The Sacrifice Ch. 01

**This is my first attempt, so any and all feedback is much appreciated. Many thanks to Karen_bi_uk for the editing, all mistakes are mine, not hers.**

Smoke rose in choking columns from the fallen city in the valley below. The charred scent of burning buildings mixed with the disgustingly sweet odor of roasting flesh as the flames raced over the bodies of the fallen defenders and citizens.

The flames were a steady roar, offset occasionally by the rumble as a building collapsed, or the hoarse screams of inhabitants who hadn't been lucky enough to escape or die in the fighting. The demon's army was busy enjoying pillaging Sil Hideen, the City in the Clouds. The scene blurred before my eyes as fresh tears rolled down my face.

There were only a dozen of us left of the fifty who'd volunteered as rearguard - the last seven members of the Cloudfolk elite warriors, the Skyguard; Renhir, mightiest wizard of the Ao, four other Ao warriors, and myself, Renhir's niece.

The remains of the allied armies and the lucky few refugees were hopefully five miles past us by now, limping down the mountain trails as quickly as they could go. I'd lost track of the number of vicious melees we'd fought against the fragments of the demon's army who'd broken off from the looting to pursue us.

The discipline of the horde had been shattered by the opportunity to slake their violent lusts on the remains of Sil Hideen, so no truly organized attack had overwhelmed our small force. Even so, most of the original fifty lay dead around us, and all of us but Renhir bore wounds by now. My left arm was broken and hung useless by my side, and silver blood dripped from half a dozen small cuts on my body.

I rested my spear against my shoulder and scrubbed the tears from my eyes with the heel of my good hand. Taking a few deep breaths, I picked up my spear and moved back to my place in the now perilously thin line, at the left hand of our chief in the center.

Below, a new sound rose from the chaos of the dying city. Low, rhythmic beating. The great drums of the horde; too soon, too soon. They would roll over our meager dozen, even in this narrow ravine, and destroy the retreating armies. My parent's deaths, the bravery and might of the allied southern armies, it would all mean nothing in the end. I thought I would begin sobbing again, but it seemed I had no more tears left. The end of our world had come, and Bright Mother had abandoned us.

Far too quickly, black banners began to move through the trees below us, snaking up the pass. Scouts appeared, out of arrow range, and then melted back into the trees. Then the vanguard of the horde cleared the trees and advanced. I took a deep breath and prepared to die, but then the drums suddenly ceased and the enemy halted.

Their ranks parted down the middle, and the demon himself, the self-titled Scourge of the World, mounted on a white horse, rode towards us between his ranks. He wore no armor, just leggings and a black silk tunic, soaked to the elbows with red and silver gore. His face was hidden by a black headscarf, all except his glowing golden eyes. I felt myself growing weak with terror as those eyes swept over our dozen.

Renhir spoke a soft word in the private language of the Ao, and the aura retreated. I caught my breath and straightened myself. Bright Mother might have abandoned us, we were all going to die in a few minutes, and civilization would vanish beneath the dark wave of the horde, but I was Ao and the light lived within me. I would die on my feet with my spear in my hand.

The Scourge rode closer, halting halfway between his army and our dozen.

"Greetings, Renhir. I'd hoped to find you at the Queen's side, but this is as good a place as any to finally see you die."

As he spoke, he lifted his blood-stained right hand, the fingers each with an extra joint a human wouldn't have. He was holding a slim loop of silver, with a brilliant red ruby set in it. We all recognized it. As recently as this morning, that circlet had rested in the golden hair of the Queen, serving as the Cloudfolk's crown.

I knew she had to be dead when our lines broke before the demon's sorcery and only a fragment of the Skyguard rallied to the retreat, but it still pierced my heart to see that noble symbol hanging from those wicked fingers, an obscene trophy.

"Quite a bauble, don't you agree Renhir? I wonder if the Cloudfolk knew what a rare treasure they used as their token of authority. You must have known, Renhir. Did you tell her?"

I did not understand the demon's reference, so I glanced at our chief. His face was drawn in grief, head bowed, lips mouthing the words of a prayer. Then suddenly his eyes lit up, silver light pouring from them, and he straightened to his full height.

My mother had told me she'd seen that light beam out of the eyes of a seer many years before. He took a deep breath and smiled at me, a radiant smile full of peace and sadness.

"Bright Mother has not abandoned us, Sahi" he whispered. "She only calls on us for greater courage. That is what makes us Ao."

"Dark one!" he called out.

"I do know the power of what you hold. As you know, only one who accepts the bondage willingly may wear it around their neck. If you bind yourself to return to the north and leash your power, I will wear it for you. I will give myself, a champion of the light, to be under your power completely, in exchange for Sil Hideen. Is that a bargain?"

The Scourge sat staring at Renhir for a long moment, and then he laughed. It was a strange and beautiful sound, rich, perfect, and deep, ringing off the sides of the narrow pass, even stranger for being so perfect and beautiful from a figure of darkness and terror. It went on for a long moment, and then faded into a rich chuckle.

"Ah, Renhir. Such nobility. You only offer this because I have defeated you so completely, but I admit the thought is tempting. However, I refuse."

The silver light in my chief's eyes dimmed, and he gave a deep sigh and began to draw in power from around him. We all knew now after the battle that morning that none of us could kill the demon, truly not even delay him long enough to save the armies, but whatever last desperate gamble Mother had shown to Renhir had failed.

"Wait, calm yourself Renhir. I have a counter-offer." The rich deep voice still sounded amused.

"I will not give back Sil Hideen. The Cloud Kingdom is mine by right of conquest. Neither will I take you to wear this bauble. You are too prepared for this sacrifice; you would consider even this a triumph and bear your conquest with the nobility of one who has conquered. I will offer you a version of what you desire though."

"I will bind my power at this pass for seven years. The land south of the mountains will not be scourged like the north and the Cloud Kingdom during that time. In return, another will make the sacrifice you wish to make. That one."

One long finger uncurled from the hand holding the crown of the Cloudfolk, and my breath left me. The demon was pointing directly at me.

My breath caught in my throat and I froze. The only thing that broke my terror was the sound of a pained grunt from Renhir.

"Yes, I thought so. That one is precious to you, is she not? I know you have no children Renhir, but she is a blood relative of some sort, isn't she? I see a resemblance. A niece, perhaps? Ah, yes, I've guessed correctly, I can tell from your face. This will hurt you far more than sacrificing yourself. Give up one of your young, one of your own, and you will buy peace, time to prepare, time to build your defenses. Who knows, perhaps the seven years her pain and suffering buys will give you enough time to build a force that can withstand my power? How can you not take this bargain, Ao? It is the last chance for your people, for all the kingdoms of the south."

My uncle stood before the demon like a broken man. I could see him considering selling me into some mysterious torment he understood far better than I did, but then he shook his head.

"I cannot ask another to make this sacrifice. I will not ask for Sil Hideen, or for you to be bound forever. But my suffering is surely worth the seven years you offer. Take me and let your victory be complete this day."

I couldn't see a face beneath the headscarf, but something in his stance told me that the demon would refuse. Also, somehow, I knew with a bone deep certainty that there was no power in the south now or seven years from now that could stop the sorcery which had shattered the walls Sil Hideen and the armies of the south.

"Wait!" a voice called out in the stillness, and I was shocked to hear it was my own.

"You cannot ask, uncle, but I can offer. If this sacrifice is one the chief of the Ao can make, then surely I, one of the least of us, can make it as well. And Scourge, I offer you this challenge – as long as the Ao can make this sacrifice, the binding will continue. After seven years are done, if another youth of the Ao finds the courage within herself to make this sacrifice, the binding will repeat. We will sacrifice ourselves at this border for eternity if necessary to hold the southlands free of your power."

I walked forward until I stood twenty paces before our thin line, directly beneath the golden leaves of the border tree. I gently rested my spear against the trunk of the tree. A weapon could not help me here.

"Will you gamble, Scourge? I wager there will be no shortage of Ao who will sacrifice themselves to stop you. You may be immortal, but so is the courage of the Ao. For generations we have defended the weak and helpless, spending our lives if necessary. Future generations will continue that courage. Every seven years, we will sacrifice our youth and innocence before your terror. You will have a new champion of the light to torment each cycle, and we shall not fail."

At that my courage faltered. I had wagered myself and the future of my people against this horror, and I could think of nothing else to offer.

I heard my uncle protesting behind me, but I shut his voice out and focused my gaze on those twin sparks of gold. This was my sacrifice now, not his. It only remained to be seen if the demon would accept.

The demon dismounted his horse and strode forward until he stood before me. He was tall, so much taller than me, and a deep coppery scent rolled off him. It smelled something like fresh blood, with a promise of pain, and a ripe undertone of sex and decadence. This close, the aura of terror was not held back by my uncle's magic any more, and I trembled before him, my breath coming in low short gasps. The silver circlet hung loosely from his right hand, the ruby shining.

His other hand shot forward with inhuman speed and seized both my wrists. Before I could process what was happening, he had yanked me up by the wrists so that I hung helplessly before him, my eyes level with his. Agony shot through my broken arm as it tried to support the weight of my body and I screamed in hoarse, broken pain. I heard a shout behind me, and the sharp lightning scent of my uncle's magic hung in the air, but all I could think of was the searing pain of my arm.

"Cease, Renhir! I am considering her offer. Stand down or all her courage goes for nothing!"

The pain in my arm didn't change, it was still a lance of white hot agony, but I took deep breaths and managed to focus on the world around me again. I hung writhing in the air, the demon's left hand casually holding my full weight off the ground. Out of the corner of my eye I could see a smoking crater in the earth – it seemed the demon had effortlessly deflected my uncle's strike into the ground.

Ignoring my uncle, those glowing gold sparks turned to consider me. Hanging mere inches away, they were not sparks at all, but gleaming irises, slit like a cat's. I still could see nothing of his face except a thin stretch of gray skin around those glowing golden eyes, staring into my own silver orbs, as if he was reading deep within me, into my soul itself.

I stared back at him, hypnotized like the prey I was before this inhuman predator. The hand holding the circlet came up; he gestured idly with it, and my armor and clothes turned to ash and drifted away in the wind. That same long finger he had pointed at me earlier uncurled, the tip of the finger slit in two and a yellowed claw like a lion's extended from the tip.

The claw moved to my cheek and came back, a single tear beaded on it. I hadn't even realized I was crying again, the pain in my arm and those hypnotizing eyes were driving out all other sensations. He held the claw between us until my captured tear dripped off it, then slowly, delicately, he brought it to the corner of my mouth and dragged it down, sliding over my cheek and down my neck.

He held it at the vein in my throat, so very sharp a point, resting on my fluttering pulse, and then slowly down over my collarbone and in between my breasts. The claw slid to the right, under the swell of my breast, and then it came up to circle my areola and glide gently across my nipple. My lungs ached from trying to breathe while hanging from my broken arm, and my chest locked to try and keep my breast from heaving forward into that dagger sharp point.

The claw moved again, sliding down my naked stomach, and as it did so he pressed it in just slightly, slowly breaking my skin in a long line down my stomach until he reached the dark curls between my legs. I heard a mewling, pitiful whimper of pain and realized it was coming from my mouth.

His hand rose again, that yellowed claw now coated with my silver blood. I felt a trail of blood slowly dripping into the curls between my legs as he moved the talon under his headscarf, and as it disappeared I clearly heard in the stillness the sound of him licking up my blood. Behind me I heard one of my fellow rearguard members retching into the grass.

He tugged the bottom of his scarf up, and I saw a broad, wicked smile, with perfect white teeth except the canines, much longer and sharper than any human's. A tiny smear of my silver blood clung to his lower lip, and his tongue darted out and licked it up.

A low, rumbling sound, like a great cat purring, came from his throat, and the smile grew broader and even more wicked if that was possible. There was a soft clink, and the crown of the Cloud Kingdom floated into the air to hang between us.

Somehow the silver circlet had come alive – it opened and unwound like a snake, the ruby glinting at its head. It moved through the air between us and wrapped around my neck, the ruby coming to rest at the base of my throat, the silver band closing around my neck like something alive and rubbing against the ruby, hungry to be rejoined, a collar of magic and metal.

I still hung limply from his left hand, and his right hand moved down my body again, that long finger sliding along the bleeding cut, claw retracted now, but coating itself in the blood still slowly leaking out. It slid down past the cut, following the trail of blood into the curls between my legs, then slick with my blood his long finger pressed into my innermost being and shoved painfully within me until his fingertip rested against the seal of my virginity.

I couldn't help it. Fresh tears rolled down my cheeks. Everything was pain, from the agony in my broken arm to the fresh cut down my stomach, the lighter wounds I'd taken throughout the day in battle, the long dark finger forced into my most private space with no lubrication but my own silver blood. The knowledge that my chief and my brothers and sisters in battle were helplessly watching my humiliation only made everything worse.

"Delicious" whispered the figure of darkness holding me, one hand around my wrists, the other clutching the space between my legs, that long finger buried inside me.

He raised his voice so that all in the narrow pass could hear him clearly.

"This is just a taste, sweetmeat. If you consent, that silver circlet will fasten around your neck and you will be mine, body and soul. I will introduce you a universe of pain and suffering your young mind cannot comprehend. In return I will bind my power here for seven years, and the south shall be free from my power. If another like you is foolish enough to come to this place and make the same bargain once that time is past, the bargain will renew, for as long as the warriors of light are willing to give themselves into the power of my darkness. Do you consent? If you refuse, I will give you the gift of a clean death now in respect for having the courage to make the offer at all."

I heard my uncle calling, as if from a great distance away.

"Sahi, you do not have to do this! Mother will give us another path!"

It was meaningless. I heard the beating of great wings in the back of my skull and knew that the goddess was with me. There was no other path. This choice was mine. My own pain and suffering, leashed to this unfathomable darkness, or the deaths thousands of others in the undefended southern kingdoms. It was no choice at all.

"I consent".

The silver band fused itself again to the ruby, an unbreakable circle of magic around my neck. White hot fire burned through my body. The last thing I felt before I fainted was a sharp cutting sensation as my new master's claw extended from the finger inside me to shred the thin wall of my virginity.

*** 245 years later ***

I thrashed in panic. My arms were pinioned above my head, and a hand was between my legs, rubbing at my slick folds and circling my clit which ached for the touch. My skin was heated, my nipples hard points, a familiar ache unspooling deep within me. I realized with a burst of shame that I was sopping wet. I opened my mouth and took in a breath to scream, and suddenly my mouth was covered by soft lips, tongue darting hungrily within.

hush, sweet shadow, it's just me. i'm here, everything's okay

The warm mental contact filled my mind and I realized it was Leli's mouth and hands upon me. Her presence unfolded in my mind, a blazing steady light full of love and care. The demon was just a dream. I was in my own furs in our tent.

Her hand in my sex paused, waiting to see if I was alright to proceed. But with our mind link I could sense her barely leashed hunger for me, her desire to play me like a harp. That hunger was held back by her love and her care, but only barely. I opened my own mind to her at the same time that I spread my legs wider and pushed myself onto her hand, letting her know that I wanted what she wanted.

She lifted her lips from mine and brought them to my ear.

"It's still very early; I came as soon as my patrol rode in. Do you think you can be quiet and not wake the neighbors?"

As my waking mind processed the fact that my lover was fully dressed in hunting leathers and smelled strongly of sweat and horse, she stabbed two fingers deep into me, while slamming her thumb into my clit. I arched off the furs, my hard nipples slamming painfully into her stiff leathers, and stifled a low whine as best I could.

A soft laugh tickled my ear.

"I suppose not. That is one of the things I love about you sweet shadow, you never can restrain yourself. Here, this will help".

Her other hand released my wrists for a moment to grab a fold of our sleeping furs, which she shoved deep into my mouth. I took a moment to ensure I could breathe through my nose then sent a flash of readiness through our mind link. Her left hand pinned my wrists again as her right worked between my thighs.

I let myself go, safe and secure in her grasp, electrified by her sure touch. I writhed beneath her, panting and moaning into my makeshift gag, feeling myself draw closer and closer to the edge. I wanted to grab her and pull her into a kiss, but she held me helpless beneath her.