For the Hate of God

We miss Alice, mad hatter and a rabbit

Kandreah’s POV

Sanguineabyss is a vast subrealm within Wengarthria. So big that it could be a realm in its own right. Mud and blood are squelching beneath our feet. Its name is warranted by all means. Sanguine means blood in Latin. And this shi.thole really looks like an abyss of blood. The sky above us is a horizon saturated with ruby and crimson tones, reminding me of bloodied curtains of some perverse sh.it show while the smell of blood is flowing through all of my senses. I could live without blood for a long time as long as I have a regular influx of necromancy within me.

The energy of de.ath has a bizarre effect on me. It keeps me alive. My warriors, on the other hand, at least those faes who do not have necromancy elements within, are dependent on blood to survive. During the past few battles, they had more than enough opportunities to quench their thirst, to the disgust of non-vampiric warriors in the alliance. So, given the bloo.dbath we caused in conquered subrealms of Wengarthria, we are not bothered by famine, but we are tantalised by the all-present smell of blood here.

It mocks all of our senses. The thirst for blood is in our nature. And blood, sight and smell are everywhere in Sanguineabyss. Sanguineabyss looks like a never-ending crater made of blood. Blood is the essence of this subrealm. And its hatch looks like it will devour all of us down without swallowing. As we were approaching the bottom of this ridged crater, the smell of blood became so intense that I struggled to breathe and to keep my beast and hunger in check.

If the vampire fae within me takes over the control, I will mas.sacre every warrior who has blood running through their veins in here. This is a luxury we cannot afford. Fangs of my warriors are slowly starting to wedge above their mouths and decorate their faces, glinting in a menacing glow. The amber-emerald neon smoulder burnt in their eyes as a warning: we will kill every alliance soldier if I don’t act now.

Thersar’s POV

I saw that Kandreah and his soldiers were falling behind us. Even before I looked at my twin, I knew something was off with him. Although we parted our ways over a millennia ago, the bond we have is one impossible to break, no matter how hard both of us tried to deny it.

I could feel that he was going through some internal turmoil. When I turned around, I saw him gasping and heaving whilst clutching his chest with one hand and covering his mouth with the other as he tried to stay as calm as possible for the sake of keeping a horde of over 15 thousand of his vampiric faes composed. And composed was the last word that they could be described with.

When compared to the crimson landscape we were engulfed by, the eyes of Kandreah and his warriors shone in dreadful golden hues, making them look like a horde of lethal fireflies. The ominous glint of their pearl-like gnashers promising that we are all going to be speared and sliced into shreds. They had blood-ridden, crazed look in their eyes, which was a token of their thirst for our blood. We will all kill each other before we manage to move an inch within this bloodied hollow bowl.

“ Malleteagan, Nexelex retreat with yours and mine warriors! Now!” that was all I managed to say before Kandreah leapt on me and pierced my neck with his fangs.

“Oh, my dear little brother, your blood is beautiful. It is the blood of my blood. It sings a marvellous ode of joy to me. I have deprived myself of being Cain to your Abel for a whole eternity. Have I ever known this is the cathartic bliss I would experience after tasting your beautiful blood? I would have done it even sooner. I have denied myself of your sweet brotherly blood for so long, too long. And now, I want it all.” Those words rang through my mind as Kandreah slurped my blood and energy. I felt queasy and bloodied. The battlefield of Sanguineabyss started to tremble beneath me, becoming increasingly blurry with each second.

Before I lost consciousness, I spared one last glance at the army. They all looked frozen in their spots, horror on their faces. Malleteagan and Nexelex looked at Kandreah as if he were the most morbid and disgusting creature in this world. A sorrow as heavy as all the worries of this world pressed my chest—the sorrow for my brother’s fate - to he loathed by everyone. And then everything went black.

Marcellus POV

Playful rays of lazy morning sunlight awakened me, peeping and crawling through the windows of this charming little cottage that lulled me into the feeling of warmth and home. It's such a foreign and long-forgotten feeling. But very well welcomed. And then the scent of lilies of the walley, and hyacinths overwhelmed my senses. It is so inviting, alluring and luscious, yet so tender and subtle.

I quickly glanced under the covers and back at my surroundings while shaking my head in disbelief. I quickly covered her back and rechecked my surroundings. Where am I? Then I tried to rewind my memories to figure out what happened and how the heck I ended up sleeping next to Aralyn. Not that I mind. This is a positive change. The last time she saw me, she beat the hell out of me.

Memories started to flow back into my mind slowly. I remembered Nan dragging my battered body down to Wengarthria…Noosha is using my state to abuse me emotionally…Noosha and stupid Conrad finding me in a comatose state in Avesta dungeon…feeling of Oribus being under attack…Noosha leaving the dungeon, probably to go and play the role of concerned empress in front of my father when Oribus was under siege…Conrad’s poor attempt to torture me while Noosha was away…my demon taking over to smash and slau.ghter the bastard…and then the gust of Lilly of the valley and hyacinths just when I wanted to squish Conrad as an irrelevant bug that he is…and then furry lavender hand pulling me through portal…

I didn’t want to wake her up from her sweet slumber, so I carefully and slowly sat on the bed, baffled. I quickly looked under the sheets again…locks of long, tousled, dishevelled lavender hair spilt all over the bed, my abs, waist, legs and groins, spreading the fragrant aroma of hyacinths and Lilly of the valley all over the place, all over me.

The owner of mischievous curls peacefully dreaming on my abs while slightly drooling. For the first time in so many centuries, I don’t know, maybe even in a millennia, I was afraid. I was scared to move. Hell, I was afraid to breathe. It seems to me that it was just yesterday when I was sure that I hated her, that I wanted to kill her after torturing her in every imaginable way, and today, I am afraid to wake her up. I am not sure how did that happen. I’m sure, though, that I didn’t want to wake her up and spoil this moment. I wanted to stay in this moment forever.

Well…speaking of forever…just when these thoughts came to my mind, a tall, ash-blonde lass came to the room, watching me with the shock. The shock in her eyes mimicked the shock in mine. She cleared her throat. She was trying to gauge what to expect of me, to see if she should attack or welcome me to…I guess…her home. It looks like she opted for the latter, given that she motioned me to stay quiet by putting her finger on her lips. She gave me a cue to join her in another room.

Er, I am not exactly the one who is used to be told what to do, but well…what can I do in this situation? I hesitantly and slowly left the sleeping beauty who had a sleepover with me and followed the blonde. Before I closed the doors, I spent one more glance at the sea of lavender hair spilt on the bed. Gosh…she is still drooling…I smirked and followed the blonde, who tossed me shorts and a hair tie. I quickly put the shorts on and tied my hair into a messy bun before I entered the lounge of the little cottage and sat on one of the chairs she offered me. Out of nowhere, a shorthaired, blonde and bulky bloke who looked like lass’ twin showed up. He was growling while tossing me a shirt. Okay, we miss Alice, mad hatter and a rabbit in here, I thought to myself. What to take from this situation?