The Annual Harvest [Open]

[Cana]

Falona blinked a little bit. "I honestly have never known why my power sided with me. I just remember a day when everything in me was tormented, like two parts of me were waging war. I was very sick that day. I actually began to question taking on Dark Magic. I was so certain that I would die. But just before dawn the next day.......I......Well....I can't explain it. It was as if part of me died, but I was still living. That was when I knew that my magic made itself mine. I could FEEL it. Whatever part of me had died, my magic had fought it and won. From then on, it never left me, and continues to aid me today." She grinned slightly. "I will inform you now. What I shall teach you will take massive amounts of time and energy. You must push your body beyond any pain it feels if you hope to succeed. Only then can you gain the power you crave so relentlessly. Now, follow me to your quarters." She went to the door, turning around to wait for him.

[Lion]

Her story began to make more and more sense as he listened to it, and at the same time he hated to admit that it was quite unnerving.  There were quite a few reasons why her magic had 'sided' with her as she put it.  At least in his mind, the most prominent was because the hunger became more important than all else.  And it wa  nothing more than that desire that kept her functioning, that made her the  complete mistress of this realm.

He nodded to her indication to follow her to his new chambers and observed his surroundings a little more closely as he did so.  "However did you find such a fortressto house such majesty?" he heard himself wondering aloud.

[Cana]

Falona smiled. "Oh, I did not find it. I built it." She patted one of the strong stone walls. "Dark Magic like mine can do many things, as you can see. That is why to have it on your side is a true honor indeed." She gestured o the extravagance of the room itself. "The items you see, however, I have collected throughout my many centuries. Antiquities that have been long forgotten by any today. Feel free to explore the spacious confines of your room. I shall see tomorrow for training and mealtime. Goodnight, Corvus." She patted his shoulder and left the room with swift grace, the doors closing behind her.

[Lion]

The room was nothing ataall like he expected it to be.  While not quite as spacious as he was used to, it was covered head to toe in decor, tapestries and portraits and exotic vases and cloths draped over armchairs and lounges.  There was quite a nice fireplace to the rear with a small mantle with a pearly clock on it.  The bell struck 12 midnight.

And just like that she was gone.  Corvus frowned at the door and tuned to the balcony window that overlooked the cold winter mountains.  "Well, she crrtainly has excellent taste," he said with a nod, but certainly had a feeling that there wa  more that she wasn't telling him.  He supposed that would come in the morning.

He was tempted to test the height of the balcony, to see what boundaries lied in trying to leave the fortress.  But he would save that experiment for another time.  Instead he took off his jacket and slung it over the chair and tested the tension of the bed before climbing in it, not bothering to undress or remove his boots.

[Cana]

THE NEXT MORNING

The silence of the crisp mountain air was peirced by inhuman shrieking. Several demons ran down the corridor towards the dining hall, being persued by Falona. While they sprinted as fast as the could, all she merely had to do was walk. Her magic allowed her to move a great dstance with little to no physical excertion. By the time they had reached the massive dining table, it was too late. Falona was upon them. She floated several feet from the ground, a dark smoke emitting from her body. Her eyes were glowing turquoise as she glowered down at the demons. "You are fools! You think that because you are demons you can simply steal whatever you please?! From the one person in all the land who can make your kind MORTAL??!! you have committed a crime, my minions. A crime that you can only repay in one way." They stared up at her withy raw fear in their glowing embers of eyes. "We...We will do anything, mistress....anything you ask......please...." Falona smiled with a sickening menace. "Oh really? You'll do ANYTHING? Very well then. I want something in return for the belongings you stole from me." The demons got down on their knees. "Yes, yes we will give you anything, mistress! Just name it! It's yours!" The demons croaked. Falona leaned down until she was eye to eye with one of them. "Your souls." She drove her hand into the demon's molten chest. He cried a pitiful sound. her hand came out of him unscathed, clutching a ball of what appeared to be black flame. The demon's body fell and turned to ashes before he hit the ground. After doing so to the others, Falona dissipated the ashen piles with one wave of her hand. She now held six balls of black flame. "Let this be an example to any who should try to undermine me. You will not live." Her voice was sharper than a sword as it cut through the room to anypne else who was listening. Falona went over to her chair at the head of the table. She levatated the black flames in front of her. She chanted a spell in a dead language, her eyes closed. The flames came together to form on large ball of black fire. A bottle formed around the flame, and sat itself down before her. She opened her eyes and took it in her hands, examining it. "Good morning, Corvus. You may sit wherever you wish. Your meal will arrive shortly," Falona said, without glancing away from the bottle.

[Lion]

He awoke to the screams.  They were pathetic and weak and made the very core of him shiver for reasons he just did not understand.  But his eyes stared up at the ceiling of his new chambers which wavered in shifting reflection from the early morning gloom still present.  He sat up and listened again but the chill in the air told him there was nothing more to be heard and just as quickly decided it was best to get out of bed.  His clothes were wrinkled and his hair disheveled as it were.  He had nothing to change into that he could readily see and smoothed everything over as best he could.

The high tower he was chambered in swept down toward the dining area and soon, much to his own relief, emerged before Falona in the doorway just as the bodies of the demons were blown away by an unseen wind, a power he could only assume came from her hand.  He smirked a little as he watched her for a few moments longer and adjusted the collar on his shirt.

"I see your morning was quite eventful," he said casually, narrowing his eyes at her and staring at her hands.  He smirked and took a seat in the middle of the table, just a few chairs from her.  "What did they take that required such retribution?  It must have been something very precious.  But, I wonder, is there anything more precious to you than your power?  I'm only curious.  I think it'd be a good thing to get to know my mistress seeing as to how I'll be staying here for quite a while."

[Cana]

Falona shot him a hauntingly annoyed glance. "If you MUST know, what they stole was not an object of substance. To put it into words, what they stole was more of spirit than of solidity, and no, I will not clarify my response. Consider that the end of the discussion." She said this in a firm tone. Two prisoners wandered mindlessly into the room. The man went and stood on one side of Corvus, the woman on the other. "Take whichever you wish, or both if you're truly thirsty. I took th liberty of sedating them, but if you prefer more of a hunt I can remove my spell and let you chase them. Either way, drink to your fill." Falona gestured to the prisoners, her eyes watching and waiting.

[Lion]

Corvus only smiled at the nerve he had struck.  He could hear from all the shouting - and the insane acoustics of this stone fortress - that what was stolen was beyond precious.  So much that the very fate of her minions was as meager as the dust they'd become, completely dissolved by her wrath.  And from what he'd gauged from their previous discussions, what they'd stolen could only be assumed to be something in relation to her power.  Corvus let the subject drop and drank from a glass in from of him, smirking all the while.

When the fresh prey was presented to him, he eyed both morsels with a narrowed gaze then peered back to her.  So she would bother herself enough to feed her new servant, and sedate them as well.  While Corvus smirked at her presumption he merely stood from the table and exmmined the pair she'd given to him.  They were both thin, frail and poorly fed.  They would do together for now as he lunged his head down toward the male and tore out his neck.  With him under sedation, Corvus didn't have the satisfaction of a scream, then at last the body fell slack in his arms.  The woman went much the same way and he laid her down across the table.  He wiped the blood from his lips, only smearing it across his face as he peered at Falona.  "Together they shall sate me for now that is.  But I suppose next time I shall prefer something a little more filling.  If it's not too much to ask."  He smiled looking at her own neck.

[Cana]

Falona smiled a beautifully evil smile. "Unfortunately, my blood would not only be distasteful, but the toxins it contains would turn your vampiric might to ash the minute it went down your throat. It is one of the perks of being 'evil to the core', as they say." She stood, and walked over to the drained woman's corpse on the table. She swiped some of the blood onto her finger tip. Tenderly, Falona licked off the blood, her eyes far away in contemplation. "Hmm.....A weak flavor, indeed. Some meat and maybe some wine should ripen it a bit. I shall look into it later. For now, let us head to the training chambers. You must begin immediately. Follow me." She looked at both of the dead prisoners. Her turquoise eyes began to glow, and when she blinked, both bodies vanished without a trace. Before they left, she gave Corvus a silk handkerchief. "Do try to be a little more tidy, dear. We don't all have to be wild monsters, you know."     

[Lion]

Corvus gave a smile to her nonetheless.  "I wouldn't that in the least," he murmured.  "You might be surprised, but I take it you're the kind of person that doesn't do well with surprises.  Even pleasant ones.  No matter.  Perhaps we might have a chance to test that out another time."  He took the cloth she offered to him and graciously and gently rubbed at his mouth and face where the blood had smeared.  Of course, he hadn't meant to be such an animal, but morsels had been few and far between and the hunger could easily take over when he least expected it.

He folded the cloth in hand before tucking it into his pocket.  "I hope you don't mind I hold onto it," he said with a nod.  "But please, don't let me keep us here any longer.  Lead the way, mistress."

[Cana]

They proceeded through miles of long stone corridors, some twisting in every direction, some straight and narrow. At last, Falona and Corvus reached two large oaken doors with a large ornate carving stretching across them. She glanced back at him. "I'll let you in on a little secret." Falona gently touched the carving. The etched lines lit up, illuminating every detail. From this a scene became entirely visible. It was a meadow valley, with woods and mountains on the horizon. A stream ran down the middle of the meadow, and grass and flowers were abundant. In the center, there was a girl bending to pick the wildflowers. Upon closer inspection, the girl looked a little similar to Falona herself. "This is my favorite carving. It is the only thing that ever truly captured the beauty of my old home. It isn't like this anymore. The stream is dry, the grass is dead, and the sky has been blackened by the fires that still rage there. What a true waste of beauty." Her hand lingered on the door. Her eyes were distant, as if for a moment she wasn't there. 

[Lion]

For that moment the cool smiles and wry smirks left him and his eyes linger on the design.  His eyes turned speculative in their wonderment before glancing back at her.  "Why did you let it die?" he asked.  "It was your old home of course, it couldn't keep you forever.  But if it's all gone with no one to remember it but you, why did you let it die?"

[Cana]

For the first time in decades, Falona felt sadness. It was a strange thing, to feel. It almost reminded her of being human. "I....I didn't want to. But.....I had to. It couldn't be spared. I needed the power I had always felt there to keep me alive. As a girl, I always thought it was magic. I swore I saw fairies there once. In truth, I guess, I.......I......." Falona couldn't think of the word to say. She hadn't said anything like it for so long. The word was alien to her. She composed herself again, removing her hand from the door and straightening her posture. "Well, enough lingering. We've got training to do." She pushed open the doors to reveal a large cavernous chamber. Everything from swords to staffs littered the walls and a large dueling stage commanded the center of the room. Falona rubbed the place on her chest, distracted by a twinge of pain coming from it. She shook it off in her mind and went to the far left wall. 

[Lion]

He didn't need her to spell it out for him, for him to know that a nerve was struck and he looked solemnly at her eyes as they became momentarily lost in the memory.  He wondered how even the call of power could draw someone away from their ancestral home.  He wondered also what might draw her back.  But perhaps that was a question to be answered for another time.

When they entered into the chamber, Corvus readily expressed his awe, nodding in apporval.  "You certainly know how to go all out," he commented.  But a  he saw her press a hand into her chest, he turned to her, though said nothing about it.  His eyes followed hers to the left wall.  "Shall we begin with a set of staves then?"   He walked over to the wall and gently plucked them off and twirled one in his hand.

[Cana]

Falona smirked. "Actually, I don't prefer weapons. I believe that it is better to use your natural talents to survive. For instance," She held her hand out to her right. The air around her seemed to morph into black smoke, moving toward her outstretched hand. The smoke then elongated in her palm, and a black staff appeared in its place. "Now, for me, my natural talent is the power I wield. For you, it is your ability to survive on blood alone and your ability to turn into a human torch. These lessons will teach you how to strengthen your natural talents into a power that no one can ignore. So you may use any weapons you like today, but trust me when I say they are useless." Falona smiled darkly. "Your move," she chimed.

[Lion]

"In this instance, I would have agree with you," Corvus said delicately.  He held the staff just as delicately before extending his hands across it.  His palms began to grow warm and he focused his breath enough to hone the heat into the staff, encasing it in a smoky glove of violet flame.  It billowed out and did not scorch the wood.  In fact, it seemed to solidify and enhance it.  "Admittedly, I don't feel quite as comfortable hitting a lady, but I suppose I'd be making a mistake if I held back," he said with a soft smile.  But it was one that quickly faded.  And without further delay, he flipped the bottom part of the staff and flung a fireball out at her.

[Cana]

Excitement practically radiated from Falona. She held out her hand and caught the flame. It did not burn her. In fact, it appeared she was enjoying herself. "Ah.....Your fire burns ever so hot. I like it. But you will find that mine burns HOTTER!" Within seconds the flame in her hand turned white, and it flew directly at Corvus's face. Falona uttered a hauntingly beautiful laugh. This was going to be a god fight.

[Lion]

Corvus rolled out of the wat and shot two more flames her way, smirking ever so slightly as if he was beginning to understand just what to expect from her.  It wasn't as if it were an impractical science.  And he figured she was guaging just as much from him.  He was quick and moved like a blur to the naked eye, he focused his flame to burn brighter and flung it toward her in an explosive fireball.  He could feel his flesh begin to sweat but wasn't because of the fire.

[Cana]

Falona was dodging each of Corvus's fireballs. A smile was stretched across her face, and her eyes blazed like the fire she continued to re-direct toward her student. They could do this all day, play fireball catch. It was time to switch things up a little. As the next of Corvus's fireballs hurdled toward her, falona stood directly in its path. She stared directly at it, her eyes beginning to glow a familiar turquoise. Instantly, the room grew bitingly cold. Falona put her opened palm below her lips and blew a frosty mist at the fire. The flame froze completely, but instead of extinguishing, the flame turned a light blue. "This is a special trick of mine. It is the physical example of when Hell freezes over. I like to call it, 'Iceflame'." She hurled it towards Corvus. "Oh, and be warned. It can cause frostbite in extreme cases." She smiled beautifully cruel. 

[Lion]

Indeed the fire play was getting quite taxing and beginning to grate even on his nerves.  But he couldn't help his playful smirk and indeed was taking some great enjoyment from this.  As the room began to grow colder, Corvus twirled the staff and watched her carefully.  The iceflame she hurled at him moved swifter than any flame he'd yet to encounter, but he was no less ready.  He attempted to swat the ball away, to reverse it's path, but as soon as the end of the staff made contact with it, it began to freeze solid and course upward toward his hands.

Growling, he immediately hurled the staff her way like a spear as the ice ate away at the wood.