “It’s nice knowing I’ll be seeing this place for a while longer.”
Cyrus snorted. “I couldn’t agree more.”
“So, you had some questions?” she asked a moment later, leaning up against the wall.
He nodded. “What’s this ‘allegiance’ thing? What’s that mean?”
“Eh… It’s a little complicated. Suffice to say… Friendship isn’t just two people who get along in vampire culture. Those are acquaintances or allies. Calling yourself a friend to another vampire basically boils down to… You will kill for me, and I will kill for you. And now everyone knows it.”
Cyrus raised an incredulous eyebrow. “Riiight. Er, well, next question. The whole system seemed rather muggle. Why is that?”
Tara shrugged. “It’s only been in the last thousand years that the vampire clans came to a truce. When the muggles came up with a system that worked pretty well to ensure as much justice as can be made in a culture of backstabbing magical beings, vampires borrowed many of their ideas. Any other questions?”
“Yeah… why didn’t you tell me about the Trial? And how come we went and stole Dalesh’s body when BIS was getting it for the Trial anyway.”
Tara licked her lips. “Well, for one thing, I didn’t know that BIS was gettin’ the body. Though it’s probably a good thing we stole it anyway, with how quickly they torched the conjuration and put the blame on me. And second, I didn’t tell you about the Trial because I didn’t want to worry you. I was freakin’ out enough about everythin’ without havin’ to worry about you going and doing somethin’ stupid if ya found out you had to testify.”
Cyrus gave her a look. “Is your opinion of me really that low?”
She stared at him with an indecipherable expression for a moment before smiling softly, warmth making her eyes brighten from maroon to cherry red. “Not anymore, no,” she said in a teasing voice, amusement crinkling the corners of her eyes.
The human snorted. “Jee, thanks. I feel so appreciated.”
Tara just laughed. “Go eat some lunch. I can hear your stomach growling from here.”
Cyrus touched his stomach defensively. “Well sorry for having a digestive system,” he said, sticking out his tongue. The vampire just grinned and laughed again.
“I’ll see ya ‘round, Cy. An’ I’ll be poppin’ in to check out that library o’ yours again! You haven’t got rid of me yet.”
The human raised an eyebrow. “I’m ecstatic. I can’t wait,” he said flatly, watching her walk away with a bounce in her step. He hadn’t seen her this chipper in… well, a long while. It was kind of creepy to behold, actually.
Shrugging to himself, he headed towards his rooms, wanting to shove something in his mouth and have a quick shower before he had to run off to Wandless Magic class. However, when he finally arrived in the wing where his rooms were located, he was completely unprepared for the relaxed frame leaning in his doorway. He stood there, staring like an idiot at the familiar, confident smile of Ashawyn as the apprentice caught sight of him and pushed himself off the frame.
“Hey Cyrus! I was hoping you’d be back from that trial soon. I have to say, I didn’t expect to see you there. How did you get involved in a vampire homicide, anyway?” he asked with a genuine, ‘nice-guy’ smile on his face.
Cyrus blinked, slowly, as if expecting the man to be a hallucination. Nope, still there. “And I didn’t expect to see you there, either,” he finally managed to say. “You pinched my ass.” Whoops, that wasn’t supposed to come out…
Ashawyn ran a sheepish hand through his hair with a rueful grin. “I couldn’t help it. It’s so cute, it was just begging me to do it.”
Cyrus stared at him in incomprehension. “Riiight. Well, if you’ll excuse me, I have to eat something, as I haven’t had a proper meal for like twelve hours. So can you please get out of my doorway?”
The blue-eyed man stepped aside, again with that genuine, straight-to-the-eyes smile. “Sure.”
But after Cyrus had stepped through his doorway, the apprentice didn’t leave. In fact, he followed Cyrus into his rooms. “Nice place you got here. I’ve never been to Shikaan as a student. This is pretty neat.”
Beginning to lose his patience, but hunger taking precedence, Cyrus stalked to his kitchen and yanked open the cold box door. Reaching inside, he pulled out some leftover pasta that he’d made a few nights ago and heated it with a wave of his hand. Conjuring a fork – he hadn’t bothered to buy silverware – he shoved some of the pasta into his mouth and glared at Ashawyn over his plate. When he’d stuffed enough into his stomach that it wasn’t digesting itself anymore, he swallowed and put the plate down on the little table by his bookshelf.
“What are you doing here, Ashawyn?” he finally asked, crossing his arms defensively over his chest. He didn’t like having the guy in his room – uninvited.
Ashawyn smiled. “Oh, you didn’t hear? Yankovich contracted Mikhail to take over his classes on Mondays and Fridays for the next couple months or so. Mikhail’s milking more out of him than the job’s really worth, but Yankovich must be doing quite the interesting project to actually be willing to pay it. They’re both in the Headmistress’s office right now finalizing things. I asked him where your rooms were, and he was nice enough to tell me.” He blinked innocently. “Did he never tell your class?”
Cyrus felt his world go for a little spin. “Er, no, he didn’t.” Yankovich hadn’t said anything about it yesterday. And where the hell did the demon get off telling people where his rooms were? What if he hadn’t wanted Ashawyn to know?! Which was kind of the case, as it were… He resisted the urge to mumble angrily to himself.
Ashawyn tilted his head to the side. “Oh. Well, that’s too bad.”
Cyrus swallowed his anger. “Okay, I’m following you on why Mikhail’s here, but why are you here.”
Ashawyn took a step forward. “Well, I’m his apprentice, so I go where he goes.”
The human was beginning to get frustrated. “No,” he interrupted angrily, “why are you here, in my room?”
Ashawyn took another step forward, and suddenly Cyrus found himself with very little room to maneuver. Before he could step around the older man, two arms had barricaded him on either side. Eyes wide and breath coming in quick pants, he stared in incomprehension into Ashawyn’s ice blue eyes as they got closer and closer. Phantom fingers began to trail up and down his chest, and nausea sent his stomach churning uneasily.
“You have no idea,” Ashawyn said softly, staring at Cyrus with wonder in his eyes, “of exactly how enthralling you are… do you?” Before Cyrus could say a word, he found a soft set of lips capturing his own in a kiss. Panic had his nerves and magic on fire under his skin, but when Ashawyn didn’t try to touch him, he found himself slowly beginning to calm down, and nausea turned to fluttering butterflies in his stomach as that mouth gently massaged his lips before pulling away with a parting lick.
“Cyrus? Are you in here? I have been looking for you all day and-“ Yalmireth’s voice cut off abruptly as he opened the door all the way.
Cyrus glanced over at the demon, cheeks flushing at exactly what Yalmireth just walked in on. Pushing Ashawyn away, he fidgeted nervously as he tried to decipher the expression on Yalmireth’s face. He glared at Ashawyn with cold, steel-gray eyes, jaw tight and mouth pressed into a line, and when his gaze turned to Cyrus it was very neutral.
“I will come back later,” he bit out, almost slamming the door behind him.
Cyrus winced at the loud noise, but didn’t really understand what had Yalmireth so angry. He was just kissing somebody. And Yalmireth didn’t really come across as homophobic… He was a demon, for crying out loud.
“Who was that? A friend?” Ashawyn asked, moving closer again and resting his hands on Cyrus’s hips.
The human pushed him away again and maneuvered away from the bookshelf into the open space of the room where he could escape more easily. “Yes. He’s a friend,” he grit out, eyes flashing between the door and the ‘threat’ in front of him.
Ashawyn raised an eyebrow and held his hands out at his sides. “What’s wrong? I thought I read you right. You like men, don’t you?”
Cyrus felt blood rushing to his face. “Well, yeah, I mean, I think, I mean, I-“
Ashawyn smiled, amused. “Well, I’d say you like men, if you need confirmation. I can smell your arousal.”
He felt like he was going to faint from too much oxygen when the blood in his body rushed to his face. He must look like a cherry, his face was so hot. “I- what- how?”
Ashawyn laughed, rolling back on the heels of his feet. “I’m an ice fae, Cyrus. Like most non-humans, we have very sensitive noses. Fae are particularly sensitive to pheromones. We are very… sexual beings.”
The human blinked. “That's… er… nice.”
The fae tilted his head curiously to the side, shoulder-length, wavy hair curling around his face. “Why did you flinch like that? Normally people aren't so disgusted the first time I kiss them.” He smiled ruefully.
Cyrus nervously licked his lips. “I- I really don’t feel comfortable talking about… well, this. With you. And I don’t feel comfortable with you just coming barging into my room like this, and, and ambushing me in front of my rooms!” he continued, his voice getting louder as he got on a roll. “I’ve had a shitty couple of days and the last thing I need is someone harassing me and kissing me and asking questions and-“
A finger landed on his lips, and he froze in surprise, eyes blinking up at the fae that had just suddenly moved and now stood in front of him.
“I get it,” Ashawyn said quietly, reluctantly removing his finger. “I’m sorry for ambushing you. And entering your rooms uninvited. And… well, I’m sorry you perceived it as harassment.” He smiled mischievously. “But I’m not apologizing for kissing you.”
Cyrus floundered. “W-what- why- you are so confusing!” he huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. “Why the hell did you kiss me at all?”
The fae stared at him for a moment before he started laughing. Cyrus narrowed his eyes. “I’m sorry for laughing,” Ashawyn said, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye. “But you are just too cute! ‘Why did you kiss me’.” He snorted again with laughter. “You really do have no clue.” He leaned closer, eyes darkening with something Cyrus was beginning to associate with desire. “I find you very attractive, Cyrus Obsidian,” he murmured, ‘attractive’ rolling off his lips like an exotic word, sending a burst of shivers up the human’s spine. “And I want to… pursue you, lets just say.”
Two eyebrows rose in surprise. “ ‘Pursue me’? As in… like, dating and stuff?”
Ashawyn smiled. “Yes. So, will you consider it?”
Cyrus floundered again. “I- well- I don’t know if I can-“
A set of lips landed on his own, and they must of have been demonic – or maybe fae could sexify their lips or something – because Cyrus couldn’t control the soft moan that escaped him at the heat of pleasure that spread from the touch. By the time the fae released him, he must have looked thoroughly debauched, because he felt debauched. And it was only a kiss! And a kiss from someone he didn’t even know that well!
“What do you say now?” Ashawyn asked, running the backs of his fingers down Cyrus’s cheek, but other than that not touching him.
The human swallowed nervously, staring up into those icy blue eyes. “I… well… I’ve… I’ve never done… well, anything like this before.”
The fae’s eyes sparkled. Maybe they had some sort of glamour that sexified them and lured in their prey or something. “Well,” he said softly, caressing Cyrus’s cheek again. The human felt as if his senses were overloading with Ashawyn. It must be some sort of faerie hormones or something. What had the fae called it? Pheromones? “It starts with a date. A few kisses. And as we get to know each other… things progress.”
Naughty images burst behind Cyrus’s eyelids at the way sex oozed from that word, and the human felt himself blushing down to his neck. “R-really,” he croaked, swallowing nervously, his crazy hormonal mind starting to pick apart the taller man’s shirt and imagine what he looked like underneath it.
Ashawyn smiled, amused. “Really. What do you say? Dinner tonight? I know a very nice restaurant in sector three. They make really good pasta, and of all the restaurants I go to they always have the best desserts. Fresh fruit, home made ice cream… the works.”
“Uuuh…” he felt like he was drowning as he stared up into those blue eyes. What would it hurt? It was only a date. “S-sure, I guess.”
Ashawyn grinned brightly. “Perfect! I’ll pick you up at seven.”
“Seven?” Cyrus thought about it for a second after kick-starting his brain again. Yankovich had said they had no more private lessons together until he could animate a dead fly, right? So seven should be alright. “O-okay.”
The fae smiled and leaned down to quickly peck his cheek. “Great. I’ll pick you up here, then?”
The human nodded, dazed.
“I’ll see you tonight, Cyrus,” he said before walking over to the door with a small wave and a bright grin. The human could only wave dazedly as the fae left his rooms.
Turning to his plate of pasta, he blinked, imagining all the nice pasta he would be eating in around seven hours. And desserts. Shrugging, he returned to stuffing his face and tried not to think of the consequences of what he had just accepted, still not quite believing exactly what had just happened.
His fingers unconsciously reached up and touched his still-tingling lips.
-Toki Mirage-
Wow. Talk about the epic chapter to out-epic all previous chapters. (whistles)
Bad News, lovelies: School is starting soon. This means there may not be another update until Xmas holidays. (nods sadly) Yes. Unfortunately life gets in the way. Hopefully the 15,800 words of awesomeness you just read cheered you up. :) And the ending of the chapter. (evil giggle)
Lils – Michel Rud is a salute to you! (evil grin) Three guesses. First two don’t count.
I’d also like to give credit to the site ‘Nineteenth Judicial Circuit’ at the following link where I found a mock-script that helped me in writing my own trial. :P No, people, I’m not that familiar with the legal system. I only took Law in high school. And watch TV. Heheh. Though I might have a lawyer friend in a few years!
http:// www. 19thcircuitcourt. state. il. us/ bkshelf/ resource/ mt_lunch. htm
CHALLENGE:
Funny story. On the chat we have going, I made up a scavenger hunt. The only item on the list that pertains to Harry Potter, however, cannot be found: “HP fic where Harry pretends to be a huggable bitch, but during the night he terrorizes the Underground of Magical Britain.”
‘Terrorize’ of course can be taken in multiple ways. As can ‘bitch’. (grins) I hope someone takes the challenge! Either to find it or to write it. And if you do, plz PM me when you post it/locate it.
~Happy birthday to meeeeeee, happy birthday to meeeeeee, happy biiiirthday to meeeeeee. Happy birthday to me~ (eats her ice cream cake)
Thanks for reading!
PS – For those of you who have a problem with Cyrus/non-human, please check the Forum BS thread for clarification in regards to the changing of the pairing from vampire to non-human. Thank you.
THIS FIC IS ALSO LOCATED ON FFNET IF YOU WOULD LIKE ALERTS FOR UPDATES
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Bloody Skies