This was boring him. Hunting trips are always the same. We catch a few meals, they struggle, we kill them, the usual. Delos sighed. Not to mention that Sylvia's constant chatter was annoying him. The hunting party was particularly small, just him, Sylvia, the falcon she always carried with her, and a few worthless slaves.
Delos quickly decided he had to get away. While the party's back was turned, he made his escape. Ha, made his escape, that made him sound like some captured vermin. Unfortunately, it was all he could do if he wanted to leave the hunting party, who seemed to always be watching him a little too closely.
He ran fast, his vampire abilities making him almost a blur in the colorless forest. He stopped when he thought he was far enough away. He had ended up on a high cliff, a place he came to a lot. He knew this area fairly well. He knew that there was a cave not too far away; he also knew that his hunting party was still all they way on the other side of the forest.
Sounds from below the ledge caught his attention. He looked and saw that a burly shapeshifter was fighting a human slave. Another lanky shapeshifter was off to the side, watching them with an ugly sneer. The human was holding a stick towards the shapeshifter threateningly. He almost laughed. That stick would do no damage to the shapeshifter. Only a vampire, like himself, could get harmed by that wretched twig. The shapeshifter lunged at the girl—vermin. The slave thrust the stick at his feet and twisted, probably trying to trip him. Delos smirked, I will enjoy watching this vermin girl die, he thought. The shapeshifter merely stumbled, and aggressively pulled the stick out the slave's hands. Then he made the worst mistake of his life—he threw it. The wood came straight towards Delos. His smirk and amusement quickly faded, replaced by fury that this servant would dare try to hurt him, the prince. He knocked it out of the way before it could do any damage.
He was dangerously angry. He picked up the stick and made a cut in his left wrist, drawing blood. Unfortunately, making himself bleed was the only way to let his power out. He took a deep breath as the shapeshifter morphed into a bear. He felt the power inside him building. He raised his left arm towards the servant bear, and unleashed his fury.
The blue fire struck the shapeshifter, causing him to shake uncontrollably. The girl was still in his arms as he moved toward the edge of the cliff. They were both going to fall, and they were both going to die. Delos had an abrupt, inexplicable urge to free the girl from the death grip. He shook it off, the human girl was most definitely not worth saving anyway, she was only vermin. Once Delos was sure the shapeshifter was going to die, he lowered his arm, cutting off his power while he took out a handkerchief to clean his wrist. Out of the corner of his eyes he watched as the scared lanky shapeshifter scampered away and the human girl broke free of the bear's grasp. He felt relief as the guy tumbled over the edge without the girl. Again he shook it off and continued with his wrist.
"Thank you," her smooth voice drifted up towards him. He didn't want her thanks; He wanted her to leave him alone.
"For what?" He didn't look up but he knew she was staring directly at him.
"For saving us. I mean you did that, didn't you?" Her voice had an edge of uncertainty.
Now he did look up. "Did what?" Now she was starting to bug him. But she just stared at him with an astonished expression. She seemed to be lost in her own thoughts. For the first time, he got a good look at her. She had warm autumn colored hair and deep, sorrel colored eyes that he couldn't seem to look away from. She still didn't say anything. He was getting impatient.
"That . . . thing." She wiggled her fingers. "That thing that knocked him off the cliff. You did that." Well, duh.
"The blue fire. Of course I did. Who else has the Power? But I didn't do it for you." Why would he want to save a worthless human? Let alone his human slave. He should punish her, she was probably trying to escape earlier.
"Well, why did you do it then?" she asked.
Delos looked down at the wooden stick that was at his feet. "He threw a stick at me. Wood. So I killed him." And he wasn't sorry about it. He shrugged. "Simple as that." He suddenly wanted to make something very clear to her—and himself. "I couldn't care less what he was doing to you. You're only a slave. He was only a shapeshifter with the brain of a bear. Neither of you matter."
"Well—it doesn't matter why you did it. It still saved both of us—" she broke off, looking away and running toward another girl that he hadn't noticed before.
The other slave girl was lying limply in a hollow, her body slumped against the rock wall. She had dark hair and skin the color of coffee and cream. And she was dying. With his vampire senses, Delos could hear that she was alive, but her breathing was struggled and her heart was weak.
"Cady!" she called. "Can you hear me?" She seemed very concerned for the other girl's health. But helping the sick girl was a waste of time and energy because she wasn't going to last long.
He decided to ignore the two slaves, they weren't worth his time. He took out his canteen and unscrewed the lid, taking a heady gulp. He was about to walk away when he heard her voice again. He tried to ignore the fact that the sound of her voice can make him stop everything he's doing.
"Please," she begged. "Can we have some of that? Can you drop it to me? I'll catch it."
Why was she still speaking to me? he thought. Why would she expect me to help her at all? But, the thing is a part of him did want to help her, though he wouldn't admit it.
He looked at her sharply. "And how am I suppose to get it back?"
"I'll bring it to you. I can climb up." I doubt that, he thought.
"You can't."
A look of defiance and determination crossed her face. "Watch me."
The human climbed up. She was pretty good he had to admit. Fast and skilled. Once she got to the top, he shrugged.
"You're quick." Delos held out the leather bag. "Here."
But she didn't take it. In fact, she didn't move at all. She just stared at him, a look of recognition on her face. What was wrong with her? Why wasn't she speaking?
In a dazed voice, she said, "I'm Maggie Neely. What's your name?"
What did she just say? He was taken aback. Didn't she know who he was? Didn't all slaves know better than to speak out like that? "How dare you ask?"
To his utter astonishment, she said, "I had a dream about you. At least—it wasn't me having the dream; it was more as if it was sent to me. You kept telling me I had to do something . . ."
"I don't give a damn about your dreams." Delos said curtly. She still hadn't taken the canteen. "Now, do you want the water or not?"
She looked at the water longingly as she reached out for it. When she had grabbed the bag, he still didn't let go. He didn't want her to waste it. "There's only enough for one. Drink it here."
Maggie—the vermin girl blinked as a look of disappointment flashed in her eyes. She tugged at it a bit and there was a faint sloshing sound from the bag. Definitely not enough for her and the dying girl.
"Cady needs some too. She's sick."
"She's more than sick. She's almost gone. There's no point in wasting any on her."
She tugged at the bag a bit harder. His patience was wearing thin. If he wanted to, he could snap her neck right now and not feel the least guilty about it. Yet she still was stubbornly refusing what he was telling her.
"If I want to share with her, that's my business, right? Why should it matter to you?"
"Because it's stupid. There's only enough for one?"
Her eyes were wide with defiance. Defiance against . . . me. "Look," she started.
He cut her off. "You're not afraid of me are you?" She was like no one he had ever met before. She didn't care that she was probably extremely weak from thirst and she didn't care that she was mouthing off to a stranger in a different , more dangerous world than she could ever imagine. All she cared about was . . . was helping her friend.
Delos quickly changed the subject. "Anyway, it's my water. And I say there is only enough for one. You were stupid to try and protect her before, when you could have gotten away . Now you have to forget about her."
"Fine," she said curtly. "It's your water. And there's only enough for one." He let go when she pulled at the water harder, and then she turned away from him, looking down at the boulders below. She seemed to be judging the distance, as if she were going to jump.
She held her arm out, as if she were about to drop the water down the ledge. He knew she would soon be following.
"Wait!" Delos reached out and grabbed her wrists, trying to keep her from leaving his sight. What the hell is she doing? He voiced his thoughts. "What do you think your doing?" He found himself looking into startled, beautiful brown eyes.