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To Court the Fèidh

Chapter Ten

© Cederwyn Whitefurr

6thOctober, 2021

All Rights Reserved.

Alexander knew not where he went, it was almost as if he was connected to some invisible leash that was directing him. At last, he paused in a thicket when his senses alerted him to danger - and the scent of blood, sweat and fear permeated him.

Looking through the thickets thick protective foliage, his blood turned to ice, then instantly boiled as he seen the destruction and carnage - bodies laying where they'd fallen, blood, oh so much blood and...that scent...

Magicks seared him as they lashed out and he bit his tongue and negated them feeling the sickening aura of the blood magick that'd been wrought here, its lingering presence almost a physical taste on his tongue and body.

A low, gasping moan made his leaf-like ears twitch and he sniffed, thankful for his heightened senses as he caught the scent of human, leather and...silver...

Bursting through the thicket without thought or care, driven by his fear he stopped at the edge of the burned, defiled grass and forced himself to shield against the sickening waves of black magicks that still lingered.

"You have no hold over me, begone from this place!" Alexander snarled, as he stamped a cloven hoof and his Fèidh magicks swirled, banishing the lingering human magicks that corrupted and threatened the forest. Satisfied, he turned and looked about, before he saw the torn and shredded grass, the intricate patterns of the blacked leaves and even ground.

"No..." Alexander moaned, as he stumbled and fell to his knees, pressing his hooflets against the ground.

Unbidden, flashes of what had transpired here seared through him, as he grit his teeth and his fingers gouged at the soil.

"They..." Alexander seethed, then forced himself into passivity again. "They took her...they took Fianna..."

A weak, choking laugh come from behind him. Alexander snarled and leapt to his cloven hooves, then in the blink of an eye, he'd seized the human by the throat and smashed him against the birch tree, nearly crushing his ribs. Suddenly, Alexander screamed as he silver chain mail brushed against his forearm and the sickening pain drove him backwards as the human fell to the ground and coughed up blood.

"Too...late beast - " Come the gurgle. "That beast...taken..."

Beyond enraged, Alexander rose and stood up, towering over the human and blocking out the sun as he stared down at him. Pondering, Alexander reached up and snapped a branch off the tree, before he drove it through the humans left shoulder then twisted it from side to side. His prisoner screamed and clawed at the branch, but Alexander only growled and leaned into it.

"WHO TOOK HER!" He roared.

"Fuck...you - I'm going to die...either by your fangs, or because..."

His fists clenched, the anger white hot within him, the Stag walked away a few paces before he heard the sobs from the broken, shattered Order brother behind him. Something compelled him and he stopped, then hung his head.

"You view me as a monster..." A snarl came from the stag as he forced his clenched fingers to uncurl. "A murderer, a beast..."

Picking up a lance, his eyes narrowed as he glared at the barbed silver tip, before he hefted it in one paw...faster than the human could watch, Alexander spun around and threw it with all his force, the lance piercing through the chain mail, the human and through the other side of the birch tree, killing the human instantly.

"I will spare you a slow, painful death... You want to see a monster? I'll show you a monster..."

*

Cloaked in his magicks, the Stag stood a hundred paces from the open portcullis that protected the Order's Keep. His eyes narrowed and his paws clenched into fists as he stared at the black granite walls that had been his home - all he'd known...

"I am no longer that person..." Came his low growl as he unclenched his paws and flexed the furred fingers.

His attention turned to two of the Order, who should have been alert and vigilant, but lounged languidly either side of the gate. His eyes narrowing behind pale eyelids, the stag focused on them and forced his seething rage down into a white hot coal deep in his chest.

I'm coming Fianna... Gods have mercy if they've hurt you...

Their helmets off and silver tipped pikes leaning against the stone archway as they seemed unconcerned and totally relaxed. One stepped over to the edge of the drawbridge and parted the fly of his trousers, before he urinated into the moat, his compatriot laughing behind him.

"Some Therian they brought in earlier - you think..." Grunted the one who stood near the drawbridge.

He stared, wide eyed, the stream ending in a dribble before he choked and clutched at his throat, then tumbled onto his back, his severed head falling into the moat.

Before the second could move more than single step, he found himself gripped by the throat and heaved at least three feet off the ground by a pair of iron-like paws that were locked on his throat.

"Where is she..." Came the savage snarl, hot, fetid breath washing over the strangling human. "Tell..."

A sickening crunch come from the guards neck and his body convulsed before Alexander growled and disgusted, threw it ten feet like he'd throw a stick. Distantly, he heard the splash as the body struck the slimy, green water so far below.

"Fianna!" Roared the stag, throwing back his head and giving voice to the pain within him.

Bells began to stridently ring throughout the keep as he stared at the iron bound doors that were shut against him.

"You shall not hold me from the one I love!"

His paws spread outwards, like a priest giving a blessing to the congregation, before his magicks blasted the doors, turning them and the four guardsmen behind it into splinters, shards and shattered, broken corpses.

"Therian, Therian!" Came the scream from the high walls.

No..._Come the thoughts. _Not Therian...I'm something far, far worse...

*

Humans ran and prepared defences, Magi stood resolute, their magicks summoned and intent on unleashing a unholy hell, Order members dressed in simple leather armour or those who had more time, wore brilliant suits of silver and steel armour.

It would matter not...

*

Black clouds boiled and churned, snuffing out candles and torches alike, as it moved into the entryway.

"First rank...FIRE!" Came the scream.

Arrows and bolts shot over the kneeling Order members in the vanguard, their shields up in a protective wall as if to face off against a cavalry charge.

They heard the clank and clatter as they struck walls, ceiling and the floor - yet still that black, ominous cloud remained.

"Hold the line, hold the..."

Eldritch tentacles like pure ebony, snaked out of the cloud and seized the one who'd spoken, dragging him into the fog before there was a muffled scream then silence.

"Magi..."

Summoning their powers and combining them, the Magi poured their purest intent into their spell that they channelled towards the cloud - only for a brilliant emerald green to flare deep within it and they suddenly screamed and writhed, the magicks turning back on them and immolating their bodies in seconds.

"I have come for the one you took from me..." Come a echoing voice, that seemed to fill the passageway. "Brothers no more, I give you but one chance - throw down your blades, turn from this path of darkness you are upon...or suffer the consequences!"

"I don't fear you beast - you hide behind your magicks like some common charlatan at a faire!"

Stepping forth, the man who towered over the others bashed his sword against his shield.

"You want to kill us and feast upon our corpses? Then you'll have to get past me first..."

A pair of glowing eyes, about seven feet or more off the floor, seemed to materialise out of the fog. They narrowed behind emerald green lids as the Fèidh magicks burned like eldritch fire over the stag's entire body.

With a wave of his paw, he dismissed the clouds and fog, then stepped forwards, his antlered head lowering and upon the spikes sparked the same emerald green fire like a thousand fireflies danced there.

"I warn you..." Growled the Stag. "One last chance..."

"I fear not man nor beast, your head will..."

His sword fell from his fingers, clattering to the ground, his face white as snow. Behind him, stood the stag, his paw blackened and charred, wisps of smoke curling from it. Silver had burned it terribly, but in that quivering paw was held something wet, dripping and viscous.

"So be it..." Sighed the stag sadly, as he waved his other paw over the injured one and it glowed with that emerald magickal light and the wounds vanished almost instantly. "You have chosen... unwisely..."

Behind him, the man fell to his knees, then onto his face as the Stag looked down and crushed the human heart in one paw. Those arrayed before him instantly dropped their swords, lances and pikes and bowed down like he was some vengeful, angry god.

"Leave..." Spoke the Stag, his lips curling as he forced himself back to calmness again. "Go... now!"

They fled, pulling at each other and knocking themselves down in their mad panic to escape the keep.

*

Alexander moved like a wraith through the keep, sparing some, others he dispatched quickly and mercifully - one managed to slice him across the chest with his silver sword, when he rounded a corner and come face to muzzle with the Stag.

It was more luck than skill on behalf of the human - who had enough time to realise his mistake, when the Stag shrieked and recoiled from the wound, slapping his paw to the deep wound.

"I..." Stammered the human, dropping the sword.

Alexander didn't think, couldn't_think...the searing agony washing away his thoughts - he just..._acted...

Grasping the human by the shoulders, bones snapping as he squeezed down, the Stag's mouth flashed and the humans scream was cut short. Blood sprayed the wall behind him as the Stag flicked his head back and gagged on the hot arterial blood that had surged down his throat.

Staggering backwards, Alexander crashed over a chair and fell heavily to the ground, retching and choking as his paws splayed out on the floor and the body fell behind him with a heavy thud.

I am not a Therian... Came the repeated thoughts in his mind, like a self-affirming mantra.

Saliva hung in ropy strands from his muzzle, mucus dripped from his velvety nose as his fingers fluttered across the table, then clenched something. He didn't know, didn't care- he just had to purge that blood out of his muzzle and throat.

His fingers crushing the goblet and spilling much of the mead that was in it, Alexander drank it down then vomited profusely until his stomach felt like it would surely tear itself from his abdomen.

Distantly, he heard the alarm bells, the screams and yelling of his former Brothers - he cared little for them...he had thoughts only for the one he sought, his beloved Fianna...

Struggling to his cloven hooves, he stepped over the body, then clopped off down the hallway, leaving bloodied cloven hoof prints in his wake...

To Be Continued...