Ultimate Assassin Saga: Tundra

The Blood Demon stepped past the treeline and into the High Forest. In only a few minutes, he found himself deep within the High Forest and he couldn't get over just how beautiful this whole place was. He'd never seen anything like it, and despite the darkness because of how close together the trees were, it was still a majestic sight. He stopped and leaned up against a tree, looking around, but he could feel himself growing hungry. He was Half Human so he did need food unlike full blooded Demons who didn't have to eat at all. He was sure that the High Forest would be teeming with wildlife and he reached out with his senses to search the surrounding area.

The Half Demon waited for several seconds, checking for several feet and he felt his aura brush across another aura. Holding tight to that, he determined that it was a rabbit, and even though that would be but a small meal, he knew that he could deal with it. Determining exactly where the rabbit was, he could sense that the creature was fifteen feet ahead of him and it was all alone. Good, then he wouldn't have to kill small rabbits that wouldn't do him any good in nourishment.

Breal shot forward towards the foliage where he sensed the rabbit hopping through it. He reached one hand into the dense foliage and closed his hand around the plump flesh of the rabbit. Then, he pulled it back through the bushes and he stared into the frightened eyes of the rabbit. He opened his mouth and hissed as his incisors lengthened into long, razor sharp fangs. He heard the rabbit's squeal of pure fear just before he sank his fangs into the rabbit's neck and began to guzzle down its blood.

The coppery taste of the rabbit's blood made him feel better, stronger. He felt the heartbeat of the little creature stop, but he didn't stop feeding. There was still plenty of blood within the creature and he needed it for his mission. Several minutes later, he had drained the rabbit of all of its precious fluids and he pulled his mouth from the creature. He smacked his lips and he licked the spare blood from his lips. He stared down at the lifeless body of the rabbit in his hand and he shook his head, sorry that he had to do such a thing, but it was necessary for his survival.

Blood Demons could only sustain themselves through drinking the blood of others. It gave them strength and power. It didn't matter if it was animal blood or the blood of a sentient being, as long as it was blood. They couldn't drink water or eat any regular foods. For some reason though, he could drink liquor and it wouldn't harm him. He accredited that to his half Human heritage and he'd never thought that he would be glad for his Human heritage. It made him hated by the full bloods, but at least he could drink liquor and forget about the lives he'd been forced to take so he could survive.

Breal sat the body of the rabbit down on the forest floor and he knew that it wouldn't last long. This was a forest and there was bound to be predators or scavengers somewhere around. They would make use of the rabbit's corpse and not let it go to waste. That was all that he could really hope for and forget about it completely if he could. Red eyes glowing in the darkness, he rose to his feet once again and he looked around, but he sensed nothing sentient around him.

He was going to have a hard time finding the Amazons so he figured that he should just start now and try not to drain every animal that he came across. He could only hope that the Amazons accepted him and trusted him when they did find him. If they didn't, it was going to be a serious problem and it would mess up the plan. If they never trusted him, then the Blood Demon Clan would become a target for the Emperor and he couldn't have that happen. He wasn't well loved by those of his own Clan, but he didn't want any of them dead. No, he was loyal and he wanted them to survive.

He just had to find the Amazons and ensure that they did survive.

Acheron had already awoken many hours earlier, but he was yet to move. Instead, he watched the woman sleep and he felt a stirring in his chest. For some reason that was unknown to him, he felt protective over this woman. It made no sense to him, but he found himself thinking of her as a younger sister or maybe even a daughter. If he were this girl's father, he would never let her out of his sight and would protect her with his last breath. Of course, her actual father might actually be like that and she could be rebelling against him, but he didn't guess that really mattered.

Everyone had their issues with family he supposed. He was the perfect example of that. He loved his brother, but not enough to sacrifice himself for his older brother. Azrieal had taught him many things when they lived in the Abyss and he was growing up. Azrieal had saved his life more than once, but that didn't mean he owed his brother anything. Any favor that might've been owed was cancelled out by the amount of times that he'd saved his brother from death and he figured that he'd actually saved his brother more than Azrieal had saved him. Also, there was the whole leading the Dalkian army to carve out the Empire that leaned more in his favor.

The two brothers were both independent and powerful individuals. The majority of those that came across either one of them feared or respected them. He would suppose that more Dalkians feared him than the Emperor though. After all, he was out among the population and defending his rank as Command Assassin much more than anyone saw the Emperor. At least, he had been before he'd betrayed the Empire and gone rogue. Now, he was sure that there were hunters being sent after him and any one of them would relish in destroying him. Any Demon or cutthroat would loved to knock him from his pedestal and have the rights to say that they killed the Command Assassin.

The Chaos Demon shook his head, banishing those thoughts. It wouldn't do to keep dragging his mind through the past when he had a job to do. He had to find Trissieal, and while he searched, it wouldn't hurt to make allies. Maybe the Elk Barbarian Tribe would be a powerful and useful ally. He had to reach them first and become closely acquainted with them though. That was the only way he was going to make an alliance with the Elk was to actually meet them and establish a rapport with them. He didn't think that just because he'd saved one girl from the Tribe that he would be accepted and they would believe that he wanted an alliance. No, he fully accepted for the Barbarians to be suspicious and outright hostile to him.

He was a Demon after all and prejudices went deep. It would be hard for the Barbarians to look at him and judge him on his deeds alone. They would remember all the stories they'd been told as a child about Demons and they would find it hard to believe that they'd been wrong all along. He would just have to make sure that they knew that their conceptions weren't wrong, but he was the exception to most Demons. He knew better than anyone that Demons were mostly backstabbing and looking for ways to get ahead, but he wasn't like that. He merely wanted to get away from his brother and find the woman that he loved.

The Command Assassin noted that the flames of the fire were winding down and they would soon be out. He was really waiting for the flames of the campfire to go out, and once they were out, he would awaken the girl. She'd called herself Diana, and even though he didn't know the girl, he believed that she'd given him her real name. After her initial discomfort with his being a Demon, she hadn't treated him any different than she would another Human and he found himself amazed by that. Was she the exception of her people or were they all like her? He could only hope that they would all be like her because that would make things easier for him, but he didn't really expect that.

Then again, he hadn't really thought he would make any leeway with the Amazons either, but he had their alliance. He also had the alliance of the Wood Elves and he was fairly certain that if he needed them, even the Wolfians would come to his aid as well. Even though he'd only met one of them - Fenris his name was - he fully believed that they would come to his aid if he needed it, though why he felt like that he didn't know. If he played this just right, he could have the Elk Barbarian Tribe joining him in alliance as well and that would make for a wonderful start, but he didn't expect it to be that easy.

Nothing was ever that easy.

While he waited for the flames to die down, Acheron turned his eyes to the sky. It was still dark and the stars were still out, but as the seconds went by, more of the stars were disappearing as the sun was getting closer to rising. To him, it really was a beautiful sight. He'd only seen this sort of nature for the past six months, and even though he'd seen it before, that had been centuries ago before Dalkia became the power that it was. He'd actually had to journey outside of Dalkia at that time and cut out the Empire's borders, but after they'd spread far enough, he'd rarely left the country. Most of the threats to the Emperor were all in Dalkia and he didn't have to step out from under the blood red skies. He was glad that he was out now though.

The clouds in the sky were turning a myriad of colors as the sun grew closer and its beams of light were hitting the clouds, making them turn colors. There were beautiful golds, pinks, purples, and even an orange or two in there. He'd never seen anything like this in all of his time on the Mortal Plane and he took that moment to sit in awe of the beauty of nature. It was enough to make him feel small and that wasn't something that he often felt. After all, he was well over seven foot tall and hugely muscled. He was a big guy, but something about the way nature so effortlessly exuded its might made him feel much smaller and much less significant to the grander scheme of the world.

In short, it was humbling.

As the sun rose over the Tundra, large drops of snow began to fall from the sky. The day had officially begun and it was probably going to be a long one. He turned his attention to the fire and he noted that it was nothing more than flickering embers. Sighing, the Chaos Demon uncrossed his legs and rose to his feet. Then, he walked around the fire and knelt down beside her. He reached out, placing his hand on her slender shoulder and began to shake her awake.

Diana came awake immediately and the first thing she did was swing a fist for his face. He was slightly surprised by her reaction, but not caught off guard. The Command Assassin grabbed her wrist, halting her punch. He moved her hand to the side and stared into her eyes. She blinked a couple of times and stared up at him, her dark blue eyes still foggy with sleep. It appeared that waking up with a punch was an instinct of her's and one she wasn't likely to break anytime soon. In his mind, that was a good thing because it meant she knew how to survive.

"It is daylight." Acheron informed her in a soft voice. He released her hand and he got to his feet. She continued to lay there for a moment, looking up at him in obvious wonder. He raised a single black brow and he smiled a little, but he did attempt to hide his amusement. She sat up from her place and she pulled her cloak tightly around her to combat the driving wind that allowed the snow to fall. "We need to go. If we ever intend to catch up with your people, we will have to go and go now."

The Barbarian looked up at him, obviously searching for his lie. He wasn't lying so he stared right back at her and waited. After several more minutes, she nodded her head and she got to her feet. Despite being at her full height, she still only came up to about his stomach and she had to crane her head far back to look into his eyes. He waited for what she had to say because he could tell by the way she was holding herself that she had something to say.

"My people won't take very well to you. I've been missing for a day and I'm going to show up with a Demon. They're going to think you orchestrated the whole thing so you could come out the hero and I would trust you. I know I can trust you, but my father and brothers will think I'm being a foolish little girl." Diana answered him in a worried voice. She gnawed on her bottom lip and she stared straight into his face, almost as if she was pleading with him not to go, to leave right here and now.

The Chaos Demon shook his head and continued to stare at her. He wasn't going to go anywhere, no matter what she said. However, he knew that she wanted him to leave to protect him and she obviously believed that he would be in trouble with her people. She was probably right and he expected that, but he wasn't all that worried about it. After all, the Barbarians were just Humans and Humans couldn't kill him. They wouldn't even know how to go about doing such a thing.

"We will deal with that when we come to it. First, we have to find your people." Acheron replied in a soft voice. She released her lip from between her teeth and she stared at him in shock. Apparently, she'd never run across someone who didn't avoid danger and who in fact feared nothing. He found that surprising considering she lived among the Barbarians and Barbarians were synonymous with fearless warriors. "We need to get going now, Diana."

He saw the girl shift, obviously uncomfortable with his using her name. However, he wasn't going to apologize for being polite and he merely smiled. Then, he turned away from her, staring out over the widespread white of the western Tundra and the Tundra all around. There was some black dotting the white in front of him and he knew that those were rocks buried underneath the bright white snow. Without looking back at her, he began to walk and he felt his boots sinking within the snow as he walked.

The Command Assassin could only hope that the Elk Tribe would accept him soon enough and come to trust him. He knew that they wouldn't trust him right off the bat and he would be treated as a suspicious character right from the beginning, but he believed that he could get them to trust him. After all, he wasn't there to harm them and he hoped that they could see that, but it might not be possible. They were Humans and Humans were well known for being stubborn in their beliefs, especially when it came to prejudices. He would just have to make them see and maybe, just maybe, he would have a fourth people allied under him.

Acheron had to believe that.

Shido lay in bed with his Mate Leanna and he held her close. She was sleeping soundly and he was glad for that. If she knew what was going on, she wouldn't have been sleeping so easily. Her mind would be whirling and she would be up all night just like him. He always made it a point to tell his Mate everything and never keep anything from her, but this time he couldn't do that. He had to keep this secret from her to spare her the worry and the eventual pain of having to leave her home. He had put her through so much over the years and he couldn't help but wonder how much more she would be able to take before she gave up on him.

He wasn't the perfect Mate and he knew that. Hell, he didn't even try to pretend that he was. He was an imperfect being as they all were. The only difference was that he was the Clan Lord and he had to have at least the appearance of being perfect. He had to be emotionless and unflappable, no matter what was going on. He was finding that hard to do in this situation however. He found himself doubting his plan and wondering if he was going to get his Clan destroyed. He continued to worry that the Emperor would bust down the doors of his compound and destroy every last one of them, but it was yet to happen.

The Blood Demon sighed softly and he pulled his hands back from her. Then, he carefully sat up, and when Leanna didn't move, he got off of the bed. He walked naked across the room towards the table and picked up a lavender silk robe from the back of one of the chairs. He slid his arms into the sleeves and pulled it closed, tying the sash so it would stay closed. He stared into the darkness at his Mate and he sighed. All he wanted was to do what was right for his Mate and he believed this to be the right thing, but what he worried about was whether or not she would think it was the right thing.

What he was doing was dangerous and he knew it. Only he and Breal knew about it. Otherwise, the entire Clan would probably be in an uproar, and before you knew it, the Emperor would know about it. That was the main reason he was keeping it a secret. It wasn't because he was worried what his people would think, but because they would stir up so much that the Emperor would catch wind of it and they couldn't afford that. Whether or not he respected the Emperor, he knew the man was powerful and could destroy every one of them without breaking a sweat. That was why this had to stay a secret for now.

Hell, he couldn't even tell his Mate.

The Clan Lord walked around the bed slowly, being careful to be absolutely silent. Odd things woke Leanna up and he would never be able to explain why he was so worried without telling her. He trusted his Mate, but he didn't want to worry her. It was times like this he wished his partner, Mal, was still alive, but he knew he was hoping against hope. Mal had sacrificed himself for his Lord and lover many decades ago, leaving the Clan Lord alone with his Mate. It wasn't that he minded having his Mate all to himself, but he did miss the man that had been like a brother to him and the way that he could tell Mal anything without having to worry about him turning on him.

It really wasn't that Mal had seen him as infallible and was completely loyal to him. No, it was more like he loved and feared Shido at the same time. They had grown up together, they had agreed to become partners. He could still remember his first time with Mal and how sweet it had been, despite both of their fears. The two men had been together for fifty years with just one another to satisfy, but then, Shido had come across Leanna and he knew that he had to have her.

Once the Blood Demon had taken his Mate, he'd been forced to split his time between the two and they both understood. After all, it was the Blood Demon way to share partners and Mates. They had no choice unless they wanted to go their whole lives without sex and that would drive any man or woman insane. Sex was an integral part of the Blood Demon ways. It was in many of their rituals, rights, and prayers. There was no avoiding it, not that many of them wanted to. In fact, he could only think of one Blood Demon who had vowed chastity until his death and he had held tightly to it before finally dying after two hundred years.

The Clan Lord opened the glass doors that lead outside and he stepped out onto the balcony. Then, he walked across and closed his hands around the railing and he stared out at the compound below. He'd done his best to get his people to carve out the best compound that they could, but he knew that it had its weaknesses. Then again, every compound of power had its weaknesses and there was nothing anyone could do about it. It was just a fact of life.

His thoughts turned to Breal and he sighed. The Half Demon had no idea of his true heritage and he was glad for that. It was true that he'd been forced to execute the boy's father when his mother was still pregnant, but he hadn't been able to kill the mother and unborn child. It had simply been to hard for him to do, and so, he'd allowed them to live. Well, he'd allowed the mother to live until she gave birth and then she was executed as well. She was just a Human after all and Humans couldn't make it in the halls of the Blood Demon compound. They were simply too weak.