A/N: HA!! See?! I told you it wouldn't take as long! Sadly, though, this is one of my shortest chapters yet. -.- sorry about that.
In any case, I have a big THANK YOU for Daughter of Night who is the main reason I even bothered to post this much so soon. ^.^ Or even at all!
Enjoy!
The group in Witch's room was small, holding only Daemon, Saetan, Daemonar, Lucifer, and Lucivar. Tori looked around the group grimly, finding Witch seated at her worktable, her hands absently sifting through ingredients and potions.
"Where are the others?" Tori asked, remaining where she was until Witch turned to her.
"They've gone to join the battle against the General," she said, motioning for Tori to sit down. "We must discuss a plan of action."
Tori sat down and nodded. She glanced at Lucivar and Lucifer. "I assume the actual battle plans have been drawn out."
Lucivar nodded. "We can take care of holding them off. But because there's so many of them, all males will have to fight."
Tori tried to ignore the twinge of panic at picturing Daemonar going out against them. He was Eyrien. There was no possible way she could even begin to keep him from battle. It would be like denying him half his soul.
"Lucifer, Daemonar, and I are going out on the next wave. Tonight," Lucivar continued mildly, shooting Daemon a hard glare. "While Father and Daemon stay here for what's to come."
Daemon snarled softly, but otherwise stayed silent. Tori wondered how long it had taken Lucivar to beat his brother into submission in that area. Again her chest seemed to tighten for a moment, but she pushed it away. More important matters needed to be thought through.
"And while the boys are out holding them at bay," Tori concluded, "I'm going to be making my Offering, right?"
Witch nodded. "Normally, an Offering is made from sunrise to sunset, lasting an entire day."
"How long did it take you?" Tori asked.
"Three days."
Tori frowned as she thought. "Since I'm about half-way between your power, and the Black, we can estimate about two days." She turned to Lucivar. "Can you hold out for that long?"
Lucivar nodded grimly. "We're strong enough to last three days of head-on fighting with no rests. You'll have all the time you need."
"I will be preparing the spells and webs we'll need," Witch said. "To both destroy all of them, and fix the Winds so they cannot return."
Tori nodded. "Good." She looked around the room, feeling the tension. "So what's the problem?"
This seemed to be all the opening the males needed to release whatever was weighing on them. Lucifer and Daemonar leapt to their feet, snarling and talking at once.
"Do you have any idea how risky this is?" Lucifer demanded. "Never mind how taxing the Offering is, even at full strength! But if you are disturbed during your Offering, there could be unimaginable consequences!"
"I don't know," Tori said mildly. "I can imagine quite a few things."
"This isn't a joking matter!" Daemonar snarled at her. "With your father here, he will have guessed that you'd try to make the Offering!"
Tori nodded sagely. "And he'll most likely have a plan put together to get to me during that time." She leveled Daemonar, who she had avoided looking at since she entered, with an unsmiling stare. "This is where you come in."
"I don't like this," Daemonar growled under his breath.
"It's war," Tori informed him coldly. "No one likes it." She turned to Witch. "What time do we meet, and where?"
"Midnight," Jaenelle said evenly. "We'll meet in Papa's study, so I can explain a few things to you before you go in."
"Alright," Tori agreed. She thought a moment, glanced at Daemonar, and decided not to offer to go out on the battlefield in the meantime. In the state he was in now, Tori was worried he might burst an important blood vessel.
"I think I'll go a few rounds with one of the boyos, then," Tori said.
Suddenly, she was very glad she hadn't mentioned going out to fight an actual battle. With the look Daemonar was giving her now, he would have at least had a seizure. His golden eyes glowed menacingly while his large wings snapped out, unconsciously blocking her only escape.
"Um…maybe I'll just…prepare more blood and jeweled webs," Tori tried tentatively.
Lucifer crossed his arms over his chest and moved to stand beside Daemonar. "Try again," he stated, glaring at her.
Tori narrowed her eyes. "I could weave a tangled web to check on things," she stated with careful calm.
"Not until you're properly trained," Jaenelle objected. "It's too big a risk. Even for you."
Daemonar and Lucifer looked smug.
"Well, then," Tori snapped, "I suppose I could always add my strength to the battle."
Daemonar instantly stepped directly in front of her, grabbing her arm in a firm grip. "Absolutely not!" He growled.
Tori watched emotions flick through his eyes. Anger, worry, and a dim fear that she would ignore him and leave anyway. She felt a stab of remorse at causing that, but quickly shoved it to the side.
"I'm not going to just-"
Tori broke off with a startled yip as Daemonar's grip on her shifted and she found herself staring down at the ground from over his right shoulder. For a long moment, she just laid there, too surprised to do much of anything other than blink.
"Yes," Daemonar informed her calmly as he walked towards the door, "you are."
Daemon, Lucivar, Saetan, and Lucifer were studiously looking anywhere but at Tori and Daemonar. Jaenelle was watching them with gentle amusement. They would make a great couple, she decided.
Tori said nothing as Daemonar left the room and headed up towards her own place. After batting away a few of his feathers, Tori shot the back of his head an irritated look.
"As long as you seem bent on resorting to the caveman method," she said bitingly, "do you mind getting your wings out of my face?"
"Oh." Daemonar sounded surprised, and then he shrugged slightly. "Sure."
With that, Tori, just as abruptly as before, found herself cradled in his arms, one of his arms under her legs and one supporting her back. She blinked up at him, and the superior smirk he wore, and to her great surprise, had to fight back a sudden blush. Not knowing what else to do, Tori settled for glaring at him and uttering something derogative about male thought process.
"I have legs you know," Tori gripped as they came up to her room.
Daemonar's smirk grew into a smile. "You never asked me to set you down."
With that, he set her down on the bed and pulled back. Tori glared up at him again, this time furious with herself. He was right. She hadn't even demanded him to let her go once.
It was obvious why she hadn't said anything, a part of her whispered to her. Tori enjoyed being held by this prickly Eyrien a little too much. As a matter of fact…
Tori abruptly shoved away the thoughts and stood, glaring furiously at Daemonar. The warrior only smiled back at her arrogantly. She stood there for a long moment, watching him. When he made no move to leave, or say anything, Tori gave him an impatient look.
"Shouldn't you be getting ready to go out?" Tori demanded, crossing her arms.
The smile disappeared as Daemonar grew serious. "Yes, I should."
"Then why are you still here?" Tori growled, narrowing her eyes at him.
Daemonar hesitated a moment. "I not," he replied, turning and leaving the room.
"Daemonar," Tori felt the name leave her lips before she could think.
The Eyrien paused and turned back to her, his golden eyes blank. "Yes?"
Tori looked away, swallowing. "You…" She clenched her jaw and looked back up at him. "You still owe me that fight, Daemonar," she said, calling up the willpower to smirk. "And I want you in top condition. So don't get yourself hurt too badly."
Daemonar seemed a bit surprised at this, then he smiled, and something about him seemed to soften. "As my lady wishes," he murmured, not quite sounding as facetious as he normally did when he said things like that. Tori caught a flash of heat in the molten gold orbs before he had turned away and left the room.
Tori closed her eyes and bit her lip to keep from calling out to him again as the door opened and shut. To keep from pleading with him not to leave. She was a warrior too, and she knew what it felt like to be denied a battle because of emotions. He didn't deserve that.
Mother Night, Tori prayed, looking at her door sightlessly. Protect him. Don't let Daemonar die on me.
Tori followed Draca, the Keep's Senchal, into a large room, absolutely devoid of anything but an alter directly across from the door on the other side of the room. It was just a few minutes until dawn, and Jaenelle's warning was still fresh on her mind.
"Don't try to do anything," she had said. "You'll know what needs to be done when you descend."
But that was secondary to the other emotions that flew around in Tori's mind and heart. Much to her disappointment, most of those revolved around her winged warrior Daemonar. He would be meeting the enemy now, she thought. He could be getting cut to pieces as she just stood in an empty room, and did nothing.
With an irritated growl Tori pushed all thoughts from her mind. She strode towards the altar and examined it. It was a small thing, a little bigger than a small table, with just enough room for a small pool of what looked like black water. Tori knelt on the padded knee-rest just in front of the altar and peered into the inset bowl. Placing her hands on either side of it, Tori took a deep, relaxing breath and gradually dropped each one of her guards and walls she had built up over the years of pain and suffering.
Each time she opened another part of herself, the water seemed to shimmer a little, and rise. The walls around her seemed to disappear, and reality faded as slowly, so very slowly, Tori was pulled into the coolness of the Abyss. About the time she had relieved herself of most of her shields, Tori figured out that what was in the bowl was not dark water. She watched as it flowed over the bowl's edge and down the altar's sides. It flowed like a thick mist, and when it touched Tori, she felt her mind reel.
Abruptly she was no longer in the room at SaDiablo Hall. The cool not-water had covered her completely, drowning her and lifting her higher all at once. Everything became confused as Tori lost all sense of direction. She couldn't even tell if she was still kneeling. Her entire being, freed from her self-imposed constraints, flowed out and around.
Gradually she became aware of the jewel colors all around her, shimmering as bright as the sun. Almost absently, Tori began to descend through the ranks, deeper and deeper.
It wasn't until she had passed through the Opal web that she became aware of any kind of resistance against her. It grew stronger and stronger the further she went. By the time she reached the Black, it was like wading through molasses. She struggled against it, pushing through to reach the Ebony. As she did, memories surfaced from the Abyss.
***
Talia looked up at her, her eyes shining with joy and innocence. Tori returned her look somberly.
"You did it, Tori!" Talia exclaimed. "He's all gone!"
Tori only nodded silently, still a little sore from the battle against her father.
Talia laughed and began to dance around the living room. "We're free. We're free. We're free!" She chanted, giggling.
Looking at her, Tori knew that as long as she was able to draw a breath, she would protect her little sister, and do her best to preserve the young innocence that glowed in her eyes.
***
Gritting her teeth, Tori again pushed against the barrier between the Black and the Ebony. She felt it give, and put everything she was into it. For Talia, she thought fiercely. For her innocence.
The barrier gave a little more.
And another memory surfaced from within Tori's mind.
***
Kaelin stood before her for the first time, looking up at her in the garden.
"Blood," he said. "The male represents the Blood males. Protectors. Defenders."
He looked smug at Tori's skepticism. "You'll see."
***
And she had, Tori realized, feeling more of the force against her fade. These males, so completely unlike those she had known before, thought only to protect her. Both from others who might harm her, and herself, who more often did the most harm. And, slowly, she had come to trust them. Tori could accept their protection now, where before she would have thrown it back in their faces.
Clenching her jaw, Tori pushed more. For the males, she thought. For those who stuck beside me, no matter how mean I was to them. For their protection.
The shield shuddered and gave even more.
A final, last memory came to her, the deciding factor in Tori's battle.
***
Daemonar stood close to her, his large black wings fanned out to keep the chill from her. The warmth of his body reached her, making her blush.
***
The barrier cracked a little.
***
Tori looked up at Daemonar, her heart pounding and her mouth so full of things she wanted to say to him that she couldn't risk opening her lips. His eyes flared down at her, the liquid gold holding something like contained emotion. Something that made her heart pound faster for that brief moment.
***
Tori felt her resolve solidify and used it to blast through the last of the barrier. She would do this, she thought. She would achieve the darkest form of Ebony she could. Not just for Talia's protection. Not for the ones that restored her faith in people as a whole. Not even just for Daemonar, who was, all without knowing, showing her how to feel with her heart again. She would take what was her birthright, and what she was destined for, for herself. To prove to herself that she was great, and had the power to make things right in the world for others to live in.
Suddenly the world around her shattered again, and this time, Tori felt the dark power of Ebony enveloping her. She shivered, reaching as far into the darkness that was hers as she could. She could feel something just at her fingertips. Something smooth and hard like a Jewel.
But just as she touched it, and explosion sounded around her. The delicate balance that held Tori suspended wherever she was shook. Reflexively, her hand closed around her Offering, sealing the ritual and completing the trial.
Abruptly, the world around her changed back into the room at SaDiablo Hall, and Tori found herself still kneeling before the altar. Now, though, the bowl was empty of the darkness. In it's place glowed three uncut Jewels, one of which Tori held gripped tightly in her hand, and one set Jewel in a diadem the size of a quarter, maybe a little larger.
Vanishing them all, Tori stood, not surprised that she felt so very weak. Looking around, she remembered the explosion that almost cost her her Offering. Frowning slightly, she made her way towards the door. It was almost certain that it had been her father, trying to stop her descent.
But what worried her was how he got close enough to do it. Daemonar, Lucivar, and the others were supposed to be out there keeping him away. If her father had scored a hit on the Keep, then that meant that he had gotten past their defenses. Which meant…
As soon as Tori exited the room, she was met with Draca's unsmiling face. The woman seemed more somber than normal, which did nothing to help ease Tori's growing anxiety. She led the way silently to Saetan's study, where Jaenelle, Saetan, and Daemon sat waiting.
Jaenelle stood as they entered and looked at Tori, nodding. "Good," she murmured. "You were able to go deep into the Ebony."
"What's happened to the ranks?" Tori demanded, working to keep the worry from her voice and posture. "How was the General able to get past them?"
"We don't know," Saetan replied when Jaenelle and Daemon remained silent. "We were just about to find out when you came in."
"We have our spells to finish," Jaenelle reminded Tori gently. "Come."
Tori hesitated, wanting desperately to hear that Daemonar was safe. Still, duty called to her, and that was more important than her emotions. She followed Jaenelle out of the room and down to her workroom.
Hours passed as they struggled with the power it took to properly weave the spell that would reform the Darkness itself. As promised, over the days Tori had been in the room making her Offering, Jaenelle had more or less pieced together the spell, and Tori was able to fill in the details.
What it came down to in the end, Tori reflected as they finished the planning and the webs, was that, essentially, all they had to do was make temporary copies of the Winds, hook them in place of the actual Winds at the Black Mountain, untangle the true Winds, and hook them back to Ebon Askavi again. It was like repairing a shirt with a hole in it.
Simple? Not even close.
What the main problem was that their clones of the Winds would last no more than one minute. Running through a trial Jaenelle had constructed, Tori had determined that, while it could be done, it was going to take everything they had. They would be emptying their jewels into this, and possibly their lives. They both agreed that if that happened, the resulting peace would be well worth it.
Finally, almost a week after Tori had gone in to make her Offering, they were done. Jaenelle and Tori emerged from the workroom in search of food and information. They found both in the dinning room waiting on them.
"Well?" Tori demanded, holding off on getting her food until she heard about what had been happening.
Lucivar set a large plate in front of her. "Eat."
Tori snarled at him, her temper sharp. "Tell me what happened on the battlefield."
"Eat first. Talk later," came his reply.
Seeing that he was not about to be moved by anything she said, Tori submitted and inhaled her food almost faster than they could follow. When, less than fifteen minutes later, the table was bare of the gigantic feast, and both Tori and Jaenelle were stuffed, Saetan shifted forward to speak.
"They have driven the General and his forces back," Saetan said calmly. "As a matter of fact, they say their forces withdrew earlier this morning. The boyos are on their way back now."
"Casualties?" Jaenelle asked softly.
Saetan looked down at his half-eaten meal. "You'll always have casualties in war, Lady. I don't know everyone's names, but I do know that the last force that went in was hit the hardest and suffered the most. All in all, though, the damage was mild considering…"
Tori stopped listening, the roaring in her ears making her deaf to him. She kept replaying Saetan's last words over in her mind. Last force…suffered the most… The last force. The one Daemonar had left on. Her heart twisted violently as her thoughts followed the inevitable thought to its end. Could…Could her cocky Eyrien really be dead?
Tori closed her eyes tightly, her heart feeling as though it was being run through.
…Daemonar…
********************************
A/N: Heheheheheh. An evil place to stop, I know. However, the next chapter is going to have the reunion of the survivors, and old places are going to need filling again. So…who do you think dies? Hm? Because, surely, I wouldn't be so evil as to kill of Daemonar, right? ::smiles angelically::
Big THANKYOU to everyone who has reviewed!!!!!!! Your comments are treasured and I hope that you continue to review! The next chapter should be out about this same time-length. If not sooner. We'll see what cards I'm dealt this time around.
Ja matta ne, readers!!!!!!