The Surien Series Blood Guardian (11 page)

“Did you attack the girl, as I ordered?” Vaiden questioned, as he impatiently paced the empty alleyway just three blocks from the run-down house he called his headquarters.

“Yes thaison, I stabbed her just as you requested,” the unden answered, with his head hung down in shame.

“I don't make requests, I give orders,” Vaiden shouted, delighting in the slave’s fearful wince. “Did he save her?”

“Yes thaison, he came to the patio doors, reached out into the sunlight and threw me across the yard, just as you said he would.”

“And is he injured?” Vaiden snapped impatiently.

“Yes, his hand is burned.”

“He risked his life to save hers, excellent,” Vaiden said, as an evil grin spread across his wicked face. “He is falling in love with her. Did she see his wound?”

“Yes thaison.”

“Well, tell me what happened you idiot.” Vaiden back-handed the slave. “Did he take her?”

The slave was confused, “I am sorry, I don't understand the question thaison.”

“Did they sleep together?” Vaiden growled in frustration.

“Almost, they were interrupted by the girl's friend.”

“I'll kill that little witch.”

“NO!” the slave blurted out, his eyes wide with fear.

“What did you say?” Vaiden turned on the unden like a snake.

“I just meant that, if you kill her friend now, she won't be in a very romantic mood; if you want her to sleep with Daire, maybe you should wait,” the slave stammered, hoping Vaiden wouldn't see through his lie. The truth is, he was beginning to feel very sorry for the two girls, but if Vaiden knew that he would make certain that the slave begged for death.

“If I didn't know better, I'd think you'd developed a soft spot for these humans,” Vaiden spat in disgust. “Still, you may be right, at times my rage can make me act in haste. Fine, I'll kill her after Daire beds the human. Now, give me the knife.”

The slave heaved a small sigh of relief as he handed him the blood-stained knife he'd used to stab Symarah.

“Never question me again, unden!” Vaiden roared, as he threw the man across the alley with a wave of his hand. “Now go, find Daire and the girl, and don't let them out of your sight.”

As Daire and Symarah rounded the corner they saw another empty hallway and at the end was a large set of double doors. There were other smaller doors on either side and as they passed each door they could hear groups of demmic inside, talking and laughing about their latest victims. They silently crept along the empty hallway, hoping that they wouldn't be caught. Daire closed his eyes as they stood in front of the massive double doors, listening for any sign of movement from within.

“There's no one inside,” Daire said as he cracked open the door and peeked inside to make sure.

“Well, what are you waiting for, get in there before someone catches us snooping around,” Symarah said as she shoved Daire through the door.

“We are definitely in the right place,” Daire said.

“How can you be so sure?” Symarah asked as she closed the door and turned to face him.

As soon as she saw the room she knew, it had Vaiden written all over it. She had never seen anything so ostentatious in all her life.

“Only Vaiden would be arrogant enough to design something so pretentious,” Daire answered.

The floor was made entirely of pure white marble, with an intricate gold inlay border. There was a long table in the middle of the room; it was lined with chairs of gold with black velvet cushions. At the back wall of the room sat an enormous gold throne, covered in white velvet. In front of the throne was a huge table made of white marble with the same gold inlay border that was used on the floor, and behind the throne was a huge mirror with a large ornate gold frame.

“Bit of a narcissist too,” Symarah said, as she noticed the huge mirror that covered the entire back wall.

“Yeah, well he had to have a mirror big enough to see that giant head of his,” Daire joked.

As they walked around the table to where Vaiden's gaudy throne sat, they noticed a paper lying in the middle.

“What is it?” Symarah asked. But before he had a chance to pick it up and look at it, a small group of demmic flashed into the room.

“What the hell are you doing in here?” the ugliest one yelled.

“And what's with the human?” the biggest one asked in a deadly tone.

Daire froze, he couldn't think of an answer that would keep the demmic from killing them both. Of course they would know she was human, they could sense it. Why hadn't he thought of that? Everything had happened so quickly and he hadn't been expecting a room full of demmic, but that was no excuse; how could he be so careless?

“I believe the man asked you a question,” another of the demmic said, as he stepped forward menacingly.

“Is this what you wanted thaison?” Symarah said, as she climbed onto the table and sat facing him. She wrapped her long legs around his hips and ran her hands over his chest seductively.

“What?” Daire looked at her in shock.

Tell them I'm your iphun unden; she forced the thought into his mind.

“She's my sex slave,” Daire said, still a little confused.

“Nice,” the first demmic said, congratulating Daire on his choice of women.

“Still it is forbidden; you better get her out of here before Vaiden finds out,” the second demmic scolded.

“Is Vaiden here?” Daire asked, finding it difficult to concentrate with Symarah rubbing on his chest.

“No, he is in the human realm, attending to some unfinished business,” the ugly demmic answered.

“What kind of business?” Daire questioned, forcing himself to focus on something other than the gorgeous long legs wrapped around him.

“He went to check on that slave of his, to make sure he's following orders.”

“What were his orders?” Daire asked.

“He was supposed to attack the girl,” the ugly demmic continued answering Daire's questions. “I still don't see why he ordered the slave not to kill her though, why even attack her if you don't want her dead.”

“Shut up Killian,” the second demmic said, eyeing Daire suspiciously. “Are you new here?”

“Yeah, Vaiden just recruited me. He told me to meet him here to discuss the details of his plan.”

“Well, he should be back soon enough, you can wait outside with us.”

This was not good, Daire needed to get Symarah out of there before Farkas saw them, or worse, Vaiden.

Realizing the danger they were in, Symarah had no choice but to take action. It was the only way to get away from the demmic.

“Please, let me pleasure you thaison, I live to serve only you,” she purred in her sexiest voice as she ran her hand down his stomach to his waist.

“I'd better take care of this before it gets out of hand,” Daire smirked, taking Symarah's cue.

“Nice,” Killian said again, with a lecherous smile in Symarah's direction.

Symarah continued to grope Daire as they made their way out of the throne room and back down the hall toward the portal.

Once they were back on the street in Delmar, they finally heaved a sigh of relief. They stopped by a tree at the end of the cul-de-sac.

“That was close,” Symarah said.

“Yes, if you hadn't pretended to be my iphun unden we would have been in serious trouble,” Daire agreed. “That was quick thinking, very clever.”

“Thanks, I wasn’t sure they would buy it.”

“You were very convincing,” Daire smiled.

Just then Vaiden's slave rounded the corner and was headed right for them. Daire pressed Symarah up against the tree and kissed her. The slave walked by without even noticing them.

“I don't think he recognized us,” Symarah said.

“No, I don't think he did,” Daire agreed.

“We should get out of here before he comes back.”

Daire took her hand and led her into a deserted alley.

“Concentrate on home,” he said as he closed his eyes and focused on Symarah's living room. In a flash they were back at home. Kassie rushed to hug her best friend.

“Thank God you're alright!” she heaved a sigh of relief.

“Did anything happen here?” Symarah asked, nervously looking around.

“No, everything was quiet here,” Jareth answered.

“What the hell are you wearing?” Kassie laughed, finally noticing Symarah's outfit.

“We were in the middle of crack central,” Symarah said, “I had to blend in.”

“Did you find Vaiden?” Jareth interrupted.

“We found his throne room through a portal to his pocket realm,” Daire answered.

“That's how he has managed to elude us all these years.”

“Why even Athena herself couldn't find him,” Daire agreed.

“Did you find anything else?”

“According to the demmic, he ordered his slave to attack me but not kill me,” Symarah answered, “but they don't know why he doesn't want me dead yet, so I doubt they know exactly what he's planning.”

“We also found a piece of paper on his table,” Daire interjected, “but the demmic caught us before I could get a good look at it.”

“So you don't know what was on it?” Jareth asked.

“No, I wish I'd had time to take it; whatever was on that paper could have been the key to Vaiden's undoing.”

“Well, I guess it's a good thing that I stole it then,” Symarah said as she reached down and retrieved a crumpled up piece of paper from her black suede boot.

“How did you....When did you....”

“I sat on it when I climbed up onto the table so when I wrapped my legs around you, I reached down, crumpled it up and shoved it down in the top of my boot.” Symarah smiled proudly.

“You climbed on a table and wrapped your legs around him?” Kassie smirked. “Was Vaiden's throne room in a strip club?”

“I had to pretend to be his sex slave or the demmic would have killed us both,” Symarah said a little too defensively.

“Relax, I'm just teasing you,” Kassie laughed.

Daire smoothed out the paper and laid it on the coffee table. “The scalphen dehiette.”

“That's not possible.” Jareth shook his head in disbelief.

“What if it is?” Daire answered, a look of dread spreading across his handsome face.

“What, is it?” Kassie asked.

“Scalphen dehiette is the Atlantean term for dagger of destruction. It is a mythical dagger that can kill any Atlantean god or goddess,” Jareth said.

“I thought sunlight and decapitation could kill you,” Kassie said.

“Only because of Poseidon's curse. Before the curse, a pure blood Atlantean was indestructible,” Jareth answered.

“I'm confused,” Kassie said.

Daire explained to them that long before Poseidon took over Atlantis, it was a society of peace-loving, pure-blood Atlanteans, indestructible gods. When Poseidon was given dominion over the sea, he decided to take control of the city. He came to Atlantis to issue an ultimatum; evacuate or be banished to a hell dimension and be trapped there for eternity. When Poseidon met with the king and queen, however, he became infatuated with their beautiful daughter Kleito and thus made a deal with them. If they agreed to give him their daughter, he would let the Atlanteans stay in the city under his rule. The king and queen of course declined his request, but Kleito agreed to his terms, knowing that if she did not go with him Poseidon would banish them all to a fate worse than death and her beloved city would be lost. It was rumored that the king and queen were so distraught over their daughter’s fate that they forged the scalphen dehiette in an attempt to take their own lives and end their misery. Kleito found their bodies and the dagger that very evening. Fearing Poseidon's wrath, she decided to bury her parents herself that night. The following day, she announced to the city that unable to watch their only daughter be taken by Poseidon, the king and queen had fled to another part of the country.

“What happened to the dagger?” Symarah asked.

“According to the rumor, Kleito hid it fearing that Poseidon would find it and use it against her people. Some say she buried it with her parents, others think that she threw it into the sea. There are at least a dozen different theories as to the location of the dagger but no one really knows where it is. The whole story was written off as a ridiculous rumor eons ago,” Daire answered.

“I thought Kleito was a mortal,” Symarah said.

“No, Poseidon didn't like the fact that there was a race of people more powerful than him but he allowed them their freedom because of his feelings for Kleito. He didn't want anyone else knowing about the power they possessed, so he claimed they were mere mortals and threatened banishment to anyone who said otherwise.”

“Couldn't they just flash out of the hell dimension?” Kassie questioned.

“When you create a hell dimension, there is no portal. The only way in or out is for the god who created it to transport you,” Jareth answered. “It can only be done by Poseidon, Zeus, and Hades, no one else knows how.”

“Except Athena,” Daire reminded him.

“Yes, Athena was taught by her father in order to punish the fallen who stood before the Surien council.”

“I thought you guys just kill the demmic, why would they go in front of the council for punishment?” Kassie said.

“In the beginning, we were supposed to bring the demmic to the council for punishment. We were not permitted to kill them unless we had no choice,” Jareth answered.

“It was only allowed if we had to kill them in self-defense, or to save an innocent,” Daire added.

“What changed?” Kassie asked.

“Many of the suriens found the council's punishments to be unjust,” Jareth answered.

“More like torture than justice,” Symarah said.

“Exactly; so oftentimes they would kill the demmic instead, to spare them the torture and they would tell the council that it was un-avoidable.”

“Eventually the council stopped asking and no longer seemed to care if we killed the demmic ourselves or not,” Daire added.

“So, back to this dagger thingy,” Kassie said, “is it real or not?”

“The story is believed to be nothing but a myth,” Jareth answered.

“But if Vaiden is looking for it then it must exist,” Daire argued.

“Vaiden would never waste his time on a wild goose chase, he must have some kind of proof of the dagger's existence,” Jareth agreed.

“If anyone would know, it would be Dacian,” Daire said.

“I'll pay him a visit tomorrow,” Jareth agreed.

“Well, I'm exhausted,” Kassie yawned, “I'm off to bed; night guys.”

“Yeah, I think I'll go to bed too, it's been a busy night,” Symarah said as she headed toward the stairs.

“I'll show you where I flashed your other outfit to,” Daire said, following her to her bedroom.

“I can't wait to get back into my own clothes,” Symarah groused, as Daire entered her bedroom and closed the door behind him.

“I take it you don't like the outfit I chose?” Daire pretended to be offended.

“No, I feel like everyone is staring at me.”

“You're a very beautiful woman,” Daire smiled.

“So I should walk around half naked so everyone can see?” Symarah said, a little offended.