Chise sat in the copper bath, lavender scented bubbles around her and glad to be alone with her thoughts. There wasn't a sound in the entire cottage past her breathing. Her face was blank, her green eyes were hollow, and they were fixed on her left hand. She held it palm up out of the water and couldn't look away. Yet even as she looked at her fingers, her mind was firmly replaying the ritual Elias performed last night.

So…many people.

Flash back.

Chise wasn't a fool. They had such a lovely Saturday out in London had been a dream really. The perfect date with the man she loves. It didn't surprise her that the rosy delirium Elias had showered her with would come crashing down sooner or later. She didn't even suspect the other shoe dropping when he said that he had some work to do and should therefore take the rest of the afternoon to attend to her homework. Her dinner was brought to her room, and Elias instructed her to have a bath and join him as soon as she was able.

She realised what he was planning when she came down to the kitchen and found him stood there with a blindfold in his hands.

"Come to me Chise." She did so without hesitation. Elias stood in the doorway leading to the back garden. He was in his refined form with a black silk robe tied around his waist. In his hands he held a long black blindfold and nuzzled her cheek when she approached him. "My precious love. Bare yourself to me." He whispered by her ear and waited as Chise's heart fluttered, and her hands moved to follow his command. She unbuttoned her blue sleepshirt and let it drop to the floor. Then she pushed her trousers and panties down, to kick them away from her. "That's right. Bind your eyes." Chise looked up and accepted the soft black silk as it lowered into her open palms. She gulped and watched as Elias shrugged off his own robe to stand bare before her. He rolled his neck, the muscles of his back flexing beneath plum skin, before a collar of black feathers flared out around his neck. Down his back a long cape of fur and feathers trembled down his back. Moving vines of shadow and thorn caressed the air around his mighty form. Long ash coloured hair fell in wild tendrils around his skull and hid his right eye from view. The left was large, gleaming and held a black slit pupil trained on Chise. His dark plum skin became caged with upturned grey like bones over his chest, and sharp black talons on his hands and feet. "I will help you." Elias cupped the undersides of her palms and raised them to her face. That was enough for Chise to snap out of her stupor and tie the blind fold in place. Why he was trying to prevent her from seeing what she knew was going to be the walk to a prepared fortification ritual, Chise couldn't guess. He didn't cover her eyes last time. Why did he this time? "That's it. I'll hold you Chise. Careful now."

Her world was totally dark now, and her other senses became sharpened. The strength of his muscular arms lifting her up against his firm chest. The heat and tenderness of his hold. The rumble of his purr. The chill of the night air as he walked them towards the forest. The smells of pine and wet soil on the breeze.

The hammering of her heart in her chest and the thundering of the adrenaline through her veins. Chise knew where they were going.

But it didn't matter. I…love Elias. I've accepted that with the good comes the evil. To be with Elias…I have to allow him to sacrifice all those innocent people. So I can live. With Elias. Forever…

She felt him lowering her to the ground and the cool feel of the grass and moss beneath her. "Reveal your bonds." Her body arched as she gasped for air. The white hot sensation of the runes of their covenant flared across her skin, yet this time it only burned for a moment. His tongue followed the shape of the glowing red runes across her chest and torso. "Good Chise. Yes your body is much stronger this time. Mmmmm. Kneel before me." He placed her hands on his shoulders beneath his fur and feather cloak so she could brace herself. Elias then held her back and scooped her back up to kneel before him. "Ok. Open your mouth so I can kiss you my love." Chise obediently did so. Before he could slip his tongue into her mouth the sound of whimpering made his love flinch and turn to look towards the noise. Quickly he sought to distract her. "You and I are the only ones who matter here. Kiss me Chise." Elias took hold of her cheeks and forced his tongue and his passion on her. Elias moaned as his tongue caressed and tasted hers, all whilst his many tendrils crept along the forest floor. Like vipers in the grass, slithering and branching over and over. "MMmmmmmmm."

Chise gasped as his hands stroked her waist and breasts, her neck and face. He kissed her, lapped at her neck and nipped at her shoulders. Elias held her close and they writhed together in anticipation. "OOoohhhh yes." Elias leaned back and panted to the night air. Chise nuzzled and kissed his chest and neck, pressing herself to his heat, as he held her tenderly in his arms. "MMMmmmm. Time to feed you my love. This time it will feel so good. Ride me Chise." He purred and lowered himself to lean back on his hands. Chise followed him and climbed onto his lap. Without her sight she had to touch and feel her way onto his firm body. Something Elias enjoyed immensely. Her seeking hands traced the middle of his pecks, down his firm abs and perched on his hips. "Ride me Chise. Mount me. Join our bodies in sweet union." Elias moaned and watched as she panted too, her delicate breasts heaving with it and her hands timidly moving to take hold of his cock. "Y-yes. Now Chise. Take me. I am yours. Make me yours." Elias watched with thin black slits and glowing red eyes through his ashy hair, as Chise finally lowered onto him. Nothing was more glorious than the sight of his plum cock pressing past her deep pink labia and sinking into the tight wet heat of her core. Chise's breathing became choppy as she took him in to the hilt and she adjusted her weight on her knees to brace herself. Elias leaned back and sighed happily, content she was focused on him and him alone. His hands took hold of her soft waist and stroked her hips. "Fuck me Chise. Fuck me as I feed you."

Chise trembled and tried to focus on just Elias. Only Elias. Not the rattling of the chains that seemed to clink from all directions. Not the droning whimpers or raspy breathing. This was going to happen if she liked it or not. If she could focus on Elias, then she could get through this. At least, that's what Chise told herself. So she leaned forward and held onto his shoulders. From the first roll of her hips Chise felt a spreading warmth within her. Tingling and spurring her on to move more. Firmer. Harder. Faster. It was like she was being rewarded for focusing on the task at hand and not the people around here...which she knew were being killed for her sake...

Chise felt his hands gripping at her ass and hips as he helped to shift her weight up and down. He dug his heels into the ground and bucked his hips up to meet hers as they rocked together. Chise cried out with the building of pleasure and reached back to hold onto his thighs. She bounced up and down on his cock, unabashed as she released wanton mewls to the night air. Only for the sound to be lost amongst the eerie words being sang from the trees and depths of her lover's soul. Sharp, haunting in it's promise, and sparking through the air around them.

"E-Elias! It-It does feel better! It-Oh it's so-" She moaned as she felt him lift his knees and sit up, spooning her against his firm chest and still undulating their hips together. He never broke his spell, but his tongue lapped at her neck and breasts, leaving hot wet trails for the night air to cool. Chise whimpered stroked his jaws. Her fingers felt the ashen hair and tangled in his mane. Her mouth opened and she looked adorable as she blindly sought out his tongue to kiss him. Elias released his circling of her right nipple to oblige her.

What she couldn't see was the way the black network of his tendrils spread throughout her navel. They were writhing and fused together through desire, deed and magic. "E-Elias." She groaned, painfully close to cuming. She panted his name to the air and then swerved her head to find his neck and shoulder. Chise kissed and sucked at his plum skin, leaving deeper love bites.

Something buzzed through her bones. It was intense, euphoric and left her trembling as the sensation intensified. "Wh-wha-oh oh God. Elias! Oh what is-oh more!" Chise bit his shoulder hard enough to draw blood, and somehow Elias managed to give her what she needed with a deep rumbling growl. They were both panting and covered in sweat. The air around them crackled with pure magic, and the feeling of many tendrils coiling around her limbs to bring her even closer was her undoing. Such pressure. Such heat. So close to her beloved Elias. It was just too much. "OOOOOH!"

She screamed her climax to the heavens. Dark blood on her lips as she came and shuddered. On Elias, in Elias, part of Elias, one with Elias. Where did she end, and he begin? They were truly joined together as they both clung to each other and roared with delight. Literally for the child of thorn. Waves of pleasure, fulfilment and power ebbed through them both.

And then there was silence. Not a bird. Not a whisper. Not a sound. Nothing but the laboured breathing of the lovers as they held each other. Chise ached, but not unpleasantly so as she pried her head from the crook of his neck. She forgot herself and where she was, and lowered the blindfold to share her coy satisfaction with him. "Oh Elias that was…"

Oh…dear God…

Chise's green eyes caught sight of something that she'd never un-see. That she'd never be able to justify to herself. Not really.

"Chise?" Elias sat up firmly and cupped her left cheek. "Don't look. It's over now. We can go home. Put the blindfold back on." He begged her, but it was too late for that. Chise turned away from his hand and stared in horror at the remains of the sacrificed victims from the fortification ritual. "Chise?" She scanned her eyes as far right as she could, and then back to the left. Almost looking 360 degrees around them.

This had not been like the last time he fortified her. No wonder he blindfolded her. The fusion circle as in the middle of the field. Surrounding them on all sides were so many husks she couldn't possibly allow herself to count them and remain sane. All shrivelled an contorted in the pain of their last moments. Drained of all mana and lifeforce...Suffice to say…the entire field was filled to the brim with as many sacrificial offerings as Elias could have packed in. He must have had to step over so many of them just to carry her into the middle. "Here."

Darkness descended over her as Elias quickly bound her eyes once more. "Try not to think about it. It's done now. I fed you with so much mana, strengthening your body, I imagine you'll grow tired soon enough as your body adjusts to the power I bestowed on you. I'll get you home and come back to tend to the remains."

Chise's mouth was open in a silent scream and she held herself as Elias carried her back to the house. "You did so well Chise. I am so very pleased with you. Tomorrow I'll be able to give you a warding stone to protect you against scrying or sight, so you can rest assured no one will know you are anything more than a normal teenager. Safe, as promised. You should be strong enough to practise spellcraft now, without your body becoming damaged in the attempt. When I fused my magical circuits to yours, I could feel they were so much stronger. Stable, with far less fraying. By the morning I bet you'll be capable of all sorts of spells."

Elias filled the silence of her anguish with this kind of talk all the way back to the house. In his refined form he took her up the stairs and laid her on their bed. Finally he took her blindfold off and sighed when he saw her tears. Yet she didn't speak. She didn't scream. She didn't vomit. It was like she was horrified, but too numb to understand how to feel. The after affects of the fortification was likely making her feel drowsy now the adrenaline and endorphins had worn off. Elias sat beside her and stroked her crimson hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ears. "My sweet, beautiful, strong Chise. If it helps you cope with the 'scary unknown', we won't have to carry out another fortification for a while now. It would be unwise, with how many souls I fed you. How much mana you consumed. Drink this before you sleep, or you will feel much pain in the morning." Elias tapped a tall glass on the beside table. "I made it with strawberries and cream this time. So it should be smooth and sweet. Drink it all and get some sleep Chise. I'll be back shortly, and I'll hold you whilst you slumber."

Elias nuzzled the top of her head and stroked her cheek. She was so pale, but that was to be expected. Once again she had handled much more than he expected, but this time he over collected sacrifices so no matter how much she could take, Elias would be able to feed as well.

"…how many?"

"Hmm?" He rose to his feet and looked down at her prone from.

"How…many?" Chise whimpered with haunted eyes.

"That isn't important Chise." Elias leaned over the bed and pressed his snout to her cheek to kiss her. "I love you. You love me. They are gone, and they won't be the last. Nothing else matters but you and I. Now drink the restorative and get some rest." He nodded, content with his answer even if she wasn't. "I expect you to have obeyed my command and be asleep before I return Chise. That's an order." He walked away to tend to the husks, leaving Chise to turn onto her side and stare at the pink potion on the bedside table.

She contemplated refusing to drink it, especially as she knew there were brains in it, but her contract with Elias meant she had to be totally obedient. There was a reason he reminded her of his 'command' before leaving her alone. So she knew there would be consequences if she didn't do it. With only minimal gagging Chise forced the potion down. She then pulled the covers up over her head and pressed her face to the pillow as she finally wept.

There were so many people. There must have been well over fifty. Maybe closer to a hundred? I-I know I can't stop him. I know I can't refuse. But that doesn't mean that the thought that all those people were taken and sacrificed for my sake doesn't make me feel physically sick. Elias said the last bunch were all criminals and losers, but how could so many today all be guilty? And even so, they didn't deserve to be fed on and fed to Elias…to me…because of me…

I'm…a monster…

End flash back.

Chise blinked slowly and sighed as she looked at her hand.

"I really am a monster…" She rolled her wrist, looking at the black shade her fingers had turned on her left hand. The pitch colour faded back to pale peach over her knuckles. At first she thought her fingers were rotting or something with how black they were, but she had no pain, full sensation, and good circulation right to the tips of her fingers. Elias said it was just a side effect of the fortification. A sign that my body is becoming stronger, like his. Like Elias. I…am becoming like Elias. Just like he promised me the day after I became his.

"I'm going to teach you to be just like me."

Chise lowered her hand into the water and lifted her green eyes to look at herself in the far mirror. "What does that mean exactly? What…am I becoming?"