Blood & Carrots - Silverpaw Ep. 08

Things are going to jump around a bit, just so you know. A lot happened in a short time all things considered.

I didn't have to wait the full twenty years for the information, the celestial's finally made good on their word around year nineteen.

"You do not look well, Sarnai." The archangel spoke out to me, his voice sounding gentle and sympathetic.

"Who asked you?" I snapped back at the platinum-haired rabbit, my sharp teeth showing as my tail thrashed.

"Sarnai, try to mind your temperament, Toroah was just showing concern." Lorelai spoke to me in a gentle but commanding tone that made me bite back the additional outbursts I was ready to level at the angel.

"So, you've finally got my wife's information then?" Elias cocked a brow and folded his arms, looking between the two angels before us. Toroah had been accompanied by Rachel for the meeting.

Rachel cleared her throat and spoke towards my husband, "We do, but-"

"But nothing! I swear to the gods if you put any more stipulations on this, I will murder the lot of you in cold blood!" I snarled the words, my eyes turning red, black flames already showing at my tail and ears.

"Peace, Sarnai. We are doing no such thing." Toroah held his hands out, palms open. "Just hear us out."

"Speak quickly, my patience and sanity are already at their limit," I growled the words, the truth in them painfully obvious even to me. I had witnessed my own collapse of sanity over the last two decades first hand. I hardly slept, having withdrawn from everyone but Elias and the twins. Even they were cautious of dealing with me because of my anger.

Rachel thrust her hand out. "This information will ruin your life, do not take it. I can say it no more simply than that."

Lorelai lifted her ears sharply at the words and I saw her put some pieces together in her eyes. She glanced at me and spoke out to me sternly, "Sarnai... perhaps we should think about this."

"No! I am already at my wit's end!" I barked the words and jerked my gaze back to Rachel. "You are honor-bound. I demand that which is rightfully mine, now!"

Rachel showed her teeth and jerked her gaze from mine, hissing as she spat the words out, "So be it... Yes, the one that slaughtered your family is still amongst us."

My ears lifted, the fury in my soul becoming like a roaring inferno with the knowledge that the one that wrought so many centuries of suffering upon me still walked the earth. I practically screamed the word as I responded to her. "Where?!"

Toroah grunted and folded his arms, giving me a sad look. "He's right beside you, Sarnai."

Lorelai's back stiffened and my ears folded before I jerked my gaze to my husband. I saw him looking shocked and confused at the words before looking back at me. My heart sunk in my chest and my mind went numb for a heartbeat before running the numbers. It very well could have been, it matched the timeline and everything, still I couldn't believe it.

"You feed me falsehoods, angels. My husband would never keep something like this from me!" I snarled the words, shifting my furious gaze back to the winged rabbit and fox before me.

"Celestials cannot break oaths or lie, Sarnai. If they are honor-bound, they must follow through or they will die. If they had been feeding you falsehoods, you would be yelling at corpses right now." Lorelai spoke the words calmly to me as both the angels averted their eyes from me.

"Then... all this time... these centuries... you've both lied to me?" I huffed the words, feeling pain fill my chest as I looked between the two of them.

"Gods no!" Elias barked out and folded his ears, looking directly at me, his eyes wet with tears. "Sarnai... I love you and I never would keep such a thing from you..."

"He was nothing more than a mindless monster when I found him, Sarnai. I never bore witness to him slaughtering your tribe, but if the celestials say it's true, then it's true." Lorelai spoke the words in a placative tone towards me. "You must understand I put down dozens of wild ones both before and after Elias. I never considered he would have been the one..."

I shook my head and stumbled back a few paces, putting my hand to my face. I could feel my tears flowing against my cheeks as I barked out a weak laugh, "Ha ha... seriously... I know I'm a monster, but did the gods just decide I would be their personal plaything?"

"Sarnai..." Elias took a step towards me, his hand extended. "You're still my wife... I still love you and I'm sorry..."

I showed my teeth and shook my head, feeling the fury resurface. I slapped his hand away and barked into his face. "Sorry?! I've been suffering and losing my mind for centuries! Half a millennia of torture, all because of you!"

"Sarnai! This is not Elias's fault and you know it!" Toroah spoke the words sharply at me, his arms folding.

"To hell with what you think! I have the information I sought, so piss off and leave me!" I growled the words, glaring at the two angels.

"Sarnai, that's enough." Lorelai moved between Elias and me, setting me with a hard look. "You are still a member of this court, you will not treat a fellow brother in such a way."

"No... let her say and do what she will," Elias spoke the words, moving a hand to grasp Lorelai's shoulder and gently push her away so he could stand before me. "I love you, you are my wife. Had I known... I would have offered you my throat. Knowing I have caused you such pain and agony, It is worse than death."

"Elias..." Lorelai spoke his name and frowned. "You don't-"

"Stay out of this, Lorelai. This is a matter between husband and wife." The fox showed his teeth, giving the sheep a strong glare. He then met my eyes and tilted his head, baring his throat. "Teeth or saber, take your pick. If ending my life quells your pain and madness, I'm happy to offer it."

"S-S... Stupid!" I spat the word into his face and stomped away from him, clenching my head as I howled out in fury. "This is unfair! Argh... why didn't you just take me with the rest of my family!"

I felt him draw closer to me and I gave him a warning growl. "Stay away from me..." The fox stopped in his tracks and I shifted my wet gaze between him, the sheep, and the two angels. I shook my head and turned my back to the lot of them, my feet starting to move. "Lorelai! Come find me in a week's time!" I didn't know where I was going nor did I care. I just had to get some distance between me and my husband, before my madness did something I couldn't forgive.

#

"I'm withdrawing from house Silverpaw. Let my husband head it." I spoke the words with resignation, standing before her on a cliffside overlooking the Pacific ocean.

Lorelai frowned and shook her head. "Sarnai... he has been nothing but distraught since a week past. He has hardly spoken or fed. You must understand-"

"You must understand!" I spat out sharply, interrupting her. "I... I love him... I want to see him... but I can't... gods take me, I can't..." I sobbed the words and shook my head. "I don't... I can't control myself... It took everything in me not to end him then and there..."

"My fox..." Lorelai frowned and folded her arms. "Elias told me to tell you he loved you. Told me to tell you, the house is yours."

"What?" I growled and looked at her through my fingers, my palm against my face now, tears flowing freely.

"He said he expected this, said he gathered this would be your way of dealing with it." The sheep clicked her tongue and nodded as two figures came out of the darkness and stood behind her.

"Jeremy... Jennifer? What the fuck are you two doing here?" I snarled the words, anger for myself building at them seeing me in this state.

Jennifer folded her arms behind her back and spoke dutifully. "Well..."

#

"You cannot be serious, my lord!" Jeremy shook his head as he tried to process the request.

"I am. I know my wife and I won't let her do what she plans..." The white fox folded his hands and sighed. "I've already spoken to Lorelai... I am no longer a member of house Silverpaw, I will start my own house with the few members that remain... I will give my wife the distance she needs."

"Sir! Just talk to her!" Jennifer spoke out pleadingly. "You two have been married for centuries... you can't let her-"

"Do you think I would like nothing more than that?!" Elias snarled the words, showing his sharp canines, his tail thrashing violently. "You two... we've known each other for nearly five centuries, have I ever asked anything of you?"

Both of the mice shared a look and shook their heads. Elias gave a resigned laugh and lowered his own head. "Please... let this be my one selfish request then... Keep your allegiance to Silverpaw and my wife. Go with her, keep her safe and try to keep her sane. Even if you must one day face me as a foe... stay by my wife's side... I'm begging you two..."

Jeremy set his jaw then gave a respectful bow. "It will be as you command..."

"Brother, you can't be serious!" Jennifer grumbled the words and shook her head.

"What choice do we have? Let our lady and one of our oldest friends walk off to succumb to her madness?" The twin asked his sister.

"No but, but..." Jennifer frowned and looked to the fox before her. "My lord... Elias... there has to be another way!"

"When I find one, you two will be the first I contact... please, Jennifer... I beg of you." The white fox bowed his head once more.

#

"So that's how it is, eh?" I turned from the three of them and looked out over the ocean, the waves slamming into the craggy rocks below. "Even now, he thinks of nothing but me..."

"What will you do Sarnai?" Lorelai folded her arms and tilted her head.

I put a hand to my forehead, shaking my head before looking upon the two mice before me. "Jennifer... Jeremy... I may eventually become as mad as the devils that run the nine hells... "

"We won't let that happen my lady." Jennifer spoke out pointedly towards me, her head still bowed.

"My sister speaks the truth, and even so... We have given our word. We will follow you into the flames of hell if need be." Jeremy gave me a sharp nod before returning to his own bow.

"Lorelai..." I looked upon her and folded my arms. "You truly wish me to keep the name of Silverpaw?"

"I do... if I ever feel you are beyond hope... I will be the one to do it, as I promised." The sheep gave me a strong nod and put her hands upon her hips.

I gave her a slight smile and sighed, shaking my head. "Very well... you two with me." I barked the words in commandment, walking past the three of them to head back down the trail to my waiting vehicle.

"Where are you going, Sarnai?" Lorelai tilted her head curiously.

"As far from here as I can... far enough away that he is safe from my madness," I spoke the words calmly, feeling the presence of the twins behind me as I walked.

#

So it was. For the first few years, house Silverpaw was simply a nomadic trio that wandered. We moved through the country doing the only thing I could think to do. We hunted down rogue elements that threatened our court's veil. Eventually, we found ourselves across the ocean and within Europe once more.

Thanks to the age of technology, telephones were fairly common all over the world now, so Lorelai was always a call away. I kept in contact with her when she needed problems solved. I didn't think much during those times. Simply focusing on the next hunt and the next kill, trying not to dwell upon my husband and former family.

It was the mid-sixties when I had an unexpected visitor. We were traveling through France when she found us.

"What the fuck do you want?" I folded my arms, growling the words, both the mice flanking me, hands already at their weapons.

The platinum-haired fox folded her arms. "Nice to see you too, Sarnai."

"Do not address me as if we were old friends, celestial!" I barked the words, my spittle landing on her face.

Rachel flicked an ear and growled slightly before wiping her face. "Fine... I will cut to the heart of the matter. You've been hunting down wild vampires and lycanthropes, correct?"

"You mean what should be your job? Yes." I snapped my ears forward and growled. "I have no patience for you, out with it!"

"Do you have the patience for anything anymore?" Rachel fired back, showing me a glare before she continued, "You've heard of the war the mundane are fighting to the east I presume?"

"In Vietnam? Yes, mundane slaughtering one another for stupid reasons, call the news stations." I rolled my eyes and set her with a glare. "What does that have to do with us?"

"The church has been using the war to purge local vampires and lycanthropes in the region. I just felt you should know." The angel gave me a shrug and casually turned from me.

"Why? Why tell me this?" I snarled the words, easing my grip on my saber.

"Because your family needs members, and they need help." Rachel gave me an indiscernible look from the corner of her eye.

"Yes, but what do you get out of this? Is this a trap to-"

"It is not a trap, you have my word upon my power. I simply give you the information, do with it as you will!" The fox barked the words at me sharply and snapped her wings open. She didn't give me the chance to respond before she launched herself into the night sky and was gone.

"Bitch..." I growled as I watched the winged silhouette vanish from sight.

"What will you have us do, Mistress?" Jennifer spoke out towards me, her stance having eased.

"It's been a while since I've been in a war zone, why the hell not?" I showed the mouse a grin as my tail wagged eagerly.

#

It was not the kind of war I expected. This was a war of trickery and subterfuge. It was the perfect cover for the church to do its dirty work. We spent a few weeks gathering information and hunting down disguised acolytes that posed as soldiers for various fronts. Creative interrogation led us to a small village they planned to purge, that was said to house a few of our kind in it.

"So you think them civilized and not mad?" Jeremy asked me as we walked through the jungle, a barely noticeable path beneath our boots.

"If they are comfortably living amongst the mundane in a village, they couldn't be wild." Jennifer answered her brother's question as I nodded to her.

"They can't be any more mad than I, so yes. They at least function. It could be they just integrated into the small village and feed off the various soldiers. War is great for getting your kill on without drawing attention." I shrugged as we finally reached the outskirts of the small village.

I could tell right away it had its fair share of attacks. several burned down houses could be seen, the crude wall made of large log stakes had several chunks missing from it. I narrowed my eyes and focused my senses, my ears folding. "Hmm... yes this seems to be the place. I can sense three of our kind within the walls, one is upon that tower as we speak."

My ears lifted, my body responding before my mind could. Almost as if on cue to my statement, a loud clap of gunfire filled the air. I narrowly pivoted my head out of the way, my shoulder taking the bullet that had been aimed right at my face. I grunted as I slammed onto my back, my shoulder torn open.

"My lady!" Both the mice called out and were over me on their knees, assessing my injuries.

I snapped my teeth together and my eyes went straight to red, my flames of black erupting before I had even climbed to my feet. I hopped up and howled in fury before launching myself several dozen yards into the air towards the tower. I crashed into the front of the tower, grabbing the sniper by the throat and slamming him so hard into the wooden flooring we both fell through and tumbled to the ground below. I held my hand on his throat the whole time, pinning him to the earth, broken wood all around us while I loomed over him with my tail thrashing.

"You can fly?!" The sniper spoke out in a hiss as I held his throat. He was obviously a viper by his scale pattern near his throat and forked tongue. I hadn't seen a snake-folk in over a century now that I thought about it.

"No, I jump high." I growled the words and drew my revolver with my free hand, pushing the barrel of it to his forehead. "Now go to the gods..." I snarled as I cocked the hammer back on the gun.

"My lady!" Jennifer called out behind me. "Were we not here to help them, not kill them?"

"That was before one of them tried to kill me!" I growled and pushed the gun barrel harder against the snakes head, watching him wince, his dark eyes shifting nervously between me and the mice at my side who already had weapons drawn.

"Wait... please... I thought you were attackers." The young snake hissed the words out and I could see the sweat forming at his forehead.

"Damn right I'm an attacker!" I growled and started to pull the trigger before Jeremy gently put a hand to my shoulder.

"My lady... Sarnai... he could be young and not able to sense our energies..." The mouse called out to me gently, trying to rationalize with my eagerness to kill.

"Fucking... fine!" I snarled and climbed from the viper, keeping my gun trained upon him. "Get up and give me your name."

The snake rubbed his throat before pulling himself from the ground and looked between the three of us before speaking out respectfully. "It's Radcliff, my apologies for the misunderstanding."

"Misunderstanding, my tail..." I growled and rubbed at my shoulder, the wounds already starting to heal, the bullet having gone straight through.

"What's going on that you're shooting on sight?" Jennifer spoke out, questioning the young vampire now.

"There are wild lycanthropes in the jungle, it's been a problem for years. Now the church has been sending small groups to try to kill us as well." Radcliff hissed the words as he looked up at the tower above, the whole floor now torn out of it.

"Well we originally came to get you out of here. The church will keep sending acolytes until they achieve what they-" Jeremy lifted his rounded ears as he spoke and turned back to the jungles behind us, a loud howl cutting off his words.

"Another comes!" Radcliff hissed the words as he drew a small handgun from his side.

"Leave it to us, one lycanthrope is no big deal." I grumbled the words, sounding bored as the mice moved into formation at my side.

We prepared to move back to the jungle as an all to familiar whistling sound came to my ears. The twins knew what to do and scattered right away. The snake looked dumbfounded as I clenched my teeth. "Are you stupid?! Move!" I snarled and grabbed him by the wrist and quickly pulled him away as an artillery shell impacted at the base of the tower and sent it down.

"Really? The church and a lycanthrope! Are we cursed?" Jennifer hissed the words as she found her way back to me, Jeremy already next to us.

"Y-you... saved my life..." The viper spoke the words in shock towards me.

"Yeah yeah... thank me if we get out of this..." I growled and scanned the area, sensing the presence of the lycanthrope drawing in on our location.

"Jeremy, Jennifer! Take the snake and deal with the soldiers, I sense at least a dozen. I will take care of the lycanthrope myself!" I barked the words in commandment and the mice nodded before moving to flank the viper.

I gave Radcliff a nod and blurred out of sight, moving into the jungle to intercept the beast on its way. I only made it about a quarter of a mile into the vegetation when I came upon the lycanthrope. It was over ten feet tall and covered in brown fur, obviously a wolf.

"Well... I give you props for keeping it traditional." I spoke the words casually as I set my stance, bending at the knees as the hulking dog towered over me by nearly twice my height.

The wolf howled and lunged for me, it's movements slow and uncontrolled. I blurred from its swipe and gave it a sweeping kick that slammed into its large chest. I heard bones crunch as the dog left the ground and sailed a few dozen yards back, tearing through trees before coming to a rest slumped on the ground.