Riven Wight

Schooled in Magic

@OfWindAndRain
Hey! How's it going?

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Izzy shook her head at his response. “It lasted until I saw you for the monster you are,” she amended, her voice trembling slightly with both anger and anticipation of where she trusted this conversation was going.
She looked fully to Cerasus when he stepped forward, every muscle in her body tensing as she took an instinctive step away, but her heel hit the door of the farmhouse.
“It was more of a guess,” she breathed, her breaths quickened by dread and the suffocating weight that now saturated the air.
With heavy steps, she moved so her back was no longer against the farmhouse, her gaze never straying from Cerasus. If this was going to happen here, she needed to keep him as far away from the building, from its current single occupant, as she could. All it would take was a single misplaced blow for the whole structure to come crumbling down on top of Trevor. She silently cursed herself for putting him in danger yet again. If she lost, he would be an easy target, an ant to a lion with the appetite of an entire pride. Not that she felt like much more than that herself. He was the ancient hunter, and she little more than a foolish cub who dared challenge him. He had at least five-hundred years of experience in both fighting and killing. He knew all the tricks in the book, every single one of her weaknesses, while she knew only what he had bothered to tell her, and had never killed anything more than insects.
But she could not afford to think like that. She tried to shake the thought off, but with little success as he continued speaking. She took a deep, shaky breath, trying to steady her nerves.
I can do this, she thought halfheartedly, taking up her own defensive stance. She needed to find out his fighting style, any patterns or preferred methods. After all, she had only glimpsed a fraction of the surface of what he could do. And rushing in, even if she had wanted to, had since proven a poor idea to figure that out.
She took another breath, and put on as brave and determined a face as she could muster. “Then what are you waiting for?”

Northwood Academy

Just wanted to wish everyone a happy Halloween, even if it comes a tad bit late. :-)

To Cure a Curse

Once the night had arisen and the household, as far as Rayadell could tell, asleep, she dared to creep outside, her cloak fastened loosely about her and pack abandoned in the small, quaint room Thea had given her for the night. Though she knew she would need her rest, her wings were aching for relief.
Leaving her pack hidden beneath the bed in the bedroom, she crept from the house. The only sound made in her wake was that of the gentle click of the front door’s latch as it open and shut. Outside, the celestial light of the stars and partial moon granted all the light she would need. She paused to inhale the cool night’s air. A hint of rain drifted on the breeze.
With a quick glance to the darkened home, she hurried over the property to behind a barn where she would be hidden from the main house. There, she removed her cloak, the chill of the night caressing the skin of her back. But she did not mind it. She stretched her wings to their full impressive span, the scales of them, her tail, and those winding down the bare portion of her back glittering slightly in the moonlight. She gave a relieved sigh as she worked out the kinks in her wing joints.
She cast another quick glance around the farm, looking for any sign of onlookers. Not even the animals stirred, her presence too far for them to detect. She looked longingly to the sky. It had been such a long time since she had dared fly, and the edge of a sleepy little village was the perfect place for that.
Though she knew she could not be long, with a few strong beats of her leathery wings, she rose into the air. She landed lightly atop the barn, looked about the vast portion of land in contemplation, then dove off the side of the outbuilding. Her wings caught her, and she glided over the expanse of field before rising toward the sky. She spent nearly the next hour swooping through the air, suspended somewhere between earth and sky. Though still careful to not get too close to where she could be easily spotted, she was all but drunk on the exhilaration the leisurely flight brought with it, diving through the air faster than a speeding arrow only to come to an abrupt stop mid-dive then rise once more. Only once did her skills fail her as she returned to the Carishes quaint home, a misplaced wingbeat and a sudden updraft shifting her off balance and sending her spiraling toward the ground, her heart beating in a panicked frenzy before she righted herself.
Back at the house with her cloak once more draped over her shoulders, she stole into her room, pausing only to listen to be sure the household still slumbered. She quickly locked the door, draped her cloak within reach of the bed, then sunk into the bed and quickly fell into the most contented slumber she had experienced in weeks.

* * *

The warm, inviting scent of freshly baked bread and cooking eggs aroused Rayadell from her sleep. She could hear movement coming from the room beside hers, Calanon’s room. The chill of the night had rolled over into morning and clung to the corners of the house, the scent of rain passed in the night.
She rose quickly, if not a bit groggily, and set about preparing for the day. She heard Calanon’s door open and shut as she went to her own, her well-used cloak once more in its usual place. She waited a couple moments with her hand on the doorknob before following his example, making no effort to make known her presence a distance behind him.
Humming came from the kitchen, along with the satisfying sizzle of scrambling eggs.
When Calanon reached the kitchen, Thea turned and cast him her own friendly smile.
“Good morning, hon!” she greeted, removing a pan from the stovetop. “It seems you’re in time for breakfast.” She set to work dividing the food evenly among four plates, leaving enough for another helping in the pan. “Merek should be here shortly. The work of a farmer’s never done.” She quickly sliced a loaf of bread sitting on the counter and placed one on each plate. “Would you like some jam? The Bayberries down the road made it. They make some of the best jam in the kingdom!”

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Izzy shifted her weight slightly, watching him free himself from the ground. She inhaled sharply when his gaze finally met hers. She could not look away, the illusion of emotions, of belonging, nigh intoxicating.
Her body tensed when he answered her question, and she tried with little success to hide her fear at the thought.
That can’t be true! she pleaded silently. If it was, it meant that even the element of surprise would not belong to her. It meant he knew what she had been plotting with Trevor. In the short moment before Cerasus continued, she wondered if that was what had drove him to come here, during the day.
As unsure as ever as to what to expect from him, she flinched slightly when he raised a finger. She blinked at him in surprise when he gave his apology. She struggled to keep the emotions Cerasus brought with him separate from her own as he continued in his pleasing tone. If nothing else, she needed a clear head.
Izzy held her breath when he finished. Some part of her--the vampire part, she assumed--wanted to accept, to live out the rest of eternity side-by-side with him, the King of Aberrations, to succumb to the feelings radiating from him. But every part of her that clung to humanity screamed out against it. It was true, she had not wanted to watch him die. Even now, she did not want to fight him, to kill him, but her options were slim: go against him and potentially save the countless lives of his meals, or let him continue his reign, unchallenged. Or, now, she supposed she had a third, with his offer to join him, to remain a blood-thirsty beast for an eternity. One of the images that had haunted her scant sleep while waiting for Trevor crossed her mind, an image of her in place of Cerasus over the mangled, bloody body of her only friend.
She managed to close her eyes and tear her gaze away from his. She gave a shake of her head and swallowed hard.
“Thank you for your apology,” she intoned quietly. She opened her eyes, her gaze on the ground and only Cerasus’ feet in her line of sight. “But I will not become a monster.” Though her voice was soft, her tone was resolute.

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Izzy jumped around at the thunderous sound, flinching and glancing up as dust rained down. She swallowed hard and shook her head at Trevor’s question.
“If only,” she breathed as she went to look outside. Though she had expected to find Cerasus, the earth surrounding his ankles was a surprise. But, with the word “impossible” swiftly losing its meaning when considering Cerasus, that he had jumped the distance between them was a possibility she would not toss aside. Yet another show of his power. Of the power she would have to face, if she so chose that road.
She took a shaky breath and turned to Trevor. She motioned for him to stay inside with her hand, her gaze stern despite the fear in her eyes. Though she doubted the barn would provide any true protection for him, it was at least something. She had to get Cerasus away from here, away from Trevor. She turned back to the door, held her breath, then opened it just enough for her to slip out.
“Cerasus,” she greeted stiffly. “How’d you find me?”

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Izzy gave a snort at Trevor’s comment, her expression showing her agreement. She glanced to him when he stopped talking, the question of, “What’s up?” crossing her face before she could voice it. Her brows furrowed, and she looked to one of the boarded windows at his answer. Indeed, the streams of sunlight that had filtered in only moments before had faded, casting the area in the gloomy gray of an impending storm. Now that he brought it up, it was impossible to not smell the impending rain, to feel the oncoming storm. When had that happened?
She inhaled, and a look of panic settled over her at the pressure that went beyond the simple storm.
“Cerasus,” she breathed, then all but jumped to her feet. He must be taking advantage of the clouds. Unless, with how quickly they rolled in, could he have created them? Manipulated the weather? She shook her head at the thought--that was impossible--then looked back to Trevor. “You need to go. Now.” She hastily offered Trevor a hand up, trying to guess from which direction Cerasus was coming, and hoping Trevor could get out safely before the other vampire arrived.

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Izzy took a slow breath, trying to steady herself. She leaned forward, and laced her fingers through her hair. Trevor did not need to state the worst case scenario.
“I... I could try to find out how he’d planned on changing me back, before...” She did not want to say it. She took another deep breath. “He’s got me beat in power and strength,” she muttered, more thinking aloud than directly addressing Trevor. “But if he isn’t expecting me to... to turn on him, I’ve at least got that.” She gave a humorless chuckle. Plotting someone’s murder was not something she had ever thought she would be doing.

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Izzy turned her head to look to Trevor, listening intently as he spoke, and nodding to his question.
She continued to stare at him for a moment when quiet fell. Could she really, truly slay someone, even someone like Cerasus? Someone with whom she had laughed the night away with just hours earlier? He had spared her when they first met, and even shown a shred of humanity when talking about his thrall before her. But how many innocent people had he killed? How many more would he kill before his own immortal life was snuffed out?
“Y-you’re sure?” she finally asked in a quavering voice. “Because if... if I do this, I could be eliminating my only chance.”

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“I know,” Izzy groaned when Trevor paused to wipe his glasses. She took a shaky breath when he finished. The truth of his last statement sunk heavily in her chest. She was the only one who stood a chance at stopping him. A shudder ran through her at the thought of facing Cerasus.
“You don’t know what it’s like to just be near him,” she said with a shake of her head. “I can feel his power just by being at the school. Then, even if I did stop him, this, all of this, would be my life until either a hunter killed me, or I did it myself!” She sighed exasperatedly. “But if I don't even try...” Her soft voice trailed off as she leaned her head against the wall behind her with a groan.