Arrival

November, 1101 A.D.

t.i.t was the last day of the month. I inwardly grinned in vicious pleasure as a messenger cowered on his knees before my father, mother and I on our thrones.

t"So," my father said darkly. "You are telling me that the Woodelves have the audacity to give one of their a.s.sa.s.sins a mission to eliminate us?" His already deep voice lowered another octave, and the messenger pressed his face to the floor.

t"Y-Yes, Lord Kellerok! According to our source inside of Havengrove, a Woodelf a.s.sa.s.sin has been given the mission to a.s.sa.s.sinate the Royal Family of the Darkelves!"

tMy father stood, and the messenger jolted, his already shaking body quivering all the harder as he began sobbing.

t"Please forgive me for delivering you this horrible news, your Maliciousness!"

t"Father," I interjected. "Would you allow me the sincere pleasure of going to that filthy Havengrove city and wiping out the worthless Woodelves? With your permission, I would happily go and expunge them."

tMy father stroked his white goatee, mulling it over for a moment. Then he finally returned to his seat. "Yes....Yes, Mafrien. See to it that they are successfully destroyed."

tI glanced at my mother, and cringed at the displeased look on her face. I looked away from her to my father, and bowed. "It is my honor and privilege to serve you, my father." And then I ripped the messenger off of the floor and drug him out of the throne room.

tOnce we were outside of the room and the doors were closed, I set him on his feet fluidly. He cleared his throat and straightened himself.

t"Go and rally the secondary Darkelf army. They should be more than sufficient in wiping out those Wood-sc.u.m. Have them to be ready in an hour. And have them bring the burning oils that the Orks crafted for us. We will be putting it to use right away. Have it stored on camels."

t"Yes, Prince Mafrien, right away!" He said as he scurried off. I sighed, holding my head. What a pathetic weakling. No backbone at all. It was disgusting.

tI went to my chambers, and had my young Ork-girl servant undress me, putting my white battle armor on my body. I had a good meal, and then I looked at myself in the mirror.

tI stood tall, nearly seven feet. And yet, my father made me look short. My dark, charcoal-gray skin against the solid white of my hair was intimidating enough, but my blood red eyes were nearly frightening even to myself sometimes.

tIn my armor, colored white for only the royal family to wear, I looked magnificent indeed.

tI armed myself, and then I left my bed chambers and went out to the gates of the city. My army was already there, waiting for me.

t"Tonight, we set out on the ten day on foot journey to Havengrove, the Woodelf city. Tonight, we march. In ten days, we destroy!"

tThunderous applause and the roar of battle-heated cries, my army followed me out of the city and into the desert, heading north to the Woodelf city.

tFor days, we marched. No food, no rest.

tOn the tenth night, we were outside of the city"s boarders, hidden in the disgustingly lush forest.

t"Tonight, we will feast and rest, preparing for our first strike in the morning," I told them. "We will rest here for the night. At dawn, we prepare the oils and start the fires....and then, we attack."

tI had a strange sensation about our attack on Havengrove city. I felt something. I could only fathom that it was antic.i.p.ation. But antic.i.p.ation for what, I wondered? I felt as if I were going to meet someone, someone that would change my fate. But that was silly, ridiculous. An absurdity, to be certain. How could I be about to meet someone that would change my fate in a city that I was about to destroy?

tThe next morning came quickly, and we briefly discussed battle strategies. I only had around one hundred soldiers, and they were only second-grade Darkelves, turned from other elven races such as Mountain elves, Ocean elves, and Woodelves. The higher-grade Darkelves were turned into Darkelves from Skyelves. And the highest grade were the Born Darkelves, but that all depended on their parentage, of course.

tI was the very first born Darkelf, coming from two Skyelf-turned-Darkelves. I was one of the highest cla.s.s Darkelves there were.

tI was very confident, however, that one hundred low-grade Darkelves would be all I needed to wipe out this city. After all, they were weaklings.

tWe set out again after suiting up, and it would only be a few more hours before we would be entering the city. I sent scouts ahead to sneak into the city undetected and begin setting the oils on the trees and setting fires.

tAs we arrived to the outer wall of the city, we looked upon the wall. It would be simple enough to break through, using the battering ram. It was a wall made of stone, mud, and trees and vines. And there were only two Woodelves guarding it.

t.i.t was only when we saw the smoke and heard the rising panic from the fires that we made ourselves known.

tWhen they saw us, one frantically began blowing a horn, and we heard a deeper, louder horn begin sounding inside of the city.

tWe killed one of the guards, but the other had already fled into the city.

tWe took the battering ram, and began slamming it into the thick, wooden gates of the city. It broke after a few strong slams, and we lit arrows aflame and began shooting them into the city. I then had them use the catapult to bring down part of the outer wall, so that all of my soldiers could make it through into the city.

tThe ground shook with the force of it, and the horns in the city began sounding even more frantically.

tI took in a victorious breath as I stepped foot into the city.

tWe began to laugh as dried trees caught fire, and slaughtering people trying to evacuate as we made our way into the outer ring of the city. There weren"t many people who lived out here, but it was a start.

tWe set fire to cabins and huts, trees all alike. It all looked the same to my Darkelf eyes.

tAs we arrived to the middle ring, there were dozens of guards lined on the top of the wall.

tI motioned my soldiers to bring out the catapult, and I raised one arm up into the air. "I BRING WAR!" I shouted, my voice belting out my divine authority for destruction into the air, and shot my arm forward as they released the catapult, a great stone from their own outer wall bringing down the middle ring wall. Shouts sounded as bodies flew off of the wall, and the ground shook.

tMore soldiers came rushing up to defend the gate, but my soldiers made short work of many of them.

tThere were several who my soldiers could not harm easily, and I began to rethink my choice of warriors to bring.

tBlood pumped through my body, giving me adrenaline as I stabbed, sliced, parried. It was all a fun game.

tI laughed, having a great time, until something.... unexpected caught my attention.

tA young Woodelf man, with dark, dark brown and black hair and lavender eyes, was shoved to the ground by one of my generals. He was fighting to keep the general from decapitating him, and my general stabbed him in the chest.

tHe cried out, and his arms weakened against the blade at his neck.

tJust before his arms could give out, she arrived.

tA blonde-haired woman rushed up behind my soldier and, leaping into the air, pulled out an a.s.sa.s.sin"s knife. She brought it down with force into the top of the general"s skull, and he fell, dead at her feet. I watched her fall to her knees, staring at him with fear and pain in her eyes. I knew the look all too well, the look of taking someone"s life for the very first time.

tSo, I had witnessed her first kill. I could see the weight of his life fall upon her, guilt panging in her heart.

tShe snapped herself out of her daze quickly, before she began panicking frantically over the Woodelf man below her. She pressed her hands against the stab wound in his chest. I could barely make out pleas to tell her how to heal him over the roar of the battle around me.

tAnd he brought his hand up to cup her cheek, the silly fool trying to comfort her. From their posture and body language with one another, one could a.s.sume they were close friends, though it looked more as if they were perhaps even lovers. It seemed a little...too close.

t.i.t was sickeningly affectionate, and I hated it.

tI could see the life fading from his eyes, and I watched on with satisfaction. She shook her head violently, before she bit into her own arm and pressed it against her mouth, drinking her own blood, and then leaned over to kiss him while she pressed her bleeding arm into the wound.

tBlood ran down his cheek from his mouth, and his eyes got wide. His body began to thrash, and she held him down, forcing his body to lay still.

tI couldn"t understand what I was watching. I didn"t understand.

What was she doing?

Why had she done this?

There was nothing special about Woodelf blood....

tWas there?

tI watched the change in his eyes, and it was almost as if he were a different man. Something had changed, you could see the chemical difference in the way he watched her. Before, his gaze had been endearing and protective, but now...now, he looked at her as if she were the very gravity that held him to the earth. It was a dangerous look.

tI couldn"t grasp what was happening for a moment.

tAnd then, as another soldier went to kill her, a Mountain elf with black hair cried out, rushing over to her, and he interceded and was cut down instead as he protected her from getting killed. She whipped her head around to look, her face devastated.

t"Grimoir!" She shouted. And then she stood from her straddling position over the Woodelf man, and jumped onto the soldier, ripping her teeth into the flesh of his throat. She pulled backward with force, ripping his throat open violently as she jumped back off of him, gulping down the blood in her mouth, and releasing a dark, guttural, feral sounding cry. She watched as he fell at her feet, dead. And there was an eerie satisfaction in her eyes, on her face. The Woodelf man watched her in amazed horror.

tAnd then I truly looked at her face.

tHer face was covered in Wraith markings, and her eyes were glowing a silver-blue that was certainly not a Woodelf trait. Yet she had the blonde hair of a Woodelf, and the ears. It was only then that it clicked.

tI suddenly understood.

She was a hybrid!

A hybrid of the Light and Dark Realms, of a Woodelf and a Wraith. And as I got a closer look at her markings, realizing the shape, my heart filled with a sinister, greedy pleasure.

tThis was too perfect. I knew exactly what clan of the Wraiths she belonged to. And oh, boy, was this something that I could use against them in the future should I desire to! This could destroy their fragile, beastly governing system.

tOther Woodelves around her watched, amazed, as if they had never seen her fight before. And perhaps they hadn"t, the possibility shocking me. She was very skilled, indeed. Definitely one of the most vastly skilled of the Woodelves that I had ever seen. And I had killed more than plenty in my time.

tShe parried and slashed through ten more warriors with a speed that they could hardly comprehend and that even I was surprised at, making her total kill number twelve.

And that was just on her own. It didn"t make sense; how superior she was to the Woodelves. It was a shock.

tShe moved much more fluidly than the Woodelves. She was faster, stronger.

tI knew then; I had to have her. I had to make her mine.

tAnother of my warriors came up behind her to dispatch her, but I threw my spear with a great thrust to impale him through the throat, and he gurgled as he dropped.

tShe whipped around, looking at him, looking at what was happening, and then followed the path of my spear to look at me dead on, her eyes locking with mine.

tMany of my soldiers who remained looked at me with shocked, even mildly angry expressions as they all murmured and questioned me.

tBut I paid them no mind. My attention was caught on the girl.

tTime seemed to stand still, and I saw her in another place and time, only she had wings and a crown upon her head. Her eyes widened as if she saw me differently, also, and I idly wondered what she saw.

tWe were thrust back to the present as one of my men shook me out of my daze. I ripped the Darkelf horn from his belt and blew into it, sounding our retreat.

tWith shock and outrage, my army hesitantly began to retreat out of the city, and I ran to the edge of the burning forest, before turning back and watching the girl.

tThe Woodelf man who had been stabbed and bleeding out was now standing at her side, completely healed, as she watched me with a wary expression on her beautiful face. I took in a deep breath, memorizing the girl"s scent, before I disappeared into the forest.

tI followed my nose through the burning forest to her dwelling, a large fir tree that had not yet been completely burned to the ground, though it was on fire.

tMy army, now down to only thirty, didn"t question me. They waited patiently for me to give them orders, as they should. They knew what would happen to them if they questioned me.

t"Go, and return back to Barrenwilds. There is something that I must take care of. Have my servants prepare clothes for a woman."

tThey nodded, and went on to go out of the city.

tI heard victorious shouts from the middle ring, even from way out here. And I, myself, felt victorious.

tThey might still be alive and live to fight another day...

tBut I would have that girl.

t.i.t began to rain, and I felt disappointed anger as all of my hard work setting their cabins and huts and forest on fire went to waste. Thunder crashed around me, lightning flashing dangerously close to me, but it made me feel only all the more exhilarated. Now, I made my way to where her scent was the strongest in the city, a cabin in the middle ring of the city and I could smell.... coitus activities in the air. I found a good hiding place outside, waiting, watching.

tI waited a few hours, before I began to get impatient.

tBut eventually, I heard voices approaching, and I listened in, looking out a small little window to see who it was.

t.i.t was the girl and the Woodelf man she had fed her blood to.

t"Are you sure that you"re alright, Kysael?" He asked. He hovered over her protectively, his eyes glued to her. There was something about the way he acted around her...he acted as if he wanted to have his hands all over her. And I couldn"t blame him, I felt much the same way.

tAnd then I remembered, when a Wraith shares their blood with a non-Wraith, it creates an intense bond that isn"t possible with any other race. Even the Elven Soul Bond isn"t as powerful, it could be broken. This bond was a Blood bond, one that could only end in death.

tAnd it was a bond created by the Wraiths to create servants, to have servants who would kill themselves if the Wraith asked it. Endless food sources and body guards to dispose of at their leisure.

t.i.t was a very powerful tool, and I felt sorry for the poor fool. He had no idea what she had just done to him.

t"I am fine, really, Dragon."

tDragon...I instantly recognized the name. He was a world-famous healer, a Woodelf n.o.bleman who was well respected for his knowledge and skill in healing and medicine, despite how young he was.

tHe was also the heir to the Huntsmen clan, one of the most powerful clans on the planet. His father, grandfather, and so on, had also been famous for being Dragon Hunters. They were an extremely feared clan, one of high reputation and skill. Their name was legendary.

tShe had him as her new blood-bound servant and neither of them seemed to realize it!

t"Are you positive? You"re not hurt? Is there anything that I can do for you?"

t"Dragon, really. I am fine. I know that I had my first real kill today, and that hit me hard. But I am alright. It is all a part of war. I am just glad that you are alright."

t"I am better than alright. I have never felt stronger. Thanks to you," he smiled. "I am just disappointed that this has ruined our evening. But you are my wife now, freshly consummated, and you saved me," he said, and he brought her face up to kiss him.

tI startled. Not only had she made him her servant by feeding him her blood, but they had just gotten married?

tToday?

tWhat he had said, as per the usual law of the elves on consummating a marriage-particularly arranged marriages, but still-our attack must have interrupted them just after the wedding and during the act of consecrating it.

tPerhaps I could break her and make her into a Darkelf. But I didn"t know if I wanted to do that or not. We would see.

tThe kiss got intense, and she pulled away, out of breath. "Dragon, what has happened to you? You"re different-you have changed...Before, you didn"t even want this-"

t"I just feel this.... strong.... pull toward you, I can"t explain it. I don"t.... I don"t feel like myself. But then again, perhaps its best that I don"t," he said, and went to kiss her again.

tShe put her hands on his chest. "Stop." I could hear the order, the outright command, in her voice.

tThough she didn"t realize it, I could tell by the tone and the immediate response in his body as he succ.u.mbed to her demand. Yes, he was under her authority now, alright.

tHe pulled away. "I... I"m sorry, I know that this isn"t right...yet...I want to make you happy."

tShe shook her head. "You not doing this as yourself doesn"t make me happy, Dragon. I want for you to go to your room, and rest. We"ve both had a long day. I will spend the night in my childhood room tonight. I would like to get some sleep."

tHe nodded. "I hope you rest well," he said, kissing her cheek, before he left.

tShe watched him as he went inside, catching her breath and shaking her head. "What has gotten into him? Is it because we are married, now?" She asked herself softly.

tSo, she truly wasn"t aware of her heritage and the Blood Bond.

tInteresting...That meant that she had not made contact with the Wraiths yet, and she had no knowledge of their ways or their politics.

tShe opened the door, and went inside. I hid outside of the window to the room that she went into, waiting for her to get inside and shut the door. She searched for a candlestick inches from her hand, and I used my great speed to sneak in unnoticed, my keen night vision to grab her, and place a cloth over her mouth that was soaked in sleeping poison.

tShe struggled, then fell limp in my arms.

tI threw her body easily over my shoulder like a sack, and carried her out of the cabin and hurried to get her to the outer gate of the city, which was thankfully not far away with my advanced speed.

tFirst, I stole a horse from a nearby stable.

tI killed the guard standing post there, and proceeded to exit the city, and placed her on my horse as I mounted behind her.

tAnd we began the long trip back to my homeland.

*

t.i.t was late into the second evening of traveling that she stirred, and her breathing changed. I knew that she was awake, even as she tried to keep her breathing even to fool me into thinking that she was still unconscious. Smart girl, but I"d already sensed her awakening, much to her misfortune.

tWith a sharp movement, she slammed her upper body backward, knocking both of us off of the horse and we both crashed to the ground. She stood, and went to make a run for it.

tI grabbed a small knife from my belt and threw it with pin-point accuracy into the back of her thigh, and she cried out in surprised pain as her body fell.

tI took long strides over to her, and picked her up with ease by that same leg so that her body hung upside down in the air, only being held by my hand.

t"That really wasn"t a bad effort, girl, I"ll admit it. But I am not like the other Darkelves that you fought against, that you were so easily able to dispose of. I am the very first born Darkelf, and I am far superior to you. I would advise for you to cooperate with me until the end of this ordeal."

tHer eyes were cold and unfeeling as she spat in my face, and I tossed her body down to the ground before walking over to her and kicking her hard in the side, knocking her back a few feet. She groaned as she clutched her ribcage. Then, I back handed her across the face, and she looked up at me with venom in her gaze as her own blood trailed the corner of her mouth, down to her chin.

t"My army was a weak one, a collection of secondary elven races turned into Darkelves. I am in an entirely different cla.s.s. They were not even at a third of my power, girl. I miscalculated and underestimated your people, and brought only my secondary army to march into battle for me. Had I known how powerful some of you were, I would have been wiser, but now I know for the future, don"t I?"

tI pulled her up by her arm, and knocked her unconscious again, before remounting on the horse behind her.

tWe were nearly halfway back to my homeland of Barrenwilds when I decided to find shelter and eat. I was starving, and I a.s.sumed that the girl would wake again soon and probably be ready to eat as well.

tI found a cave nearby, and tied the girl to a rock, still unconscious, before going and gathering firewood. When I returned and started a fire, she was still knocked out. I went out and hunted, capturing two hogs, one still alive and one killed.

tI knew that the girl was half Wraith, so I figured she must share their diet.

tShe only began stirring once I began roasting my hog, her hog still tied to a nearby tree.

tHer eyes opened, and she shut them quickly to try to pretend that she was asleep, but it was too late. I had already seen her awake.

tI walked over and cut off the head of the hog that I had captured for her, before kicking its limp carca.s.s over to her.

tShe watched me in wary confusion.

t"If I had wanted you dead, you would not still be alive. No, it is not poisoned and I have not done anything to alter it."

t"How-"

t"I smelled the raw flesh and blood on your clothes and your breath. I a.s.sumed that you share the Wraith diet, so I left it alive so that the meat and blood would be fresh for you. Now, shut up and feed."

tShe took the body and bit into it hungrily, ripping and tearing into the carca.s.s with sharp, pointed teeth. She drank the blood, and swallowed large bites of raw meat. I was impressed with her ability to separate the skin from the flesh as she ate it.

tWhen she had finished, she wiped her mouth and tossed the remains aside.

t"What do you intend to do with me?" She asked, and I decided that I liked her voice. It was light and sweet with a deadly edge to it. It reminded me of a sapphire, blue and cool and beautiful, but hard and solid.

t"Oh, I intend to do many things with you, little hybrid."

tHer eyes narrowed, glinting silver with violence. An odd color, considering that she wasn"t pureblooded Wraith.

t"You should get some rest while you can. We still have several more days of traveling before we reach Barrenwilds."

t"Why me?" She asked.

tI chuckled darkly. "Do you really need to ask that?" At her confused look, I elaborated. "You are the very first female warrior in the history of elven or Wraith culture. And on top of that, you are the very first hybrid of the Light and Dark Realms, since you are the very first Woodelf-Wraith hybrid. I am intrigued by you, to say the least."

tShe sighed softly, and looked back in the direction of Havengrove. "Will I ever be able to return?" She whispered. And despite how quiet her voice was, my enlarged Darkelf ears heard her.

t"As long as you behave and cooperate, and do everything that I say...I see no reason why not," I answered truthfully. "Now, shut up and get some sleep. We start again at Dawn."

tShe nodded, and pulled her knees up to her chest before she fell into her slumber.

tIf I was honest with myself, I wasn"t entirely sure how this would all play out. Of course, I knew my intentions behind abducting her. But I didn"t know what else may happen. If my father discovered her, he may simply execute her. I wondered why I took her in the first place, but I was truly fascinated by her. She was something that had never been before, and I loved to collect rare and unexplained things. I had acted without really thinking about all of the details… something that I had a bad habit of doing.

tThe wheels began turning in my mind. My father and I had recently had an argument about when I would finally get to take over the throne, because my father was nearing two thousand years of age...and though many thought he would, he would not live forever.

tHe had told me that as long as I had no heirs to the throne, I could not be allowed to succeed his rule. I would have to find a worthy mate, and produce a sufficient heir to the throne.

tYes....yes, yes, I could see it now. This may well be the solution to my problem. Perhaps, if I had an heir with this girl, who was exotic enough for my tastes and was already half part of the Dark Realm, a child bred from the two of us would resemble a Dark Realm child enough to be sufficient as my heir and thus, I could succeed my father and take the throne.

tI did not simply want a regular Darkelf woman. No, they were always fawning all over me and trying their d.a.m.ndest to get me into their beds. No. They didn"t spark my interest.

tThey didn"t give me any fight; they didn"t make me work for their affections. And I wanted to earn a woman"s desire, not just have it thrown at me blindly simply because I was attractive and powerful.

tA Darkelf woman was beneath me, and other races simply weren"t good enough for me, not races who were of the Dark Realm and could pique my interest.

tBut this hybrid girl...She was a warrior, and had fought tooth and nail against me thus far. She was attractive, and Wraith enough to show her markings. Perhaps, if I performed a spell over her, I could turn her hair black if I needed to, if the situation to introduce her to my father arose.

tAnd a child from us would likely resemble the both of us. I had elven ears and so did she, I had white hair and her own was almost silver.... I tried to picture what an heir from her would look like.

tAnd I figured it was at least worth a shot.

tIf it didn"t work out how I wanted, I could always hunt down a full-blooded Wraith female and make her my mate instead.

tUntil then, I would take this girl, and I would inseminate her. Once the child was born, if it looked sufficiently Dark Realm enough to pa.s.s as a full-Dark Realm child, my father would more than likely accept it as my heir.

tI had to go about this very carefully.

tI knew that unlike Darkelf women, this girl would not be accustomed to abuse and foul treatment. I could not simply torture her to make her scream in agonized pleasure for me. No... this had to be done.... delicately. And that, in itself, would be a challenge, considering my sheer size.

tI looked at the girl, and really studied her features.

tHer hair was a soft, fine, glossy waterfall of an almost gray blonde color.

tHer nose was straight, strong.

tShe had typical elven ears of the Woodelf race, a smaller version of the Skyelves and Darkelves ears.

tHer mouth was thin, the top lip barely visible and the bottom pouting out a little, small but plump.

tHer eyes were narrow, slanted slightly upward at the ends with thick, dark lashes. Her eyebrows were thin, and light, not really noticeable.

tShe had high cheekbones and a wide jaw, going to a narrower chin.

tHer face was heart shaped, almost.

tHer neck was thick, short. Her shoulders were strong and broad.

tShe had thick, toned arms. Her b.r.e.a.s.t.s were not large, and not too small, just slightly below average I would guess.

tHer hips were wide, thick, going down to thick thighs and toned legs. She was certainly in good shape, no doubt of that.

tHer back curved in sharply in the lower part, and jutted out to give her a wide bottom.

tHer hands were thick, as were her fingers, and her nails were sharp but not pointed.

tHer skin was a little darker than the deathly pale skin of the Wraiths, but not the dark typical tan of the Woodelves.

tThe deep, rich royal blue of her Wraith Markings stood out in strong contrast against her skin tone.

tShe was exotic, and I waited in giddy antic.i.p.ation for what I had in store for her.

tI could hardly wait.

tUpon closer inspection, however… I could smell something on her, something very slight, almost completely unnoticeable. Her scent was beginning to change, mold, ever so slightly.

tThe scent of her mate was starting to become imbedded inside of her body, and with a sharp jolt, I had a sudden realization of what that meant.

tThey had consummated their union. They had just mated. And the small smell that was starting to take root inside of her could only mean one thing.

tShe had conceived from their union.

tI took a long moment to think. I wondered what I could do. If I wanted to break her strong will, I could probably find a spell to terminate the child and force her to suffer that loss. That would more than likely be my choice.

tA still, small voice in my mind whispered how sick that was, how wrong. That wasn"t right. But I was a Darkelf.

tI was already d.a.m.ned, wasn"t I?

tThe wheels began turning in my mind. If I terminated the child, not only could I break the girl"s will…

tBut I could break the almighty Lord Dragon Huntsmen of Havengrove, as well.

tAnd the malicious part of me silenced the softer side of me, and I began to feel immense joy at the prospect of destruction