This Liason story is apart of the Halloween Flash-fic challenge over on the Canvas. Each prompt will further the thirteen chapter story to end on Halloween. I haven't written for Liason in a while so this has been a lot of fun for me.
This is a very AU story, which will be very apparent as it continues.
Summary: Elizabeth Webber is being drawn into a world beyond her imaginings. A world where two families vie for power and she is a mere pawn in their deadly game. A Shadow Knight has been sent to protect her and in the midst of danger they can rely only on each other and the feelings growing between them.
Rated: M (language, violence and sexual situations)
Disclaimer: I don't own them, I just like writing about them
HFF07 # 1: When it appears that you have killed the monster, never check to see if it's really dead.
The Dawn & The One
Chapter One
The wind whipped violently across her face, tangling her wild chocolate tresses around her face and blurring her vision. Her indigo gaze scanned the dense forest trying to keep up with her swift steps that carried her away from the darkened mansion. Elizabeth tried to ignore the slimy mud that squished through her toes and climbed up her legs like some malevolent vine, focusing more on the road she remembered traveling mere hours ago.
If she could only get there.
Maybe someone...
The lovely bronze strapless evening gown she spent her precious savings on was now in tatters. The full tail clenched in her grip until her nails ripped through the sateen to slice into her palms as to free her legs for their dash of escape from the danger she had been manipulated into. The crimson smears on her pale hands made her stomach clench with nausea just as it had when the sterling silver knife had slid into the neck of the bastard that attacked her. The limo that had ushered her away from her apartment for the private dinner with Nikolas Cassadine remained in the spiraling driveway.
A testament to her foolishness.
When the reclusive but wealthy antiquities collector appeared in the museum that late afternoon two weeks ago, an alarm had sounded in the back of her head. The Prince, as he was called in select circles, could make or break a career with a well placed word. To have the darkly handsome man seeking her advice about a piece she had spent most of her life pursuing had seemed a gift from the gods.
The Stave of Nirvana, a staff believed to hold incredible healing powers if wielded by one of pure heart and soul. There were many descriptions of the famed rod, but through careful research and study, she had finally discovered it to be of an unknown metal which was believed when touched by sunlight gleamed in a rainbow of color where the flame shaped tip appeared to release a blue ethereal curative light.
Pride, silenced the insistent warning that there was more to the Cassadine that met the eye. Arrogance and determination allowed the flirtation where she should have been cautious.
And this race for her very existence was the price she would pay.
All she could do was watch in horror as Nikolas had grinned, blood spilling onto the pristine white of his shirt, seeping from his mouth. "Now that's not very nice, Elizabeth," his voice a mocking gurgle even as a shaky hand reached up to snatch the blade free. Then he took a stumbling step in her direction. That was her cue to flee.
She could feel her heart hammering against her ribcage, breath haggard puffs of condensation in the frigid October night air. The storm forecast earlier during the day was now rolling in off the lake, dampening the once thick tumble of curls until they lay cold and limp against her bare shoulders.
"Why don't you join me at my estate for dinner this evening? We can share information and I can tell you a bit about the expedition I'm funding."
How easily she had fallen for his charm and her desire for recognition. Actually finding the Stave of Nirvana would prove to everyone who had doubted her that she wasn't wasting her time. Her imposing family of elite doctors and surgeons would finally see she was just as smart, just as talented as they were.
For once, she would be a true Webber and not the lone disappointment.
The dark howl that poured into the chill black silence sent fear, stark and vivid down her spine. Somehow she knew he was their master. Which brought forth the horrific question of just what the hell was Nikolas Cassadine? It howl was joined first by one, then two others. The mournful sounds were followed by the vicious snap of muzzle and growl. The gallop grew closer, more than a match for her slender legs and she knew the desperate attempt to escape was futile.
In mere moments they would be upon her, throwing her to the ground, trampling her frail body as fangs rend the flesh from her bones. She dare not risk a glance over her shoulder to gaze upon the sleek smoke tinted harbingers of her death.
Unfortunately, fate seemed ready to claim it's prize as she felt something clench over the top of her foot, wrenching her ankle painfully in the wrong direction. Before her momentum could be slowed, before her hands raised to brace, there was a strange weightless instant and her body slammed against the muddy ground.
Elizabeth choked in a gasp of air, her mouth filling with the metallic taste of blood. The throb in her tongue proving her teeth had clamped down on the appendage by accident. Before she could shake the dizziness from her head, the monsters that had pursued her from the Cassadine estate surrounded her.
The largest of them was to her left, white spittle dripping into the ground beneath it only to steam and bubble like acid. Grief, raw and primative swelled and crashed upon her as she saw her only hope less than a mere one hundred yards away. She raised slowly, flinching when the beast growled and crept forward a few steps, joined by it's companions.
"Help," she whispered, bereft and desolate, knowing the utter futility of her words but needing the plea anyway. "Please someone help me."
When the beasts stiffened, whining in terror and turning away from her in that brief instance, she wondered if her prayers had been answered.
When moonlight glint off the steel of a pair of nasty looking blades that curved almost intimately along the length of thickly muscled arms, Elizabeth wondered if this dark hooded figure would prove to be much worse.
