Snippet #2675620

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.