Ephimera's Heart Chapter 2.
A/N: I had no idea my muse owned a warhammer. But there she stands, with a fire in her eyes that has never scared me into writing two chapters in two days. But here we are... and here i type. I dare not jinx it... -Lupa
Jared sat up slowly in his bed in the Den. He rubbed the heel of his hands into his eyes roughly, trying to shake the feeling of her. He'd been hunting, like any other night, in the land of dreams. He was searching for a mind that would welcome the kind of fun time only one like him could offer. He had unfurled the power inside him as he lay in his bed, and sought those minds out. When he found her, he would take her to heights of pleasure she had never dreamt of and as she climaxed, he would feed on her emotions and her feelings. Then he would let her go. It was forbidden in the den for an incubus to kill its prey with the power. Jared had never cared for that kind of hunting, but since this law came from the Justice Maker Sebastian, it was one line he never dared cross. The woman he had visited in that dreamscape, her name had escaped him, since he usually never cared to ask, but her icy green eyed had left him wanting. He could still taste her skin on his mouth. He had sensed a need in her that made him burn with power. He never thought twice about funneling that energy into her. Something in his heart had told him to give her anything he could. She had tasted like hope. He couldn't remember if he had seen her around the den before. He carefully pictured her in his mind and tried to place her in any of the landscapes he knew. He felt a fleeting tug, as if she had been there but he he just hadn't seen her. Then there was a tug on his heart as he wondered who, and where she was. He lifted himself from the tangle of his sheets and almost collapsed back into his bed. He felt so weak. He ran his fingers through his black hair and panted softly as the feel of her flesh under his hands pulsed in his memory. He had wanted women before. He blamed it on his partial humanity that the women he hunted could have that effect on him. Even so, he had never woken up from his hunting and wanted to find the woman he had fed on.
Of course you didn't feed on this one, did you Jared? He thought to himself. More like you fed her.
But what did that mean? He knew she had needed the power. He knew she was fading from Ephimera even when he had pulled her into that dream bed to fuck her and knew that wasn't what she was looking for. He never thought twice as he poured the power that was glowing strangely beneath his skin into her weakening body. If he found her, then that was how it was meant to be. In the land of Ephimera, nothing happened by chance. When the thoughts in his mind began to feel as heavy as his body, Jared rose again from his bed and balanced his shaky legs with will alone. Then he dressed for the day. He wore a bright blue shirt, half unbuttoned and over nothing with a new kind of pants that Finch called "jeans". They had come in from some other landscape and the fit like leather and breathed like cotton. Grinning mischievously at his reflection, he headed downstairs to get some breakfast.
When he crossed the street from the bordello he rented a room at, and Philo's bar, he noticed the sky held far fewer stars than normal, and seemed different in a way he couldn't quite put his fingers on. He sat at a table in the courtyard, before he could think too hard, and looked at the twinkling lights of the Den. It was a carnal carnival. It was a place that made him smile, and feel at home. There were incubi and succubi here, like him, and it was for those faces he searched as he waited to be served. The thin girl he knew as one of Philo's new helpers crossed by his spot to serve omelets to a table of Bull demons. On her way back by, she stopped to take his order of the phallic delights and whatever the house was serving today. As much as he may like to look at tits, he was not a fan of mushrooms and never ordered those. He smiled at her warmly when the bread and cheese reached his table and dove in hungrily.
The girl may have frowned, since he always flirted with the women around him, but he was too weak to care. Though he did look appriciatevly at her behind as she swayed her hips in retreat to the kitchen. By the time he was done eating the stew and bread, he felt enough of his strength return that he wasn't going to collapse at anymoment. He was about to pay for his meal and leave when Teaser sat down across from him.
"Hey-a, Jared," his fellow incubus said, "I hope you aren't about to go inside, because i don't think you want to miss this..." The blond man turned his gaze to the trees across from the bar.
"Miss what?" Thats when Jared noticed the threades of bright orange and purple threading through the permanently night sky of the den. It had been subtle and almost unnoticible before but now, he was certain he was about to watch a sunrise. "Impossible! The Sun doesn't shine in the den," he said softly.
Others were beginning to notice too. Some were afraid, not of the sunlight, as it peeked over the treetops and bathed his skin in a warmth he hadn't felt in ages, but of what it meant and why it was happening.
Jared admitted he was wondering a lot of the same things. Teaser sighed and turned his gaze back to the other incubus. Jared's eyes still focused on the sunrise, as if seeing one for the very first time. Though for all he knew, maybe he was. There were a lot of dark places in Ephimera. Everyone around him, in the courtyard and in the streets had turned as well to look upon the light. He noticed that everything looked a little dusty in the bright light of the sun... that would need to be fixed. He smiled to himself and raised a hand to let the serving girl know he wanted some bread and ale., then with another gesture, told her to bring a fresh glass to Jared as well.
"You act like you've never seen the sun before, old friend."
"Don't patronize me, Teaser. What is happening here?" He sat back down in his chair and looked at the blond man. "In all the years i've lived here, the sun has never risen. Why now?" Teaser looked at him with light shining behind his eyes.
"Because the den is no longer a dark landscape. It has been connected to the light. The Den is now just up the street from Aurora."
Jared took the tankard the girl set down and took a long pull as he contemplated what exactly that meant. He gagged a little at the taste. He didn't much care for wine or ale either.
That road that had once led to bridges and open fields full of waterhorses now went to a village? And not just any village, but Aurora? They were now part of the same landscape? "How is that possible?"
Teaser's eyes turned serious, "Glorianna Belladonna" he popped a piece of bread in his mouth.
His heart lurched at her name. Everyone knew of Belladonna. How she had created this place and was Sebastians cousin. Sebastian, the Justice Maker... Belladonna the rogue landscaper. Sebastian had told them there was nothing to fear from Belladona. That heart's hope lied within her. And, in fact, he did not hear her name with fear. Though, the thought of seeing the sunrise in a landscape he had always ascociated with a land of forever night did make him think. How could one woman have done that. Alter the face of Ephimera like that?
He allowed himself to remember the face from his dreamscape. The face that had moaned from his touch and the body that had writhed under him as he fed her all the power she had called from him. Eyes so green and hair so black. He thought, Belladonna and his heart lurched again.
Teaser stood suddenly and Jared followed his gaze to the Justice Maker and his woman Lynnea coming down the street, waving triumphantly and gesturing at the sunrise. Teaser rose and headed towards them in greeting but Jared stayed behind in the courtyard. There were many things he didn't need to know about the world. He felt like he needed to fog his mind, to forget about the woman with the green eyes. About the sunrise, about the tugging on his heart.
Jared strolled across the street back into the bordello. He went silently up to his room and shut the door behind him.
He opened his trunk. There were things in here he had purchased in secret from the darkest landscapes. Things that would make a man forget... at least for a little while.
