Chapter 3
His head felt very heavy, far too heavy to hold up. With Sara's hand still clasped to his chest he slid back into the cushions and fell asleep. While he slept his ring glowed a brilliant blue and sent tentacles of light racing into the apartment's corners. Once the light contacted every corner it climbed up the walls. As it flooded the ceiling an inky shadow screamed and plummeted to the floor where it sulkily slid under the door and back to its master. The Wielder and her knight, two sides of the same coin, slept on unaware of the intruder who had just fled.
*24 hours later*
Sara woke groggily to blue light covering her walls. That's one hell of a new paint job, my rent better not go up because of this or I'll be really pissed of. As soon as her eyes were fully open it had vanished leaving only stark white walls behind. Sighing she shook her head and attempted to get up.
"Ouch! You're cutting off my circulation." Sara muttered grumpily as Nottingham refused to let go of her hand. Somehow she wasn't surprised to find him asleep on her couch. What did surprise her was finding her shirt cut in half and a long, jagged scar on her chest. Thank God I wore one of my nice bras yesterday or was it the day before? I must be loosing it if I can't even remember what day it is. Wait, scar, there used to be a big jagged hole with burnt edges on my chest. Glancing admirably at Ian she wondered just what he had had to do to save her life. The cop in her hoped that it hadn't been illegal while the Wielder in her hoped he hadn't had to sell his soul or something. Her mind and body were still too tired to wage a successful internal argument so she gave up and instead committed herself to a more serene activity: watching Ian sleep. Risking waking him up she used her other hand to brush a strand of hair out of his face, after nearly being killed by a flaming arrow she figured life was too short to continue fighting her attraction to him. Suddenly his eyes opened as if he could sense her thoughtful gaze.
"Sara, you're awake. What time is it, I feel like I've been asleep for years." Ian commented while awkwardly moving himself to a sitting position.
"Got me. What happened yesterday anyway? I mean I thought I was doomed to relieve past Wielder's downfalls forever." She quipped while giving him a serious look that practically screamed you better not have done anything stupid to save my life.
"No Sara, it was the witchblade that saved your life; I was merely the vessel for its power." "Only?" Sara asked with a grin. "Well vessel or not I'm very grateful. But what did you have to do?"
" All you need to know is that now we are truly flesh and blood. The witchblade saw fit to secure my status as your sworn knight by giving me this." He gestured at the ring which now bore two pale blue interlocked circles.
"Strange, when I first woke up it seemed like the walls were covered in a sparkly blue 'paint'. Maybe it somehow protects us from the shadows. During my imprisonment in the visions I learned about Him."
"I know, I was there too. The witchblade has expanded my awareness and allows me to experience some of what you are shown."
"It showed me how to defeat him."
"That I already knew."
"Everyone I've ever gotten close to gets killed! Don't you understand? I couldn't go on if anything happened to you. That's what I realized when I saw that arrow." She stopped unable to contain the tears that flowed down her cheeks, thoroughly annoyed that the stress had finally caught up to her.
Carefully taking her into his arms Ian replied "That's the function of my ring, to protect us. I love you Sara, that's all we need to survive. Take a chance on us." Running out of successful arguments he cupped her face in his hands and brushed the diamond like tears of her cheek with his thumb. Slowly he closed the gap between them and looked expectantly into her eyes as if waiting for a cue. Seeing this Sara realized that he had never kissed a woman before. Banishing her fears and doubts she slowly covered his lips with hers and sealed their destiny.
The kiss was more intoxicating than he had imagined and dreamt it would be. Even the visions of past lives could not compare to the passions she ignited in this life.
Far away in the shadows of Hell He raged and screamed his fury at all of his servants for allowing the Wielder and her knight's souls to be pledged to each other for eternity. This was unexpected and it angered Him that the infuriating Kenneth Irons had been right. Let them enjoy their few moments together, they will not last as long as their pledge implies. Fortunately the spy that had been banished from her apartment had not yet returned or would have been even more pissed off. Bringing his devious planning away from the lovers he began preparation for His ultimate control of the witchblade. A plan that included another of the Wielders bloodline.
His head felt very heavy, far too heavy to hold up. With Sara's hand still clasped to his chest he slid back into the cushions and fell asleep. While he slept his ring glowed a brilliant blue and sent tentacles of light racing into the apartment's corners. Once the light contacted every corner it climbed up the walls. As it flooded the ceiling an inky shadow screamed and plummeted to the floor where it sulkily slid under the door and back to its master. The Wielder and her knight, two sides of the same coin, slept on unaware of the intruder who had just fled.
*24 hours later*
Sara woke groggily to blue light covering her walls. That's one hell of a new paint job, my rent better not go up because of this or I'll be really pissed of. As soon as her eyes were fully open it had vanished leaving only stark white walls behind. Sighing she shook her head and attempted to get up.
"Ouch! You're cutting off my circulation." Sara muttered grumpily as Nottingham refused to let go of her hand. Somehow she wasn't surprised to find him asleep on her couch. What did surprise her was finding her shirt cut in half and a long, jagged scar on her chest. Thank God I wore one of my nice bras yesterday or was it the day before? I must be loosing it if I can't even remember what day it is. Wait, scar, there used to be a big jagged hole with burnt edges on my chest. Glancing admirably at Ian she wondered just what he had had to do to save her life. The cop in her hoped that it hadn't been illegal while the Wielder in her hoped he hadn't had to sell his soul or something. Her mind and body were still too tired to wage a successful internal argument so she gave up and instead committed herself to a more serene activity: watching Ian sleep. Risking waking him up she used her other hand to brush a strand of hair out of his face, after nearly being killed by a flaming arrow she figured life was too short to continue fighting her attraction to him. Suddenly his eyes opened as if he could sense her thoughtful gaze.
"Sara, you're awake. What time is it, I feel like I've been asleep for years." Ian commented while awkwardly moving himself to a sitting position.
"Got me. What happened yesterday anyway? I mean I thought I was doomed to relieve past Wielder's downfalls forever." She quipped while giving him a serious look that practically screamed you better not have done anything stupid to save my life.
"No Sara, it was the witchblade that saved your life; I was merely the vessel for its power." "Only?" Sara asked with a grin. "Well vessel or not I'm very grateful. But what did you have to do?"
" All you need to know is that now we are truly flesh and blood. The witchblade saw fit to secure my status as your sworn knight by giving me this." He gestured at the ring which now bore two pale blue interlocked circles.
"Strange, when I first woke up it seemed like the walls were covered in a sparkly blue 'paint'. Maybe it somehow protects us from the shadows. During my imprisonment in the visions I learned about Him."
"I know, I was there too. The witchblade has expanded my awareness and allows me to experience some of what you are shown."
"It showed me how to defeat him."
"That I already knew."
"Everyone I've ever gotten close to gets killed! Don't you understand? I couldn't go on if anything happened to you. That's what I realized when I saw that arrow." She stopped unable to contain the tears that flowed down her cheeks, thoroughly annoyed that the stress had finally caught up to her.
Carefully taking her into his arms Ian replied "That's the function of my ring, to protect us. I love you Sara, that's all we need to survive. Take a chance on us." Running out of successful arguments he cupped her face in his hands and brushed the diamond like tears of her cheek with his thumb. Slowly he closed the gap between them and looked expectantly into her eyes as if waiting for a cue. Seeing this Sara realized that he had never kissed a woman before. Banishing her fears and doubts she slowly covered his lips with hers and sealed their destiny.
The kiss was more intoxicating than he had imagined and dreamt it would be. Even the visions of past lives could not compare to the passions she ignited in this life.
Far away in the shadows of Hell He raged and screamed his fury at all of his servants for allowing the Wielder and her knight's souls to be pledged to each other for eternity. This was unexpected and it angered Him that the infuriating Kenneth Irons had been right. Let them enjoy their few moments together, they will not last as long as their pledge implies. Fortunately the spy that had been banished from her apartment had not yet returned or would have been even more pissed off. Bringing his devious planning away from the lovers he began preparation for His ultimate control of the witchblade. A plan that included another of the Wielders bloodline.