Roland's Story

"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.