Artie
“My love…you brought someone back?” The girl asked, setting down the lantern and approaching to see the sickly figure in his arms. Habib folded his dark wings back behind him as he allowed the girl forward. “Tis Bandit.”
The girl looked shocked, her face riddled with confusion as she then cast her eyes down at Bandit. “The….Bandit?” It was almost to incredulous for her to believe. In another life….she knew her. “But I thought she….” Amala started, but then she had to start walking with Habib as he made his way towards the temple. “No…but she nearly did.” Habib spoke of how she almost died right there in the maze. “The witch healed her.” Another surprise for Amala. “Which witch? And what of Raul?” Clearly, Amala knew of the Warlock all too well. She quickly cast her eyes to the skies, thinking that he may have followed them. Habib was pretty certain he hadn’t.
“Probably in some inn….drinking his life away now. He lost, Amala. End of.” Yes, Habib may have said this, but knowing what he knew with Bandit being pregnant, that may well change. He gave Amala a reassuring look, before walking Bandit into the temple. Amala ran back to get her lantern, and then with her bare feet padding the stone floor of the outer landing, she followed Habib inside.
“I’ll make her some broth. She looks so hungry.”
With Amala going to the kitchen, Habib walked the tired girl into one of the chambers for her to sleep on a soft bed.
~RB~
Oh, how much they didn’t know.. Bandit’s eyes struggled to remain open, the image of Amala blurred and difficult to make out.. Voices were muffled, like she was underneath water.. Food was not an option currently, as much as she yearned for it.. No, for now, rest was what she needed.. What would sustain her. Sleep. Habib brought the small and petite woman to a chamber, laying her on the bed.. Its warmth immediately swallowed her, causing a sigh of relief. Ah, what it felt like to sleep on a comfortable bed for once.. It was blissful.. The blankets encased her, her fingers gripping at the blankets.. Ever so slowly, weak, she would pull them over her head, basking in the warmth of it all…
With Bandit now curled up beneath the blanket, Habib backed up and watched her for a moment till she completely settled. The Fallen now had a grim expression. He knew what he heard. Two heartbeats. Bringing up his hand he then racked his fingers back through his hair as the concern of what he knew was starting to get to him. If Raul were to find this out, there would be nothing to stop the Warlock from trying to find her. The trick, was to keep this under wraps – or find a place to take her that was well and truly out of Raul’s territories. But where? A child born from someone like Raul would naturally have magical powers, not to mention the fiery spirit of its mother. Habib did not have the clairvoyance to see into the future, he didn’t need to to know that the child whilst in the mother’s womb was going be in danger.The fair haired Bandit looked so peaceful in her slumber now. The horrors of the past few days must have been so taxing on her, that this need to sleep was all encompassing. Giving her their bed was the least that Habib could do.As he stood there, Amala crept in quietly with a tray that had on it a covered bowl of broth and sour dough bread. She stood quietly in the background, as though waiting for a word or maybe something to tell her what to do with it.
“Should we let her sleep?”
“Yes…put the tray down on the nearby stand and if need be we heat it up again later.”
Amala nodded silently, and padded over to the side board, where she placed down the tray with a light clatter of the cutlery against the plate. It was a small noise, but Amala still turned her head to see if it caused Bandit to stir. Thankfully, it did not. Amala pursed her lips together and made her way to Habib’s side. She knew not the reason that he had taken off without warning the many hours before, but now it was starting to hit her as to why.
“Why did you bring her here?” Amala asked, threading her arm through his as she went to walk him out of the room where they could talk freely. Habib went willingly, only to shut the door on the way out. When they were a good few paces away he stopped.
“It was not safe to take her anywhere else. Not in her condition.”
“Condition?” Perking a brow, Amala was now truly intrigued. “What…?”
“She is with child.” There….he admitted it. Amala fell back, her jaw dropping open in shock. “Pregnant? Who is the father?” It was only natural that the female fallen wanted to know. Her eyes searching her love’s and the look he gave her almost made her heart stop beating. “No….not him…anyone but him.” Amala wrapped her arms around herself and she looked so distraught. He had not been in their lives for centuries or so it seemed. He was able to manipulate many things thanks to that mirror of his. Habib could feel his love’s distress and he wrapped his arms around her tightly. His chin resting on the top of her head. “I had to bring her here. It’s safe…from him.”
Amala stared up at Habib with large eyes.
“Does she even know?’
“No…she doesn’t. I only felt it when I carried her away from the Maze of Greed. After the witch healed her. That is when I heard the two heart beats. The pregnancy must be in it’s infancy.” This would mean up to eight months of trying to protect her from Raul’s clutches. Habib continued to stroke his love’s hair, as he tried to think of what they could do to protect them both.
~RB~
A groan from the blonde figure on the bed near them. Bandit herself was lost in the theoretics of dreams, but were they really theoretics? Are yes, the thief did have a few tricks up her sleeve yet, even if she didn’t even know it. Amazing how escaping the river of hell could give someone powers…but perhaps that was what having such a strong soul to defy fate gave you. An “extra”, if you would
*
“What is it?” Bandit gazed at the sky above her, pointing at a reddish tinged star. There was a sound of a male next to her, a sort of “hmm,” pausing only as she looked at him. Him. Riley. “I’m pretty sure it’s a red dwarf. I’ve no idea how we can even see it, those things are really faded. Maybe it’s close, yeah?”
“By close, do you mean light-years away?”
“Yes. But close in relevance, you fucking smartass.” Bandit would grin at his response, making a noise of protest at his slight smack against her arm.
“What a bright light, though.. Wow..” Bandit would squint then, the light of it growing, beginning to hurt her eyes.. “Hey.. what the..?! Riley..?!” The blonde glanced over at the redhaired male, only to find that it was instead Raul’s face, a scream coming from her lips — the red had morphed into a streak, as though someone was attacking with red magicks, wings covering the sky behind the red streak – dark wings, of a fallen angel..!
Sudden, searing pain caused her to squeeze her eyes shut, a burning in her abdomen that spread to her navel and then lower – suddenly, a child crying, her hands wet over her chest.. The blonde opened her eyes, gazing at the screaming infant while she herself screamed..
The child suddenly went silent while Bandit screamed on, its eyes opening.. One was violet, the other amber, a sort of deep and mature look in its gaze, as if it understood.. And somehow she knew this was her child, sound ceasing from her lips as she would turn to face Raul next to her, his eyes suddenly determined.
He reached out for her child, taking it from her; in that instance, she wanted to bite him, to claw back for the child, but a feeling stopped her. Something told her this was not the thing to do. The warlock wrapped an arm under her abdomen then, pulling her against him and cradling the baby boy against his chest and looking down at it, then up to her.. “You did so well, my love..”
“Oh, Raul..”
“Bandit, I love you.. I love our son.. Our Grimm..”
Why was his voice so far away sounding..?
. . .
Bandit herself would do no more than roll over in her slumber, raising both arms to cover her head from view, unknowing that she had just witnessed the future..
Razorbackwriter:
Releasing Amala from his embrace, Habib cupped her cheeks and stared into those worried and sad eyes.“I promised you that he would never harm us again. I meant that.”
Habib did make such a promise, but in bringing Bandit here, he may have unknowingly put them into the line of fire.
“I hope your right….for all our sakes.”
Far below, on the winding dirt track that led up the mountain, there was a sleek black and silver wolf, that was running through the forest. It’s paws slamming into the earth and its labored breaths showed that it was determined to find it’s prey. Leaping over a fallen log, it’s bold strides and capability were beyond that of an ordinary wolf. The fact was, it was a warlock….in wolf’s clothing….
Leaping onto a large rock crevice, it howled long and loud. The moon was the only one to hear, but it was a warning.
Raul was coming.
~RB~
Once more, just like before, Zachary formed from darkness. Perks of being a Nephalem and having control over Darkness came to a point in which he had plenty of use for it, including extremely fast travel. Umbraportation, or teleportation with darkness, was near-instantaneous travel because it let him move at the speed of shadows, which was essentially the speed of light itself. Done by actually melting away into shadow, becoming a being of shadow itself. It was invaluable.Once Zachary had fully formed, his blue eyes almost immediately picked up on the energy signature of both Raul and Bandit, but the problem was they were in two different places. Wait, that wasn’t a problem. Zachary used his ability to both perceive and see the energy to lock onto Bandit, she was the more important, only to melt into shadow once more for a split second, reforming only feet away from the two fallen.Zachary went wide-eyed for a moment, backing up several steps before he shook his head and regained his composure. It was all that he could do. Hopefully Valmont and Nicholas would get there soon, before Raul, but if not then Zachary was going to have to handle this. Which is why he spoke in a diplomatic, and non-threatening tone to help avoid causing trouble.“Sorry for barging in like this, but I think you’ll be alarmed to know that you’ve a very dangerous visitor coming this way, and he won’t be long at all. And, to inform you, I’m sure you’ll know exactly who he is as he is most likely after the woman in that room…. or rather what lies within her. I am Zachary Knight, Chief Adviser of the Ambassador Vicomte de Valmont. I’m not here to cause trouble, but rather to prevent it.”
“I’m sure you’ll know exactly who he is as he is most likely after the woman in that room…. or rather what lies within her.Habib started to nod, as the blood seemed to drain away from his face. Inside the room where Bandit lay, Amala was now wringing her hands and pacing back and forth. She knew the danger of Raul even when he didn’t have a reason to be incensed. The fact that they were harboring Bandit – the mother of his unborn would make him release such powerful magic that it might be impossible to stop.
Bandit roused and was now using the edge of the bed for her support, so no one could come at her from behind. “What.. What’s going on…?” Amala went straight to Bandit’s side, and had a look that was one of panic. “You don’t know what is inside of you, do you?’ Nothing had been said to her directly, as they had not yet been given the chance. Her head whipped around when Zachary introduced himself as Zachary Knight, Chief Adviser of the Ambassador Vicomte de Valmont. He said he was there on a mission to protect, not to harm the expectant mother. If the Embassy knew, then those higher up in Hell knew. Oh this was bad. Habib could not hide it from Bandit any longer. Bringing Zachary in to see her, he had to tell her the truth.
“You carry the child of Raul the Black…..and he is coming for you both.”
Looking back at Zachary, he added. “We need to prepare. God knows what he is going to do, when he gets here.”
