Chel sighed sadly. She was little more than a child, only fifty years of age. She did not know the burden she had taken up in promising to help him...
Though the winged elf hated to admit it, he feared that there was no help for him...
Taking one of his arms from Vale's waist he reached to touch his back...
"Chel?"
Chel's head turned towards Vale, hands moving smoothly, tying his hair into a thick braid ready for bed. The young cleric was standing behind him, a worried expression on her face,
"I thought you didn't scar... after injury." Her hand reached out to touch the line of scar tissue that ran down Chel's back, between his wings, then heading in ragged line down toward his left hip. To her surprise it was as cold as ice.
"I don't," the winged elf turned, "I've had that ever since I was a child."
"Do you remember how you got it?"
"...No"
Liar...
The lie was just another sin on the pale elf's conscience, just to protect Vale.
He closed his eyes... A selfish desire prevented him from removing the ultimate threat to Vale... himself... After all... she put her life in the hands of a... a...
Even after all these years he was still not certain of his sanity.
It was the cold that woke Vale. The blanket had fallen from around her and the window was open. She sat up, eyes wide.
Chel was gone... The only thing left was a lingering warmth on the sheets and a single discarded feather on the floor.
A sound floated in from the window and Vale crawled to the end of the bed to look out.
A single, black-robed figure was crossing the inn's courtyard, white hair floating out on the breeze and wings folded behind his back. It was unmistakenly Chel. But where could he be going at this hour?
Clad in tunic and breeches Vale leapt from the inn window, lightly landing on the ground. Moving as quickly as she could she sprinted across the courtyard and vanished into the forest.
In the wood, some instinct urged her to be quiet and she obeyed, using all the stealth she could muster. Eventually she came to a clearing surrounded by trees and thick undergrowth. In the centre of all this stood Chel and a stranger.
The stranger was female, possibly human or elven- the thick, black hair and dark mask prevented Vale from being sure. The mysterious female wore loose robes of black and red, that left the arms bare.
"You were a hard one to lure, my pretty," the female's voice was slightly muffled by the mask and Vale strained hear it, "But you came in the end... Everyone comes in the end," she reached up to stroke Chel's face, "And now you're mine."
A crash sounded somewhere to the right and the masked female's head snapped around. A slender figure staggered into the clearing and Vale bit back a gasp. It was Kemi.
"What...?"
The dark-haired elf raised his head and his mouth opened,
"...L... L-let him go."
"Let him go?" the masked female put her hands on her hips, "Who are you to-" Abruptly she paused then flung her head back and began to shriek with laughter, "I spend a lot of magic and resources looking for you and you just walk up to me! Priceless!"
"Let him go," repeated Kemi.
The masked female wrapped one arm around Chel's shoulders and lifted his chin with one finger,
"He is mine now. I will do with him what I please," she ran her tongue along his delicate neck. In the bushes Vale's fists clenched.
The mysterious female flung her gloved hand out and Kemi was pinned against a tree by an invisible force as she walked up to him,
"Hlal couldn't have done better than this little amusment. Right Tiamet?"
Both Vale amd Kemi/Tiamet's eyes widened. Tiamet spoke,
"Who are you?"
The female said nothing but instead reached for the clasps of her mask, drawing it from her face. The diety's jaw dropped open,
"You!"
Before the young cleric could do anything, before Tiamet could do anything, the masked one struck. Lines of white fire sprang from her hand and into the Lord of Dragon's body.
The fallen deity threw back his head and roared once before his body was completely obliterated.
A single tear ran down Vale's face as she saw her beloved deity die, guilt clashing with sorrow in her head.
Abruptly her body jerked forward.
"You think you could spy on me?" the masked female's spell brought Vale to her, and her gloved hand reached out to tightened around the young cleric's throat.
Vale had been trained well though. Her assailent fell back with a shriek of rage and Vale, knife in hand, retreated, hacking and coughing.
With the young female's attack the hold that the masked one had on Chel was broken. The winged elf groaned as he came to his senses. His eyes opened just in time to see the mage's counter.
A command made the gloves twist into wickedly curved claws and, though Vale caught one of the weaponson her knife she could not stop the other.
The claws dug into Vale's undefended belly and tore their way back out, soiled with elven blood.
The cleric screamed and fell to the floor, a spreading crimson stain on the front of her tunic, her hands clutching at the wound, trying to stem the bleeding. With a demonic laugh the mage lifted her blood-stained glove to her mask's mouth slit, a gutteral cry of pleasure escaping her lips.
When something leapt over her shoulder she spoke another spell. A rope appeared around Chel's neck and made him fall backwards. The winged elf was up again instantly, desperatly trying to reach Vale, to heal her, to save her.
More rope tightened around him, pinning his arms agaisnt his chest. The magical bonds defied even his prodigious strength and Chel screamed in fustration.
With a smirk on her face the mage spoke another spell and both she and the male elf vanished.
"...Chel..." then there was only one elf left, her lifeblood soaking into the earth.
END OF BOOK ONE
Jessi: Don't worry people. Book two of the Dragon God Chronicles shall be up sometime in the next week.