3. Rue Sin

Rue Sin


  • Syne allowed himself a single shuddering breath. He had dug into Garen's mind as he burned, watching the random chaos that ensued there. It was a beautiful painting of random images and emotions, all laced with bitter agony and desperation. The mental imagery mixed with his hightened senses allowed him an inconcievable amount of interaction with the man as he died. The smell of burning, the screams, the crackling of the flames, all augmented ten-fold. The experience was intoxicating.

    He refused the man's flesh. He had tasted enough for the evening. He knew his days of ritual feeding had ended with the awakening of the Desecrator. The creature rended flesh in a flurry of violence. He had found a new way to serve. His path, though the same, had made a sharp turn. He held her head in his hand, stroking the soft blue hair.
    He took the same knife he had used for so many years and placed it in her hands.

    "This is yours now." He said placing a light kiss on her lips. "May it guide you as it did me."

    Syne looked at Sygil for a moment. The cat lay on its side, content with its meal and resting silently. He scratched him lightly behind his ears. The cat purred in pleasure. For a moment, the storm that was his life became calm. He cherished it for its brief existence.

    It was time to return. There was still much work to be done.

  • N

    _She put her plate aside on the grass. A satisfied smile on her lips, she rested her head on Syne's shoulder, leaning gently against him. Her gaze wandered across the dancing flames. Fascinated, she watched Garen’s corpse swing quietly under the faint caress of the wind. He looked so quiet with his head resting on his chest, eternally asleep… His screams still resonated in her head in a dreadful, almost entrancing melody.

    The air around was filled with the scents of flesh and fear, of blood and despair, of tears and agony. She took a deep, calm breath.

    With a small smile, she raised her cup to Garen and took a last sip of the thick ruby liquid. She closed her eyes savouring the sweet, metallic taste, the warmth of the sacrificed life soothing a bit the never-ending hunger. The meal had been delicious. Meat always tasted better when spiced with fear and pain.

    The glass was empty… The feast was over… Time had come to go back to the cold streets of the city. A jewel as they said… Yes, she had looked deep in its dark, shimmering reflects...

    And there she had found her awakening, in those pale green eyes and in the powerful, secret flame._


  • Sygil bit down viciously on the man's leg, bringing another sharp yelp of pain from his hoarse throat. The cat effortlessly dragged the man near the tree and deposited him there.

    "Please…please...don't hurt me. Take anything you want...please." Garen began to plead for his life. He didn't want to die out here. He couldn't understand what these people wanted, why they had attacked his caravan but had not bothered with anything of value. What did they want? Why were they doing this?

    Syne, quickly irritated by his sniveling, gaged the man.

    "Move and the panther devours your genitals." He sad sharply and began to tie his arms behind his back. Smiling as the man froze, watching the panther lick its bloodstained chops, as if daring him to resist even slightly.
    Syne then wrapped the rope in and X around his torso. He tossed the end of the rope over a branch and with the help of Lina and Sygil, pulled the man off the ground and tied the rope securely to the tree's trunk.

    Garen hung suspended only a foot off the ground. He began to sweat profusely. Maybe this is all they would do. Maybe they wanted to leave someone a message and would simply leave him hanging here for someone to find him. He saw the blood covered elf look up at him with those pale green eyes. There was something unnatural there, a deep mad hunger that made him shudder. Looking into those pale orbs..he knew...this was the beast that had attacked them. This was the monster that had torn them all to ribbons. This elf had killed his brother.

    Syne looked at Lina a moment, his eyes filled with sinister mischief and then pointed one white hand above Garen. "We'll need some firewood." He said. With a quick gesture and a single verse, hot white bolts of light flew from his hand and struck the branches above. A large pile of splintered wood showered on Garen's head.

    "That should do." He said smiling.

    Firewood? Garen began to squirm in his bonds, screaming at the top of his lungs, nearly choking on the gag in his mouth.

  • N

    _Lina walked toward Syne and smiled warmly. She gently ran her fingers on his stained lips, wiping some of the blood and bringing it too her own lips. "Thank you". She turned and looked down at Garen. "You too, Sygil". She smiled kindly at the panther.

    Finally noticing Lina, Garen looked at her, his eyes widened a bit. The red eyes, the blue skin… He tried to move. He had to run away... He let out a scream when the panther let out his claws. Lina smiled. "Oh, you do not want to leave us so soon, do you ?" She lowered herself near Sygil and brushed Garen's cheek gently. "Dear guest... You will certainly stay for the night..." She took one of his shaking hands in hers and stared calmly in his eyes.

    Panic was rising in Garen's eyes. A stain matching the reddening skies was growing were the panther's claws had entered the flesh. She lowered herself to whisper in his ear “Sweet guest... You do not want to run away from me, do you ? You do not want to make me sad... And above all, you do not want to make me angry”. She kissed his forehead and smiled at him softly.

    Garen failed to answer. His mouth was dry, his chest was burning with the pain inflicted by the panther’s claws. Lina stood up, walked to her pack and took a thin rope out of it. She smiled at the panther. “Could you bring him near this tree, dear ? I am sure he is willing to share our meal.”

    She looked at Syne with a malicious smile. “I think will we need a fire... We do not want our guest to be cold, do we ?”

    The silent eye of the moon was slowly opening, lazily starting its journey. The darkness will surround them soon. She smiled and took the dagger._


  • Sojourn in the Pass

    "Blood on her skin
    Dripping with Sin
    Do it again"

    -RZ-

    Garen lost bladder control when he saw the panther's face appear by the fallen wagon. The large cat walked directly up to him and bit down hard on his calve. Garen screamed and tried to grab on to something as the panther began to drag him away from the wagon and up the hill. When they reached the summit where she waited, the panther let go but quickly put one heavy paw on the man's chest, effectively pinning him.

    Syne slowly materialized, his face, hands and lips, stained in fresh blood. He looked down at the cowering man, his face cold and filled with hate.

    "He's all yours." He said to her. "Beware however…he has soiled himself."

    Garen looked up at Syne unbelievingly. This was not the creature that had attacked them earlier...it couldn't be...but then why was he covered in blood like that? In his fear he failed to notice the true threat that stood before him. He failed to notice the blazing red eyes of his fate.

  • N

    _Wethrillina was watching the small crowd of people walking in and out the Peltarch commons, her red eyes searching for green ones. She let her hands rest on the railing that circled the place.

    The city was… She smiled. Colourful, noisy, alive. People moved and talk around her in a constant shift of colours and sounds. She watched them, nodding to those she had met, enjoying to be alone in the middle of the crowd, savouring the pointless agitation.

    It seemed to be a constant here. Rushing, yelling, shouting, selling, buying, living... Dying... Everyone seemed willing, if not to be at least to look "important". So much effort was put in the process of shining brighter than the neighbour. Only a few did not look like empty shells.

    It was so different from the quiet silence of Jiyyd. Here was the thrill. Here was the pain. Oh there was so much left to... taste... And she could feel that hunger rise in her again. The warmth of the flame in her soul was aching, longing for the next step to be taken. It was alight, alive in her heart, a never failing presence.

    She looked at the people coming from and going to the market or the Mermaid... She listened to the hum of the city, enjoying the cold embrace. Her gaze wandered dreamingly on the crowd as she leaned slightly on the railing. She smiled as her eyes met the calm pale gaze she was looking for.

    Dusk was near._


  • Apprentice of fire

    "Goldfoot machine
    Creates another fiend
    So Beautiful,
    They make you kill"

    -RZ-

    Syne smiled and came forward, kissing her bloodstained lips. He wondered if it was the color of her skin or that of her eyes which made him feel this attraction for her. He had little desire to feed from her like he did the others. There was something different about her, something unique and beautifully sinister. He felt the potential she harbored.

    He knew she would be able to take the trials of the path and emerge triumphant. She was deadly in her own way. He had let her feel the caress of his own darkness, of the fiend that lay within. She had not cowered away, but hungered for it.

    Forever Syne believed he was destined to walk this path alone. In the last few years he realized this was not at all the case. There were others struggling down the same road he walked. Some were inevitably lost in the darkness, angry and defeated they awaited their demise. She however was different, of this he was sure. She understood the path, and would rise above them all.

    The power of the circle faded, the ritual complete. He held her in the darkness, two sinister flames within the cold veins of an uncaring city. The first step had been taken, the unknown lay sprawled before them.

  • N

    _Lina wrapped her hands around Syne's. She closed her eyes and her lips touched the heart. The pattern of the circle was ablaze in her mind. It burnt in her very soul as did the flesh of the heart in her body, warm, red, terrible, pulsing in rhythm with the Weave.

    An intense, sweet, caressing pain ran through her body.

    She opened her mind to it, letting it flow through her. She was lost in the dark beauty of the storm that was rising in her. Oh… now she understood, now she knew... The real taste of life, the real taste... She opened her eyes, the deep red irises were glowing faintly from the power swirling around them.

    The heart had been consumed and the new path of her life lied before her, dark, hidden, painful... She smiled, still focused on the Weave. A new hunger had awoken in her, like a fire set alight casting its shadows around and inside of her.

    She had already seen that flame. He had shown it to her once.

    The dance had begun, matching the movements of the flames, quiet but wild, hidden but bright, painful but delightful_


  • With a small grin Syne gripped the heart and it was enveloped in bright orange flames. He stared past them to her, his eyes losing their usual calm demeanor, lost in the facination of the moment. The flames licked them painlessly but began to slowly consume the unbeating heart.

    "This ritual is not commanded or required. I do this out of loyalty and the belief that this is the road to deliverance from mortal bonds. It is the path to eternity. On this road I have served for decades and have become favored. My part in the great game has been secured in blood. My ascension is at hand, hidden from me behind a veil of pain and madness. I show you this secret road as a gift, for I have made my final sacrifice."

    With that Syne began a slow deep chant, careful of his pronunciation so that she may follow him unhindered. He felt the air around them hum with the vileness of the act. Dark shadows whispered exitedly around them. The circle became a void, trapped between worlds. Satisfied, he brought the scorched heart to her lips.

    "Consume it." He whispered. "Consider this your communion, in flesh, and in blood."

  • N

    _Lina smiled and looked down at the girl. She ran her hand along her jaw and brushed a few greasy hair locks off her forever still face. Slowly, her gaze still fixed on the child's face, she plunged her hand in the skilfully cut flesh. It was still warm. She gently wrapped her hand around the unbeating heart. And with the help of the dagger, she cut it out of its bloody shelter.

    Holding with both hands, she stood up slowly and quietly watched Syne finish the circle. She smiled. It was perfect. She could feel the Weave pulsing around it, around them. Calmly, she walked close to him. And, staring in his eyes, she put the dark ruby heart in his hand, covering it with hers.

    Their fingers mixed in flesh and blood. Their lips touched in blood and desire. The time was drawing closer.

    She looked at the circle. She could feel its potential. It was full of restrained power, awaiting to be released. But how? Its patterns where not known to her. Yet, somehow, they were familiar. They where playing a chord deep inside her soul, she could feel her inner passions resonate with it. She looked at Syne and smiled softly. She would know soon… So soon...

    There was not need to rush, the night was theirs and they were about to dance in its shadows.

    She waited calmly for him to show her the steps._


  • Syne stepped quietly out of the shadows, smiling down at her, his eyes intense and fixated. He kneeled next to them, looking into the young girl's lifeless eyes. Given another life the girl might have been beautiful, given a chance, she might have been loved. Now that her pain had ended, she would serve a higher purpose.

    Syne took Lina's bloodstained hand and ran it slowly over his own face, his eyes never leaving hers. He took the very hand,put it to her forehead, and brought it down the side of her face to her chin.

    The first step had been taken without hesitation or remorse. It seemed he was right after all.

    Syne took her hand gently again and placed it over the hilt of the dagger, ripping it out of its bloody sheath with one quick pull. The girl twitched a little at the action. He took her hand with the knife and showed her. He showed her how and where to cut in slow deliberate movements.

    "Those who kill for the sake of killing are children of chaos." He whispered in the darkness of the alley. "I kill for a very specific reason. I seek to ascend. It is with this flesh and this blood that I walk the my path. It will be with this same blood that you will join me."

    He looked at her again, his eyes fierce and filled with the purpose of the kill. He soaked his hand in the girl's blood and began to draw a circle on the floor.

    "Take her heart."

  • N

    First Step

    _Wethrillina stayed still for a while, looking down the alley, knowing he was watching her, enjoying the caress of his pale gaze. She raised a hand to her lips and smiled. That was it. She was at the doorstep of a new life. She had felt so empty until now… She had craved, for so long, without knowing what she was craving for. A demon they had called her... A hint of a smile floating on her lips, she looked down at the dagger. She slipped it in the pocket of her cloak and walked slowly toward the alley, her heart beating hard in her chest. She had made up her mind. She would not flinch. Peltarch had already proved so different from her quiet life in Jiyyd. She had started to feel alive at last. And he had guided her to a new way to see the world, he had shown her... And she wanted to taste every single moment of it...

    The girl was there. Shivering in the cold, dim moonlight. She had found a meager shelter behind a few crates. Lina looked down at her and smiled kindly. "Poor child", she whispered. The girl, startled, looked up at the blue lady standing in front of her. Lina crouched down by her side in a rustling of silk, still smiling. The girl huddled up further in the corner formed by the crates.

    "This is not a place for a young girl to be", Wethrillina whispered softly. The child smiled weakly, unsure. She looked frightened, her tattered clothes did not protect her from the deep, sharp bite of the cold... Kindly, very slowly, Lina took the poor girl in her arms and brushed the dirty hair gently. "Do not worry... There will be no pain anymore", she whispered. The young girl relaxed a bit. Lina's arms where warm and soft, envelloping her in a sweet fragrance. She had not know human warmth for so long... A tear ran down her dirty cheek, drawing a clear line. She broke in tears suddenly, resting her face on Lina's chest.

    Lina looked up toward the opening of the alley and smiled. "Do not worry". She closed her hand around the hilt of the dagger, caressing the girl's hair with her left hand. "There will be no more pain", she looked down at the child who looked up at her, smiling weakly through her tears. Her eyes widened as the blade cut through her flesh, reaching for her heart.

    Fascinated, Lina watched her slip slowly away from life.

    "There will be no more pain." She looked into the shadows nearby and smiled._