Blood & Carrots - Silverpaw Ep. 19

If this is your first visit to Silverpaw, I strongly recommend starting from episode one to get the best experience.

If you are new to Blood & Carrots as a series, you need to start with the first serial if you want to fully enjoy it, no 'silverpaw' in the title.

Take your time, I'll wait for you to catch up. :3

And with that out of the way...

Welcome back my lovely reader, it's going to get dramatic this go around. We'll still be in Katrina's boots for most of the ride, but we may find ourselves briefly in another's perspective for a time.

I hope you like drama because this episode will have it in spades. Let's not waste any more time and jump right into things!

I'm No Messiah

Kazemde ushered us all through a gate and we stepped down on mossy soil that reeked of that musty earth smell you would get if you were in an old cellar. I looked around to see worn cobblestone walls and a roof above our heads of similar material. We were in some kind of long-abandoned sewer or water channel of some sort.

"Welcome to scenic Venice." The archmage called out playfully as a brazier on the wall burst into magical light, illuminating the area a bit more for us.

"How lovely, perhaps I should move the family here, we'll really feel like classical nosferatu skulking in the stinking sewers like this." Sarnai quipped in a dry tone.

Lorelai frowned at the surroundings before looking upon Kazemde sternly. "Let us dispense of humor and get to it. I dislike this environment, it reminds me of an old memory I'd like to leave buried."

I saw the faces of both my foxes and even the mice grow sullen, a silence settling upon our group. My memory drifted back to one of the tales my vixen had regaled me of, the family beset in the mid-day and having to retreat into the tunnel system, the majority of their loved ones from that time lost in the attack.

"My apologies, Lorelai." Kazemde drew forth his will and I felt the strain upon the powerful mage as one by one, three gates formed into existence. He gave a winded huff, clearly bracing on his staff to support himself, taking a few moments to gather his composure.

"Are you alright, Teacher?" I called out with concern, he looked as winded as he would when we trained at full strength.

The cobra offered me a toothy smile before rising back to full stance. "It will pass, opening the gateways is very taxing, especially three at once."

Elias looked upon the three portals, quirking a brow as his ears peaked curiously. "These look different... they're rougher?"

It was true. Whereas the normal gates seemed to simply part reality, like someone opening a set of drapes, these looked like they had simply been torn open, odd sparking tendrils of greenish-blue flames hanging off them as if burning at torn threads.

"These are naturally occurring rifts in our realities, Lord Blackpaw, I simply pried them open a little larger, they are normally the size of a speck of dust."

"So how are we doing this?" Lorelai spoke out hastily, eager to be out of the area we were in.

"We all will set a time with the watches I have provided for you. They have no electrical components, so should be safe to use in the Faemarch." Kazemde had instructed us to leave our electronics such as phones and watches at the tower, the realm of the Fae apparently didn't treat electronics very well.

The cobra looked upon the watch on his scale patterned wrist that peaked out of his sleeve, then gave a nod. "Alright, we're on mission time. We've one hour to complete the operation, after that the tears will weaken and close."

"Can the fae follow us back, or come through while these are open?" I asked curiously, looking at my own watch, resting one hand on one of the revolvers at my back.

"No, these portals can only be used by denizens of our realm. One moment..." The mage furrowed his brow, the runes, and sigils on his forehead as well as his face glowing faintly, then with another exasperated huff, he clutched his staff and gave Sarnai a nod. "Lady Blackpaw, your vessel awaits, it will be three hundred yards to the east once you arrive, though I doubt you'll miss it once you enter."

"Got it. To me, my crew, we've a bit of sailing and mischief to attend." My vixen barked the words out eagerly, quickly trotting through the portal, tail wagging. I gave a frown, I would have enjoyed seeing her in her element, seeing her truly being Captain Silverpaw, but I had my task.

"Alex, Gloria, let's go," I spoke out and moved towards the port, hesitating before looking back at Kazemde. "Teacher, are you sure I'll be able to sense where this thing is?"

"I've absolute faith you will, my student. All of you, be safe, I'll see you soon." He and the mice gave us a nod and we returned it before stepping through the gate.

My feet crunched down onto firmly packed snow, a faint soft flurry of flakes drifting through the bitter cold air. I was more in tune with the magical forces these days and felt it keenly when I stepped through. So keenly in fact I had to take a knee, my head spinning as I clutched it, hissing out from the rush of energy pouring into my being.

"Katrina!" Gloria and Alex both called out in unison, both dogs flanking me on their own knee, each gripping a shoulder as I knelt there.

"I'm fine, it's just overwhelming, it's passing now..." I panted the words, my vision starting to clear as I stood once more, feeling them each gripping an arm in support. The sensation was intense to say the least, I was but a fledgling mage, I could only imagine what a fully initiated one would feel stepping into this realm, but I also felt something else; power.

The energies of the realm seemed to just pour into me, as if I were standing on some sort of magical battery as if I would be able to summon up blood magic without the slightest effort. "This place is rife with power."

"I feel it too sister, and to think, we are in the one with perhaps the weakest level of power right now, I could only fathom how spring or summer would feel right now." Gloria released my arm after she saw I was stable.

"Even I can sense the energy and I've no sort of magical inclination. Perhaps that's a testament to just how magic rich this land is." Alex rubbed his chin in contemplation.

I looked down at my watch and shook my head. "We can be awe-struck when we get home, we need to get down to business. The others are counting on us after all, if we don't all achieve our goal, it will do little good."

Both of the dogs gave me a nod and I focused my senses. Sure enough, I could feel an overwhelming pull in a direction, so I set my feet in motion towards it.

We walked in the bitter cold for nearly ten minutes in silence, then Gloria spoke out, "How far do you think it is?"

"It's getting closer with every step, which is obvious I suppose. I don't think it will be much longer, perhaps another few minutes." I had been making a note of how much distance we covered, we only had about forty-five minutes left, after all, if things got dicey we'd likely need to sprint back, but that wouldn't be a problem for any of us.

"Should we talk about things while we walk?" Alex prodded, curiosity in his voice.

"What's there to talk about? I already said we'd hash the details out if we live through all this." I grumbled as I shifted to look upon him, showing my teeth. "You already know I love you both, you also know I said I'd humor the idea once we were back, what more do you want?"

"Is it something, you even want, sister?" Gloria spoke out curiously.

I frowned, realizing we were indeed going to have this talk, and here in a foreign world of all places. "Look... I can't say. I bottled up and buried all that for you guys, as I swore to myself I would. I never expected this to come up."

I stopped and put my hands on my hips, sensing the energy as I gazed around at the trees that looked not unlike firs from our world. I could sense various wildlife all around, but I also sensed the fear they had for us, they no doubt knew that attacking us would be certain death.

"I'm sure I'd love the sex, but is that all you two want? A friend with benefits?" I looked towards them, the wind blowing my jagged red locks about as we stood in the snow.

"I mean, my love for you aside, I've always thought you had an awesome body, Kat. I've wanted to take you for a ride for years," Alex spoke the words out with a hungry growl and I felt my cheeks grow dark at the brazen words.

Gloria gave a soft bark at his words, giving him a fussy glare. "Alex! Is that any way to speak to her? Such a disrespectful statement."

Grinning, I folded my arms. "It's fine, Gloria. Alex is right, shooting straight with me is the best way to deal with things."

The retriever frowned at me and tilted her head curiously as she stared into my eyes. "Truly?"

"Truly." I nodded at her, keeping the grin on my face, up to the point she moved right in, threw her arms around my neck, then had her mouth to my own in a deep kiss.

"Holy shit..." Alex huffed out as he watched the embrace.

I felt her will push against my own and before I knew it, I was kissing her back, our tongues pushing out to meet one another. Her fingers tangled into my hair, rubbing at my ears. I don't know if Alice had been feeding her details on me or what, but it had the effect it always did, a soft groan escaping my throat as a shiver moved up my spine.

Shuddering, I was about to part from her, then she did something that completely shifted the momentum. Her tongue purposefully pushed up against one of my canines. I felt the angel's divine blood spill forth as she willingly cut herself to deepen the kiss with me.

My eyes shifted to red and a hungry snarl filled my throat as I tasted her blood. I had of course had it before, but not in such an intimate fashion. Hands moved into her curly locks and I gripped fistfuls of it along with her ears.

The dog yipped out as I wrenched her from my mouth, her tongue lolled and slightly bloody as I bared her throat, my eyes blood-red as I moved to plunge my fangs deep and drink of this angel before me, to taste her and have her, right here on the ground of the tundra.

"Woah! Ladies, how about we get home first! You know, we are still on a time-sensitive mission to save civilization as we know it, remember?" Alex called out, putting a hand over Gloria's throat, halting my attempt at drinking.

"Do not stop me, dog! I've hungered for this angel long enough, I'll have her here and now, details be damned!" I hissed the words, slapping his hand away as I glared at him, showing my teeth.

"You're letting your demons get to you Kat, don't make me slap you to bring you around, you know I always feel bad when I have to do it," He growled the word and clenched his fist.

I snarled in challenge even as I screamed at myself to reign it in. Alex had seen me at my worst, had seen me when I was blood starved and ready to rampage. He'd had to knock some sense into me a few times too and always felt awful, apologizing for days afterward.

Gloria slowly tucked her tongue in, her eyes refocusing from the euphoria, but she kept her throat bared, a whimper coming forth as I eased my grip on her hair. I shuddered as I felt the demons tear at my walls, I was hungry and not just for blood, but now was not the time.

I shook my head a few times and pushed at the angel's shoulder, shoving her back several paces. "Get off me!" I hissed out as I pushed a hand to my head, trying to will the hunger away. Since I started practicing blood magic, it had given the hunger a new outlet, it was as Kazemde said, many had succumbed to the power, but those didn't happen to also feed from the source of said power, so it was a fight on two fronts for me.

The three of us stood there in silence for several moments as I huffed and snarled, trying to get myself back under control. Finally, I glanced over to Gloria and frowned. "Sorry, it was nothing personal... I just needed to get you off me, just your touch in that moment..."

"I- I understand, sister. I didn't mean to spark something darker in you, I simply thought you would enjoy the gesture, as you said direct was best. I know this isn't the best time for it, I just felt it would ease the tension." She gave me a bow, her large wings folding along her back at the motion.

"Oh, I'd say I very much enjoyed it. Damn... just... damn..." I sighed and pushed a palm to my chest, giving a controlled huff as I reigned in the urges at last, calming my heart to stop once more. "O-okay, let's keep moving, we've lost a lot of time on this."

"I apologize again." Gloria frowned as we resumed our trek.

"As do I, you know I never like the idea of hurting you, Kat." Alex frowned as he gently put a hand on my shoulder.

"Yeah, you big softie, even in training you feel bad." I quipped back, offering him a smile, my tail coiling and flicking as we continued towards our goal.

Putting our sexual tension aside, I had expected something more of the Faemarch. I really couldn't say it looked much different than any other forested area I'd been to. The cold was vicious and biting, but for me and Alex, it meant little and Gloria didn't seem put off by it either. Perhaps the wildlife would look more exotic, but it was all giving a wide berth of us, so it was hard to say.

"I wasn't trying to waste our time, I didn't expect it to get so... intense." Gloria broke the silence between us as we moved.

"I know, I know. I'm not mad Gloria, I just... Well, we should focus, there will be time enough for that once we're home." I gave the retriever a small smile that I hoped showed I wasn't angry or put off by it.

"Watching you two kissing and pawing at each other was pretty hot though, I'll admit," Alex growled the words and wagged his brown tail as he looked us both over.

"Reign it in big guy, focus on the task, not me and your girlfriends' asses." I hummed the words playfully, glancing over my shoulder, then halted my movements as we crested a small hill, coming into view of our target at last.

We all sunk down to a knee to lower our profile as we looked over the crest of the hill, a small stone shrine around one hundred yards away. It was a simple thing with just around half a dozen stone steps that led to what looked like a large brazier, resting in the bowl of the structure was a small ice blue orb the size of a baseball.

Sarnai and Gloria had described Triallia in detail, so it didn't surprise me to see the two watchmen were covered in coats of fur, each clearly looked to be a wolf. They had slightly elongated muzzles, their visible hands looking like paws with opposable fingers. Each of them had a coat of fur that was snow-white, offering them a little camouflage in the snowcovered surroundings.

"Huh... did the foot soldiers and the likes look like that when you fought them, Gloria?" Alex called out in a soft whisper.

"No, I think they or Triallia were using glamor to make them look more mundane, these fellows certainly look more like how she did." The angel gave the wolf a nod, then pushed a hand gently to my shoulder. "Sister, don't try to drink their blood."

"Yeah? Is it cursed or something?" I lifted my ears and cut my eyes towards hers briefly, then quickly looked back to the two guards at the shirne.

"Sarnai attempted it when she came to my aid. Given the spitting and cursing following, I assumed it was very unpleasant. I had to let her take a few gulps of my own to get the taste out of her mouth."

"Hmm, I wonder if your blood magic will work on them." Alex gave me a curious look and I showed him my sharp teeth in a wide grin.

"Only one way to find out, let's go!" Both the dogs gave a surprised bark as I launched from the hill, blurring towards the two wolves at full speed.

Of course, the poor dogs didn't expect or see it coming, one had a broom in his handpaw, and had been lazily sweeping snow from the shrine when I closed on him. I had already drawn a small silenced handgun, opting to avoid the loud 'bang' the revolvers I usually sported would bring.

The guard gave a shocked yelp as I fired a round right into his side, they were wearing half-plate armor so I didn't trust the low caliber bullet to punch through that. The shot wouldn't be lethal but it opened a wound, which was all I needed.

The other wolf drew the spear off his back, starting to set his stance as I focused my will, it only took a microsecond to feel the energy and know I had him. The first soldier screamed in terror as I drew forth blood from his wound, tearing it open wider and allowing me to pull even more forth.

The fae blood scattered into the air as I bound back right as the second wolf thrust his spear at me, perching on a small pillar at the corner of the shrine. The scattered blood formed into small blades in the air and I washed flames over them to harden them before launching them at the spear-wielding guard.

He didn't even have time to properly scream, just giving shocked yelps as the thousands of blades circled and tore him apart, not an inch of white fur remaining, all of it stained crimson as he toppled to the ground in a lifeless heap. The other gave a choked wide-eyed scream at the display, then I sent the blades back towards him, all of them simply embedding into his body and knocking him from his feet as he toppled to the ground.

I huffed and snarled as I eased my focus, feeling their life forces fade before I relinquished my hold on their blood supplies. The whole thing had happened in just a matter of seconds and I felt the power take its tole as I slumped down to take a seat on the stone blocks panting weakly and feeling drained.

"Kat! Holy nine hells!" Alex barked out as he moved over to me, taking a knee and putting a hand behind my head as I leaned against the pillar.

"Don't be such a drama queen... I'm fine..." I huffed out weakly, offering as much of a grin as I could muster. Frankly, I wanted to just have a drink and take a nap after that.

"Sister, that was impressive, but could we not have tried to take them alive and spared them?" Gloria spoke out gently as she knelt to me, pushing a hand to my shoulder as I felt the soothing energies of her power fill my worn-out body.

"Tch... And chance them escaping or who knows what? No, this is war, Gloria. Their kind struck first, even if it was a different faction of them." I hissed out as I clenched my teeth, grabbing Alex's hand as I forced myself to stand after a moment, knees still shaky from the energy I used.

"I don't give a damn about the mundane world, but I do give a damn about my family. I'll not jeopardize their safety or future over the higher road to take." I huffed out and moved over to the orb, putting my hands on my hips as I looked down upon it.

Gloria frowned at my words and I could see she didn't like my train of thought. I showed her a glare and spat out pointedly, "I thought you liked me Gloria? I thought you liked Sarnai? We're killers, we're murderers, and we do whatever it takes for our family. If you don't have-"

"Stop." The angel spoke sharply and I felt my tongue still as she clenched her teeth and looked away. "Katrina, I know what must be done and I never argued after you made your points. I care about the world and my family, but I accept and willingly make such sacrifices myself, perhaps that is why my wings are in the state they are in. I do not judge you or Sarnai because I myself am a killer, even if it is under the guise of a soldier fighting for what I believe is right, we are one and the same."

I frowned at her but said nothing, sighing as I looked back to the small sphere, feeling the overwhelming power radiating off it. Alex stepped over to me, also staring at the orb before speaking out, "I'd have done the same thing Kat, you just cheated and jumped the gun."