Lauri choked on her goblet her eyes wide. Simeon chuckled at her discomfort, grinning widely. "Would you like to hear more?" Lauri dropped her head in her hands shaking it back and forth. "How are you a mentor. I will never understand." Lauri said her tone immensely irritated.
It had been over a month and there still was no sign or message from those who had gone to fight. Both the Darkling's were worried and tense something that Simeon had noticed with great amusement, so now he was regaling them with stories of vastly immoral taste.
Terry was barking with laughter while Lauri turned more and redder. "I swear if you continue on this vein, I will be forced to curse you," Lauri said. Simeon laughed a smile etched on his face, which was immediately erased as his senses went haywire. He froze listening hard and all he heard was silence. He stood upright, the two Darkling siblings looked at him startled at the sudden movement. Terry's eyes narrowed and his hand clenched on the handle of his sword, that was on his hip. As he circled around the table, approaching the door. Lauri stood slowly her senses indicating danger but unable to focus it, she stood unmoving.
Suddenly with a colossal boom, the door slammed open in a flash of light. Lauri watched blinded as Terry was thrown bodily across the room by what seemed to be a magical force of some kind. Simeon was thrown upwards and fell in a heap on the floor. Lauri looked wildly at the door and was shocked at the person at the door was a woman with long curly hair and red eyes. She was coldly beautiful and her eyes zeroed in on Lauri. She smiled once before she flicked her wrist and the table slammed up into Lauri, dropping to the floor unconscious, a trickle of blood falling from her temple.
Zafira smiled darkly as she approached the one she knew to be her husband's daughter. Smiling to herself she saw that the girl took after her father mostly. She could see nothing of Gianna in her. She picked up the girl and walked back out the door as swiftly as she had come.
Simeon groaned as Zafira walked past, rolling over his eyes barely open, as he watched her boots walked further away from the chamber. His bones ached and he felt completely drained, but still, he rose to his feet. He heard the sounds of shuffling and turned to see Terry scrambling up as well.
"What the hell was that?!" Terry said his eyes wide, running a hand through his hair as he surveyed the damage of the room.
As he searched he realized something. "Where is Lauri?" his voice coming sharp, as a lance of fear shot through his chest. "Gone," Simeon said dully as he looked back at the empty doorway.
"I don't understand. Who was that? Where is Lauri?" Terry said his voice trailing off to a whisper. "The why is simple. The same reason your father made you take her. The same reason Raphael claimed her as his own. She's the daughter of Nathaniel. And that woman that just stormed here. She's his wife."
xxx
"Zafira was cunning long before she met Nathaniel. But this is bridging on the absurd." Dorian mused as he looked on at the battle raging on below. He and Raphael had gone for but a moment to look for an area to resupply, and when they had gotten back they found that their company was being attacked by shadowy creatures that weren't really there but still caused plenty of damage. Raphael chuckled before he sat back on the haunches of his horse. It reared once before galloping toward the melee.
Dorian smirked moving his rein to head in that direction when he felt a chill. He paused and for one moment he heard silence before he picked up on a message sent by Simeon and Terry. "Zafira has Lauri. Find her!" Dorian went pale at the news. He suddenly realized why this war had started. It wasn't for land or any sort of vengeance it was so the castle would be empty would be empty so Zafira would be able to take the daughter of her unfaithful husband. The daughter that had more power than anyone could possibly dream of. Dorian kicked the heels of his horse and galloped away from the melee and hoped he wasn't too late.
Lauri gasped inwardly at the lance of pain in her chest. But as proud as her predecessors she refused to show pain to her captor. Zafira leered cruelly at her, her mouth twisted in a line of hatred towards Lauri. "Little girl you try my patience." Her voice came out sleek and deadly. She pressed on one of the previous injuries she'd inflicted on Lauri.
"I ask you again. Where is Nathaniel? Where do they keep him?" she said pressing one of the daggers into her chest, making blood squelch but not yet killing her. Lauri screamed as the blade pierced a blood vessel. "I don't know! I know not where Nathaniel is, nor do I know what he looks like! Please leave me alone!" she said her voice reverting back to the accent of her village. She went back to that time of love, honesty, and sincerity.
Fury at what she lost erupted out towards Zafira. Startled she flew to the floor at the echo of power that flew out of Lauri. Looking down at her through her hair her voice came out dark and dangerous. "I know not of this world. I am the wrong person to look for."
Zafira gazed at her, her mouth moving into a cruel smile. "And yet you do have the power." Her voice came out sleek and soft. "You are born of both light and darkness. This power shall be mine for I'll rip it out of you." She said her eyes narrowed and she lunged toward Lauri her hands clenched angrily at her arms and dug into the sensitive flesh erupting it, blood flowing across her arms and to the floor.
Lauri screamed at the pain of it, she watched in fear as fangs erupted out of Zafira's teeth and sunk into her shoulder the blood fell out in rivulets finally touching the blue mark that Raphael had grazed on her as he claimed her as his property. It flashed once but that pain was all she needed. Summoning her powers, she screamed into the air telepathically screaming for help.
Dorian reached the forest quickly but realized that he had no idea where to go from there. Suddenly he heard the echo of a voice floating in the wind his eyes narrowed towards the sound before it suddenly erupted into a scream. Lauri's scream of pain and fear.
Digging his heels into the horse he rode faster towards it in fear of what was happening to Laurena. Miles away Raphael galloped knowing somehow his Laurena was in danger. Grimacing he looked at the shadow creatures and realized slowly that this whole attack had been orchestrated. Fury mounting, he called his troops around him and they all galloped as one away from the melee. The shadow creatures screeched as they left, shuddering in place before vanishing into thin air.