[ Blackmoon settlent! ]
"Soft little paws... soft little breath... softer little throats...take it easy...no need to rush this..."
Roanoke’s voice was no louder than the rustle of dead leaves under his boots...it crept soundless,like the plague. It carried death and decay along with it.
He walked hunched, shoulders twitching, eyes rolling as if he were listening to whispers only he could hear. He looked darker than the night air hugging him...no moon...no light dared touch his fra.
His steps were noiseless, his shadow thinner than any wolf’s.
The Blackmoon stronghold lood ahead like a mini fortress, guarded by watchn who were trained to scent death and blood. And yet, Roanoke slipped between their senses like smoke. His necromancy wrapped around him like a shroud, cloaking him from the keenest noses, the sharpest ears.
He chuckled, almost tender. "They don’t even sll ... and here I co, my darling granddaughter. Sweet little morsel of Autumn’s legacy. Sweet little heir of Kieran’s arrogance...its ti to pay the debt your bloodline carries. "
The sigils carved into his palms began to glow faintly, pulsing like veins filled with molten rot.
Inside the inner walls, Freya tightened her grip on her sister.
Willa wriggled in her sister’s lap, still trying to peek past the wooden sword at the door.
"Freya," she whispered, "nobody’s there. Maybe it was just the fireplace... making stinky smoke."
Freya didn’t loosen her grip. Her dark eyes were wide, unblinking, watching the wooden door as though it might splinter any second. "No. It’s not the fire. It’s... sothing really really bad...like that bad uncle I found in the woods...he made sparkling butterflies for and said..."
" Said what? What uncle? Wait, what? Sparkling butterflies? Are you serious?"
Freya nodded her head subtly without sharing her sister’s enthusiasm. " Yeah... he said sothing about Mamma not being my mother... but you know, that’s what bad people do... they lie..."
"Who’s this uncle though?" Willa asked, clinging tighter.
Freya shook her head, curls bouncing like restless flas. "I don’t know. But I felt sothing bad around him...around his soul...and I feel sothing similar now....close.Very close. And it’s bad. Very bad for sure."
The toy sword trembled slightly in her hands as she felt a ripple...but she held it firm.
"Freya, if it’s that bad, shouldn’t we call uncle Dax? He is big and strong too. He will protect us!"
" I can protect the two of us, don’t worry, I will not let anything happen to you. Don’t be scared! Besides, we don’t know how to use our mind links yet...if we scream the bad thing will know that we are scared and attack imdiately...even before uncle Dax can co running...use your brain,Willa...have faith in ..." Freya landed a sloppy but firm, reassuring kiss over Willa’s head.
Roanoke pressed his hand against the outer wall of the stronghold.
Stones and rocks that were enriched with runes, ant to stand the test of ti and battles...flinched under his touch...black veins spread outwards like rot through fruit.
He grinned. "Good work, Kieran...it’s strong... but not strong enough to hold . Stones can not keep from what I want..."
Sothing wet dripped from his sleeve. His blade was bleeding.
It was still slick with offerings from the ritual. He lifted it to his mouth, licked and sniffed...almost like a crack doing drugs...except that his tongue ca away black... his eyes blood shot... veins throbbed so hard, the entire circulatory system could be traced over the surface of his skin.
"She is in there. The little one who slls like . And the brat Lyla dared to try to protect from ." His lips twitched with fury, then softened with sothing like hunger. "Oh, but she will beg when she sees what I bring.I bet her blood will be sweet...ahhh...so much power at such a tender age...what a delicacy..."
He tilted his head back, whispering to the air."Do you hear , wife? What a spectacle it will be when she will scream, and kick...and her little life will slowly deplete as she will stare in my eyes...it will be the sweetest lullaby you ever wanted to hear."
Inside, Willa’s lower lip quivered. "Freya... I still don’t sll anything...but... but your words are... are really scaring ! I wanna go to Mamma! " Her eyes almost splashed with fear and tears...
Freya imdiately patted her back like a mother would. " It is because you are too nice," But she hissed, her little voice a bit too sharp with convictions. "Nice people don’t sll monsters. But bad people...bad people stink. And this one stinks worse than rotten eggs."
Freya continued as her nose wrinkled fiercely. "He stinks like... like dead people that walk."
Willa whimpered softly. "I don’t like dead people walking...that’s...that’s scary..."
" I know...," Freya’s grip tightened on the toy sword. "That’s why I will cut him before he touches you."
Roanoke pressed his ear to the stone.
He smiled. He could almost hear them.
Two tiny voices, bubbling in fear, still soaked in innocence. Their giggles had dried up. Now ca the shivers, the hushed whispers. One brave. One scared...he sniffed the air with that nacing daze in his eyes... " Ahhh! The sweet taste of innocence!Yes...yes..." he breathed, eyes rolling back in his skull. " I can feel their emotions...this makes the kill all the more fun..."
The sigils on his palms flared brighter, and the stone beneath his ear pulsed like a heartbeat.
"Closer," he murmured, licking the wall as if tasting their presence. "I can taste your breath already."
The fire in the hearth crackled louder, as though resisting Roanoke’s unseen presence.
Freya’s eyes darted, and she whispered fiercely, "Don’t move, Willa. Don’t even breathe too loud."
Willa obeyed instantly, her wide eyes staring only at her sister’s determined face. "But... Freya... what if Mama and Dada don’t co back soon?"
Freya swallowed hard, her little chin lifting. "Then I will be your Mama and your Dada. I will fight. You just hide. Promise you will hide if I say so."
Willa sniffled, then nodded, burying her face in Freya’s tangled curls. "Promise."
Roanoke’s hands lifted, fingers curling like talons. He whispered a string of so foul, guttural words.
The air thickened, carrying the stench of his ritual with it, seeping unseen into the cracks of the stone.
Shadows stretched unnaturally towards the window of the girls’ room...like skeletal fingers...grotesque,rotting arms reaching...reaching.
Roanoke’s grin widened as his tongue flicked out like a serpent.
But just then,his head snapped up...towards the night sky...a streak of brilliant blue...sothing swept right over his head... like a super sonic jet. He only caught a montary whiff!
His jaws dropped... that power... unimaginable... ten folds from what he had aid for... so delicious, he began to drool...
What the fuck was this?!
Another piece of Autumn’s soul?!
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