Alliance With Shadows

Chapter 5

“Hey, Teague” Mercy whispered as she came to sit down beside him on the sidewalk. All she got out of him was a bark. “It’s okay for you to talk Teague. We’re in a small town and it’s after ten in the evening, everyone is asleep by now.” Teague replied with a bark. “Oh, I see you only talk when Lucern is around.” Mercy laughed out. What is taking Lucern so long? He was just paying for the food. Looking over to find Teague lying on the sidewalk with his head in his paws, so many questions buzzed through her mind.

            “Teague?” She began; Teague lifted his head as if to say 'What'. “You’re a hell hound, but to look like a regular dog you would have to change your eye color.” If dogs could sigh, Teague did.

            “Yes, I am a hell hound. Just as Lucern said I am different than other hounds. My eyes are naturally a neon green color. Most hell hound eyes are red from the blood they usually get from killing mortals as the darklings do. But I choose not to do that, and I was discriminated against for that. My special power is to shapeshift. I can change what I look like, and what color my eyes are.”

            “I was also wondering, you’re called a Hell Hound but in reality, you’re not from Hell you’re from the Dark Realm. So where exactly were you created and why are you called a Hell Hound? And it’s really cool that you can change, what dog do you usually change into?”

            “Whoa, one question at a time lady. I am called a Hell Hound because most people call the Dark Realm the Underworld. You were correct I was created in the Dark Realm, but like the other two realms, there are variations of each animal. Just like the darklings themselves the animals took on a demonic nature themselves. I was an outcast and had the power to not accept the demonic nature I did not change like the other animals. Unlike Lucern and other darklings, we cannot choose to accept or reject the demonic nature, our souls are either lighter or darker, that is how we gravitate towards the Dark or Light. Though some animals just have a grey soul and become a mortal-like animal. We are a bit more complicated than you are. And to answer your second question I usually change into a Husky because it’s one of Lucern's favorites. I also change my eye color to match his, it usually looks better on a Husky.”

            She looked at him a little dumbfounded; she wasn’t expecting such a long explanation as to why he was the way that he was. Although she was a little sad that animals were now being dragged into this whole ‘demonic war’ in the Dark Realm. She shook the thought off, she needed to stay positive and just believe that between her and her newfound partners they could stop this war before it bleeds completely into the Mortal world. She smiled down at Teague, “Well can you change for me right now? I would really like to see you in your other dog form.” Mercy was almost begging. She always wanted a Husky herself. Plus this was a great way to get her mind off all this war stuff and enjoy having a dog keep her company.

            “Yeah sure,” Teague barked out a laugh. Then suddenly he was engulfed with white, glittery lights that seemed to swirl around him, they almost looked like the northern lights. Then in the next second, he was a pure white husky, with black paws and light blue piercing eyes. He was the most beautiful husky she had ever seen. “Mercy you might want to close that jaw.” Teague's eyes were shining with laughter. Mercy quickly closed her mouth, but couldn't stop staring. She slowly lifted her hand to pet his snow-white coat, but hesitated not knowing how he would feel about it, this was Lucern’s dog maybe he didn’t like anyone other than his master touching him. As if Teague knew her uncertainty he butted her hand with his nose as if to say it was okay. She began scratching behind his ears. She could have sworn she heard him sigh as he relaxed into her touch. Before she knew it she was laughing and smiling as if he was her own dog.

            “Having fun you two?” Lucern's deep voice surprised her from behind. Mercy almost jumped clear off the sidewalk. She hadn’t expected him to be able to sneak up on her, although she was sort of in a trace when it came to petting Teague. She turned and smiled trying to hide her sudden surprise and nodded. Lucern smiled, “You shouldn't do that too much; he'll get attached to you if you spoil him too much.”

            “Shut up Lucern let her keep petting me. She has a softer touch than you do. Plus she smells really good.” Teague growled out. Mercy laughed and turned back to Teague to hide her blush at the comment of her smelling good and completely ignored Lucern's warning of petting Teague. Not able to hold back her curiosity about Lucern's reaction she turned to find him grinning ear to ear. Butterflies tickled her stomach and her heartbeat was so fast it was as if she had run a marathon. She quickly looked back to Teague to find him happy and content. Suddenly there was a white pair of running shoes at her feet. The shoes lead to legs covered in dark blue washed jeans, which lead to a fitted white tank covered with a black leather jacket. Oh....my....stars above. She couldn’t believe she was able to breathe when he lifted his shirt. Who could resist bronze skin and abs of steel? He could put any male model or actor out of a job. Continuing her journey to meet his face she found his angular jaw that leads to a breathtaking smile. She finally made it to those breathtaking eyes; his light blue eyes were as blue as the clear morning sky. Then suddenly he moved. What is he doing? What was he going to do? She wasn’t ready she had to keep her wits about her. She couldn’t let this man get to her like he was. This man was becoming too dangerous to be around. She held back a sigh when she saw that he simply held out his hand.

            “Are you ready to go milady?”

            “Um…yeah.” Mercy slipped her hand into his and found that somehow it felt right being in his hands. So she didn't release his hand once she got up, and Lucern didn't release hers either. She should let go, but it felt so nice to hold his hand. s**t the war inside her was too much. How was she going to work with him and be able to save the darklings, whitelings, and mortals? This partnership was so not a good idea. Ah damn, whatever, she was just going to stop thinking. She wasn’t going to win this never-ending war. She was shaken from her thoughts by Teague’s questioning. What was he asking?

            “Hey Luc, do you mind if I go ahead? I want to go back to the building to go to sleep.” Teague grumbled as he walked beside Lucern.

            “Not at all Teague, I'll meet you back there later.” Before Luc finished his sentence Teague was already a mile away.

            “So is that your nickname?” Mercy snuggled into Luc's arm, ignoring the sudden buzzer going off in her head that it was a bad idea. If she was going to work with him she was going to enjoy every moment, because, in the end, they couldn’t be together. It was forbidden, he knew, she knew it. So why not enjoy the time together while it lasted. The wind sliced its way through the crisp fall air. Man, it was warmer this afternoon.

            “It's just something Teague calls me, or I call myself when arguing with myself.”  Luc laughed. “It's just something simple.”

            “Would you mind if I called you that?”

            “Not at all, you may call me whatever you like.” Luc held Mercy closer realizing that she didn't have a heavy enough jacket. “Did you want me to answer the question you asked in the diner?”

            “Oh yes.” Mercy said in surprise, he had remembered.

            “Well, my first reason is that you are a whiteling and well if a whiteling can’t help me then I suppose there is no hope for me. And you are not only a whiteling, but you are also a Valkyrie.” Luc sighed. “Plus for some reason, I have always had this certain attraction or connection with you. When the darklings would come back from the mortal realm they would always talk about you. I would always get mad when they would say horrible things about you, but I held my tongue.”  He laughed, “A darkling isn't supposed to defend a whiteling in any way. It is now a law my father has put in place. I always wished I could meet you, no matter if you killed me right away or paused to hear my story. I was always so proud when I heard you killed a demonic darkling, which never made any of the others happy. I did not like that you had to kill but I was very glad you were able to fight my father’s people to protect your own and also the mortals. It is the charge of the Valkyrie to protect the humans and once they have died to guide their souls to either the Dark or the Light to then be reborn. It is a charge my father has forgotten, and I would like to have it back. I would like to protect instead of harm, and I cannot do that with this curse. This demon haunts my every dream.” Then he looked down to find her watching the scenery around them. Noticing that he stopped the story she looked up and smiled.

            “I'm listening, continue.” She didn’t mind the story; to be truthful she was surprised he was saying so much.

            Lucern smiled, “I am very proud of you.” Mercy blushed then turned to look at the scenery again. Lucern laughed, “May I ask you something? And could you answer it truthfully?” Mercy looked back up at him with questioning eyes but nodded anyway. “If you are unable to help me, I must beg you to kill me. Will you please kill me? I'd rather it be by your hands than the hands of creatures who have the blood of so many mortals...I...I must die by a pure hand, a hand that has never killed a creature that has a pure heart.” Mercy could have sworn her heart stopped and her lungs froze. How...how could she kill him now? Was this the reason he told her so much? So she would understand why he would ask her such a question? These were the reasons why he no longer wanted to be a darkling. Not knowing if she could trust her voice she nodded her head. She didn’t want to nod her head, and truthfully if it came down to having to kill him she didn’t think she could do it. A nod was all he could have. It was all she could offer.

            Not satisfied with the nod he turned her to face him, “You must say it aloud please?” The pleading in his eyes broke her heart even more. He knew in his heart that she probably couldn’t do it but maybe, just maybe if she could understand the war that he was fighting inside she would know the reason why he was asking this of her. She was the only one who could do it. Only a Valkyrie or a High Lord or Priestess could kill a Valkyrie, and he knew his father would refuse and the Priestess would never think of killing the High Lords’ child. She was the only one he could count on.

            “Y...yes I'll do it.” Then she let her head fall and watched her feet move as they walked.  What did she just say? She just told him she would do it. She would kill him if the time came. She would just have to make sure the time never came; she would have to somehow turn his dark soul into a light one. How do you change the soul of a being? Sensing her regret in her answer Luc stopped and held her in a tight hug. He knew the minute her heart touched his, this was it, and there was no turning back. He knew he would have to die to save this woman, to save the mortals she loved so much. He knew that what he was fighting so desperately would soon find its way into his dark, lonely heart. Love was forbidden, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t like her, couldn’t enjoy her company. He would make this woman laugh and smile and happy till the day she would have to take his life. Death was inevitable, love was forbidden and in this small second, he couldn’t help but smile. He would memorize this moment and keep it with him forever. But he would never let her know, and never let her see how much he was starting to care for her. The minute she knew she would not be able to do the deed he needed her to do. He pushed her away slightly to let her step back a couple of steps, he gently placed his finger under her chin and lifted her head so he could meet her eyes. His eyes glittered with the thoughts that danced in his head; hers looked as if there were only rain clouds showering her every thought with regret.

            “Thank you milady, you have the purest of souls and mine thank you.” He was smiling as if death would be the greatest treasure he could hope for. And all she could do was force a smile and nod. They continued their walk back towards Mercy's home. How could she tell him she couldn’t do it when his smile was so genuine and how could he think dying was better than living. Although she supposed the alternative for working with her wasn’t exactly a happily ever after. She shivered at the thought of him having to return to his realm and being brutally beaten by his father for working with a whiteling. “Are you cold Mercy?” He shrugged off his jacket and put it around her. Not wanting him to peek into her mind she simply nodded and smiled in thanks for the jacket. She couldn’t let him know the thoughts that danced in her mind. She had to plot a way to save him tonight when she was safely in her own house.

            She sighed when she found herself at her front door. She didn’t know if the sigh was in happiness that she was finally home or out of regret that the night with Lucern was ending. She shook the thought off; she needed time by herself so she could think. He walked her to the door as if they were on a date. He gently placed a kiss on her cheek and disappeared. Mercy jumped back in shock, how did he disappear? Valkyrie didn’t have that ability, although that was what she thought. Maybe it was a simple spell? She would have to ask him in the morning to teach her how to do it. Sighing softly she entered her home to her soft warm bed that called her name. She didn't even have a chance to change into her pajamas; she simply collapsed on her bed and fell asleep. So much for figuring out a plan to save Luc tonight, well there was time for her to figure out everything some other day. She didn’t realize that Luc didn't disappear; he simply fazed himself to the roof of the mortal across from her house.

***

            “Lord Halcyon.”

            “Yes, Bane?”

            “It has only been a few hours in the Human Realm but I wanted to give you an update since time passes differently here.”

            Halcyon yawned, “Yes yes. I know it is early in the morning, what is your update?”

            “It seems that your son’s dog has made his way to the human world, and your son has taken residence on the rooftop of the house across the street from the woman’s house. He was seen placing his lips on her cheek and then the woman suddenly had dark cheeks.”

            Halcyon sighed; his pawns were stupid when it came to human emotions. It worked in his favor that he never had to deal with the stupid emotions but now that he needed to know information about his son he just wanted to strangle them. Taking a deep breath, “Thank you, is that it?”

            “Yes, your highness.”

            “You are dismissed.”

            Bane bowed his head and left through the double doors, shutting them behind him as usual.

***

            Finding himself on the roof he found the best position to watch her house. He wasn’t about to let her out of his sight when he remembered all the things the darklings said they would love to do to her. They would never get the chance to see her; they would have to go through him. He wasn’t about to let the only person who could even remotely save the mortals anywhere near a darkling. Noticing Teague was pacing across the roof, which was odd for the dog he spoke up, “Hey Teague, what’s on your mind?”

            “Oh...hey Luc.”

            “Hey, Teague I asked what's wrong?” There was definitely something wrong. Teague was the happy go lucky companion, Luc himself was the one that always worried and paced.

            “She isn't safe anymore Luc. We have involved her now; the underworld knows that you didn't kill the whiteling you were supposed to kill. They now realize that the only reason you came up here was for...” Teague pointed his nose towards Mercy's house. “You know what they are planning Luc, they are going to come in numbers to kill her now. They know that there is a connection somehow between you two.” Every word dripped with pain. Luc could hardly breathe with the newfound news.

            “We...we have to keep her safe Teague. We have to keep her alive no matter what.”

            “Luc that’s not all. Halcyon has been going crazy. There’s got to be something else, he’s been talking with the Elders and the Oracle. They are planning something big.”

            He needed to figure out what was going on with his father and what he was planning. But they both knew his father didn’t trust Luc enough to tell him anything, let alone plans of an invasion or something as big as Teague was talking about. Luc whispered to the winds, words of prayer and words that he hoped would reach Mercy in her dreams. Then he fell into the deep darkness that began his nightmares of loss and despair.

***

            In Mercy's sweet dreams she could have sworn she heard a man’s voice. The words were hard to make out but she couldn't help but feel the sadness and another feeling she had never felt before.

Be careful my love...Be safe my heart

Lucern? Was that him? It couldn’t have been. Luc didn’t love her they had just met. It was impossible!