Secrets of a Fel Heart Book 3

Beneath the Sweet Gum Tree

Vixeena shivered slightly as she sat leaning against a sweet gum tree. Her skin was covered in dew from the grass she rested and on and in the early morning there was still a trace of chill in the air as she watched the night dark skies turn violet. The sky was the color of Taldarion's hair she thought as she looked at the imprint of his form in the grass before her where he had lain hours earlier. He now slept in the farmhouse entwined with a myriad of blankets. Her thoughts had kept her mind alert and sleep had failed to come. So many matters weighed upon her and dogged her heels like ravenous hounds. Vix was rather adept at feigning sleep...when her lover's breathing fell into a deep repetitive cadence she stealthily crept out of bed. Before she left to wander the grounds of the farm she tended to the fire which had died down..adding pinecones and brush to the glowing embers until the fire picked up and lent the room with an amber radiance and warmth. Things had rapidly progressed between them...once ignitited it reminded her of a brush fire on the savannahs of Barrens in its intensity. Nearly a month had passed since she had performed the soul link between them which has intertwined their conciousness for almost a week. Vixeena had known Taldarion for some time and had admired his grace, gregarious intelligence, and beauty from a distance. A violent act had drawn their fates together taking two strands of separate lives and meshed them into a tapestry of complex design. As Vixeena sat thinking she began the chore of sharpening her dagger which was fashioned from a Raptor's claw...the dagger rarely ever left the hilt that rested against her thigh. Last evening she has removed it placing it in the wet vegetation. She was fairly certain that Taldarion had not noticed the signifigance of that act but it was an act of giving a level of trust she was unused to bestowing on any man. Vix sorted through the events of the last month and inadvertantly nicked herself drawing a few droplets of blood which stained her pale olive skin. In her mind she recalled the training grounds in Ashenvale on the night Faeroh Moonreign had found Taldarion hanging limply from the wall covered in his own blood like a trophy. The eminently dignified druid had howled like a wolf with a lethal wound upon seeing his son near death from his encounter with Daeloth. The demon had been returned to his former demonic strength due to a newfound alliance with the Doom Guard Sraath...it had hungered to settle several old scores. Faeroh had managed to repair the battered flesh of his child by encasing him in a luminescent cocoon which did its work as his son lay dreaming wrapped in the enchanted threads. Surprisingly the druid has entrusted part of Taldarion's care in her untested hands. He had requested that she use her abilities to control the demons which inhabited Taldarion while he remained unconcious. Vix did not exactly control the demons as a traditional warlock might. She insinuated her desires into their own motivations so seamlessly that the creature no longer could discern its desires from hers. It was a innate talent she possesed and one which could have a high price for the Eredor who had repeatedly captured, tortured,and hunted her. They had intially sought her precisely for the same gift hoping to use it on the inhabitants of the worlds they invaded finding out eventually that this  very skill could be employed against them and their minions. This fact chafed at them as the Eredor thought themselves to be above the control of mortal warlocks and they were most determined to recapture her. Vixeena had marvelled at the sheer force of will Taldarion possesed to have managed the five demons bound to him. Demon hunters, she had learned from her association with the Netherbane school, had several methods of binding the demonic entities that provided the source of their enhanced abilitities. It was not uncommon for one of their ranks to go mad and end up allying with the very creatures which were their enemies if they were overcome by the ones bound to them. Tal had mastered the control of not one but five and still maintained his grip on reality. During the week Taldarion had slept in his organic shroud Vixeena had lain in a trance by his side soul linked to him and manipulating the desires and actions of the demons he housed. Part of the process involved a sharing of memories and and a revealing of self that was a byproduct of the link. Layers of both of their psyches has been peeled away like translucent bulbs freshly dug and dissected. Taldarion was a man so much more than his exterior beauty. Vix had learned much of his inner workings as he dreamt and his flesh knit. He was a complex individual with a marvelous creative intellect and a deep reserve of strength. His path was a harsh, bloody, one full of sacrifice yet he maintained balance, humor, and sensitivity. Vixeena reflected that he was a man capable of a feral intensity yet great warmth and kindess for those he cared for. Vixeena sheathed her newly sharpened dagger and frowned. She still had her doubts about the blossoming romance with the lovely hunter. He had professed his love for her and she felt so singularly unworthy of it. She had been an asassin and a hired killer in her past...hardly suitable for one so noble and full of honor. She walked back to the farmhouse unable to escape the longing to see her lover's face as he rested a fan of violet lashes resting against his elegantly sculpted face. She could not escape the thought that her innate talents had somehow coerced his new found emotions for her. Vix crawled into bed and sought his warmth..she knew she loved him and that was real as solid as the stone floor of the farmhouse.