Dark Children

Dark Children

A short story for the Phantom of the Night saga

By Dasha Ariel Clancey

There were shapes all around Tigris. As awareness slowly crept back into her brain, she began to take in the shapes, and make out what they were. There was heavy construction equipment all around her. She could not see her sword, but was not concerned - she knew she could get it back. She had been tied between heavy presses and welding equipment all anchored into the ground. She would have some trouble moving them. She was bound with the large super-strong chains Christine had devised. She tested the strength of the mounts, and realized that she would have trouble moving them. She was in a workshed of some kind. Probably near the Seattle coast, she deduced, by the definite briny scent to the air.

At least she was in one piece. With all the presence of evil magic in the area, she wouldn't be surprised at what might have caused this, but she knew one thing was for certain. If there was in fact evil magic behind the earthquakes, Tigris had come far too close to discovering the source of that magic. She had been chained spread-eagle. There was something about that which teased at her memory. Tigris had never prized herself at her mental prowess, but she had a distinct feeling she already knew the person behind this.

"WHO ARE YOU?" Tigris called out to the inside of the empty shop. "WHY HAVE YOU BROUGHT ME HERE?"

"Tell me, how did you get the name Tigris Euphrates?" asked a male voice from the shadows, almost quizzically.

Tigris blinked. "Who wants to know?"

A tall, handsome, male gargoyle with bronzish orange skin and blonde hair sauntered towards her through the darkness. With Tigris's night eyes, she could see his face. "Jordan."

"Ah, it touches my heart to know you remember our love." He touched her chin with his right pointer-talon, caressing her minty green skin lovingly.

Tigris's eyes flared angrily, moving her face away. "I do NOT love you!"

"Of course you do, you know you do. Together, you and I are going to raise our son and our daughter. Peacefully." he smiled, soothingly, trying to sing his spell into her heart. "Stop keeping them from me, Tigris. Stop hurting our child, and raise him with his father."

"What's the game now? Going to teach Lily and Joshua to hurt people?"

"You have such a silly code of honor, Tigris Euphrates." he gently mocked her. "Lily and Joshua are my children as well, and even by your own morals, you must allow them to visit me, or else you hurt them."

"And what are you going to tell them I am?" Tigris spat back angrily, in defense of her children. "Some kind of reproductive slave to be used at your will? How that make Lily feel when she is grown?"

Jordan laughed, turning a little, thinking. "Tell me something, oh righteous mother that you are, what will you tell your children when they ask who their father is?"

"Depends on their age and if they are ready for the truth or not. Depends on if the other siblings have told them or not. I'll probably tell them that, no matter, who donated their genetic material, Erik and I will always love them. They will learn to live with the black magic and hatred to seem to hang onto."

Jordan turned slowly back to Tigris with a gentle smile on his lips, reached forward and kissed her. Tigris's magical defense hit full strength, because she knew this was where she always lost control. If she could not maintain self control during the next few minutes, she would again be under his power, and Jordan would take from her whatever it was he wanted until Erik and the others could manage to free her. It was a long, drawn out, deep kiss, meant to stir Tigris's feelings, which it did very well. Tigris felt a burning deep inside her, which she desperately tried to pacify with thoughts of her mate, Erik. Please hurry Erik... she pleaded in her mind.

"They won't be coming for you this time. I have... fed upon... the competition... as you slept."

Tigris's eyes went wide. HE COULDN'T HAVE! Could he? Erik was no match for his black magic... "NO!" Jordan's paws slipped around Tigris's waist, and she could feel an energy coursing up from his paws, through her body. It tingled in her skin like a tickle. She watched her breasts stiffen, her hips soften, the years and the rigors of childbearing melting from her body, until the youthful young warrior and sorceress that Jordan had first met decades ago, once again stood before him. Tigris looked down at what he had done. "No... it's impossible..."

She felt the tears on her cheek. "If you destroyed Erik, then you have destroyed Lily and Joshua, do you realize that?"

"They'll... get over it." Joshua said without remorse.

An anger began to build within Tigris. She strained against the super-strong chains with all her strength. It couldn't be! There had to be SOMETHING she could do! She HAD to find ERIK!!! She pulled against the chains with all her might, her eyes blazing. Jordan began to caress her shoulders and her thighs, kissing the sides of her neck. Tigris gasped, enchanted, groaning at the feelings of passion she normally experienced with Erik filling her body once more with newfound youthful exuberance. Tigris pulled her last ace.

"You're afraid of me, aren't you?"

Jordan paused. "Never."

"Then why chain me up?" She smiled.

"I'm not afraid to chase you down if I have to."

"Then why not? Make it more... exciting?" Tigris teased. "You can't keep me like this forever. You know I'll get them off sooner or later."

Jordan knew Tigris was trying to get him to take the chains off her, but between his desire for passion and his ego, the normally extremely intelligent boy's thinking was overridden. Jordan could never pass up a good game. He smiled, and waved a paw. The chains were gone.

Tigris, finding herself free, did not run. She knew Jordan wound be expecting that, and that she had to face him to stand a chance of making any kind of a timely escape. Tigris held one paw on in front of her with two fingers extended parallel between them, her other paw at her side. "Come, face me. Remember my kiss?"

Jordan certainly would. It had nearly cost him his life on at least one occasion. Jordan's black magic was deadly and powerful enough to beat Tigris hands down, but Tigris had her sword and those front teeth - Viper fangs that showed when she was angry or afraid for her life. The venom in those specialized upper fangs was deadly on contract - only by a narrow escape was Jordan able to survive the last time he was bit. Jordan would not soon forget that - but the contest was just too much to pass up. Tigris knew how much Jordan wanted her, so she was her bait. Jordan, confident in his own abilities, thought he could take her out. "Ready to play it rough?" Jordan smiled.

"Always." Tigris replied. "HEI!!!" she suddenly shouted, spinning on her toes in a wicked kick. Jordan dodged the kick. Tigris followed with two quick left strikes, and immediately ducked Jordan's first attempt to strike. Jordan twisted, attempting to bat the woman aside, but she already knew the way Jordan fought, twisted, and delivered a right-fisted blow. "KAI!" she exclaimed in a japanese fighting fashion, and backed up a step to anticipate Jordan's next move. This came in the form of a folly of similar right and left strikes from his fists, and a kicked that caught Tigris in her mid-section. Tigris was only caught off guard for a second, and took advantage of Jordan's momentary hesitation to make a sweeping gesture with one hand at Jordan's face like a spinning knife. Jordan ducked easily, leaning forward with a series of sideways strikes with the sides of his paws, but Tigris was taking a strike at his legs. Jordan felt it connect, this time causing him to go down as his leg blossomed in fresh pain - she had broken his leg. He snarled up at her.

He shook his head at her. "So beautiful..."

"...but so deadly." Tigris retorted, with another kick to his head, knocking him to one side. Jordan was back up, standing the best he could despite the pain, ready to take another shot at Tigris. The mother, however, had already begun to cast a spell during Jordan's distraction, and had raised a shield around herself. Punch as Jordan might, he could not touch her. Tigris turned and began to hurry out of the shed, Jordan hot on her heels. Tigris climbed the outer wall to the roof, her claws pounding into the cement masonry like jackhammers. As she hurried to the roof's edge to launch herself into flight, her wings spread to their full twin span, Jordan launched his next spell, holding her on the roof with a thick wall of machinating blackness that moved like smoke; Tigris could not get past the edge. She spun around, facing her attacker, prepared to meet him with magic.

"TO ME!!!" she exclaimed, paw held high in the air. All at once, her sword appeared in her paw, and her scabbard at her side. Try and Jordan might, he seemed unable to cast a spell enough to keep the sword away from Tigris. The metal implement seemed to have a magical intelligence of it's own. Tigris gave her screeching feline battle yell, racing forward, her blade raised high to strike. "Want me to break more than just your knee?"

"I'll break both your knees and make you kneel before me and worship me as your Master." Jordan sneered angrily.

"I already have one Master." Tigris laughed, fingering the pentacle necklace she wore. Her sword began to glow with a white fire, and she swung for the male gargoyle. Jordan side stepped her wicked slice, calling his own blade, and the two met with a clash of energy. The touch sparked and crackled with opposing energies - light and dark magic fighting each other directly. Tigris twisted, rolling under Jordan's feet, knocking him over. He hadn't expected the move, and tumbled to the top of the roof.

Jordan recovered quickly, standing, and charging Tigris with his blade. Tigris was still in the process of standing, but was not unprepared for the sudden onslaught, and met his attack with her own blade, being forced onto her back, on the rooftop. "NOW I have you where I want you!!!"

Tigris's tail wrapped around Jordan's legs, and pulled him down to the rooftop once more. Tigris swung once more, and dashed his sword in half. Tigris smiled, taking several cautionary steps backwards, scanning her surroundings tentatively, but watching Jordan.

Her opponent stood again, wrapped his wings, and produced with a twirling of dark energies, some kind of dark plated metallic device with a definite business end pointed in her direction. Tigris had the good sense to jump to one side as he let go a series of shots, impacting his black wall and the rooftop. "HAH! What is it they always say about not bringing a knife to a gun fight?"

"Oh, but it's a very clever knife." Tigris smiled, standing her ground. Jordan released another volley at her. Tigris remained in place this time, deflecting the shot with her blade, which reflected onto the rooftop, the blackness beyond the rooftop, one even coming close enough to Jordan to cause him to jump aside to prevent being hit by his own stray shot.

Jordan's confidence was beginning to waver. "You will be my mate, Tigris! Forever! I have chosen you! You must submit to me - that is the gargoyle way!"

"The gargoyle way also dictates I have the right to choose whom I shall love!" Tigris pointed out. "Besides, as a murderer and a rebel, you have long since abandoned the gargoyle way!"

"You still haven't answered my question, lover." Jordan returned to trying to woo her. "What will you tell our children?"

"I will tell Lily and Joshua the truth, when it is right and prudent to tell them. "I will also tell them the rest of the truth - that you raped me each time and obtained a hatchling from your forcing yourself on me."

"Then why not tell them now?"

"They are not yet old enough to understand the full meaning of what it means when their father raped their mother. They need to understand this does not make them less than their sisters through Erik - Erik has even claimed Joshua his heir."

Jordan howled in rage, his eyes blazing with white light, racing forward at her with his gun, letting go a folly of shots. She moved her blade deftly to deflect the shots, and the second Jordan was in range, she swung once, slicing the metal weapon right down the middle. Jordan's paws were still intact, but bleeding, and he howled in pain, grabbing his paws. In a burst of fury and repressed anger, the enraged female swung her sword, and disconnected the gargoyle's screaming head from his body. His body collapsed to the ground, and vanished in a flash of light. In it's place was a human, laying on the ground, bleeding in his hands and from a line around his neck, and looked at Tigris with blazing eyes. "FOOL! I will have you!"

Tigris was so shocked and surprised by what had just happened, that she did not have chance to protect herself as the human leapt at her, grabbing the woman by throat. She found herself being strangled by inhumanly strong hands, wailing like some kind of demon possessed of some kind of dark power. Tigris choked and gasped, struggling to breathe. His arm was right in range of her mouth, however...

...and she instinctual bit down, feeling the fluid flow through her incisors. The human's eyes went wide, and he screamed in a ghostly way, a crackling noise filled the air.

Tigris sputtered and gasped, tearing herself free. She held her sword at the ready, tasting her own venom on her incisors, and the taste of the human's blood. It was a sickly taste, and she spat it out. Fortunately, Tigris had always been immune to her own venom since she had gained her venomous fangs in the beginning. The poison was deadly to anyone but herself, as far as she knew. Straightening, sword at the ready, she turned back to look at her attacker - to find only the prone stone gargoyle that had been Jordan.

The prophesy was still true. Every time Jordan died and came back to haunt Tigris, it was always Tigris's venom which spelled Jordan's final demise, every time. Tigris somehow laughed at the fact that Jordan made himself immortal in that he kept somehow always coming back from the dead. If he wanted to immortal, that was his problem - perhaps he would eventually learn to be a decent person. Tigris was quite satisfied as she was.

Tigris took stock of herself. She was still beaten and bruised with claw marks and blood stains all over her skin. She felt the breeze stir her blonde curls, and took a deep breath of the cold sea air. She sheathed her sword, smelling the storm approaching. There was a heavy wind coming in, perfect for gliding, and Tigris took advantage of it now that the spells were broken.

Why had Jordan appeared as a human? Tigris could honestly riddle out no reason why the dark sorcerer gargoyle would appear that way, but it seemed she might not learn that for many years - if ever. That was another mystery about Jordan, to be filed away with other question like 'Why is he enamored with me?', 'Why does he insist on stalking me?', 'Where is this gargoyle from?' and 'Why did he abandon the gargoyle ways?' Tigris somehow suspected the answers were all related.

However, Tigris had to go home and check on her beloved husband and hatchlings. She also needed to have a talk with Lily and Joshua about their father.

The End