--The Fourth Realm--

A fanfic taking place in the Realms of the Blood, created by

Anne Bishop whom I worship and pay tribute to every day.

Just kidding. Or so you think.

(Written by the Great and Powerful Keski,

spell checked by Microsoft Works Word Processor)

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Chapter V

Vulnerabilities

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Luseik groaned and stirred slightly. His eyes opened halfway, blurrily examining the dark shapes around him. The moment he remembered what had happened, he sat bolt upright.

Or tried to. He was bound by… something. Some sort of slimy, half-solid substance seemed to fix him to a cold, hard surface. It was too dark to see much.

(Awake, I see,) said a deep, rough voice. (You needn't worry for the safety of your Queen. She is safe and unharmed, and she shall remain so as long as both she and you are compliant.")

Luseik bared his teeth at the darkness. "Let us go. We aren't going to play your games."

(Oh, Queen Anna seems eager enough to play. Perhaps you'll have to read the rules before the game becomes more appealing to you.)

Luseik growled. "Enough of your damn jokes! Show yourself!"

(I don't think I will. Not yet, in any case. And you can go back to sleep now.)

Luseik lost consciousness before he could shield himself.

---

Anna nodded slowly, a pained look in her eyes. "Just don't hurt Luseik. Please…"

"You needn't worry. We have no desire to cause suffering to either of you. Of course, we won't hesitate to do so if it becomes necessary." Yachesen turned to his sister. "Has Lord Oebr determined the nature of the girl's power?"

Yachesa shook her head. "No. He says there's some sort of barrier surrounding her that repels magic. It has something to do with her power, ironically enough, but he still can't determine the nature of it."

Yachesen nodded. "Then there is nothing we can do except wait until Lord Oebr is able to bypass this barrier."

Yachesa grabbed her hair and tugged. "These damn Jewels!" she cursed. "I don't know why Oebr can't just--" She froze in mid-sentence and looked at Anna, as if she'd just let something slip that she shouldn't have. Then she shook her head and growled at nothing in particular.

Anna leaned back in her chair. Strange that they hadn't thought to bind her in any way. Tie her up, hold her in place with magic, anything like that. Well, they wore the Ebony--Ostensibly, at least--so maybe they didn't need to bind an Ebon-Gray Jeweled witch.

She sighed and sent a psychic probe around the area. It would help to know something about where she was being held, after all.

Nothing on location. Well, she was in a foreign Realm, after all. She wouldn't recognize the location.

Luseik was in an adjoining room, the probe told her. Anna stood up. Yachesa spun to face her.

"Sit," Yachesa said firmly.

(Yachesa,) said that same ridiculously dark voice on the widespread psychic thread. (Let the Black Widow move about our palace as she pleases. She cannot threaten our plans on her own.)

"Yes, Lord Oebr," Yachesa muttered and turned away from Anna.

Anna moved toward the door she sensed Luseik behind. She laid a hand on the doorknob and felt a small jolt, then nothing. She noticed Yachesa staring at her but ignored the girl as she turned the knob and pushed the door open. She was assaulted by thoughts as the psychic thread was rebuilt and messages flew.

(Lord Oebr, how could she open that door? It was Ebony-locked! I made sure of it!)

(I know not, but it changes nothing. Now be silent, and leave me to my work, Yachesa.)

Anna, confused, pushed the door open and stared at Luseik, bound to a stone slab by what looked like solidified shadows. He was asleep.

She went to his side and touched one of the shadows experimentally. As she did so, it hissed, steamed, and faded. Unsure of herself but confident she was helping, she dispelled all of them in this way, then put a hand on Luseik's shoulder. There was yet another jolt, and then nothing. She shook Luseik.

"Luseik, wake up," she said. "Please, Luseik, wake up."

Luseik stirred and opened his eyes. He sat up, rubbing his head. "Anna, where are we?"

"Somewhere in Dachrea, I think. Those Hell's angels are keeping us here… They're trying to discover my power. I think it has something to do with dispelling magic."

Luseik swung his feet down onto the floor and checked himself over. Once assured he was uninjured, still in his own clothing, and not robbed of any possessions, he took Anna's hand and brought her to the door. They paused as Yachesa eyed the two.

"You're not leaving," said Yachesa coldly, "so don't even think it. Lord Oebr has ordered us to give you free reign of the palace, so we won't stop you exploring, but know that there is no exit you can reach."

Luseik bared his teeth. Unable to think of anything to say, he spun to the side and rammed his fist into a wall. He fed Black power into it until the wall began to crack.

Anna grabbed his shoulder. "Luseik, stop!"

Everything stopped at once. The Black power locked itself once again inside Luseik as he withdrew his hand, looking confused but sated. He looked at Anna. His eyes widened briefly then returned to normal. He gave her a hint of a knowing smile.

Which confused her more.

(Lady Anna.) The voice soothed Anna, despite not wanting to be soothed. It caressed her mind gently, despite the revulsion that very same caress caused. She found herself melting into it, despite wanting to stay comfortably solid… at least, comfortably solid in anyone's voice except Luseik's.

As she spent more time with the Black Jeweled draghan, she found that he was growing on her. His deep, perpetually husky voice soothed her mind even as a comfortingly masculine hand soothed her body, resting on her shoulder. She couldn't help but wonder what it would feel like to have those hands caress her back while she lay in a bed like the one she'd had years ago in her father's house. White silk sheets barely hiding that masculine physique.

She raised an eyebrow as she came to that thought. How would he manage those wings in bed? Well, he'd likely be on his stomach anyway. And possibly hers.

She shook her head violently. No, she couldn't let her thoughts stray in that direction.

(I wish to speak with you in private,) the voice said, jerking her out of her thoughts with its amused tone, as if it had been listening in on them. (Yachesa will escort you. Luseik need not worry for your safety. You will not be harmed.)

"How can I know that?" Luseik demanded.

(She will not be harmed.)

Luseik seemed to shrink into himself.

Yachesa led Anna down a corridor with minimal resistance and minimal snarling from either of them. They reached a door. Anna entered, and Yachesa quietly closed the door behind her. Anna was alone but for the deep shadows that encompassed the entire room. One shadow in particular seemed to bulge from the darkness, to make its own presence known simply by dwarfing everything else.

A pair of crimson eyes slowly opened. A single dark thought encompassed the room and torches lining the walls lit themselves.

Anna stumbled backwards and hit the door as she stared up at the massive dragon that lay before her, eying her with interest.

(So you are the Black Widow,) the dragon said. (I am Oebr.) She knew she should fear, hate, dread this creature, but something about it made her… not necessarily like it, but something seemed to ease her mind. It wasn't anything so blunt as a spell, or even psychic tendrils of comfort, calm, ease. It was something in the very nature of it. She waited.

(Your power is very strong,) Oebr said.

"No, I wear only the Ebon-Gray," she said humbly. "Luseik tells me that in Dachrea, the Black is not as rare as it is in the Pureblood Realms. I am merely average."

(I refer not to your Jewels, but to the power of your birthright.)

"My Sapphire Jewels?"

There was a long pause, then Oebr sighed. (Purebloods are so difficult to communicate with,) he muttered. (In any case, I wish to attempt to uncover your power. You will not be harmed. Please step forward and lay your hand upon me.)

Anna did so with hesitation. As she touched the dragon, he winced, jolted, and shrank back slightly. She pulled her hand back.

(Something protects your Self. Something other than your inner barriers. It repels magic. I cannot discern its nature, but it is powerful.) He sounded frustrated.

Anna paused, an idea coming to her. "You can do all sorts of Craft, right?" she said quickly.

(I can,) Oebr said, as if the question itself was pointless.

"Do something… Anything. I have an idea."

Almost immediately, a ball of witchfire appeared in midair. Anna reached out to touch it, concentrating on not using any magic whatsoever, even involuntarily. She began to feel a burning sensation in her finger and pulled back. Then she stopped concentrating on not using magic and reached out. The fire fizzled and faded before her hand came within a foot of it.

"Put it back up," she said. Oebr nodded, intrigued, and recreated the fire. This time, Anna concentrated on putting out the fire and pointed at it. The moment she did so, the fire vanished with a faint pop noise.

"I kill magic," she said proudly.

(You nullify magic,) Oebr amended. She shrugged.

"Well, I figured it out, anyway, so… You can let me go, right?"

(Apologetically, I must tell you otherwise. I need your help… Then you may leave when you wish.)

"If you wanted my help," Anna said indignantly, "you wouldn't have kidnapped me."

(I did not kidnap you. Yachesa did. Against my orders.)

There was a long pause.

"Oh."

---

Luseik growled as he paced the room. Yachesa and her brother had left for the moment, and Luseik was left to his thoughts, left to pace, to wonder, to wait, to curse every living thing in this damned palace except for Anna, whom he was almost positive was being tortured by this 'Oebr' character, and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it!

He snarled and sat down.

Where the hell were Keski and Satiyen, anyway?

For that matter, where was Luseik in the first place? No longer in that tainted wasteland, certainly, unless it was a hell of a long way from the Dark Altar. Besides, this… felt… like Dachrea. He couldn't explain it, but it just felt like his home Realm.

But he couldn't even place the Territory. He'd attempted to send out psychic threads--and discovered that the entire building was spelled against psychic threads Black or lighter. He'd explored every room except the one Anna had entered--which was, of course, Ebony-locked--and found that there were indeed no exits.

He placed his elbows heavily on the table and pulled at his hair. Damn them! All of them! He knew it was just his Warlord Prince instincts going off, but damn it, his Queen was in danger, and he just wanted to kill something, rip, tear, claw, unleash the dark, glorious power of his Black Jewels until he could embrace Anna in his own protective arms, keep her safely shielded from all these bastards who wanted to hurt her, to manipulate her. Anna needed him, and he couldn't do anything because of these children and their pseudo-Ebony Jewels. If it wasn't for their masquerading as Ebony-Jeweled Blood, he'd be able to know that his Queen was safe. Damn it, damn it, damn it!

"You needn't worry for the safety of your Queen," said Yachesen from the corridor as he stepped into the room. "She is perfectly safe. I assure you she will come to no harm under Oebr's care."

Before anyone knew what was happening, Luseik's chair flew backward and he was standing before the boy, one clawed hand wrapping around Yachesen's throat and flexing, desperately needing to kill something but knowing there would be repercussions if he did.

So instead, he settled for rasping, "I don't want your hollow reassurances that this Oebr isn't torturing Anna right now. I want Anna out here right now. I'm a Warlord Prince, she's my Queen, she's in danger. Let your imagination fill in the blanks, little prick."

Ebony strength pummeled Luseik's mind out of nowhere. As he stumbled backward, Yachesa leapt into him, clawing, tearing, screaming.

"Stay away from my brother! I'll kill you! You tried to hurt my brother, you heartless bastard! I'll rip your throat out! I'll--"

(Yachesa.) Everyone winced from the force of that thought. (The draghan was only doing as his upbringing and heritage as a Warlord Prince demands. We should expect no less, and not punish him for acting so. You should have kept Yachesen away from him.)

Yachesa rolled off of Luseik, breathing heavily. Luseik got up, resisted the urge to kick her, and ground his teeth as he took a seat again. He waited.

Yachesa got up and stormed off, but before she went through a door, she turned back to Luseik. "Touch my brother again, and even Oebr won't be able to keep me from clawing your eyes out." She vanished through the doorway. Luseik drew his lip back in a slight snarl.

Another door opened, and Anna emerged.

"Luseik," she said, surprisingly sprightly, "we know what my power is. And Oebr's not an enemy."