Tristan's Peace - Chapter 23
Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that you may recognize from King Arthur. Nor do I own any that you may recognize from the Dark Hunter Series by Sherrilyn Kenyon. I am merely playing with them for a time. So please don't sue me, I have no money. Nada, zippo, zilch.
A/N: Like before, this chapter is quite short. Getting things rolling... It's nearly over. And I'd like to take the time to say I apologize for the lateness of this update. There are several of you out there who know what a hardship this chapter has been for me. Hard to write. Not because I had writer's block and didn't know what to write, but because I literally hate this chapter. I knew what had to be done, but the getting it done is what took so long. ACK!
I also want to say that I'm sorry. I have been doing a lot of re-reading of this story and have found many places that could have been a ton better. I'm working on fixing that. When this story is done, I will re-post the various chapters I have modified. For now though, I'm posting them over on my LiveJournal page.
2005
Teagan walked onto the wooden planked dance floor. Her boots creating loud sounds throughout the clubs empty interior. Her temper was high. Her anger enough to mask the nervousness and fear she felt deep down inside her stomach.
This eternal war that had gone on needed to stop and she had every intention of ending it tonight.
"Alright, Victor. I know you can hear me!" She shouted to the ceiling. "Come down here and end this now!"
Only silence greeted her as she started pacing. Her body tingled as though she were walking through an electrical current. It didn't hurt in any way, only adding to her nervousness. She really should have listened to Acheron as he had tried to guide her in his ancient ways. To realize the potential she had within her.
Yeah, right.
She hadn't wanted that. Didn't want that responsibility that he had. She had only concentrated on the healing aspect of her gifts.
Teagan didn't remember much about how she died. Only what Acheron had told her. "Violently." He had said.
Then had shut up tighter than a clam about it. And honestly? She wasn't to interested in revisiting that event. She had heard and seen enough of the horror stories from the Dark-Hunters under Ash's care.
Coming back to life was hadn't been that hard. Except that she didn't remember much. Waking up in Rosie's house didn't make sense to her at first. Nearly 1500 years of her life had passed her by.
What had she done in all that time?
According to Acheron, the first hundred or so years was spent just trying to live through a grief that she couldn't quite place She remembered her entire time in Britain. Fighting and loving alongside Arthur and his knights. Falling in love with Tristan and having a wonderful life with him.
Her grief? She couldn't remember. Tristan? According to her and her memories. He had died of old age.
But there had been other things she remembered. Things like an invasion by some ancient tribe on Arthur's stronghold. Or some deaths that were extremely bloody. Like torture. Sometimes she was the one being tortured, sometimes it was others that she loved that were being hurt. Mostly these images were in her dreams. And that's what she passed them off as mostly, dreams.
More often than not, these dreams of hers felt as though they had actually happened, waking her up in a cold sweat more and more often.
Something had happened and Acheron wasn't saying. But she had pushed all that out of her mind and moved on. Because according to Ash, she was his one of his last remaining descendants. Destined to carry on.
She hadn't wanted any of that. Knowing what Acheron was, she didn't want anything to do with that. Being blood related to him, there were some things that she couldn't get away from. Being able to locate other Dark-Hunters by just sending out a 'feeler.' A feeler bing a mental wave sent out to wherever she chose it to go. It wasn't that she could help them should they get themselves into trouble, but was able to try and get them help if she could. One of her natural abilities was healing. One of those things she had done while she had been human. Sometimes, just a light touch from her was enough to help a Hunter, human or Were get back on their feet to continue their fight.
Acheron had taught her how to pull up enough of her aura to form a shield. After practicing long enough, she was able to put up a shield of sorts to permanently protect her house. No one could enter her home unless she let them. Only family was able to work around that. Joachim and Ash had always been able to breach that defense. No others except Tristan. And she was willing to bet that he could just because of who he is.
Teagan also spent a great many years learning how to defend herself. Not only with weapons, but close handed as well. Should she ever be attacked, and she had been, she would be able to take care of herself.
Teagan prayed to the gods that it would be enough to help them get through this madness.
Tristan's fate as well as her's was tied to this night. From what she had gotten from Ash, Victor was being sent to execute Tristan for whatever evildoing he had done. From what she knew of the rules, only Tristan, being the accused, had any chance of taking Victor out.
And she had seen first hand what could happen when such a chance failed.
She also knew that for Tristan to become human again, he would have to die. Being the keeper of his soul, it was up to Teagan to see that he got it back. It wasn't that she wanted to see Tristan die, she had to.
Whoever had said that to save a life you must take a life was insane.
She was praying that Tristan took her bait and was on his way here. Or at the very least, Ash would have caught on and was bringing him here.
She paced a few times more around the dance floor, trying to control her rising powers as well as her emotions when she felt a stirring in the air around her. It was a wind that became stronger, whipping strands against her face. Almost like a lightning storm. A crackling forced her to turn.
As Teagan turned around to face the bar, a bolt hole opened up, four Daimons stepping out, two men and two women, with Victor behind them all.
The incredibly tall blondes moved to surround Teagan, all of them watching as she turned with their movements. Her silver eyes taking them all in one by one. All of them silent, each taking her in as well.
Her eyes fixed on the ancient Roman, hatred for him spilling out of every pore in her body. There was nothing she wanted more than to remove his head from his body, but she needed to plan her moves. Keeping control was forcing her to stay silent. If she spoke right now, she would move to attack before she was ready.
Instead, she let her mind relax, her natural instincts taking over. Acheron's ancient powers washed over her, settling around her like a second skin. It gave her a different kind of sight, like having another set of eyes. These ones seeing around her, taking everything in.
The tiny movements of the Daimons around her clearly visible though her true eyes never left the towering Victor.
The silence was almost deafening, but it didn't bother Teagan any. But those blonde Daimons standing around her started to fidget, one of them cracking his knuckles as his fist opened and closed. Seemed as though they were more nervous than she was.
Or they knew something that was going to happen and didn't like that prospect one bit.
Still, Teagan did not say anything.
It was Victor who broke the silence. His voice was eery and cracked. Almost like it had been unused for a terribly long time. One that sounded like the one in her dreams.
"Ah. I wondered how long it would take for you to seek me out."
Teagan couldn't help but snort. "It wasn't me who sought you out. I have tried every moment of my life to forget you." Her mind's eye caught the smallest movement from one of the women Daimons as she fidgeted just like her companion. She didn't face the demon, but kept her eyes on Victor. "No. I didn't search you out. You were sent here."
Victor eyes locked with those of the woman before him, his lust and hatred for her nearly clouding his mission. His mission of destroying once and for all that man whom she chose as her mate. Complete domination of Teagan would be sweeter for the waiting.
She would be his and never leave his side again. Even if it was her soul as he carried it around in his chest.
A flick of his wrist sent one of the Daimons after her.
0o0o0o
Acheron and Tristan met both Spurius and Shay outside the club. The Roman was looking fairly nonplused but the were was another matter. He looked as though he was going to go out of his skin any moment. If the were could look any more dangerous than right now, he did. The looks he was sending Tristan right now were beyond angry.
He would have gone after Tristan but Spurius stepped in front of him, blocking his access to both of the new arrivals.
"It's weird Ash. All the doors are unlocked, but neither one of us can go in." As if to prove his point, Spurius pulled the double doors that led into Pax, but they didn't open.
Acheron nodded. He knew what was happening. He also knew that he wouldn't be able to go in. Sending out a wave, he noticed that Teagan was no longer alone. There were five Daimons now with her. All surrounding her. One of them Victor.
A weary sigh left his lips. The beginning of the end was just about to start. Should he take her out of there and whisk them both to another location? If he did, Victor would just follow, the demon's orders having been given. Should he let Teagan handle them on her own? She could take the Daimons out easily. She could use her ancestry and wipe Victor from the face of this earth, if she only knew how to harness that strength. He doubted she could as she had never been one to explore that part of her, wanting only as normal a life as she could manage.
Thoughts of Tristan's future came to his mind, telling him that it would do him no good to take the pair out of this situation now. If it didn't happen now, it would happen at another time. Tristan's mind had shown him that this was the moment that would decide his fate.
Acheron grasped hold of the doors, not bothering to pull. He wouldn't be able to open them. For a brief moment his head rested on his hands. When he lifted them, it would only be Shay that would notice that they were a sparkling blue. "Go, scout. I can't go in there." He said as he stepped aside.
It was long moments before Tristan moved.
Tristan had been silent since leaving Teagan's house. A plan trying to form in his head. He had been unable to get his mind where he wanted and needed it to be. His mind was too full of anger for him to fully concentrate. His thoughts were on one woman.
He set his hand on the handles of the doors about to pull them open...
A crash of breaking glass and a dull thud sounded from within the club. "Tristan, go." Ash said again. He didn't need to be told again, he nodded and pulled the front door easily.
Every eye but those on Teagan turned to face him as he entered the club, his boots silent as he stepped onto the dance floor. A severely long and curved dagger hanging tensely at his side.
One of the Daimons, the closest to Tristan, lunged into him, send them both staggering backwards. Another Daimon, this time a woman, jumped on top of the two.
Teagan saw what was happening to Tristan but knew instinctively that he would come up whole. Her magical eyes were on Tristan as well as the other Daimons around her. And sure enough, Tristan stood, showered in a shimmery cloud of silver dust.
The remaining rushed him, but its head soon rolled across the floor.
Tristan never missed a step as he moved closer to Victor.
Not acknowledging Teagan, he wasted no time in attacking Victor.
Victor was ready and waiting for the scout. He picked Tristan up by his arms, throwing him against and over the bar. Causing him to crash into the wall of liquor bottles. Glass and liquid showered over him. He could feel shards of glass as it pierced his skin, the alcohol burning as flowed.
Mindless of the pain he was feeling, he forced himself up and after the monster.
Footsteps mixed with crunching glass were heard behind Teagan as she stood staring at both Victor and Tristan. The instinct of protecting those around her exploded and she held her hand up to Tristan, stopping him immediately. She shook her head at him. "Stop Tris. This is my fight." She leveled the sharp dagger eye level with Victor's glittering, black eyes.
Tristan growled silently, unable to move due to the invisible force holding him still.
"You. You took the life of my friend." Teagan's voice was pained as she spoke. The shock of seeing Ceridwin last night had sent her mind and her memories into overflow. Nearly everything had come back. She had nearly lost it when Tristan had stopped the Jeep, giving her a much needed release.
"That choice was her's. I only helped her along."
"You also took the life of an innocent man." Galen, Tristan's brother, had also died by Victor's hand.
A thin smile formed on Victor's lips. A growl from Tristan forced Victor's eyes to flick from Teagan to Tristan and back to Teagan again. "That was my choice." The smile grew. "Amusement you see."
Teagan's eyes crackled, her voice lowered. "You took the life of my husband."
"Ah yes. And how noble he tried to be." Victor paced circles around Teagan, his eyes never leaving hers. "It was because of you that he died so easily."
Teagan faltered. "I don't know what you mean."
"I think you do." Victor brought his finger up to his mouth, momentarily sucking on the tip. Pulling the digit out, he pointed it at Teagan.
"If it hadn't been for you. Or the lust that he had for you, he would have died the noble death of his ancestors. He was such a magnificent warrior. It would have been difficult to defeat him."
Teagan watched him with eyes that were beginning to change. She faced Tristan with a fear that Victor could be right. She didn't see anything that resembled regret. His face was ever impassive, but his eyes told her everything she needed to know.
She looked at the ancient Roman again. The fear and nervousness gone. Replaced with a calmness and a sense of right she had never felt before.
Victor laughed to himself. "Oh yes. Had you not gotten involved with him, he would be with his fellow comrades. Even now." He waved a hand around. "Instead, his life is meaningless. Forever fighting for yet another cause that is not his. Again a slave."
"A slave that you created."
"No my exquisite woman, it was you who forged him into the man he is today."
Teagan lunged towards Victor. Her hold on Tristan forgotten.
Victor's hand grabbed Teagan by the troat, pushing her against the wall. A hidden blade she had been carrying falling to the floor.
Teagan felt several of her ribs as they cracked upon impact. Then immediately the tingle started. Letting her mind know that they were healing. Through the fog of pain, Teagan watched as Victor now turned on Tristan, the glittering of a knife blade suddenly appearing in his hand.
One that was the exact copy of the one she had been carrying.
0o0o0o
Victor turned so quickly that Tristan missed the movement. Only feeling the burn as a blade sunk itself into his side. Right into his kidney.
The demon pulled his blade out of Tristan's body, turning his back on the scout as he did so. His mission set forth by the Goddess Artemis completed, he knew the Destroyer's blade would do it's job and finish him.
Now was the time for him to get the reward that Artemis promised.
But as he turned, he felt a sharpness as it entered his own body. Teagan standing in front of him. Her arm outstretched, her fist flush against his chest.
She gave a push, sending Victor back. As he fell, both Tristan and Teagan watched as he turned into a showering veil of golden dust.
0o0o0
"What's going on in there Ash?" Spurius couldn't hide the worry in his voice. It was his friend in there. Not a thing could be heard for the longest time. Leaving them only to wait it out.
While waiting, Acheron had filled them both in about the pair.
"Teagan and Tristan are lovers. Have been for a long time. It had never been easy for them, but they got married and had a set of twins. Of course a boy and a girl." Acheron stopped in the storytelling and smiled at the confused looks on both Spurius and Seaghdh. "Good ol' baddie Vic shows up and makes their lives a living hell. Ends up killing not only Tristan's brother, but Teagan as well. Of course Tristan dies, and is unable to exact his revenge as Artemis pulled Victor out of the equation immediately." He tapped his finger on his temple. "Oh, Tristan is a Hunter. Only he had given his soul to Teagan as soon as she was killed. Her soul though, went to me as she's one of my last descendants. I'm the one who made her. Artie has no control over her."
"Ah huh." Spurius muttered. He moved around in place a bit, waving his hand. "Tis a nice fairy tail to tell the little ones."
Shay had turned away during the telling, his thoughts jumbled but starting to make sense. All the years that he had known Teagan, she had never once led him to believe that she was interested in him. Cared, yes, but not love.
But what the eldest Dark-Hunter made a whole lot of sense. Teagan had often called him late at night after what she thought was a bad dream.
Apparently not. Apparently what she was doing was remembering her past . Something else clicked as he processed the story.
Shay again faced Acheron. "It was you who altered her memories. Made her forget all those years. Made her forget what had actually happened to her."
"Yes, hawk, I did. And I would do it again."
0o0o0o0o
"Ash." It was no more than a whisper but he heard it. Not giving the other two men another glance, he pulled on the double doors. Both giving without any resistance.
It didn't take anytime to find who he was looking for. They were on the dance floor. Or rather, to the side.
Tristan was slumped against the base of the wood bar. His eyes were closed and Acheron could see that there had been a whole lot of blood loss. Ash could still feel that the scout had a heartbeat. It was fading, but still there.
Teagan was holding on to him, not quite rocking him, but not that far off either. She didn't look up at Acheron. "What do I do now?"
"We get him back to your house."
"Did I do the right thing, Ash?"
He didn't answer her question as he thought about disengaging the lovers. Thinking the better of it, he instead placed a large hand on each one.
A/N: All you Tristan lovers don't hate me. I have plans for them.