"Why do you taunt me with your light?" Anansi looked on dubiously. This was the same man that she'd seen, crushing the Fae guard like fall leaves underfoot. He was mad like a dog tasting blood but now, he seemed weak, frightened.

She was almost certain this was an act. She would play it too if she were captured by mortals, though she wasn't good with half truths, and like all Fae lying weren't possible.
"Why not slay me and get it over with, like your kind do all humans?"

Anansi pursed her lips. "If that were true, you'd be dead..."[/b] She said and it was in that moment, she felt him, Roland reaching out to her, touching her mind.

"Anansi, Are... ... ... alright?"

"The Sighted One, with the red hair....He is here... ... in the cells..."She thought back to him, hoping he caught enough of her message.

"Men and Fae fear you....I saw it....why are acting this way?" She said, and narrowed her eyes as a thought occurred to her. "You know who I am, don't you?" She said, folding her arms.

Griffin smiled inwardly. She was perceptive, but it wouldn't matter if she were naive as the Night Queen seemed to think. It was possible she was wrong, of course. He would progress carefully, and tactically measure the situation himself. If she wasn't going to be easily convinced, he could escape while it was still day now. Thanks to her donation of blood, he was stronger than he'd been before he left Westfall. Not by much, of course, but enough.

"Men and Fae fear you... I saw it... Why are you acting this way?"

"Have you never seen a warrior caged before, glowing one? I was defeated, your creatures of the day overwhelming my men and I in our weary and wounded state. Ambushed us like cowards, like minions of the Devil would." He spat defiantly in the cell, showing he still had a bit of fire left. "Now, you won't even kill me. You keep me here in this cage, like an animal to leer at. Is that it, glowing one? Have you come to gawk at a righteous man?"

Roland attracted the room's attention with his shout.
"The Sighted... With the red hair. He... here. Cells."

"The sighted one...?" He asked himself quietly. Then his eyes flew wide. Red hair?! "Griffin!" He shouted out loud, before he could stop himself. Every single person in the room instantly tensed up, their eyes flying to Roland. Roland felt a moment of embarrassment. "Sir Thomas, we need to talk. Now."

Thomas was confused, but nodded and followed Roland to the other side of the room. They were given a respectful berth.
"What is this, Roland?"
"You remember Anansi, in the cave..."
"Yes?"
"She gave me her name. Her Fae name, in case we needed her magic for some reason. It's given us some kind of... connection. I don't know how to describe it. I've felt her presence, and her emotions, everything, since we left." Roland rattled off.
"Okay..." Thomas replied, not entirely sure how to feel or what to make of the information.

"If this weren't magic, this would likely mean I'm insane. But I can hear her, in my head. And... She can hear me. It isn't very clear, but I think she just told me they captured Griffin!"

Thomas' eyes flew open, and he took Roland by the shoulders. "Are you certain of this?" He asked urgently.
"Yes. If they have, that means..."
"It means they are all in danger. The fools, they should have killed him! He's crafty, slippery. If he gets out of his cell somehow..."
"Who knows how many he'll kill in his escape. He could even kill Anansi!" Roland finished. He spun on his heel, frantically trying to contact her.

"Anansi, don't trust him!" He mentally shouted, hoping it would reach her.

"Have you never seen a warrior caged before, glowing one? I was defeated, your creatures of the day overwhelming my men and I in our weary and wounded state. Ambushed us like cowards, like minions of the Devil would."

"Those weren't day creatures." She told him, her eyes narrowed.

"...trust him..."Roland shouted in her mind

Anansi frowned at that. Trust him? That couldn't be right, but she trusted Roland.

"Are you sure?" She thought to him, watching the man in the cells.

She had to remember that humans could tell untruths so perhaps Roland was mistaken. Her own instincts told her not to trust him. He was dark, even she could sense that, but if Roland trusted him, then perhaps she could learn to, even though he try to

"Now, you won't even kill me. You keep me here in this cage, like an animal to leer at. Is that it, glowing one? Have you come to gawk at a righteous man?" He spat, causing Anansi to huff.

"Righteous is not the word I would use for you, self-righteous, perhaps" She shot back before she enhanced her calm. "What would killing you accomplish? It would make you a martyr and us the monsters, we are not. We just want to live, same as you, most of us wish to share this world. We kept to ourselves, it was you would invaded our lands, for fear of us, but we fear you just the same." She said, and cocking her head, she knelled down, her hands on his cell. She narrowed her eyes, trying to use her magic for empathy to reach him. He gave her chills but something was blocking her from truly reaching. Much like it was with her aunt, she could never tell what her aunt was feeling, and it was the same with him, which only meant one thing.

He was hiding something.

"You don't really believe such things, do you?" She asked him. "That we are monsters, if that were true, you'd fear us, or take your own life before letting us capture you, you are after something?" She said, with a shocked expression. "What is it that you want?"

"Griffin looked up at the self-righteous comment. It was amusing, how she thought she was clever. It may have been a decent slight, if anything she thought she knew was true.

"You don't really believe such things, do you? That we are monsters? If that were true, you'd fear us, or take your own life before letting us capture you. You are after something? What is it that you want?"

He sneered, his eyes burning fiercely. "Take my own life? You don't understand men, do you little Fae girl? A righteous man fears no evil. I am not afraid of you, not anymore than I was afraid of that succubus of the night, who attempted to manipulate me." Griffin smiled inwardly. The Night Queen likely wouldn't be pleased he had just implicated her in the matter, but he cared little. The deal he'd made was to buy time, he had no intention of honoring a pact with a lesser being. He'd get out of this cell, and the day girl would be his protection. Then he would consume her, possibly after consummating their new "friendship".

"Your glow is welcoming, but I will not be manipulated. By you, or her."

"You can't Roland! It's too dangerous!" Thomas shouted. Roland rounded on him, a fierce look in his eyes.
"Sir Thomas, I have to do this! I have to get back to her!" Roland shouted back, shaking Thomas' hand off of his shoulder.
"Wait, just WAIT! What if there was another way?" Thomas asked frantically.
"I don't have time for this, Sir Thomas!"
"Rather than risk dying before you even get to her, Roland! You can talk to her, why not bring her closer to us?" Thomas said.

"What are you saying?" Roland asked, narrowing his eyes.
"You can talk to her, yes? Griffin will need a shield to get out." Thomas said slowly.
"Are you asking me to tell Anansi to use herself as bait?!" Roland yelled in outrage.
"Damn it, Roland! If Griffin breaks out, the only way Anansi doesn't die is if he needs her to get across the border! That's the ONLY chance you'll have to save her! Think!"

Roland frowned angrily, defiance burning in his eyes. Then something sparked behind them, and he took a deep breath.

"I need a bed. I need to sleep."
"Sleep?" Thomas repeated, sounding utterly confused.
"Trust me." He replied, pushing past him and trying to reach out mentally to Anansi again. "Do. Not. Trust. Him. Meet me in your dreams."

"Take my own life? You don't understand men, do you little Fae girl? A righteous man fears no evil. I am not afraid of you, not anymore than I was afraid of that succubus of the night, who attempted to manipulate me."

Anansi rolled her eyes. She knew her Aunt was up to no good, but then when was she ever.

"Your glow is welcoming, but I will not be manipulated. By you, or her."

Anansi turned up her nose. " I was not trying to manipulate you, you pompous fool, I was here to befriend you." She said.

"It was you who thought to manipulate me, what with your fearful act just then...You must truly think me foolish."

She felt Roland again, his presence was strong, which meant he was calling her.

"Do... ... Trust... Meet....Dreams..."

Roland was sleeping, or will be. If only she could hear all of his words. She turned her attention back to the man before her.

"I will be taken my glow and my attempt at friendship with me now, I'll be sure you get something to eat...." She said, that wasn't a n act of kindness, knowing what it would do to mortals should they eat anything from a Fae.

Trapping him here forever under her command.

She stood, turned and began to walk away with a huff.

Griffin smirked, then quickly wiped the expression of his face. This was the critical point, and would dictate how exactly he'd have to go about breaking out. The ideal way was with her help, and her trust. He could taste her already, but he'd slay her if he had to. Griffin rose, walking to the bars of the cell and wrapping his hands around them. He called out to her retreating back.

"Why? Why would you seek to befriend one such as myself? A slayer, an enemy?" He added an edge of desperate confusion to his voice. He was a master manipulator, his facades extremely convincing. "I do not understand."

Thomas wasn't sure what was going on. He trusted Roland, however. So Roland was shown to simple straw bed. The act of falling asleep wouldn't be difficult. He was used to falling asleep in duress, to getting recharged from as little as a few hours here and there. It was the life of a warrior constantly on the move, of one who was hunted. He wasn't used to falling asleep with the new sensation of Anansi, however.

As of the moment he could feel annoyance, and pity. The latter of the two did nothing to comfort him, but at least he didn't feel pain or danger. He closed his eyes, and tried to make himself begin drifting off. It was proving more difficult than he'd imagined, however.

"Why?"
Anansi paused. "Why would you seek to befriend one such as myself? A slayer, an enemy?" Anansi turned her head,.

"I do not understand?" Anansi huffed before turning to him, at least he was curious. Maybe he could be swayed. "Because, you needn't be an enemy." She told him, shifting her weight to a leg. "Do you think we want to fight your kind? No one wants bloodshed, which was why we kept to our lands, but your kind insisted on invading, killing ours, Were it truly up to us, you would have never known of our existence. Ir was over time that your kind grew less and less afraid, and then sub-sequentially more." She told him. "We never wanted to be your enemy. Most of us, the ones who have yet to encounter your kind, wishes only to share the realm, not even the land itself. But your kind...you press, you don't bond with nature like we do, you conquer it, destroy it, cut down trees to build your homes instead of building within the trees, for your homes, as we do. Most of us now, just want to be left alone...Then suddenly, Your kind deemed demons...There are demons, but it's not us, we fear them as you do." She said. "You never gave us a chance, and we never gave you one, This is what I do now, I want to give you the chance to learn, grow, and see the we are much like you, but we are one with the world....Our blood may silver, but...well, you know better most, we do bleed."

It was then she felt a surge without her, something reaching out to her mind, like a gentle touch on the shoulder.

Roland, he was opening her mind to her, resting. He wasn't asleep, but he would be, and she had to meet him.

"I'll take my leave now, Rest...The Morrow will be long." She said, and with that she turned and exited the room.

Her instincts warned her about him, but she was sure she could convince him, change his mind. She hurried to her room only to be met with Night Queen.

"Aunt..." She said. "So how was it...?"

"He say you're up to something..."

"Mortals lie."

"You tell half truths."

The Night Queen laughed. "Fair enough...what do you think of him?"'

"I trust him as much as I trust you." She said boldly and the Night Queen looked at her. "Well then....I'll be sure to leave him to you." She said and with that the Night Queen disappeared within her shadows. Anansi had not a clue what that meant but it didn't matter now, as she stepped through the door, shut it behind her and sighed. The Night Queen was as cold as her namesake, the same twist in her gut she felt with her, she felt with him.

She shook it off and lay down on her bed, closed her eyes. It wouldn't take long, she was of the Day sleeping in the night was not an uneasy feat. If Roland slept first she would met him in his dream.

"Roland?" She called out, waiting for the world around her to shift into whatever dreamscape Roland's mind would conjure.

Roland's mind buzzed with unwanted activity. He felt a whirlwind of emotions, not all of them his own. He couldn't get an image of Griffin out of his head, somehow finding a way out a cell. Slaughtering everyone in his way. What if Anansi tried to stop him? He'd seen how fast she could move, but even so he'd seen Griffin fighting. Those Fae had been moving so quickly as well, and he cut them down. It was like they had been standing still. They'd had no chance. Was Anansi more magically powerful than those Fae? Perhaps. He had no idea. She'd try to stop Griffin if he broke out, Roland knew. If she wasn't strong enough...

He felt her.
"Roland?"

He heard her, calling to him in his mind. He stopped, focusing on her voice. He let his eyes close, filling his mind with the image of her face. He let the memory of that first moment come back to him. The shock, the confusion, the wonderment. That split second where he forgot the danger of his life, where he forgot he was in the middle of a battle. The first time he'd seen her. Slowly, his fatigue began to embrace him, pulling him down into the depths of his own mind as the world around him was swallowed into an unaware abyss.

Roland's eyes opened slowly. He was staring up at a black sky, lit by the moon and the twinkling of stars. He took a deep breath, content where he was. He realized he was on his back, on the grass. He ran his hand over it, feeling the familiar swell of the land. He knew where he was, he realized. Slowly, he rolled to his knee and pushed up to his feet. He was atop a hill, the same hill he used to climb in his youth. He'd sneak out at night, lying under the stars and imaging a world of magic. A world comprised of beings he was told to fear, yet wasn't sure even existed. He was never afraid, much to his parent's chagrin. They had never believed the Fae were evil, if they were even real. Yet they were afraid, as such an open display of curiosity could be seen as heresy.

In the end, their fears had been right. Roland realized he was clenching his fists, hard. His fingernails were digging into his palms. Down the hill was a little hovel, smoke curling into the air from a fire. The fire... He ran down the hill, his legs pumping hard. The night was suddenly split with an orange glow, shifting and whipping about. His home, it was burning! The Elfenslaga surrounding it, barring his parents inside. No, he didn't want to see this. Not again. He was dreaming, he realized. This wasn't real. He wasn't the crying boy hiding in the bushes anymore. He wasn't the homeless urchin that made his way to the city, struggling to live day to day in the same filthy rags.

Anansi. He turned away from the scene, trying to block out the screams, and called to her.

Griffin was unamused.

The day girl's will was strong, and she wasn't as airheaded as the Night Queen had made her out to be. Still, it should have been easier to mislead her. Something wasn't right. He could feel it, or did feel it. When she was near. There was a faint presence, an air of magic about her. Whatever the case, he grew tired of waiting in this cell. His veins pulsated with power, his frustration feeding an urge to let blood. He still wanted the Day girl, and he would have her.

The Night Queen would not like what he was about to do, and this was why it was time to do so. The Day Girl was the queen of the day's daughter. He would make his move now, in the daytime, and take the Day Girl. The Day Queen would have no choice but to let him pass for fear of harm coming to her daughter. He could make it back to the border before the night was through with the power now coursing through him, without any of his knights to drag him down. He liked his lips, facing the bars of his cell. His pupils dilated rapidly...

Anansi watched the horrors, Roland's mind conjured for him. His poor family, burning for believing in what she was. It brought a tear to her eye to watch.
She could do nothing but watch until he came enough into his senses to realize it wasn't real at the moment, it was a memory, she knew, but it wasn't real. Once he turned away, she materialized behind him.

She reached out, placing her hand softly on his shoulder, comfortingly.

"They will not have died in vain," She told him, softly. "We will show the world, that the Elvenslaga, are nothing murderers, and zealots, who excuse genocide for righteousness." She said. and looked down at her feet. "I am sorry..." She said, gently. "My father, too was killed by the Elvenslaga, defending our borders." She said.

"None of it matters now though, This is but a dream, here we are safe." She said, nodding. "I am glad to see you again, you kept your word." She said, offering a gentle smile to lighten the mood.

"They will not have died in vain."

Roland spun at the words, at the touch of her hand. The scene of fire and chaos melted away as Roland was once more struck by her beauty. In a surreal manner the dreamscape slowly shifted, a whirl of colors and exaggerated motion. The moon sank from the sky, replaced by the sun, its light slowly spreading across the landscape as it rose rapidly above the horizon. In his mind, that was how he saw her. That first meeting, her glow making her seem all the brighter in that filtering sunlight in the forest. He felt his heart skip a beat, but then he shook his head. He had to focus. He didn't have time for... whatever this was.

He realized she'd been speaking, and he hadn't heard a word of it. He'd been too busy looking at her, oblivious. He chose to hide his embarrassment and instead press on.

"Anansi. I'm so glad you're okay. You have got to get rid of Griffin. That man, you don't know. You don't know why everyone fears him so. He is a monster..."

The shadows twisted and bent around Griffin. He didn't particularly like the idea of showing this much power. It surged through the very air around him, like the crushing grip of an otherworldly deity. There was no chance that The Night Queen and the Day Queen didn't feel it. It was unlikely that any nearby Fae wouldn't detect it, couldn't feel it trying to choke them like an invisible hand. It was not the power of the Fae that coursed through him now. This was not darkness. It was the blackest void, the absence of light.

It reached out in swirling tendrils, nearly impossible to perceive as they wrapped around his bars. With a great squelching and the wrenching of metal, the bars were rent apart. The pieces flew across the hall, clanging off the walls with a great swell of noise. The shadows retreated inside of him as he stepped through the opening, his power beginning to regulate as he wrangled it under control. He could hear them coming already. Guards. He licked his lips and smiled.

"Anansi. I'm so glad you're okay. You have got to get rid of Griffin. That man, you don't know. You don't know why everyone fears him so. He is a monster..." Roland said and Anansi frowned.

"That much I figured." She told him, but she could feel his worry as if it were her own. "My aunt, The Night Queen, she wants me to try to befriend him." She said, and looked down at her feet for a moment. "I feel that she has other things in mind...I can not trust her, but I can trust you, You say he is a monster, I believe you," She said and nodded, "What do you think I should do then? He is a prisoner of my mother, and the Night Queen, I do not know what I should do." She told him.

The Night Queen was soaking in a bath of milk when she felt it. The sudden surge of power, blacker then pitch. It called to her in away that only the night could. She rose from her bath, the milk clinging to her skin, hair and crown as she was drawn to the power. She knew who it was, almost immediately, she'd felt a glimpse of it, before and she knew it well now. She wouldn't stop him, she wanted to see what this was, what he would do, and how this would proceed.

She may very well let him have her, she may use her magic to make that event something he'd crave. She'd toned down that natural magic, she wanted him to speak coherently, she wanted to learn this man, but in that, she learned he would be difficult to control, with words. Now with him wanting to bed her like he claimed, she could control him that way. Fae were addictive to men, bedding a fae would make that man crave nothing more but the pleasures of that fae's flesh, He would not eat, drink, sleep, he'd waste away wanting more, never being satisfied, however, She was queen, could control the amount of of need she gave, she could make him crave her enough that he would do what she asked for just a taste.

Smiling, she sunk back in her bath, waiting for these events to unfold.

"Anansi, you've got to get away from him. Convince your mother to execute him, or to throw him out, far away. Just don't let him stay there." Roland pleaded. "We've captured him before, no cell can hold him. Somehow he always finds a way out."

Roland wasn't sure how he knew to do this, but somehow he knew he could. He focused on the memories, the dreamscape around them twisted to reveal a series of cells. There was no conspicuous sign of damage, yet it was obvious they'd been broken out of from the inside.

"Everytime he let us capture him. It was to find another hideout, and then somehow he'd get out and kill the guards. He leaves a path of destruction everywhere he goes, Anansi. Please, if he hurt you, I..." Roland stopped short, unsure of his next words. What did he feel, exactly?

"Faeries sleep amidst the trees..."

Griffin's gruff voice carried throughout the chamber. His dirty face was covered in fresh silver, his tongue lewdly licking his lips as it dripped down his face. His oddly handsome features were twisted with a feral pleasure, his eyes dilating wildly as he raised a blade above his head.

"Wings all fluttering amidst the breeze." There a sickening sound of crunching bone and severing tendons as he swung it down. The blade was of Fae made, and had been seized from a guard. The same who now lay quivering on the ground, on the verge of passing out from pain as his blood drained rapidly from severed limbs. Griffin held up his freshly severed arm. The Faery was too weak to scream anymore. He showed it too him as he died, and moved on another, who crawled desperately away.

"But one Fae lies anxious, wide awake. Fearing all manner of man, dogs, and sword. For her, sleep has flown and she trembles alone."

He drove the seized blade down into the guard's back, severing his spine and ceasing his suffering. Wrenching the blade free, Griffin continued to a set of stairs, following them up out of the dungeon chamber. He drug his free hand along the stone wall, leaving a trail of silver blood in his wake. He made no effort to disguise his presence, singing loud and clear.

"For the Butcher, heartless and cold. Paid in silver and gold. He comes, he'll go, leave naught behind but heartache and woe."

A flit of movement caught his eye. His pupils dilated, instantly catching the Fae in swift flight. A gleam of light off a silver blade. Griffin parried it swiftly, pushing the blade to the side and letting it slip across the flat of his sword. He drove the pommel past the other's guard, smashing the Fae's nose flat. Throwing out his arm, he pinned the Fae's sword arm to the stairway wall, and drew his own blade slowly across the guard's throat. He grinned as Feary blood sprayed out, pumped by a rapidly beating heart.

Leaning in, he sensually let his tongue hang out, catching some of the droplets upon it. Staring into the fading eyes of the Fae, he continued.

"For the Butcher, cold and bold. Paid in silver and gold. He'll chop and slice you, gut and dice you, eat you up whole..." He let the dying creature drop, rolling down the staircase as he continued up, his tune finished. "Little Day Girl... Where, oh where are you?" He muttered to himself. His eyes gazed over, the darkness around him swirling up from the depths as he reached out, searching for her bright essence.

"Anansi, you've got to get away from him. Convince your mother to execute him, or to throw him out, far away. Just don't let him stay there." Roland said, pleading to her with his eyes, and his tone. "We've captured him before, no cell can hold him. Somehow he always finds a way out." He told her, and her brow furrowed. What manner of creature was this? He was no mere mortal, she could sense that in the cells,even still, surely he could not break from from Fae cells.

He then projected the scene on to the world around them. She looked around. She couldn't see anything physically, so clearly magic was afoot. Had she been there, she would have been able to at least sense the magic.

"Everytime he let us capture him. It was to find another hideout, and then somehow he'd get out and kill the guards. He leaves a path of destruction everywhere he goes, Anansi. Please, if he hurt you, I..." He stopped and Anansi felt the rush of confusion in his heart. He was unsure of something. Was it her? "My mother would likely have him killed once Day comes, it's the Night Queen we have to fear, she is up to something I know it." She told him before she stepped up to him, taking his hands that had fallen to his sides, and gripping them firmly. "I will try my best to stir clear of him." She said, and nodded, watching his eyes. He had such kind eyes, despite the pain swirling within. She rose a hand, placed it on his cheek and smiled. "Thank you, for caring for my safety" She said, and pressed a soft feather like kiss to his lips. She stopped, her soft expression disappearing, as she looked down at her hands, and her image began to fade. Something was corrupting the magic. Something dark. It wasn't the Night Queen. She looked up at him, fear in her eyes. She reached out to him, as if he could keep her tethered to the dreamworld. "Rola--"


It was at the moment, that Anansi was jarred from her sleep, by the sound of crashing. Her large wooden doors blew open, sending splinters of woods everywhere, she covered her face with her hands, and went the dust settled, she saw him.

Large tendrils of darkness, swirling around him, searching for her light, while he himself was covered in silver blood.

"You..." She said and rose a hand, her palm shone brightly, she channeled her nature, and shot it forth, with enough force to keep his distance, but it wasn't enough to hold him back, Day didn't break yet.

"Stay Away, Demon!" She shouted, using both hands to hold him back, but she could see her light flickering, the darkness, having more power in the night, was over taking her light. Sweat dotted her brow as she forced her magic to work, even in the dark, but it was fighting back, and she could see the tendrils slowly push her back, until she was pinned between the headboard o of her bed, and the darkness.

"Roland....I can't keep my promise, my best is not enough...He is here, and he will win." She said before the darkness pushed back, pressing her against the wall, crushing her body against it, the wood splintering from the force. Finally, she had no magic left, not in the Night, and her hands fell limp at her sides, the only thing keeping her upright was the darkness itself.

They fled from him, now. Bathed in a swirling abyss, darker than any they'd seen before. His visage ran with their blood. In one hand, Griffin still clutched the appropriated sword. In the other, he drug a semi-conscious Fae. They weren't a guard, but had stumbled unwittingly into his rampage.

"This blade isn't bad, you know." Griffin's voice echoed eerily, caught up in the abyss of his aura. "Bit too light, however. A sword needs more heft, the center of balance is all off. Look."

Another guard tried their hand, flitting towards Griffin as fast as they could possibly go. They were trying to hit him fast, and get away. The guard slammed into a wall of darkness, tendrils of the void wrapping around him and yanking him back. With a lazy, one handed swipe, he buried the blade into the neck of the Fae. Blood spurted out around it, and came in a torrent as he sawed the blade out. The gaping wound as horrific to look at, as silver poured freely. Griffin didn't hesitate to drink of it. He was using quite a bit of power, and needed a good supply.

"See, that's what I'm talking about," Griffin continued, "A blade forged by a good human blacksmith would have struck much deeper. With both hands, I probably could have decapitated him even!" The darkness called to him. His head snapped around, his vision focusing down the hall.

"Ah. There you are." He muttered. Looking at the struggling Fae in his left arm, he smirked. Lifting her by her hair, he pinned her to the wall. Leaning in, he licked the side of her neck, up to her cheek. "Sorry, love. I have another engagement. Hold this for me, will you?"

The Fae jerked, her mouth opening in shock and pain. Griffin strode away, leaving her pinned to the wall by the blade now impaled through her body.

Roland was frozen in a moment of time. For a few brief seconds, that felt like an eternity, his lips were against Anansi's.
His heart skipped a beat, or maybe a few dozen. As time returned to its normal flow for him, however, the dream quickly became a nightmare. Some sort of darkness was surrounding them, and Anansi began to fade.

"Anansi?!" He called out. She was fading rapidly, and he saw her hand reaching out to him, calling to him. He lunged forward, swiping at the place she'd been. Roland jerked awake.

"He is here, he will win." He heard clearly in his head. Panic swallowed him. His chest became suffocatingly tight. He gripped his head in his hands, his motions frantic.

"No. No, no, no, no!" He jumped to his feet, pacing erratically. Thomas burst into the room, drawn by his exclamation.
"Roland? Roland!" Thomas seized him by the shoulders, stopping his pacing. "Roland, look at me! What's wrong?!"
"He's got her, he's got Anansi." Roland managed, looking at his mentor.
"Who? You don't mean... Oh, no." Thomas' expression fell as the truth hit him. The presence of his mentor was calming him, slightly. Roland was able to begin willing himself to think.
"Thomas, we've got to save her." He said.

"Roland, we can't launch a rescue operation into Fae territory. We'd need an army to take on Griffin, and that large of an incursion into their territory would make us seem like an invasion force." Thomas cautioned.

"We're not going there, we're going to rescue her here, in Westfalls." Roland said, after a moment of thought.
"How exactly do you figure this?" Thomas questioned, arching an eyebrow.
"He'll bring her here. We know he's captured Fae alive before, right? We've followed the prison wagons."
"Right. When there's a large group, he brings them to the royal dungeons to await public execution." Thomas replied, thinking now.

"Yet, he always brings one back for himself, the sadistic freak." Roland said.
"He always has at least one in tow, yes. Back to his estate... You think he's going to bring Anansi to his estate?"
"Why wouldn't he? Someone as beautiful and innocent as her... That's exactly the kind of someone he'd want to torture himself." Roland replied.

"Roland, are you sure you're not letting another kind of emotion dictate your actions?" Thomas asked, warningly.
"I'm not going to have this debate, sir Thomas. I'd like to do this together, but if you don't trust me, feel free to stay behind." Roland snapped, turning his back on his mentor and seizing his scabbard and blade from the corner.

"Of course I'm coming with you, you fool. Now, what's our next move?" Thomas asked.
"We're going to go scout out his estate. We need to find a way in, pinpoint weaknesses in his guard's routine. We've got until he gets back, which gives us plenty of time." Roland said.
"Right. I'll gather some supplies then." Thomas replied, turning on his heel and leaving the room.

She was stirring. Griffin smiled, cooing at the day girl as consciousness returned slowly to her. His aura swirled around her, keeping her drained of magic.

"We're going to have so much fun together, little Day Girl. I bet you've never had someone like me..." He cooed lewdly over the utter chaos around them. The guard had stopped attacking, and instead attempts were now being made to rouse the Day Queen. It was still night, but not for long, and she had to be made aware of what was happening. Griffin hastening, hastening his escape.

Anansi felt Roland's fear, and panic. It stirred her, pulling her back into consciousness. She felt so weak, Day was coming she could feel it but it didn't give her the power that it would have as it approached. Instead, darkness swirled around her, keeping her weak and in a lethargic like state. She could barely keep her eyes open.

"We're going to have so much fun together, little Day Girl. I bet you've never had someone like me..."He spoke, as she blinked, trying to take in her surroundings. She could smell the silver, she could feel it on her skin. Had? What did he mean by that? What was he doing? What was he going to do?

"Roland...." her mind reached out weakly. It was all she could do in this state, half in the dream world, half in the waking, she could do nothing but reach out.

"Halt, Demon." Anansi heard her mother's voice. There she was, in all her golden glory, the Day Queen"M-mother..." Anansi could barely look at her, her mother's glow was bright, blinding in this state. She could see the fear in her mother's eyes, Anansi's own glow was dim, almost nonexistent.
"Release my daughter and I will kill you swiftly." She warned, heat rising in the room as if the sun itself peeked inside. Anansi felt her skin warmth until there was a slow burn. She moaned and the pain immediately ceased.

"What did you do to her, creature?" Her mother hissed, watching her captured with daggers for eyes. Anansi finally looked up, and she saw him, swirling with darkness. She knew who it was when he spoke, but seeing him, adding a face to the voice, it was all hte more terrifying...She rose a shaky hand, trying to summon any power she had but her fingers glow dim like dying flame before her hand dropped limp at her side.

"You will burn slow, Demon!" Her mother hissed just before Anansi loss consciousness yet again.

"You will burn slow, Demon!"

Griffin frowned. This was highly... unfortunate. There was no way he could beat the Day Queen in open combat, not yet. He was still too human, too fragile. He could hold her at bay, however. Long enough to secure his freedom, with a hostage. He cursed silently. He had no choice but to show his trump card. To unleash a power the likes of which even the Fae feared. It would not be enough to make him successful in a battle, but it could scare her. Scare them all.

Fear and his hostage were the only tools he had now. It was good he had fed. He would need all of that power now, and with the surge of the Night Queen still burning through his veins... He had everything he needed. There was no hiding the sudden surge. The darkness intensified into an impenetrable veil. The air around them seemed to freeze, the world turning a shade darker for a moment as an expanding corona of power flowed forth from him. His eyes filled with a seeping blackness that spread to his veins like poison. Webbing out from his face and traveling down his neck, presumably to other parts of his body as well, his veins turned as black as void. The feel of this energy was entirely hostile. It was not the night. It was something else.

The blackness bled from his aura, covering the walls around him in their viel, meeting the light of the Day Queen in a fierce battle of all its own. When Griffin spoke, his voice burned with an inhuman inflection.

"Stand aside, Fae. I will leave this place, or I will swallow the Day Girl whole. She will feed the Abyss, the Eternal Void, her essence fueling the domination of the lesser species. Her soul lost, torn and swallowed."

Griffin's insides burned. He couldn't hold this power for long. He had never summoned this much, and it was draining him faster than he anticipated. His entire body was in agony, as if being squeezed in a vice. Still, he held his ground, confident the threat of losing the Day Girl would stay the Queen's hand.

The Day Queen narrowed her eyes, looking from her daughter to the wretch that took her captive. She couldn't say whether or not he could do those things he claimed, she could feel the power, being fed by the night.

"What are you waiting on, Sister, Kill the thing." The Night Queen appeared from between the shadows, and her light. her eyes cutting toward the creature. "He has the princess." The Day Queen hissed like the crackling of wood. "Yes, but he will take her, the things he will do to her."

"Which is worse?" She looked at her sister. Neither of them were at their peak, it was twilight, the time when the sun and the moon shared the sky. They were at their weakest, even if they worked together, and clearly he was darkness as well, but a different dark, and unnatural dark, it wasn't something the Night Queen could control.

"You live...Demon, but You've doomed yourself and your race." She said and stepped aside. "Stand down, let it through."
The guards that had surrounded the Day Queen and were primed to strike, gave the creature wide berth, all of them still prepared to attack.


Teh Day Queen saw the Night Queens smirked. "You had something to do with this, didn't you." The Day Queen said, her art keeping his darkness from pushing back.
"I just want these things destroyed." The Night Queen said, the amusement in her tone was not lost on her.
"You put him up to it then?" She questioned and the Night Queen shook her head.
"Oh no, This plan is all his own." She said and smiled.
"He has the princess, was that your plan?" The Night Queen chuckled." The Princess had a part to play, but no, I didn't think he'd take her."
"What did you think he'd do?" The Day Queen's eyes burned. "Trick her, she must have been smarter then she looks."

"What is the meaning of all this, What did you hope to accomplish by allying yourself with that thing...." The Night Queen merely smiled.
"War, Sister, War."

"Then you shall have it, and when we are done, you and I have much to discuss." The Day Queen growled and the Night Queen merely shrugged. "She's a smart girl, Clearly, she'll find a way out." She said and touched her sisters shoulder to which burned under her palm. The Night Queen pulled her hand away.

"After this, we've much to discuss, yes, I can take my UnSeelie and we can leave beyond the water, where the mortals roam, it'll be nothing but ashes, but that'll do us just fine."

"If you survive."

"Oh I will sister, if you will, then so shall I, There is no one without the other." She said, and the Night Queen strode off, leaving her sister glaring after her.