Ailbhe

He heard something. That was for sure. Ailbhe turned left toward the source of the sound. It was a short, soft pingk, sharp and defined to his snake hearing. Ailbhe searched his memory for anything that could make a sound like that. He couldn't come up with anything, and decided instead to find his sister, who should have been near the source of the sound, and ask if she heard anything.

Ailbhe walked down the north side of the balcony at a brisk pace. He turned the corner and saw something that would haunt him for the rest of his life.

He switched to demi-form to strengthen his eyesight, yet the spectacle remained unchanged. The slim, delicate figure of his sister Adelina lay crumpled near the end of the west side balcony. Her weapon lay just out of her arm's reach. She wasn't moving; Ailbhe couldn't detect any breathing. His thermal vision showed that she was still moderately warm. It also showed the massive pool of blood growing around her.

"Oh, god no!"

Ailbhe sprinted down the balcony and knelt by his sister's side. Shaking with emotion, fear, and unshed tears, he rolled her over and shook her frantically. He yelled, "Adelina. Adelina! Can you hear me? Oh, please no, please no." He finally discovered her wound. A circular hole was punched into her right temple. Blood was still pouring out of the wound. He couldn't see any sort of arrow or bolt. It was just that—a circular hole in her head. The tears poured down Ailbhe's face as he realized his dear sister was dead. Killed, maybe assassinated, by someone out there.

The thought of an assassin nearby brought him to his senses. He gently lay down his sister, praying for her and vowing to find and execute her killer himself. Little did he know that the killer was standing right behind him.

Before he could sense a presence, an arm was thrown around his throat and Ailbhe was dragged backwards. Reeling from the sudden attack, he went into attack mode, his eyes turning into slits, his fangs lengthening. He tried to sink those fangs into his attacker, but the headlock only grew tighter. A cold, metal object was pressed to the side of his head.

"One false move and your brains get blown, just like your sister," a dark, growling voice threatened. Ailbhe found himself shocked with fear. The smell of human surrounded his captor, while his voice froze him in place. "I'm gonna ask you a few questions, and if you know what's right, you're gonna answer them. Understand?"

The language was fast, strange, and abbreviated, but Ailbhe still got the message. He prepared himself mentally to keep all valuable information within.

The voice said, "Where's your Diente?"

Ailbhe stayed silent. In return, his windpipe was squeezed shut by his captor. The voice continued. "I'm gonna ask again. Where's your Diente?"

Struggling for breath, Ailbhe summoned his strength and shifted quickly into full viper form. The voice barked a sharp curse, but somehow, the human (Ailbhe was sure this hostile was a human) managed to keep hold on him. They fell to the ground, Ailbhe trying to bite the human, the human trying to hold on to his slippery body. A dead-weight was pressed against Ailbhe's head, directly behind the head. He found himself unable to move his head or use his fangs. A split second after, his whipping body was trapped by the human's body.

"Damn it, snake. Answer me! Where is your Diente, Zane?"

Ailbhe held stoically to his silence. However, all of that changed the instant a searing, hot liquid was poured on his viper scales. He hissed in pain. So painful, so painful.

"Where is he, viper?"

"Aghh! He's in…the dining hall. Eating—ahh—with…the Tuuli…Thea…Danica." Ailbhe shifted involuntarily back into human form. He took a strained breath and gasped, "Please don't kill me. Please!"

He heard the voice chuckle and say, "Thank you, Ailbhe. You made the right choice."

Ailbhe was wondering how this human knew his name. But then, his world was crushed into darkness by a cold, heavy object.