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| The Butchers Bill By LLErix |
| Heavy clouds rolled in over Emani, blocking out midnight’s full moon. Thunderclouds. A storm was coming and the light rain that now fell was only the beginning. Bloodclaws walked around the city watching the gore of loved ones wash away in small flowing gutters at the sides of the roads. Orders from Erix’s home had given all the Bloodclaws a full days furlough to mourn. Some of the Bloodclaws openly cried in the streets, while others busied themselves cleaning Emani of all traces of the carnage that lay in the streets and on buildings, all the while trying to keep their mind off of what they were doing. In a matter of days, Emani had been reduced to a ghost city. Some of the men had claimed that even the rats were fleeing the city. Evil permeated the air where the cries of loss did not. Fire crackled and popped in the fireplace as thoughts danced like flames in a pair of jade eyes. Fine engraved wood made the fireplace look almost elegant in appearance. Small prowling jaguars had been carved into the mantle along with an Elvish prayer of protection. It was a very fine fireplace. It served its purpose. Kept the fire warm and kept the soot and smoke out. It did what it had to, that’s all it was supposed to do. Erix’s eyes returned to the fire. Since returning to Emani, his mind often began to wander to keep from thinking of what had occurred in his streets. Of the thousands of people that had died and vanished. “Erix,” Toul said quietly as he stepped into the sitting room and drawing Erix’s attention from the flames. Toul’s armor and two-handed sword still shown with a cleanly polished beauty, he must have stepped out into the rain. “It has begun to rain. There is a storm rolling in. We need to get the men into shelters.” “This is their home Toul. They know where to go.” Erix looked back into the flames. “What of the children?” “They are still in the cellar with Tad Oraphan,” Toul paused for a moment, “Tad is a good man.” Erix nodded. “One of the best.” He could hear Toul walk across the room toward him. “We can not keep the children down there for the rest of their lives Erix. Sometime we are going to have to tell them what has happened.” A gauntleted hand gripped the opposite side of the mantle and Toul’s eyes watched the dancing flames. “What do you want to do?” Suddenly, giant weights seemed to be placed on the shoulders of the young Lord Jaguar and his eyes drifted shut. What to do about the children? If they learned what had happened, then there would be no controlling them and it could do irreparable harm. “We tell them nothing. Once the storm has passed, I will send a squad and Tad to take the children north to Trinsic. I have friends there and they will know what to do. All we can do is try to find new homes for them and pray that someday they will understand why and learn to forgive us.” Reaching up, he placed a hand on Toul’s shoulder and looked at his friend. “We have made orphans of them. All we can do is give them the chance to live a full life away from the pain.” “We did not make them orphans Erix. We set out to protect them and our enemies lashed out and killed our people. It is our enemies that are to blame, not us.” Erix’s gaze dropped to the floor. “He is right you know,” a voice piped up from the door, causing Erix and Toul to spin and have weapons in hand. A pale skinned man with black hair stood at the door. “It is not your fault Erix and I wish you would dispense with all this self-loathing. You paladin’s take everything so personally.” “Damn you Drax!” Toul barked as his fist caused his sword to groan. A slow smirk drifted onto Drax’s face. Shaking his head slightly, Erix slid his sword back into its scabbard. Sometimes Drax thought too highly of himself and Erix did not want to be around when Drax was finally knocked down a rung or two. “What happened in Lycanos?” Drax’s eyes drifted back to Erix. “I found a creature there, some sort of demon. It tried to kill me, but as you can see, failed miserably.” Unconsciously, Drax’s hand slid to his side. There was more to the story than what Drax was telling. Erix was not surprised. “The Empress and the Lady Tamra have been brought to speed, I passed Jion on my way out of the city, no doubt he was taking a message from you.” Toul’s eyes seemed distant at the mention of Tamra, but Drax continued. “I take it from the look of the streets, that either you have buried the dead already, or…,” he did not finish the sentence. “The bodies were taken. We do not know the how or why of it, but they are gone,” Erix spoke in hushed tones, almost as if the children could hear from below. “Erix,” Drax stepped closer to his friend, “There were rumors of vampires. You know what this could mean.” “Yes, I know. But I will not indulge it with even a mention in conversation. I just pray that it is not so.” Erix’s voice was steady, hardly the way he felt but illusions had to be kept. Turning to the Dragon in Human form, Erix continued, “I wish that our meeting had been under better circumstances my old friend. I cannot ask you to go with me, but I would ask you to go with the children to Trinsic. They may need your help.” Dragon fire lit Toul’s eyes as he looked at Erix. “You would deny me the right of vengeance? You would have me run with the children while you fought the fight for me? My Queen has fallen and my kin slain. I will not go into the distance while you fight. I am going with you and not even hellfire could stop my blade from tasting the blood of my enemies.” Drax’s breath had caught in his throat and Erix stared at the Dragon warrior. A Dragon’s wrath was something that no sane creature in the world would dare call upon itself, for a Dragon would exact its vengeance on its enemies and their kin until the debt was repaid. But seeing Toul’s eyes burn with rage chilled the blood in Erix’s veins, and excited it at the same time. The beast within his heart roared out for vengeance as well and Erix allowed the beast to grow and feed on the hate. “Drax, what of you?” Erix glanced toward the Panther. Drax had recollected himself now and apparently was struggling with something inside of himself. Finally a decision was made. “I have some things to do first, but I will be there by your side when the fighting begins.” Drax clapped Erix on the shoulder and vanished through the door. The beast within roared and Erix’s eyes met Toul’s. “We will have our moment Toul. Together we shall make our enemies pay for what they have done.” By LLErix |