Chapter Eight: Never Assume
She twisted the bond between her and the faerie, feeling much satisfaction in its screams of pain. She felt someone grab her arm and vaguely heard a buzzing sound that could have been Jack talking, but she ignored it. When he called her name, she swatted it away like a fly. When he did it again, she felt a tug at her soul and she momentarily stopped torturing the creature--though she still held tightly to the link between them. When he called her name yet a third time, she looked at him with disbelief.
"What do you want?" she asked.
"I want you to stop torturing that thing you have trapped, love," he said softly.
"But why?" she asked, feeling betrayed. "This thing has been using me for its own gain!"
"So you're going to torture it?" Jack asked, his voice reflecting his surprise and, worse, disappointment in her. She cocked her head to the side as his words sank into her mind. She was drunk on her own power, she realized with a sickening jolt.
Disgusted with herself, she released her painful grip on Dharketh-- though she made sure his bond to her was still strong. She could not allow him to get away now to warn any others there might be. And she wanted information from him.
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Jack watched the expressions as they changed on her face with some relief. The golden light radiating from her was still intense, but it somehow seemed cleaner now. He felt indescribably strange. This was all so much weirder than the cursed Aztec gold. Faeries? His wife somehow finding out one of the creatures' names? How much stranger could this get? When Arianne began to question Dharketh, he shook himself out of his reverie to listen.
"Why did you deceive me?" she asked, her voice steeled with anger.
Dharketh remained huddled in a corner of the tiny boat, silent. She asked again, apparently compelling him this time for he stood.
"Because I was ordered to," he said, sounding as if every word had to be forced from him.
Jack looked at Arianne. Her eyes were narrowed, lips pursed.
"You know more than that. Tell me!" she said, the command holding such power that Jack felt a desperate yearning to tell her everything he had ever known in his life.
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He stared at her hatefully, trying to resist the command that had her desired answer crowded behind his tightly closed lips. He knew that he could not open his mouth without those words spilling forth, and he did not want her to hear them from him. Instead he turned and made the boat continue its journey deeper into the cave.
He felt her rage at his defiance growing behind him and hoped that the wretched human would stop her from harming him again. He hated that she could do that, and hated even more that the human was his ally.
This wasn't how it was supposed to happen. She was not supposed to be this powerful; she was not supposed to have seen through the illusions that had been so carefully crafted by his people. Now she would have a hard time seeing the beauty of what was left of them.
She may escape their grasp altogether, and it was the human's fault. Perhaps part of the blame rested upon him, however, he thought to himself. He perhaps should not have shown the human what really lay beneath the waters, should not have spoken so to the horrid creature. Now, because he had done these things, he and his people might lose their only chance at continued survival.
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She was angry when Dharketh refused to answer her, but she held her tongue as the boat glided through the water. There was more than one way to receive an answer, after all.
Soon they came to a rocky ledge that led into what looked to be a very well-lit room, and Dharketh bade them get off the boat. He had not said a word. She assumed that was because he would be forced to tell her what she had asked him to, and didn't comment.
Once they entered the room, all thought of being angry with him vanished. All thought of pretty much anything vanished. The ceiling was very high, and the light seemed to be emanating from blue and green globes hanging suspended in various places around the large cavern. It was the very back of the room, however, that caught her eye. Water burbled down from a point high in the wall, filling a pool at the bottom. She rushed over to the edge of the pool in delight, knowing this to be the Fountain that they had set out to find. Only when she looked to her left did she realize that she was still gripping Jack's hand and that she had dragged him with her in her haste to reach the pool. She grinned at him, and when he only smiled slightly back she frowned. When she looked to her right, she saw a raven-haired person wearing a dark robe standing next to her, staring at the pool. Eventually she realized that this was Dharketh, and her mouth dropped open in shock. He looked at her, then, and her mouth stayed open in more than shock. He was the most beautiful creature she had ever seen, his skin flawless and pale, his eyes large and black, his face so perfectly made that she doubted anything else could be so lovely. In that first moment he looked at her, his expression was sad, his eyes almost misty with emotion. As he continued to look at her, the sadness melted away and his eyes seethed with hatred for her. A deep corner of her mind noted that the hatred marred his beauty not at all. He looked past her, then, to Jack, and it seemed that his hatred grew even more intense. "It would seem that we were allies when first I arrived to meet the Golden One, but no more. There is nothing you can do here, nothing even she could do if she wished to. The power of my people is too concentrated here for even Her to do anything to me." She glared at him, angry that he was treating Jack this way. She twisted the link between them again, and when he smiled faintly in amusement she twisted harder, this time causing him pain again. He paled, and stared at her with some surprise plain on his beautiful features. "Never assume anything," she said, "and never speak to him with anything but respect." "Yes, Dharketh," came an unmistakably female voice from behind them. "Never assume anything. And do treat our guests with respect."
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^.^ Hope you all enjoy! And dammit, Alex, you better read soon!
She twisted the bond between her and the faerie, feeling much satisfaction in its screams of pain. She felt someone grab her arm and vaguely heard a buzzing sound that could have been Jack talking, but she ignored it. When he called her name, she swatted it away like a fly. When he did it again, she felt a tug at her soul and she momentarily stopped torturing the creature--though she still held tightly to the link between them. When he called her name yet a third time, she looked at him with disbelief.
"What do you want?" she asked.
"I want you to stop torturing that thing you have trapped, love," he said softly.
"But why?" she asked, feeling betrayed. "This thing has been using me for its own gain!"
"So you're going to torture it?" Jack asked, his voice reflecting his surprise and, worse, disappointment in her. She cocked her head to the side as his words sank into her mind. She was drunk on her own power, she realized with a sickening jolt.
Disgusted with herself, she released her painful grip on Dharketh-- though she made sure his bond to her was still strong. She could not allow him to get away now to warn any others there might be. And she wanted information from him.
************************
Jack watched the expressions as they changed on her face with some relief. The golden light radiating from her was still intense, but it somehow seemed cleaner now. He felt indescribably strange. This was all so much weirder than the cursed Aztec gold. Faeries? His wife somehow finding out one of the creatures' names? How much stranger could this get? When Arianne began to question Dharketh, he shook himself out of his reverie to listen.
"Why did you deceive me?" she asked, her voice steeled with anger.
Dharketh remained huddled in a corner of the tiny boat, silent. She asked again, apparently compelling him this time for he stood.
"Because I was ordered to," he said, sounding as if every word had to be forced from him.
Jack looked at Arianne. Her eyes were narrowed, lips pursed.
"You know more than that. Tell me!" she said, the command holding such power that Jack felt a desperate yearning to tell her everything he had ever known in his life.
************************
He stared at her hatefully, trying to resist the command that had her desired answer crowded behind his tightly closed lips. He knew that he could not open his mouth without those words spilling forth, and he did not want her to hear them from him. Instead he turned and made the boat continue its journey deeper into the cave.
He felt her rage at his defiance growing behind him and hoped that the wretched human would stop her from harming him again. He hated that she could do that, and hated even more that the human was his ally.
This wasn't how it was supposed to happen. She was not supposed to be this powerful; she was not supposed to have seen through the illusions that had been so carefully crafted by his people. Now she would have a hard time seeing the beauty of what was left of them.
She may escape their grasp altogether, and it was the human's fault. Perhaps part of the blame rested upon him, however, he thought to himself. He perhaps should not have shown the human what really lay beneath the waters, should not have spoken so to the horrid creature. Now, because he had done these things, he and his people might lose their only chance at continued survival.
************************
She was angry when Dharketh refused to answer her, but she held her tongue as the boat glided through the water. There was more than one way to receive an answer, after all.
Soon they came to a rocky ledge that led into what looked to be a very well-lit room, and Dharketh bade them get off the boat. He had not said a word. She assumed that was because he would be forced to tell her what she had asked him to, and didn't comment.
Once they entered the room, all thought of being angry with him vanished. All thought of pretty much anything vanished. The ceiling was very high, and the light seemed to be emanating from blue and green globes hanging suspended in various places around the large cavern. It was the very back of the room, however, that caught her eye. Water burbled down from a point high in the wall, filling a pool at the bottom. She rushed over to the edge of the pool in delight, knowing this to be the Fountain that they had set out to find. Only when she looked to her left did she realize that she was still gripping Jack's hand and that she had dragged him with her in her haste to reach the pool. She grinned at him, and when he only smiled slightly back she frowned. When she looked to her right, she saw a raven-haired person wearing a dark robe standing next to her, staring at the pool. Eventually she realized that this was Dharketh, and her mouth dropped open in shock. He looked at her, then, and her mouth stayed open in more than shock. He was the most beautiful creature she had ever seen, his skin flawless and pale, his eyes large and black, his face so perfectly made that she doubted anything else could be so lovely. In that first moment he looked at her, his expression was sad, his eyes almost misty with emotion. As he continued to look at her, the sadness melted away and his eyes seethed with hatred for her. A deep corner of her mind noted that the hatred marred his beauty not at all. He looked past her, then, to Jack, and it seemed that his hatred grew even more intense. "It would seem that we were allies when first I arrived to meet the Golden One, but no more. There is nothing you can do here, nothing even she could do if she wished to. The power of my people is too concentrated here for even Her to do anything to me." She glared at him, angry that he was treating Jack this way. She twisted the link between them again, and when he smiled faintly in amusement she twisted harder, this time causing him pain again. He paled, and stared at her with some surprise plain on his beautiful features. "Never assume anything," she said, "and never speak to him with anything but respect." "Yes, Dharketh," came an unmistakably female voice from behind them. "Never assume anything. And do treat our guests with respect."
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^.^ Hope you all enjoy! And dammit, Alex, you better read soon!
