Scuffing the dirt as he walked, Satyr, once friend and childe to the lord of the Shapeshifters, and now a lonely beggar, searched desperately for blood. All he wanted was a little taste of the stuff. He needed to feel it fill his mouth, quench his insatiable appetite that had not been appeased since Badria tossed him away.

He wondered what the witch was doing now. In that hut of her's. Outside Cerridwen. She sometimes went for walks in the woods, the pale girl, a wisp really, all alone. But he never saw her. And he was certain no one else did either. She wouldn't have cared anyway. All his Badria would have to do would be to call upon the divine forces and her hapless opponent would burst into flames.

Kicking a lone rock, he glanced up through the tall trees to the night sky. Stars twinkled at him, and Satyr felt a little like screaming. What did he care for beauty? Of this godforsaken planet? All he wanted was something to eat. Or someone.

But there was no one about. He couldn't rejoin the Shapeshifters. They were out for his blood after the unforgivable thing he had done to Badria.

It was on evenings like this that he sometimes he missed his sire. Shahla. The greatest and most powerful of all the Shapeshifters. Now cursed with a soul, by the witch, Badria.

Satyr thought wistfully of Shahla. He had been without a doubt, an evil and twisted being, and Satyr could remember many a night with just the two of them. Killing, feeding, becoming what they were meant to be. Shedding the dastardly mortal flesh and taking a shape that let them flex their hunters' instincts.

But that had all changed. The night Shahla went too far. He had attacked Badria, and that was the end of him. She had cursed him with what a demon fears the most. The capacity to feel remorse. A soul. Satyr's bloodless lips curled as he remembered that time.

The witch had spared him however. She had fallen in love with him. And Satyr supposed he had fallen in love with her as well. His moonlight woman. She looked like pale water and walked like a cool breeze. He knew she wasn't human. Didn't even know she was exactly.

However any feeling he might have had for Badria…it was swept away when he was granted with his first glimpse of Surya. The High Goddess, the Queen of Gwenhwyvar. She had seemed like the sun, standing on a balcony at the palace, overlooking the forests with a frown marring her deliciously lush mouth. Satyr's body jerked with remembrance. He had loved her in that instant. Craved her blood like he had never craved another. She was the sun. She deserved to be given a world beyond even what she had.

As if in a dream, he had gazed at her with rapt attention, nothing distracting him. Until someone had slipped from the shadows at the window and taken her in their arms. Satyr had realized with horror that it was Shahla. Shahla, his lord, his sire…the one with the soul. He had not seen Shahla since the night Badria cursed him, and had assumed he had killed himself. But he hadn't. No. He had gone and become the lover of the greatest Goddess there ever was. And Satyr had vowed that day he would kill his sire for taking what should have been his.

Badria had known of course. She had smelled it on him the minute he strolled through the door of the hut. Lifting her hand to her milky-pale cheek, she had simply stared. “You love her,” the witch murmured with a note of loathing in her tone.

Satyr had replied in the negative but he could still recall Badria's face as she cursed and spit at him. “I should maim you…kill you!” she had shrieked, pushing him from her wooden hut with strong fingers.

But what she had done was worse. She told his family, the Shapeshifters, that he loved their enemy. Surya. Who was bound to destroy them. And they cast him away, promising that if he ever returned, he would be killed in a particularly brutal fashion.

Leaning against a tree, Satyr stared into the night sky with no feeling in his body whatsoever. Except hunger. Raging hunger.

~~~

the palace

“Are you asleep?”

Surya smiled at the drowsy question, turning slightly to regard her lover with her shockingly green eyes. “No, beloved. What do you wish of me?”

Shahla cupped her cheek with nimble fingers, twining his hands through her thick, silken hair. “We must mount an army,” he said calmly and she jerked from his grasp, sitting up and folding her arms over her slender knees.

“I cannot do that,” she reminded him. “Because we cannot find them. They elude us each and every time. It would be a waste of time and coin, Shahla.”

His tone remained firm. “That is of no matter, adora. They will try and reach you any way they can. You know they wish to destroy you.” He paused and grimaced. “And I can never permit that.”

“What would you have me do?” she cried, frustrated, stalking from the bed to her dressing table. “They roam the woods, killing whoever steps into their path…and I am helpless to stop them. Do you know how that makes me feel Shahla?” She pressed a hand to her heart and bowed her small head. “I cannot even protect my own people from these vicious creatures.”

He winced at her words and lowered his feet to the floor, coming over to stand behind her. As his hands massaged her shoulders, he spoke softly. “Is that what you think of me, adora?”

Her head shot up and her eyes pleaded with him. “Oh no…Shahla…I am sorry. I forget sometimes. That you were once one of them. But that's over now. You no longer belong to the Shapeshifters. You belong to me.”

He smiled sadly and curved his fingers over her shoulders. “Some disagree with us, you know,” he informed her. “You used to be called the 'virgin Goddess' and now…” he trailed off and she laughed quietly, arching under his touch.

“And now I am the Queen that receives men freely to her bed?” she asked wryly. “It is true that I was a virgin before you, my Shahla…but they could not expect me to remain that way forever. It is a dreadful state,” she mused and he chuckled, bending down to press a soft kiss to her shoulder.

“What would I do without you, Surya?” he inquired, his eyes heavy with love. She turned and wrapped her tiny arms around him.

“The question will never have to be answered,” she told him gently. “For I am going nowhere. And neither are you,” she ordered firmly and laughing, he swept her up into his arms.

As they fell onto the bed, he curled her small body into his embrace and held her there until the dawn streaked the sky with shades of brilliant blues and pinks. And then Shahla left her room, washing quickly and donning a black tunic and black pants.

He had to see Samdhya. He knew she was having dreams…

next