And just like that she was gone.
Running as far as her feet could take her.
Her breath hitching in her throat with the exertion. ' I'll be damned. I'll be damned if I let this happen!'
her mind racing in almost hysterics. She flitted past trees and bushes her nails digging deep with every stride of her front and back paws dug up mud from the earth beneath them.
In the distance she could faintly make out the sounds of men and horses galloping after her. Her ears twitching as she increased her bone grinding speed. ' No humans would even be able to match my speed?' She thought grinding her teeth against the pain in her chest.
Not Meer moments ago, while laying under the branches of a magnificent willow that was even older than her, she woke to the whistle and whip of an arrow. The thunk of it hitting her deep in her breast bone sending her into a shock like none she'd experienced in over a thousand years. Her silver fur coated in a sickly red brown color from the bleeding and mud she kicked up while running deeper into the woods.
She began to slow after running into a large clearing she knew she didn't have much left in her and she could hear the pounding of horse hooves getting closer.
And then they broke through the brush. Her hackles raised she slowly turned her slender form around her unnatural violent eye's meeting the Ice blue of the man who carried a bow upon his mount. ' I'll be damned if I let a brat like you treat me as mere game for you to hunt' she bared her teeth.
Even with the pounding ache in her chest and the dizziness that came with her vision slipping she knew she had to do something. Then something unusual came to mind. 'Would they kill me if I looked like them?' The thought almost made her sick. Humans were beneath her but she'd do anything to get away for now. It was too soon. Too close to the harvest moon to use any real power.
She didn't take much note of the man climbing off a Burgundy mare adorned with red and silver fabrics as well as panels and plates or armor that wrapped around its chest and neck as well as hindquarters. A glint in the distance distracted her as she huffed in anxiety seeing the smaller creatures under her care watching in terror at her situation.
No man had ever made it into the forest this deep due to the deities like her that watched over these particular parts. 'These incredibly stupid humans have no idea what they've done.' As she thought this she could feel her grasp on reality slipping .
The beasts form in front of Azazel shifted grotesquely and the grass around her withered slowly the air became cold. All around the chill settled as this long old Deity began her last attempt at saving herself. A glint of humor crept across his scar marred face but didn't quite meet his eye's. Somewhere deep down he felt a familiar tug at a missing organ in his chest.
He began to move forward motioning the men behind him to stay back. They were made aware the dangers of hunting such beasts and that they may lose their lives but it was unlikely due to the nearing of the harvest.
In which the beast of harvest and life would use up most of its divinity in order to bring life to the lands again after winter. What he did not expect was to catch the beast off guard, sleeping nonetheless.
As he approached, close enough to feel the drain on the earth almost pull him under. He stepped back. "It's time to return to the earth Shinto." Azazel stated in a calm almost cold demeanor.
As he said this the beast let out an ominously low laugh. Its fur began to shed in clumps as the laugh got louder.
The beast rocked back onto it's hind legs towering Azazel's own impressive stature. The beasts body shifted and he could hear the distinct crack of bone and shift of muscle as patches of bright white skin showed, starting at the abdomen the the legs. The more the fur was shed the more Azazels eye began to widen. Soon all that was left of the beast before him was a maul and hide the shrouded a slender feminine form.
Long silver tresses billowing in the cold breeze. A delicate hand reached up to grasp the broken arrow buried in the bare bosom of this female form, "wait!" Azazel stepped closer not particularly worried about the decaying surroundings. Before he could reach the creature she grasped the arrow and yanked in out spilling blood across his weather worn boots.
" Ahhgh!" Inari almost screamed at the pain. This human was far smarter than its counterparts. He knew I was the keeper of this forest and yet he still used such a cheap way to target me while sleeping.
She stumbled forward to close the distance between her and this human male, pulling her beastly maul back to show her now lilac eyes as she glared up at him. " You don't know what you've done human." She said he vision becoming more and more clouded as blood slowly poured down her bare skin pooling at her feet. " You will see now the destruction you've caused. I will move across this earth like a plague and I will take everything that lives with me to this grave." She pointed to the growing decay. " Your women will become barren as will your fields and crops. I will take your children first and then your mothers and then your cattle. I will starve you and then swallow you up into my soil and use your bones and sinew to weave a new forest that will prosper on your blood and screams." A weak smile crept across her cracked lips.
She reached for her gaping chest wound smearing the blood before reaching up and stepping closer to wipe her remanence
along the strong jaw of her attacker. Azazel stood painfully still the creatures words ringing in his ears. He clasped her hand to his cheek before placing an arm around her small waist and his hand at the slight dip of her back pressing her to him in a strong embrace not quite fitting the scene of withering wildlife and blood.
Inari's gaze crept over the haunting scars that traveled from this mans neck to his nose. Two deep wounds that never seemed to heal right. His dirty blond hair a mess of tangles from the chase. His broad shoulders and strong build seemed to symbolize he was a warrior of some sort Inari thought as she took in his appearance with much appreciation. "You won't die from this much Shinto." His cold voice thrummed in her ears and reverberated through her body like a cool wind.
Inari let out a pained laugh " but wont I? Isn't this what you wanted human. The death of a deity. The death of the nation that is a plague to this continent?" She laid her head against Azazels chest comforted by the warmth. Then she noticed it. Something was missing something distinctly human that this man lacked. She looked up in a bit of shock not usual to her in her old age.
"You're not one of my children. You're not even a living thing.?" She spoke almost to herself. It was Azazels turn to smile a brooding devilish smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Ah yes that I am not. And you cannot run from me Shinto. I am here to take back what you and your primordial friends have taken from me." A even colder glint in his eyes appeared as he said this. Irani now new this man was cursed by a god. 'How awful could someone be to have their heart with held?'
She wondered her eyes glazing over as her consciousness began to slip. Azazel clutched the small creature closer holding her weight up with his arm. Her dainty hands came up to clutch his shoulders for balance. She felt her legs going weak with fatigue. Her nails grazing through the dark fabric of his shirt.
" I'm not long for this world human. What ever you had planned for my counterparts was foiled when you struck the heart of life with such a rancid venom tipped arrow." She gasped as a shooting pain struck through her body.
Digging her nails into his shoulders burying them in his flesh with a pained smile. She looked into his eyes and finally said. " And may your heart rot along with those you hold dear." As soon as the words left her mouth Azazels hand came across her face leaving a stinging pain as her head jerked back from the force.
The same hand then came to firmly grab her chin as he moved closer to her face his blue eyes staring deep into hers. " Don't think for a second I'll let you run from this Shinto. You will survive and I will get back what's mine. Don't you dare run from me."
His voice rang deep in her ears as her fatigue gripped her and her eyes closed.
Azazel picked her up gripping her body close to his chest. As he turned to leave the withering plants followed his steps. He reached his men signaling that they were leaving when the two closest to him caught a sudden chill as they got on their mounts. Azazel Climbed his own mount all while holding her close as he wrapped the beasts hide around her as it was the only way to cover her nakedness from the eyes of these men who seemed unnaturally shaken by what they'd seen so far.
" Sire? Are we to take tha-that uhm Creature with us back to Leoren ?" Jariko asked a bit concerned with his masters actions. Azazel looked at Jariko incredulously. " Yes we will she will be staying with us until further notice." he said loud enough for all his men to hear him "and during her stay no one is to lay a hand on her. She is our guest and the deity of harvest and fertility and should be treated with respect. If she is to cause you trouble I alone with reprimand her." His sternness carried a heavy warning as they set off to Trek back through the dense forest, back to the heart of Leoren the City of Anathema.
It earned its nickname nearly two centuries ago when Azazel was a young man of nineteen. The day he had his heart stolen from him while he reveled in the dead and bloodied body of his entire family he had executed at the dinner table while they ate together. A distant memory for him as his subordinates new of his unusual case of immortality but it was speculation as to if he was truly used by the Goddess of Lore.
As they came upon the castle gates a heavy silence could be heard as they were ushered in by the guards at the entrance all the citizens bowed in fear at their kings feet some peeking small glances at the silver fur clad female tucked in his arms on his mount. As soon as they entered he sent his subordinates off to continue their regular duties until a later time while he stepped off his mount at the castle steps clutching Inari's body firmly he made his way in.
As he made his way closer to his chamber on the fifth floor of the large estate his personal maid greeted him with a bow " Good noon sire and good game I hope." Isabella said woefully as she stood back straight her eyes catching at her masters face. As she opened the door to his chamber she spoke timidly as if to not disturb him. "Sire would you like me to draw you and the.
Uhm lady a bath to wash away the blood." He gave Isabella a curt nod before placing the female on the bed his eyes scanned over her body slowly catching on the slight sizzle of evaporating steam rising from the almost sealed wound on her chest. " At last you will be the prize that will get me my heart back so I can finally be rid of this place." A glimmer of malice in his eyes.
He sat beside her form reaching out to push stand of silver hair out of her face before tucking it neatly behind her ear and taking in her pale alabaster skin. The veins in her body giving a bluer shade to her pronounced collar bones and breast as well as her hips. Her body was plump with life, he thought, how fitting the deity of fertility be so appealing even to someone so dead inside.
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Authors note:
Hi everyone! I hope you enjoy my story and please leave comments to help me adjust into this!
Here are some needed facts if you're confused on the names and their meanings:
Azazel- was an angel in Judaism an early Christian writings known for his beauty, wisdom and arrogance but more so known for his sympathy towards Lucifer.
Though he isn't the reaper he was sentenced to carry the sins of all others and taught humans warfare magic and other sins alike biblically.
Shinto/Inari : Shinto is a Japanese religion and Inari is a deity of cultivation. Portrayed as the god of fertility, Rice, agriculture, foxes, and industry and otherworldly Successes.
Isabella Acheros : Isabella means god is my oath and Acheros means river of sorrows but in my translation her combined name is to mean "god is my oath of sorrow."
Leoren: the castle and town -Leoren holds the meaning of capability and strength.
The City of (Anathema): anathema is a old word for a curse usually cast by the church. It is A word use for excommunication or the denouncing of doctrine.