devolve into some brainless, ravenous monster, he must hold his inner beast in check.
Do it the old way , temptation whispered. You know you want to.
Ignoring the urge, Tarrant shut his eyes, lifted the tankard to his lips, and drank deeply of the precious fluid. He could taste the girl’s youth in her blood, along with her innocence, her femininity… and of course her fear. A priceless cocktail of vital energies coursed through his veins like fire. If only he could absorb them directly, without need for such a crude vehicle to aid in the digestion! That would be sweet sustenance indeed, if he could ever manage it.
The girl’s emotional emanations were growing weak now as the last of her life poured out of her, but that was to be expected. The first drink was always the sweetest. As for her parents… Tarrant whispered the key to another Working, and saw their expressions go blank as his power began to reweave their memories. By the time he was out of sight they would no longer remember that he had ever been in their house. Someone else had rearranged the cellar during the night. Someone else had covered over all their windows during the day. Their daughter had taken her own life, without telling them why, and they had not found her body until it was too late.
Eventually the Church’s hunters might figure out that something evil had visited this place, but they would have no way to determine its nature. Or to know how it must be hunted.
This monster left no trail
Outside the house the night sky was dark, nearly bereft of stars. A single crescent moon hung low on the eastern horizon, and beneath it, shivering with sparks of earth-fae, was the place that mortal men called the Forbidden Forest. The greatest focal point of natural power on this continent… perhaps in all the world.
A man must be willing to risk his life to explore such a place, Tarrant thought. And a creature of the night, uniquely vulnerable to the dark forces of the world, might have to risk more than his life. Was it worth it?
He knew that the Forest was affecting his mind. Every thought in his head was suspect now. Every instinct in his soul would urge him to go eastward, even if certain destruction lay along that path.
Which is why he had made his decision before coming within range of its influence.
Drawing upon the earth-fae that swirled arount his feet—how powerful it was here!—he worked a Summoning to call the nearest available mount to him. When an unhorse came galloping down the road a few minutes later, he used sorcery to remove its rider from its back as casually as one would swat a fly. Normally animals could sense his predatory nature and were loathe to let him approach them. But a minor Soothing ameliorated the situation, allowing him to mount the animal and ride.
Layering such Workings upon the animal that its spirit would be steady to the gates of Hell themselves if need be, he kneed it into motion and let the siren song of the Forbidden Forest guide him eastward.
* * *
When Faith awakened, she didn’t know at first where she was, or how she had gotten there. She didn’t know very much at all, in fact, save that at some point she had set off with a dozen of her fellow knights to hunt down a particularly troublesome faeborn demon that had been plaguing communities along the border of the Forest, and… and…
Now she was here.
Which was…
Where?
Her head throbbed painfully as she sat up; reaching up, she discovered that dried blood was crusted in her hair. Not a good sign. She started to run her hands all over herself, feeling her flesh for wounds, her armor for damage. There were no open wounds that she could find, but every muscle was sore, and judging from the stabbing pain she felt every time she took a breath, one or more ribs might be broken. Her armor had taken quite a beating, several of the steel scales ripped loose from their moorings and the leather beneath badly scorched. A faint smell of sulfur clung
Do it the old way , temptation whispered. You know you want to.
Ignoring the urge, Tarrant shut his eyes, lifted the tankard to his lips, and drank deeply of the precious fluid. He could taste the girl’s youth in her blood, along with her innocence, her femininity… and of course her fear. A priceless cocktail of vital energies coursed through his veins like fire. If only he could absorb them directly, without need for such a crude vehicle to aid in the digestion! That would be sweet sustenance indeed, if he could ever manage it.
The girl’s emotional emanations were growing weak now as the last of her life poured out of her, but that was to be expected. The first drink was always the sweetest. As for her parents… Tarrant whispered the key to another Working, and saw their expressions go blank as his power began to reweave their memories. By the time he was out of sight they would no longer remember that he had ever been in their house. Someone else had rearranged the cellar during the night. Someone else had covered over all their windows during the day. Their daughter had taken her own life, without telling them why, and they had not found her body until it was too late.
Eventually the Church’s hunters might figure out that something evil had visited this place, but they would have no way to determine its nature. Or to know how it must be hunted.
This monster left no trail
Outside the house the night sky was dark, nearly bereft of stars. A single crescent moon hung low on the eastern horizon, and beneath it, shivering with sparks of earth-fae, was the place that mortal men called the Forbidden Forest. The greatest focal point of natural power on this continent… perhaps in all the world.
A man must be willing to risk his life to explore such a place, Tarrant thought. And a creature of the night, uniquely vulnerable to the dark forces of the world, might have to risk more than his life. Was it worth it?
He knew that the Forest was affecting his mind. Every thought in his head was suspect now. Every instinct in his soul would urge him to go eastward, even if certain destruction lay along that path.
Which is why he had made his decision before coming within range of its influence.
Drawing upon the earth-fae that swirled arount his feet—how powerful it was here!—he worked a Summoning to call the nearest available mount to him. When an unhorse came galloping down the road a few minutes later, he used sorcery to remove its rider from its back as casually as one would swat a fly. Normally animals could sense his predatory nature and were loathe to let him approach them. But a minor Soothing ameliorated the situation, allowing him to mount the animal and ride.
Layering such Workings upon the animal that its spirit would be steady to the gates of Hell themselves if need be, he kneed it into motion and let the siren song of the Forbidden Forest guide him eastward.
* * *
When Faith awakened, she didn’t know at first where she was, or how she had gotten there. She didn’t know very much at all, in fact, save that at some point she had set off with a dozen of her fellow knights to hunt down a particularly troublesome faeborn demon that had been plaguing communities along the border of the Forest, and… and…
Now she was here.
Which was…
Where?
Her head throbbed painfully as she sat up; reaching up, she discovered that dried blood was crusted in her hair. Not a good sign. She started to run her hands all over herself, feeling her flesh for wounds, her armor for damage. There were no open wounds that she could find, but every muscle was sore, and judging from the stabbing pain she felt every time she took a breath, one or more ribs might be broken. Her armor had taken quite a beating, several of the steel scales ripped loose from their moorings and the leather beneath badly scorched. A faint smell of sulfur clung
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