Lovers' Oath Ch. 07

Slowly, yet surely, she drew the beasts, now completely focused on her, away from Kiel's recovering body. She knew... She felt her energy slowly wane, but she had to keep the demons busy at least until he recovered enough. Her heart soared as a fleeting glance showed her his silent approach from behind the raging beasts. Nervously, she noted he was still bleeding, and he walked with a slight limp, but swiftly and strategically, he made short work of the beasts at the back. She again felt hope as between the scissor attack between themselves, the numbers of their enemies diminished.

*****

He didn't know how long he could go on. He felt his energy slowly fade as his wounds continued to bleed. The wounds were innumerable and healing was slow. But he couldn't let Rayn fight alone. If they had to die, he would prefer it if they died together. If she died, he would rather die along with her than live and walk the rest of his days alone before his wolf gave way to insanity.

And most importantly, he would be happiest if both of them walked away from this alive.

After having done with a few of the demons, he glanced towards Rayn as his eyes caught a glimpse of a flashing metal. Before he noticed the Bloody Pearls in her hands, he noticed her transformed body. To his surprise, it was neither a cat's nor a wolf's. Her height had increased; she was now as tall as the demons she was fighting with. Her talons were long and blackish red. Golden strips of hair were intermingled with black. And, dully gleaming red curving symbols appeared on the visible part of her skin. He realized this was not the hybrid form of her beasts; it was the part that was unidentified. As she turned her head towards him for a moment, as if responding to his stare, he caught a glimpse of her completely golden eyes. Two vertical red lines had appeared just above and below her eyes, extending down to her cheeks. As her red lips drew apart in a snarl, he saw the curved fangs crowding in her mouth. If he didn't know any better, he would have sworn she was a demon. But demons don't have golden eyes; neither do they have dull red etchings on their milky white, almost fluorescent skin. And most of all, no demon can summon the Bloody Pearls. Shoving his thoughts away to scrutinize later, he focused on the fight. That was what mattered now. He could explore what his mate was later. First, he had to help her to get out of here.

As he moved swiftly and strategically to synchronize his attacks with Rayn's, he felt the shift in the air. He felt the telltale sign of magic and the rushing away of wind to concentrate in a particular area. Help was coming! A Gate was being opened! He grinned and looked at Rayn, hoping to convey the knowledge to her. What he saw made his grin falter. She still stood, but greatly weakened. The still fighting demons had divided into two groups, each group attacking them separately. Currently, there were about 20 demons left. With a snarl, he vaulted over a demon, grabbing its head and snapping its neck as he landed behind it. Without stopping to look back at the other demons, he rushed towards Rayn, just in time as her legs gave away and she crumpled to the ground unconscious. Standing over her body, he quickly took her place, sparing a glance at her crumpled form. Even in her transformed body, she was stunning, and to his relief, very much alive, having only fainted due to the loss of blood and energy.

As he quickly dispatched two more enemies, the ground shook again. Knowing that the explosives he had planted had already exploded, he could think of only one reason behind this new shake. The Gate had opened. Help had arrived. Letting out a loud howl, he sprang back into the fight with renewed energy. Only a few seconds more!

True to his hopes, within seconds a large part of the building to his side disappeared into rubble and dust and the massive hybrid forms of three wolves almost flew in followed by a vampire, snarling at the demons now completely surrounding them. Joyce and Rubin glided in behind them, their palms glowing as magical energy crackled around them, blasting away more obstacles in their path.

"Kiel, take her and get away, both of you need medical attention immediately. The Gate is right outside, being held open by Sarah and Louise. We'll take it over from here."Rohan communicated mentally.

"Thanks."With a nod of his head, Kiel picked up the unconscious Rayn and quickly walked away, towards the Gate. As he approached the magical opening, he felt her body returning to normal form. Worriedly, he looked down at her face. As he saw her nose flare a little as she breathed, his worry decreased slightly.

"Hang in there, little one. We're almost there, my Angel." He murmured. As he stepped through the portal, victorious howls of the three wolves reached his ears.

*****

The healer felt nervous, slightly irritated, yet more nervous than anything else. As she attended to the unconscious girl lying on the bed, she was also very aware of the Alpha's unwavering gaze at her.

He had brought her inside the medical bay carrying her on his arms. Had barked out orders to the healers in order to get them busy with her treatment, and despite their repetitive assurances that she would be well, he had refused to budge an inch from where he stood until her wounds were fully attended to. The healers, after a lot of persuasion had managed to get the Alpha to at least lie down on the bed next to hers. He had still refused to get his wounds treated until her wounds were fully attended to, despite the Healers' worries that the venom might spread to his heart from his wounds if left untreated for long.

"I am telling you, she will be alright. Your injuries need to..." The Healer started in a quietly insistent voice, only to be cut off by Kiel.

"Finish treating her first." Kiel firmly stated in a steely tone.

"Obstinate..." The Healer murmured the first word of her curse, saying the rest of it inside her head only. Despite hearing it, Kiel chose to remain silent. He knew he was being obstinate. But he also knew Rayn was unconscious. Both of them had received great injuries, but he felt more restless for the fact that she was far younger than him, and tonight's events had forced her to transform. It hadn't been by choice, rather by the need of the hour. She was bound to be in shock, and he couldn't rest - wouldn't rest and let the Healers sedate him, while she battled with the dual threat of her injuries and the physical and mental shock of such a violent transformation. He knew he would live even if his wounds went untreated for some more time, hell, he had lived through worse in his long life, most of which he had spent in battle fields. But he couldn't risk losing her. He closed his eyes tiredly, and deeply sighed.

'Don't leave me now, my angel. Stay, please stay.' He thought desperately, worriedly. Despite the Healers' repeated assurances that she will get well, he couldn't believe it until she opened her eyes. 'And you've been brave, so brave. Don't give in to that darkness now, my love, fight it. Fight it and come back to me.' Opening his eyes, he turned his head to look at her on the other bed. The healer was now on the other side of the bed, working on the injuries on her leg. He could already see the rest of the wounds healing. The puncture marks on her throat now barely recognizable but for the angry red pin prick marks. Her body was already on the mend. But that was not the cause of his worry. He was worried about her mind. When the transformation was forced like hers, in the case of Weres, the resulting mental shock was often traumatic. That is why such transformations were inevitably followed by unconsciousness. Some Weres were strong enough to battle it out; some gave in to the insanity that followed. He hoped she would fight it out. He hoped it would be different for her. After all, it wasn't a Were transformation. Hell, he didn't know what she had changed into, but he hoped it was different for her. He wished he could tell her what he had thought to himself. Give her strength to push back that darkness he knew she must be experiencing now. Sighing again, he stretched his left arm to her, bending slightly at his waist to reach her face. Brushing his fingers down her cheek, he felt the desperation to help her rise within him.

"Stay, please." He whispered to her, his hand reaching down to grasp her smaller hand and lace his fingers through hers, his eyes never leaving her face, entirely oblivious to the Healer's disapproving glare.

The healer, very aware what the Alpha's behavior and that worried, almost desperate gaze at the woman meant, didn't even try to make him leave her hand. She knew he wouldn't do it. So, instead, she went around his bed to the other side, and said,

"I need to examine your back first. Roll to your side." Without another protest, Kiel rolled to his side, facing Rayn. At the first few pokes of the Healer's instruments, he hissed at the sudden pain, but didn't utter a word. Taking that as a good sign, the Healer decided it would be a good time to chastise him, so she continued, "That's what happens when someone lets the venom spread and refuses to get his wounds treated in time." If not for the words, her speech wouldn't be recognized for the chastisement it was.

"Get off my case, will you?" Kiel muttered indignantly, wishing very much that his treatment would get over soon.

"Happily. Only problem is, I'm the on-call healer tonight, and you are the Chief of Operations. Doesn't look good on my resume if it says I let you die because you are an obstinate... Er...thing." She ended it with a particularly sharp poke at the last wound on his back, and made him roll back slowly. Once she started checking his abdominal wounds, the glare Kiel was giving her was quite evident. Then suddenly, he grinned,

"Clara, if you let me die, you wouldn't be updating your resume any time soon, she would kill you." He supplied with a jerk of his head towards Rayn.

"You are not going to die. I'm one of the best Healers. That's why Kendra hired me. And you are just another obstinate patient." Before Kiel could reply, she had finished cleaning the last wound and made sure there was no more trace of the venom in his system, quickly applying an anti-infection cream. "All done. Now get out of my medical bay."

"Excuse me?" Kiel was bewildered. No one ever told him to get out of anywhere, least of all his employees.

"Get out of the medical bay. You are patched up. And if you don't over exert yourself, the nastier wounds will be healed in two days, the lesser wounds will take a few hours. Now get out, I'd prefer it if you go home and rest, but since you have a problem with following prescriptions, I'm not going to bother writing you one." Clara coolly supplied from near the basin.

As he sat up slowly, his eyes quickly darted to Rayn. "But..."

Understanding where his thoughts were, Clara sighed. "I will let you know when she wakes. But before that, you know you can't help her. She has to fight it out on her own." Seeing Kiel's worried gaze remain fastened on Rayn's face, she asked, "Was her transformation that bad?"

Kiel nodded. "This is her first transformation, and she never knew what to expect." He glanced towards the healer, "Youwillinform me when she wakes?"

"Yes, I will. Don't worry."

He sighed, "I can't help it. I've seen so many succumb to the shock. I can't lose her now." He worriedly brushed his fingers through his hairs.

"Relax Kiel. She is stronger than them, she is stronger than most, in fact." Then with a smirk, she glanced down at Rayn's face and back at his, "Actually, now that she had her first transformation, I'd say once she has discovered all her strength, she might even be stronger than you."

He grinned, "Don't I know it?" Carefully standing up, he took the loose white shirt and the trousers kept on a side table, quickly covering his body up in them. As he straightened, he saw Clara approach with a pouch of some liquid. As he saw her prepare the pouch for a drip, he sniffed at it, frowning when his nose didn't help him identify its contents. His arm shot forward to still Clara's wrist, stopping her right before she inserted the needle in Rayn's arm, "What is this?" He growled.

"A Nutritional drip." Clara glared at him.

"What does it contain?" He asked, his grip on her wrist unrelenting.

"Gods, Kiel. It has the standard nutritional supplements, what else? It's just a new formula."

"Why the hell can't I smell it, then? And why the hell is it pink? None of the other drips were pink." He demanded.

"As I said, it's a new formula. It's odorless." As Kiel continued to stare at her, Clara huffed, "Okay, fine. It has Elfin blood in it, an energy boost, and before you ask, yes I do have the signed consent forms. That's why it's pink and its scent is suppressed, so you boys don't go crazy."

"Who authorized it?" He stared down at her.

"Kendra did. I was the first guinea-pig." someone behind him supplied. Looking back, he saw Rogers stride in. Glancing back at Clara, he at last let her wrist go to complete her job. Shaking her head exasperatedly, Clara went back to inserting the needle in Rayn's arm. Then Kiel turned to face the other man.

"Rogers." he greeted him coolly. At the replying nod from the other man, he continued, "I trust everything has been taken care of at the site?"

"Yes, Rohan instructed Daniel, Rubin, Maurice and Joyce to comb out the underground layers when the reinforcements arrive. How are you doing?"

"I'm fine." As Kiel replied, he saw Rogers' eyes drop to Rayn. At that moment, Rayn shifted slightly on the bed, drawing Kiel's attention, her brows frowning as if in pain. As Kiel looked back up at Rogers, he thought he saw a look of pain and regret flicker in his eyes, disappearing quickly. Growing instantly more protective, he stepped forward and took up Rayn's hand in his, brushing her cheeks with his fingers in a soothing way. She settled almost instantly. As he stared at her unconscious face, he heard Clara say to Rogers,

"I think she is out for the next 24 hours."

"24 hours?" Rogers frowned, looking down at Rayn. "Nah, a few hours may be, about 5-6 at most. She will be okay." He supplied confidently. As Kiel's eyes shot up towards him, startled at his confident declaration, he quickly added, "I came to tell you that Rohan wants to see you."

Kiel nodded, "Anything else?"

"Ah, yes, actually." Rogers looked at him meaningfully, "I wanted to talk to you... About something."

Kiel nodded again, "Yes, I'm aware of that. Tell Rohan I'll see him shortly in the Armory. And you can talk to me tomorrow evening."

"Tomorrow evening?" Rogers raised his eyebrows before some kind of understanding dawned on him and his face fell in disappointment. "Oh. Alright." Shrugging, he turned back and left.

Once Rogers was out of the room, Kiel gave way to the barely suppressed smirk that he had kept in check, "Serves you right." Looking down at Rayn, he sighed worriedly. Leaning forward to plant a kiss on her forehead, he softly murmured in her ear, "Get well soon." Then straightening, he collected another reassurance from Clara that he would be informed when Rayn awoke, and left to meet Rohan.

*****

"So everything is cleared at the site?" Kiel asked.

"Yup." Rohan cheerfully supplied, not looking up from his inventory list. "By the way, we found those at the site. Mind explaining how they got there? 'Cause I didn't issue them." Rohan indicated towards the Bloody Pearls, once more clean and mounted on the wall.

"Er... She might have summoned them when she transformed." Kiel muttered unsurely. It got Rohan's attention nonetheless.

"She summoned them?" As he saw Kiel nod, he continued, "Huh. Well, it's true then. May be sheisthe Fifth Descendant."

"No. It might just be a coincidence. She is just too powerful for her own good." Kiel shook his head stubbornly.

"Kiel..."

"Don't." He growled, "Don't even fucking tell me to make her take the second test. I won't."

"Then it is just disaster waiting to happen." Rohan snapped.

"As opposed to what? Thrusting her forward in face of the waiting danger?" Kiel almost felt as if his blood was boiling.

"That's not... We don't know that is what would happen."

"Have you forgotten Eleyna?" Kiel's eyes flashed, he continued even as he saw the pain cross Rohan's eyes, "She found out who she was and jumped right in. The Dragons' Breath marked even her, yet she wasn't the prophesied one. We did tell her everything.Youtold her everything. Have you forgotten?"

"Ilovedher. I loved her almost as I should love mymatedespite her not being that. HowcanI forget?" Rohan turned away from Kiel to hide the pain the newly opened wound caused him.

"Then how can you suggest we do the same with Rayn, expecting different results?" Kiel's anger receded as he realized Rohan's pain, yet he couldn't stop himself. "I don't... I can't lose her. Sheismy mate."

With a frustrated bark of mirthless laughter, Rohan turned around, "Really?So you have at last decided to accept one fact so you can deny another? Kiel, she deserves to know the possibilities. It has almost been like a destiny to the Descendants to meet tragic endings. We can at least give her an opportunity to have as many shots as possible at living a full life. If she proves herself good with the Dragons' Breath, we tell her, if she can't handle it, then we still tell her and protect her as best as we can. What's so hard with that?"

"The fact that when she learns of it, shewilljump into it headlong. She has already vowed to kill Kan, if she gets any knowledge of our speculations, she will become obstinate about killing Gedan as well." Kiel indignantly shook his head, "No, Rohan, we can't tell her yet. She is just a child, as per our standards, and inexperienced in warfare. She is also headstrong and obstinate. She almost lost her life tonight so she could save me, violating my own orders." Kiel again shook his head.

"Those traits run in her family, I think." Rohan said bitterly.

Kiel eyed him guiltily, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that, about Eleyna."

"You better be sorry." Rohan muttered, turning his attention back to the inventory. As he finished his work, Kiel engaged himself with some of the weapons. Finishing taking the inventory, Rohan put the last weapons away and turning to Kiel, stated in a matter-of-fact way, "Get out of my armory."

"What?"Kiel asked, bewildered. What the fuck had gotten into everyone tonight?

"I'm gonna close it now. So you need to get out." Rohan's lips twitched as he saw the shock on Kiel's face. 'Serves him right.' He thought to himself.

"Fine." Kiel growled, and turning around, quickly made his way towards the door. Right before he opened it, he turned slightly to throw a few words at his friend, "I need to talk to you about a few things. Come to my office when you are done."

"I know." Rohan simply said with a nod.

*****

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Kiel's Office.

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"So what exactly do you wanna know?" Rohan asked as he strolled in to Kiel's office.

"On the site tonight, there was something wrong with the Energy Flow when I tried to open the Gate from my end, right before the explosions started. It didn't open. Do you know why that was?" Kiel asked directly, even before he turned around to face Rohan.

"I...may have an idea. The same happened when Sarah and Louise tried to open it from here. There was a blockage placed on the Energy Flow."

"Curious. We didn't discuss those 'extra' plans of the mission with anyone except for you, me and Rogers. It wasn't possible for anyone else to know that I'd be using a Gate tonight." Kiel thought out loud.