Ella, chapter 2

The wind hissed through the heavy leaves outside Miki's window, sounding like gentle rain and whispered words half-heard in the darkness. She knelt, hurridly packing clothes and a few other posessions, and waited for Ella to return. She heard, suddenly, the thunder of horse hooves on the cobbled pavement outside and stood, clutching the velise. She struggled down the stairs, the valise hitting her knee. It was heavy, loaded mostly with manuscripts burried under the few underclothes, pieces of jewelry, and one dress she carried. The door to the servants entrance, where she was making her way, burst open and Miki staggerd back, dissapointment etching her features. Ella did not stand there. No tall, red-haired, pale-skinned woman stood sneeringly at the door. Rather, a tall dark man in a great swirling black cloak stood before her. He slipped the hood of his cloak back and she sighed in relief. It was Damon, Ella's long time lover. He grabed the valise.
"Is this everything?"
She nodded, glad to be relieved of its weight.
"We have to move quickly... Threre's too many of them. We wouldn't last at all."
He slung himself out the door and she followed. He flung himself onto his horse, a great black creature, and pulled her up behind him. Her legs stuck awkwardly out from the sides of the horse, her skirts bunched up. She grabbed Damon reflexively as he kicked the horse into action and wheeled off into the night. She ducked her head down, the wind tearing at her face and making it difficult to breathe. Damon's long black hair flew into her face and she hid in the dark folds of his cloak. Her own brown hair came unbound and spilled down her back. She clutched his waist, the both of them leaning forward over the horse's neck. The valise was stationed between his legs and her fingers brushed against the pebbled leather of it. The papers were safe. That was all that mattered.
They rode, in the darkness and cold, for what seemed like hours before slowing. The horse slowed into a cantor and Damon turned.
"You ok back there, Miki?"
"Yes... But why the ride? Why can't you just Shadow-step us to safety?"
Damon stroked the velvet side of the horse as the animal blew.
"Because. We believe they might have kindred among them... who would be able to track us. They'd be expecting a flight... a Shadow-step. They might be able to follow us."
He brushed his black hair, tangled and wind-blown, off his face.
"We'll ride a bit longer and then Step. It's ok, kid."
"Where's Ella? Is she ok?"
"Yeah... she's in the Abyss. Black's taking care of her right now."
Miki sighed in reliefe and nestled against him once more as he kicked the huge horse into action. Powerful muscles surged and pounded as the beast moved faster than any mortal horse could move. Damon smiled grimly, enjoying the speed and even enjoying the chase in a way. He could taste the night as it called to him, the great dark sky stretching over head. He was confident enough that he would never get caught by this rabble, that he would survive, and that Ella would be waiting for him at the end. The thought that she was waiting for him even now spurred him onward, urging the animal to move ever faster. The road wound out behind them, pale dirt under the light of the moon. It stretched just as pale ahead. As they pouned onward, a black shadow stretched across the road, resolving itself into a barracade. Moving too quickly to simply halt, Damon pulled back, the horse wheeling and rearing. Miki clung tightly to his waist and he reached back with several shadows to hold her safely on the horse. The horse danced nervously as a guard approached. Damon snorted in irritation.
Before the guard had a chance to speak, Damon had lept from the horse's back and was upon the man, teeth tearing his throat, draining the red life from his veins. Miki watched dispassionatly, wanting only to get back to her mistress as soon as possible. Damon finished his meal, blood spattering his dark clothes, and licked the wound clean. Then he pulled out a musket and fired it into the man's forehead. The sudden noise broke the stillnes of the night. Damon shoved the barricade out of the way and vaulted back onto the horse.
"Alright, Miki, we'll ride a few more miles and then Step. I don't feel anyone behind us, so we shouled have enough distance on them."
He looked up at the moon, noting its position. Sunrise in a few hours. He spurrred the horse into action again, the speed combining with the new blood to thrill his veins. Miki closed her eyes and held on, her hands hitting the valise with every jolt. He rode on, Miki's arms around his waist. She smelled like her Mistress. After some 200 years of living with her, how could she not? He felt her warm arms around him and thought of Ella's cool skin, her slender hands and the way they rested against her lap when she sat. He rode, and he rode toward her, regardless of what direction she might physicaly be in. He rode toward her, always.
They rode and they rode and Miki let herself drift into sleep, held securely onto the horse's back by Damon's shadow tentacles. She felt it, in her dreams, as he Shadow-stepped them, and woke up drowzily. The horse pranced to a stop and she slid off, landing somewhat shakily on her tired legs. It had been entirely too long since she had ridden like that. Damon vaulted off the horse and called for a Shade, throwing the reins to it and smacking the horse's rump familiarly. He grabbed the valise and escorted Miki into Black's haven.
Black's haven was in the Abyss and constructed of smoke and mirrors or, mor accuratly, Shadow and mirrors. Miki sank into a fluffy black shadow divan and straightned her skirts around her slim legs. Damon, still clutching the valise, strode into the other room, where Ella was waiting, pacing. He dropped the valise and swept her into his dark arms. Ella grinned and fell against him.
"You came away safely, then? And Miki?"
He nodded and kissed her passionatly. As her arms wound around him, he wondered if she truly felt her him the depths he felt for her, the love that underlay the passion and attachment, or if he was, what? Not convenient... he groped for the proper word as she held him close. He pulled away suddenly, smiling.
"Yes?"
"Guess what else we brought with us..." He held out the valise and Ella pounced on it, kneeling on the floor to open it. She pulled out Miki's clothes and Damon caught them, folding them carefuly and setting them aside. Underneath the clothes were the manuscripts and documents Ella had been keeping. She licked her dark lips as she shuffled through them. She smiled up at Damon, a smile almost animalistic.
"Ah, beloved. You have done good. Yes." She shuffled through the pages again.
"All the original documents are here... only a few of my notes..." shuffle shuffle..."No matter, I remember what I wrote anyway." She tucked the papers back into the valise, o so carefuly, and Damon knelt down next to her, helping. She blinked at him, big blue eyes framed in red-gold lashes and set in her pale face. A smile broke out on her face, sweet and tender and beautiful and she reached for him, holding him close.
"I worried about you, when you went racing off."
He cupped her face in his hands, looking at her, taking her in.
"You worry too much, Ellie."
She leaned forward, kissing him playfully.
"How can I not? You are my love. You know that."
He smiled at her, accepting her statement. She showed him everyday that they were together that she loved him as best she could...A touch of romance, only, perhaps, tinged her feelings. He sometimes wished for a bit more, bui it was not in her nature to be "in love"... only to love. He had to remind himself, sometimes, of her lack of humanity. Other times, her essential lack was glaringly obvious. He supposed he should not let it bother him so much... it never seemed to bother his "brother," Black. But then, Black also posessed very little humanity. Damon was the conscience of the group.