Bad Blood

[Astyllorin]

“Ah.. the highlands of the Belanoche. If there is but one place that I feel at home and threatened at the same time, this would be it.” Astyllorin scanned the skies for Harpie beasts that tended to call this area home. Yet it wasn’t the Harpies he was worried about, and it most certainly wasn’t the reason for his appearance in these desolate plains.

I rather enjoy this change of scenery he thought to himself as he looked down on the rest of Belanoche. “The fresh air and all feels wonderful compared to those stuffy halls they have us shacked up in, and yet those halls are ten times that of a king’s chambers compared to this dump.” This message was meant to be audible for all those around to hear. Being quite the mischievous person, he knew this would seize the attention of one in particular woman.

He stood up and grinned. “Are you still raw about the past you old hag? I just came to poke a little fun is all. Thought it would be fitting considering this is the anniversary of you being tossed out of your LOVELY hall. You know me always trying to go against the grain. I will warn you though, don’t try and sneak up on me. I have every soul of every person who has perished here watching YOU, and trust me…I KNOW YOU’RE ABOUT!” Astyllorin’s eyes began to turn a shade of red in anger. He was not getting the response he was looking for.

[Shailae]

Shailae's face pressed firmly against the damp, clammy surface of the mountainside. The voice echoing off the walls around her seemed to pierce through her bones on the way by, circling back to it's owner with pieces of her nerves still attached. She had meant to step out and confront him, but she had no idea what to say. Why was he even here? He had gotten what he wanted, his secrets would die with him and his word had been worth more than hers in the end.

Milky white eyes glanced up to the fading sun as if pleading the darkness to come and steal him away. But he would probably be here all night, only becomming more and more irritable if she didn't entertain him for at least a while. She had very little fight left in her, and she worried that if her responses were not to his liking, that he might become physical in retaliation. But really, what did she have to live for any more? His finaly words brought a sarcastic smile to her face, he seemed to think she wasn't aware of that fact. She could feel the conflict of their powers in the air, taste the alliance of every individual spirit like two very different spices on her tongue.

Her fingers brushed a grave as she appeared between two mossy hills in the old graveyard, her long silver hair shining in an ethereal manner that helped the eerie setting around them. A single silver bracelet gleamed on her wrist, the black outline of a crow seeming almost too dark against her pale skin, silver hair, and white gown. She seemed to either absorb all the light or fade into it, whereas the man she faced seemed to devour it, or reflect it. His darkness was almost strong enough to choke on.

"I know you do. You've been shouting for some time now." She replied quietly, her voice carefully neutral and flat. Her expression gave away as little as her voice, and if anything she gave off the appearance of being worn, tired, or perhaps just bored. All of which wouldn't be too far off considering her company. His anger was like electricity on her skin that burned, red hot and stinging. Idly she wondered how it was that she got to him so badly, he never had to see her again if he didn't wish, she was the one who had been exiled after all. And yet he came of his own free will, almost as if just to remind her that he hated her. He seemed to hate everything.

Truth be told Shailae didn't know a lot about the man, nobody really did, but her eyes had never proved her wrong before. She had seen things, and whether anyone believed her or not, she would always remember. Astyllorin was a murderer.

[Astyllorin]

The corner of Astyllorin’s mouth turned up in his usual mischievous grin. Slowly turning around, he crossed his arms and allowed for the other corner of his half-cocked grin to turn up and form a full-fledged smile.

“Wonderful day isn’t it Shailae my old friend?” His voice turned from playful and witty to a serious tone worthy of any beings attention. “Had you kept me any longer Shailae, I’m afraid I would have become rather vexed with your blatant lack of respect for authority. I knew you were here the moment you entered this wasteland. Wonderful scouts demons are. They can track a scent from miles away. All it took was for me to ask a few to track you. Next time you would do well to address me far sooner than what you have done today.” Astyllorin’s anger faded as he spoke. There was something about belittling Shailae that seemed to put his mind at ease. His eyes slowly turned from red to their usual green as he became calmer.

“Well then...shall we get right to it? Business is business and a sage has very little time to fit things in these days. Our annual rendezvous are always the highlight of my year, even though I have been told to leave well enough alone and that you have learned your lesson from the past I figure...why not reinforce the lesson?”
“You think I am a murderer, which is fair enough for you to say considering I have done my fare share of dirty work in order to keep everything balanced from this world and the next. That which you saw on that day so many, many years ago however, was not murder. That is what I, as well as every other Sage in that god-forsaken tower of confinement, call preservation. I am here to remind you why you are here. YOUR MEDDLING COULD HAVE KILLED US ALL HAD YOU DECIDED TO CONFRONT ME RATHER THAN GO RUNNING TO THE OTHER SAGES! YOU ALMOST KILLED ALL OF US SHAILAE!!” Astyllorin’s eyes flashed bright red again as the memories of the past came rushing back to him like a hot molten wave of anger. “My ability to control demons was miniscule at best compared to the abilities of the thing that possessed that man on that day. It would have killed all the Sages had I not done something...”

Astyllorin turned away from Shailae and turned his gaze towards the sky once more. In a simple, calm tone, he asked “Do you love the beings of this world so much that you would not even consider sacrificing one of them for the good of the many? The lives of your fellow Sages were in jeopardy and yet you believe he should have lived...This is why you were cast off...your love for the world beings has made you soft. If you love them so much, then you can stay with them for eternity.”

He turned back towards Shailae and smiled his mischievous, impish grin again. “Well I feel better, how about you Shailae? Venting all my anger into a life lesson for you has made me feel rather tranquil in the end. And with that I do believe our business is concluded and I hope that I took the proper amount of time to reinforce that lesson we were talking about. It would be a shame if I had to repeat it.”

Astyllorin turned his back on the woman and brushed an annoying fly from his shoulder giggling inside as he pretended it was Shailae “I hope this will be the last time you will see me for a very long time Shailae as I have decided to heed the words of the other Sages. I’m sure you will continue to see my many chaotic works of art in this world and others as you live your nomadic life...I’ll be sure to leave them here and there as tokens and reminders that I am still around and not dead as you so dearly wish every waking moment of your life.”

Astyllorin began walking away from what he was sure was a thoroughly shattered and demolished prey. “Shash’tu kem lahk zah preh za’luh” he whispered in demon tongue, dispelling the demons that he had coerced to watch his back in case she had attacked him. “Goodbye my dear...I’ll be sure to keep an ear out if you wish to talk in the future.”

[Shailae]

His smile brought the sensation of thorns prickling under her skin. Small stinging sensations which brought a heat to her body, one that had nothing to do with pleasure and was purely pain. His very smile was as toxic as his paranormal energy.

"As nice as any other." She breathed in a monotone voice lack of any particular emotion. She knew it was idle banter to generate more suspense towards the real purpose of his visit. It didn't necessarily bother her, time had little meaning for a woman like her.

His entire speech was absorbed and then rejected like a bad vaccination. A mental vaccination meant to convert her mind to his way of thinking, to block out the opinions and fears already established from so long ago. But what reason did she have to trust his rambling? Would a man like him truly consider anyone above himself? If he was that kind of man, he wouldn't be here, year after year. It couldn't be that her opinion actually mattered to him, he just tormented her like the sadist he was.

Murderer... She could feel the cold presence of spirits at her back, cautioning her not to give in to the cruel man's attempt at covering his tracks.

It was confusing, why did he bother with her? Whether she believed him or not, it wouldn't affect his life, the other Sages had seen to that. "If that is your opinion, then it is so." There was a tiredness to her voice, she had nothing left to say after these years. At first she'd tried to defend herself, tried to make him explain how she could have misunderstood and how he hadn't tried to solve the situation before her fate was sealed.

No matter how much they went back and forth, the answers never came. She gave up on trying to draw anything useful from him, or trying to build a bridge of reason between them. He frightened her, he was not a peaceful man, he was not a hero.

She watched him turn with idle interest, this was the first time in a while he'd talked about the situation itself, rather than just trying to demean and degrade her. She wondered what was influencing his decisions. "If I did not speak for them, they would not have a voice. That I was the only one who cared is... unfortunate for their fates now. You can kill them with a thought, but they could not kill any one of us with all the power in their bodies." Unfair, isn't it? The words went unsaid, and she felt the pain of the spirits around her to support her thoughts. Her milky eyes were dull with pain at the thought. There wasn't a single Sage left who truly cared for the welfare of the humans on a personal level.

How had they touched her heart? Oh, it was such a long story. "Stay with them? No, I have never truly been with them and never can be. But you wouldn't understand the thought of unconditional love or compassion." There was no heat or anger to her words, she only spoke what she felt was a simple fact. She wasn't sure Astyllorin knew how to love anything at all, not even in a selfish manner.

"I feel very little actually. Just as I did a year ago. Just as I will ten years from now if you persist." She sighed and laid her frail body across a sloping mossy rock. Talking made her tired these days, everything made her tired these days. "You are poor at reading even the most obvious of people. Perhaps it is because you cannot care enough about a single other living being. This is why I cannot accept your story." She turned her head away from him to stare at the ground sightlessly.

A small tragic smile appeared at the last of his words as she closed her eyes and shook her head slowly. "I do not wish you or anyone else death Astyllorin, that is the difference between you and I." He had ruined her life with his hatred, but still she had never once thought of wishing him dead.

She didn't know of the demon tongue, but the woman had no intention of dishonoring herself by initiating conflict. She had no emotional will to fight, and though she was powerful, it was a restrained power. He would have to forever listen to the whispers of the spirits, because she had no intentions of summoning him to her of her own will.

Be near me... The other Sage would have felt the ethereal shift in activity as the phantoms he could not see encircled the phantom woman, moaning their misery for her. A spectral hiss was uttered in the direction of the demon man, BEGONE.