| Song of The Soul A never ending torrent of blood dripped from the gash in her arm. Her pale grey eyes clouded over with pain as she stood backed against the gnarled oak.. "What do you want from me?!" She cried out as the black menace drew closer to her, "Is it my flesh you want! Is it my blood? What!" The demon that was the dark wolf drew closer to her as her voice rang out in the clear night air. The fur of the wolf's clean black coat glistened and stood on end as her wailing reached a cresendo. The red headed witch was trapped against the tree trunk, bound by her childlike fear to the very spot. Her hair was cut short and was matted with her own blood. Her thin frame was a perfect match for the smooth cream skin that the gods had given her, a shame that her clothes were rags.. ripped and tattered by too many evenings spent sleeping on the street. "Well?" She gasped. The Wolf, Sareth, bared his teeth as he brought his lupin face near to Nicoles. In a deep and menacing growl, he let out these words.. "What do I want? I want your soul!" Nicole's eyes grew wide with terror as she felt the deep realization of who she was dealing with. Sareth was the highest of the Wild Court. Her magic against a warrior of his caliber was like swatting a swarm of scarab beetles with a rolled newspaper. Nicole was utterly hopeless. Or was she? "Sareth, ruler of the High Court of Wild. How have a wronged thee?" Nicole whispered with false honor. She brought her gaze to his, gathering her last shred of dignity. "Ahh, so you do remember me." Sareth licked his lips with delight, "It would be a shame for my dearest wife to have forgotten who I am." The air between the pair grew suddenly ice cold as Nicole narrowed her eyes. It became suddenly difficult to breath, as if the oxygen was being choked from the air with magic, as it was. "I am NOT your wife." She growled with an animal like tone. "Oh but you are.. You gave yourself to me on the last night of the full moon last Samhain. Do you not remember? Of course you were much more beautiful then, none of this human garbage on you. You were simpley gorgeous. Desert browned fur, flaxen with red streaks. Sundrenched. Stunning. You told me you had crossed a hundred dunes to find me." The wolf recalled haugtly. "You gave me your heart and promised me your soul. And then you left with that pitiful human boy! Now I have come to claim what is rightfully mine!" Sareth spat the words with shame. He backed off several paces, enough to let Nicole crumple to the ground. Her eyes blazed with a fury that had frozen glaciers and broken bones. She wrapped her arms tight around her body, pulling her mangled dress up enough to reveal the tattoo on her ankle. It was a symbol formed by combines letters: WAR. The letters looped together in a fashion that displayed elegance and class. Cursive. Only then did Sareth see that the letters were not done in ink, they were burned into her very skin. Searred into the very core of her. Sareth Gasped, "You let him... brand you? You let him mark you like a prize cow! Like the bitch that you are!?" Nicole spread her arms and lifted her palms to the sky, as was customary for a witch to do when calling on the power of the Goddess. "Yes." She breathed, "I let him mark me. For his love is more pure than anyone's I have every met. His heart shares secrets with me that no one else can tell. He has given me the gift of partnership, a gift that you will never be able to give any woman!" In a flash of lightning she changed. The very Earth seemed to shake with power as she let her skin drop away. It simpley fell in drops of rain to the soft dirt and was soaked up instantly. Beads of light rippled across her flesh as she allowed the wind to kiss her body, sprinking tufts of fur across her until she was completely covered in it. The breaking and knashing of bones broke the quiet of the night as she contorted into that which was her true form... All was still again as she rose, not on two legs this time, but on four. She was the Coyote. One with her ancestors through the gift of magic. Nicoles fur swayed gently in the breeze golden and flecked with splashes of dusty red. Smooth muscle formed her legs and brought her to life. She was quick and sly. The most beautiful creature that the Goddess could possibly have created. "Has he seen you like this?" Sareth let out a thin laugh. "How could a mere mortal love a Dog like you?" "No.." She drawled, "But He would love me just the same." "We shall see how he loves you.. When You are Dead!" |
Chapter 2
Nicole leapt to the side, missing
Sareths teeth by a hair. She could feel his hot breath against her flank as he
turned to dig his fangs into the delicate skin of her neck. Letting out a howl
of anguish she struggled to free herself from his grasp. His teeth were sharp
and left tiny pinpricks of blood oozing on the surface of her fur. The blood clung
to her, running in little rivers down her legs and onto the dirt, clumping the
soft earth together in blackened globs of her canine spirit. Her very soul
seemed to leak from her body as the warm liquid departed from her.
With a snarl of rage she flung the
wolf from her back and turned her own fangs to him. Her eyes glowed with a grey
fire that seemed to light up her entire being as she dove in for his throat.
The very essence of her anger penetrated Sareth as she tore at him. His lips
turned up as he fought for his life. It seemed almost as if he were laughing at
her as the smaller dog struggled to pin the great wolf.
“You can’t win.” Sareth Snarled as
he rolled over the blood stained clay.
The two were at a standstill. The scent
of decayed love wafted between them as they faced one another. It was true.
Nicole had been in love with Sareth, but she had run from him as she came to
realize what he really was. He was a killer. He hunted more than he needed to
survive; he killed children, killing them in their sleep like sheep sent off to
the slaughterhouse. Nicole could not possibly love someone who hurt for
pleasure. Every child that Sareth killed left a permanent twinge of pain within
her heart. She would never let a murderer like that live as long as she
continued to breath.
“Then neither can you.” She coughed.
“I won’t go back to the clan with you. You’ll have to let me go.”
Sareth barked, “Let you go?!
Never!”
The black wolf lunged toward her
once again; eyes blazing and fur standing on end. His jaw locked onto the
coyote’s forepaw and yanked her off balance. The sound of bone fracture
permeated the clearing sending the crows about scattering into the midnight
sky. Nicole let out a yelping moan as she attempted to rip herself free from
Sareth grasp. Alas to no avail.
“No bitch leaves Sareth, Highest
Warrior of the
Nicole felt Sareths finality as he
gave her the options. She could not let her love be killed by a society he knew
nothing of. The Boy was only a mortal, and thus had never heard of the four
Courts of Magic.
“As you wish,” She breathed, “I will
go with you.”
“That’s what I thought. You have one
hour to say goodbye to the boy. Meet me back at the well. If you’re not there
in an hour, I will hunt you down.” Sareth said.
Her leg hung limply at her side as
she brought herself back to a stand. The change would take too much effort to
do right now. She would wait she decided until she came to the garden behind
The Boy’s house. She took a tender step forward, and then another. The road
home was going to be rough. An hour was not enough.
“Well? You going to show up as a
wounded animal on his front porch?” Sareth laughed. “If I were you I would
hurry.”
The wounded coyote licked at her leg
and started down the wooded path to the house of The Boy. Every step hurt more
the last. The pain came in hot little bursts that jarred her senses as she
braved the way to her Love. She walked for what seemed to be miles but was
really only several feet. Panting; her lungs aches from the exertion of walking
on a shattered limb. Crunch, Grrrrsshhh,
Sigh. The bones grated together. They seemed to wear down against each
other, smoothing the rough edges of her stinging soul. The only thing that
seemed to keep her moving was the goal that she would soon be seeing the love
of her life. The Boy was her positive reinforcement, but she knew now that this
would be the last time she would be able to tell him she loved him. From this
day forward, she would be bound as the slave wife of Sareth. The High Court of
Wild did not mark it’s vendetta’s on mortals unless they were sure of the
sentence. Death was death. They did not change their minds.
Her breathing grew ragged with tears
as she choked back howling sobs of misery. Never had she felt such human
emotion. The WolfenFae were prided on their ability to hold such human emotions
as: love, pride, joy, and anger. Sorrow and remorse were not often traits
displayed by the Fae. Sorrow was a form of weakness. If you ran into battle
full of the fear than you would not be following the pack home, you were
destined to die. Death is inevitable to those who do not believe. Nicole was
not one of those. She believed that life was a gift, and that if you did not
welcome life’s gift of all the human emotions, it was not worth living. A
single tear rolled down her canine cheek and plummeted to the wooded floor.
“Be strong!” She commanded herself.
“How can you smile for The Boy when your eyes are full of pain?” Nicole
attempted a grin. Her bloodied teeth glittered back at her from the reflection
of a floor bound puddle. She groaned. Swishing her tongue over her mouth she
tasted the metallic scent of Sareths blood. There was a time when that would
have brought erotic thoughts to mind, but now all it brought to her was gagging
images of crying infants ripped from their mothers arms. She stopped on the
path and vomited into the grass. There was no taste worse than that of torment.
The sky was growing light as Nicole
reached the house of The Boy. Time was against her. Not only was her body stiff
with itching wounds, but her mind was plagued with guilt. Could she truly leave
her Love forever and go to live as a slave? To save him... anything.
The change was the worst it had ever
been for her. Scabs split as the magic of her ancestors brought her back to her
second form. A shrieking howl escaped her now human lips as she returned to
mortal flesh. There was the sound of scampering woodland animals as the door of
the house before her opened and a young man emerged into the early dawn.
“Is some one there?” He called out.
“Hello? Are you alright? Please... I
only wish to help.”
Nicole gathered her wits and stood
from the green clover. Her body was naked. She was covered in battle wounds but
she held her head high and managed a smile.
“Good morning Sir,” She laughed,
“Care to carry a lady inside?”
The Boy let out a gasp of surprise
as Nicole rose out of the foliage. Not only was she dirty; she looked as if she
had been ravaged by wild animals.
“Oh Doll! What has happened to
you!?” He cried out as he rushed to her side.
Nicole only laughed as he led her up
the back porch steps to his house. The wooden floor boards creaked as she
leaned against her Love. They entered the house through the rear door and fell
into the cushions by the fire. Nicole knew that she had little time to spend
with The Boy, and didn’t intend on wasting any time. As soon as he had sunk
down beside her she placed a tender kiss upon his lips.
"You wrote that?
So dark...deep and depressing.
It's amazing"
-Roblen
"It's rhyming in the classical non-Latin way."
-Cyn
"Oh dear Nayru, Din and Farore. It's so...Demented! Insane! Mad!
But perfect! Such a twist of passion, rippled with anger and darkness.
Very strong. Nice.
"
-The Arbiter
"It's hard to critique good poetry because the poem itself says everything that needs to be said. Because of this all I can really say is that it was better than any poem I've written, although it does seem a little morbid in one or two places."
-Xamllew