Sable

"Hello, my dear," Finnian said. Sable looked away from him, looking for Conor.

There was a black shroud around them. Panic rose within her, and she looked around more frantically. There had to be a break somewhere, but she still could not see through the darkness. Finnian stepped closer.

"Clever girl, you are," he said quietly. "You escaped my grasp so easily. I supposed that little vampire friend of yours was of great assistance in that. It won't happen again."

"What have you done?" Sable asked.

"Oh, this?" Finnian asked. He gestured around them, at the black shroud that surrounded them. "We demons do have our own form of magic. This is a simple cloaking spell. We're in our own little world, on a separate plane from that of your friends. They simply think that we have disappeared entirely."

Sable backed away from him as far as she could. She looked to the shattered remains of the demon Finnian had helped her kill. She brought her hands to her mouth, and trembled as she looked back up at Finnian.

"Why would you kill one of your own men?" Sable asked, her voice quiet and muffled due to her hands. "You're a monster."

"He was no longer of any use to me," Finnian explained. "Now that I have you in my grasp once again. And you will not be escaping this time, as I said, my pet."

"You're a monster," Sable repeated. Finnian stepped closer, causing her to flinch. "Stay away from me."

"No, I don't think so," Finnian said. "You're going to help me kill your friends. And then we'll go back to my castle, and wait for the next time we can perform the ritual. Mind you, you will not enjoy the wait. You should have just been obedient the first time- it all would have been over so quickly."

"No!" Sable exclaimed.

She pushed forward, and a wave of light rolled at him. It knocked him backward, and shattered the blackness surrounding them. Conor was at her side immediately when they became visible again. He grabbed at her waist, and pushed her behind him.

"Finnian," he growled.

Finnian stood, holding his cheek. His expression was stone-cold again. Then slowly he smiled. he let his hand fall back to his side, revealing a rapidly healing gash on his cheek. His eyes turned completely black, and he let out a long, ragged sigh.

"Vampire boy," he said. His voice sounded distorted. "You and your kind are on the wrong side, half demon. You disgust me. You could have helped us take over this land. Now I have to be rid of every last one of you." Finnian wrinkled his face in disgust.

"Conor, I can handle this," Sable said. She put her hand on his shoulder. "I knocked him over with my magic just now. I think I'm strong enough."

"Yes, pretty vampire boy; let the girl do your work for you," Finnian taunted. He threw this head back and laughed. "How's your brother? I hear he succumbed to the demon within, in his final moments."

"Shut up!" Sable screamed at him. "Your filthy mouth is getting on my nerves!"

Conor charged at Finnian then, his sword at the ready. Sable bit her lip as she watched. She looked around them; all of the other demons were dead, but so were Conor's men. She looked back at the two men before her. What could she do right then, to help?

Finnian threw Conor to the side with ease, continuing on toward Sable. Sable held her hands up again. Finnian's fangs grew longer, and Sable gulped. You can do this, she reminded herself. In her peripheral vision she saw Conor slowly get back up to his knees, but she remained focused on the monster approaching her. She stepped away from Finnian, letting the energy build up within her.

"Stay back," she warned him.

"Or what? You'll push me again? Try it, little girl," Finnian laughed. Sable waited. "No? I didn't think so, child. Surrender now, and your actions will go unpunished."

Sable stood her ground that time when Finnian stepped closer. She straightened her back, and held her chin up high. She wasn't about to let that freak scare her anymore. There was a great chance she could defeat him, with her control over her powers.

"Sand down, human," Finnian growled again. Sable shook her head, a buzz of energy building up at her fingertips. Finnian snarled as he loomed over her. "You are making a mistake."

Before Finnian could grab her she raised her hands and grabbed him instead. A massive wave of electricity flowed through Finnian, the charge in Sable's hands going strong. Finnian's body shook violently, and his mouth flew open as more distorted sounds escaped him.

Sable could see Conor watching nervously, from the corner of her eye. She sucked in a deep breath and then released it slowly, pushing more energy through her hands. A small trickle of blood rolled from Finnian's mouth.

Sable gave one last burst of energy, and he went flying backward from the force. His skin was very red and even charred in some areas, and he continued to violently shake. Conor came to stand next to Sable and together they watched as Finnian's body convulsed.

"Impressive," Conor said. She nodded and stepped forward.

It was better to strike at him then, rather than to wait for him to recover by admiring the work she had done. Sable pulled her blade from her belt, and took another deep breath. More energy flowed through her from the plant life around them. She allowed the charge to flow from her to the blade.

"You filthy, disgusting, pathetic excuse of a life form," Sable hissed at Finnian as she ran the blade through him. He let out a pained scream, convulsing even more violently. "You piece of shit! How dare you pose as my friend!" She pulled the blade back out, and then somehow gathered the strength to bury it halfway between his eyes.

She let out a shaky gasp and stepped back, watching as Finnian collapsed backward. He was then no longer moving, save for the occasional convulsion as his system caught up with his death. Conor came to stand next to her and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"I did it," Sable whispered. "I did it."

"You did," Conor said quietly. He took her hand in his and gave it a gentle squeeze. Sable looked away from the both.

He may have never actually been human, but he still looked like the man she had come to know as her friend back in her realm. Sable sank to her knees, and Conor fell with her. They remained like that until they heard footsteps running toward them.

Sable almost didn't bother to look up as Conor stood, but she did not want to be caught by surprise by anything. It looked to be a few of Conor's troops, badly beaten and covered in blood, that were approaching. They stopped before Conor, their breathing laboured.

"Sir, we're outnumbered," the one in front said breathlessly. "It's a battle we cannot win."

Conor looked to Finnian's corpse, then to Sable. Sable stared blankly up at him. How were they losing? She had just killed their leader.

"Looks like it was never meant to be our win, after all," Conor said. He looked back to his men. "Retreat. Find some place safe- just get yourselves out of here before you, too, die. Let us hope that we haven't made a martyr of their leader. Perhaps they will lose faith at the discovery of his death, and then become easier for us to pick off. But for now just go. I will call upon you again when the time is right."

"Yes, sir," the man nodded. He turned to his comrades. "Let's retreat, with as many numbers as we can keep." They all saluted each other and then took off.

Conor turned back to Sable and forcefully pulled her to her feet. He sighed and held her hand tightly.

"We must quickly get to the tower," he said.

"But you just said-"

Conor cut her off, "Don't worry about that for now. Your safety is my main priority, Sable. And you are going home."

A bad feeling settled in the pit of her stomach as he pulled her along. All she could think of were the words Sun had told her, that if she died the cycle would just start all over again. Was her safety really a priority?