Disclaimer: I do not own the Fable universe. Characters you do not recognize from the series were created by me for the purposes of this story. This story is rated M for a reason. It contains content of a mature nature, do not read if anything along those lines could offend you. It will also be quite dark at times, you have been warned.
Thank you for reading, and for all of the lovely and encouraging reviews that have been left! I hope you all enjoy this latest instalment...and that you will forgive me for the cliffhanger, lol - Fallon.
Chapter Thirty-Two
"Love is a burning thing, and it makes a fiery ring, bound by wild desire, I fell into a ring of fire..." - Johnny Cash
The music stopped abruptly as they entered the room and complete silence rushed in to take its place. Even the crackle of the fire seemed nonexistent.
"What took you so long?" Ezra asked in a cocky voice.
Completely devoid of tension, he sat at the piano with his back to them. He casually reached for his glass of wine and look a small sip, "I was hoping that the Queen would grace me with her presence tonight...but it seems she is preoccupied with other trivial matters."
"You have a lot to answer for, Ezra Kaiser." Walter said gruffly as he stepped forward, "The Queen has ordered your death."
Ezra chuckled, "She has no authority over me, surely she knows that!"
"Of course, because you're just so high and mighty, right?" Ben asked in a furious growl as he raised his rifle.
Ezra heard the sound of the rifle moving through the air and sat his wine glass on the piano, "Do you think yourself skilled enough to so much as land a single shot, Master Finn? You certainly are the arrogant fool the rumours speak of..."
A gunshot rang out and Ezra's glass of wine exploded.
The Alpha pouted as he brushed the shards of glass from the piano, "That...was a waste of perfectly good wine, Benjamin Finn."
Ben shook with anger. Ezra hadn't even so much as flinched!
Scarlet growled and the fur along her back stood on end. Her patience was wearing thin, she wanted him dead sooner rather than later.
"It is good to see you again, Scarlet." Ezra stood and faced them, "I was concerned when you left in the middle of the night and did not return. And I will admit, I was most surprised to learn that you were spotted nearing the castle...I didn't think you had it in you."
Walter stepped forward before Scarlet could react to the taunt, his sword drawn and a vicious scowl on his face, "Surrender now and perhaps your entire Family won't be slaughtered!"
Ezra ran a clawed hand through his hair, "So confident...I hope you will forgive me for declining your offer. I'd much rather finish you whelps off and find my woman. You seek to keep me from my chosen mate after all, and I can not stand by that - I hope you understand."
Maya managed to dodge the balverine at the last minute, it's claws missing their intended target by mere inches. It turned quickly once it landed, sending a cloud of dust up into the air. Drool dripping from its retracted lips, it growled in frustration before charging her again.
The other two balverines laid dead on the other side of the arena, and Maya was eager to add the final one to her growing pile of corpses.
Like a stampeding bull, it sprinted toward her with it's head down. Maya brought her blade up and slashed at the rabid beast as it neared her. It howled in pain as blood spurted out in pulses from its neck. She had only nicked the creature, but the amount of blood it drew was startling.
The crowd cheered loudly at the sight of it.
Fuelled on by a deadly mix of rage and pain, the balverine jumped forward and tackled her to the ground. Maya screamed as her sword was jerked from her hand and sent flying across the field. They tumbled over each other, the momentum of the hit sending them further than she had expected. Her head smacked the ground and a fine dust clouded her eyes. Her hood had fallen back, and her hair was fanned out around her.
Over all of the chaos, she heard Von`s desperate howl. It sounded close, and she guessed they had rolled close to his cage.
The balverine pushed her back, pinning her arms to the sandy ground and leaning down to growl in her face. It's drool fell onto her cheek and she hurried to call lightning to her hands before it was too late.
Suddenly, the tremendous weight was lifted from her. She quickly rolled away and looked up to see the balverine struggling against Von`s hold. His arms extended through the bars, Von clamped down on the balverine`s neck and began squeezing the life from it's body.
It fought initially, but soon went limp.
Von let the beast fall to the ground and tried to reach out to Maya through the bars of his cage. She saw overwhelming sadness and fear in his eyes, and struggled to reach his outstretched hand. Von`s whines became frantic and he tried to pry the bars apart while howling curses at something behind her.
Maya turned to see what had caught his attention, but was too late.
The troll, having just been released into the arena, sniffed the air and ran towards her. It looked like a living tree and was covered in thick moss and rotting vines. The earth trembled and she tried in vain to slip around the massive beast and reach her sword.
A rough, dry hand caught her in mid-stride and hoisted her up into the air. Maya tried to wriggle free, but the troll's hold on her was firm. In her attempt to break free, her Dragonstomper fell to the ground and bounced out of sight. She could barely breathe and the sounds around her were starting to blend in together. Cheers, screams...she couldn't tell the difference.
The troll bellowed in victory and flung Maya across the arena.
She hit the reinforced wall hard and fell to the ground in a broken heap. The heroic blood in her veins saved her from the initial impact, but she was by no means safe. Her head spinning and darkness threatening to overtake her, her eyelids soon became heavy. She could hear the troll nearing her, but was too exhausted to do anything about it.
Over the menagerie of voices in her head, she heard him.
His voice cleared the fog of her mind, but she was too spent to lift herself from the ground.
Von...
His blood broiling with raw anger, the scar on his cheek pulsed with magic and sent a wave of adrenaline coursing through his body. Suddenly it felt like her pain was his own, and it nearly shattered his control. He slammed his body into the bars and hope washed over him as they finally groaned from his abuse. He continued with his vicious blows, going faster the closer the troll came to his Maya.
Get up...get up, Maya!
Von thought he had lost her once, he thought he would die alone in the Silverpines Arena, but seeing her walk into the cells and the look she gave him...he wouldn't stop fighting until life left his body!
Maya opened her eyes weakly and looked past the troll that was lumbering towards her. She felt the magic pulsing from him and fear ripped through her.
Theresa's warning...how could I have forgotten to tell him!
The magic would kill him if he used it. It was wild, unharnessed, and triggered by strong emotions. If he used it offensively in any way...
"V-Von..."
Her voice was so strained she hardly recognized it as her own, but she forced it out of her again in the hope he would somehow hear her.
Just as the troll reached for her, a ripple of lightning vibrated from Von and and sent searing bolts quivering across the arena and up into the stands. People screamed, ignoring the pleas of the commentator, and started to run for the exits in a blind panic. The large torches along the stands that were used to light the area below were toppled over in the chaos, and smouldering coals and fire spewed out and began devouring the stands.
Scarlet lurched forward and crashed into Ezra just as he made the shift fully into his balverine form. She dug her claws into his shoulders and pushed him back into the piano, destroying it in one fluid motion.
Ben tried to get a clear shot, but every time he got Ezra in his sights Scarlet got in the way. While he was confident in his marksmanship, he didn't want to risk hitting the one who had risked everything to tell Maya the truth. He turned to Walter in the hopes he was having better luck, but the old knight was in the same predicament.
Ezra clamped his teeth down on her arm and bathed in the beauty of her scream. Her betrayal was an affront to his rightful command of the Family, and he was eager to see justice served.
An explosion shook the mansion, followed soon after by another.
The chandelier fell from the ceiling and Ben had to jump to avoid it as it smashed into the floor. Fire sprung from the candles and ignited the carpet, slinking over the floor to reach the tapestries that hung from the rafters. Walter screamed to Scarlet, but if she heard him she gave no indication.
The fire spread at an alarming rate and forced Ben and Walter to retreat back the way they came.
"S-Scarlet!" Walter coughed and struggled to project his voice.
The extraordinary heat of the fire was matched only by the suffocating pain the smoke brought.
Ben peered through the fire and saw the two balverines locked in a bloody struggle. He called out for Scarlet, but his voice was drowned out by the fire. The smoke was becoming too much, and they were forced back down the corridor, leaving Scarlet and Ezra behind.
Shiloh walked through the hallway, her doll clutched tightly in her arms, peering down the dark corridors she passed in search of her father. She wasn't afraid of the chaos around her, but hoped it would end soon – the noise was keeping her from falling asleep.
She knew her father had done horrible things, gone against the wrong people, and she suspected that was the reason behind the bizarre darkness she had felt around her father as of late. She knew it's intentions were not pure, but her father seemed oblivious to it's presence. Deep down, she knew his mind had been broken by a dark and ancient influence, one even she did not recognize until it was too late.
She sighed in frustration as she passed the dead bodies of her Family. Everything was gone, or soon would be, and she was unsure where she would go from here.
As she was pondering her options, a familiar figure crossed her path.
Malakai...
He smirked at her and crouched down to look her in the eye, "Are you lost, Shiloh?"
She shrugged but said nothing. Malakai had always made her feel uneasy and she never understood why her father seemed to confide in him as much as he did. He looked like he was sick, his skin was pale and clammy and his hair never looked clean. There was something foul about him, something dark that sent a shiver down her spine.
"Have you seen your father?"
Shiloh shook her head.
"The Family isn't going to last the night, kid." He said coldly, "If you want to live through this, you'd best come with me."
Shiloh's face soured, "No...I don't like you."
Malakai laughed, "Then you're a smart girl! I've done nothing in my life to earn trust, and I don't see that changing in the future. But your father is weak, he will fall with this mansion and become part of this cursed earth. Do you want to join him, Shiloh?"
She glared at him, "You aren't a good person, death is waiting for you."
"Is it now?" He chuckled, "And when is he going to catch up to me? I've killed children before you miserable brat! Don't think that innocent look is going to save you!"
Shiloh's eyes reflected no fear, which enraged Malakai more than anything else.
He stood and drew his sword, "If you aren't with me, you're against me -"
A pain shot through his chest, rendering him speechless, and breathing became extremely difficult. He glanced down and brought a hand to his chest, only to discover the tip of a blade protruding from his flesh. Blood poured from the wound and pooled at his feet. He saw Shiloh take a step back to avoid the puddle, but her curious gaze never left his face.
The blade twisted inside of him, slicing through the heart many assumed he didn't have. He gasped and threw his head back as the blade was jerked out of him with one tug.
Malakai fell to his knees, then flopped onto his side. He took a few strangled breaths before death blanketed him and dragged his black soul away.
Shiloh looked up to the man who wielded the blade and titled her head, "Who are you?"
The old man knelt and offered her his hand, "Sir Walter Beck, little miss. And who might you be?"
Her eyes opened wide, "You're a knight?"
Walter smiled and nodded, "I am."
"So...you're a good person?"
"I try to be, yes."
Shiloh's mouth twisted as she considered him, "I am Shiloh Kaiser...have you seen my daddy?"
Walter tenderly took her small hand in his, "I...we need to get you out of here, it isn't safe."
Shiloh knew there was something he wasn't telling her, but the kindness in the man's eyes was...refreshing. There had been a time when that warmth had been in her father's eyes, but that was a long time ago. This man, wherever he came from, seemed like a good option – for the time being. She allowed him to pick her up, and rested her head in the crook of his neck as he carried her out of the mansion.
The troll, terrified of the flames that had consumed the majority of the stands, didn't hear the cage finally give way or the hurried stomping approaching him from behind. It raised it's hand in the air, intent on crushing Maya, but didn't get that far.
Von jumped on it's back and dug his teeth into it's neck. Lightning danced across his fur and his eyes were glowing as the magic flared inside of him. He felt his hands burning, but he was unable to rein in the will. Patches of fur across his body began to burn away and the intense heat of the lightning reached his flesh.
The troll ran into the wall, pinning Von.
He heard Maya screaming, and threw his head back in an attempt to breathe. The massive weight against him snapped his ribs and aggravated his shoulder, but he was more concerned about her.
Maya forced herself to her feet and stumbled towards the troll. She had lost her sword and Dragonstomper in the fray, but she still had her gauntlets. She called a flurry of wind to her and sent it flying toward the troll. It was strong enough to pull the beast of of Von and sent it stumbling into the wall head first. She heard the sickening crack of it's skull giving way under the force of the impact, and mercifully the troll ceased moving.
She whipped around and ran toward Von, who was swaying on his hands and knees, the lightning still ravaging his body.
"Von!" Her voice cracked as tears fell down her cheeks.
This couldn't be the end, this power she had cursed him with couldn't take him from her!
Maya fell to her knees beside him and weaved her fingers into the singed fur along his back. The searing energy trailed off of him and ran up her arms, carving red welts into her skin. Knowing he was unintentionally hurting her, he tried weakly to move out of her grasp but she held tight.
The circle of fire around them was growing by the minute and she feared it would spread to the forest around it. One of the towers gave in to the fire and tumbled onto the battlefield. It sent embers up into the air and splintered in one mighty groan.
Von fell onto his chest and the lightning retreated from his body.
Maya crawled forward to touch his face and choked on a sob.
He was still – too still to be alive.