Shadow of the Abyss

By dawn, only a sliver of the accumulated fatigue Altair had managed to collect had trickled away; the rest weighed heavy on his mind. It would take at least a week for his soul exhaustion to fade, longer if he continued to use his omniscience.

The halls were filled earlier than usual, with sounds of servants rising before their masters to prepare for the day. With the presence of the Duke Son, the Castillain, Stilar Kream, had given the order that the Young Master Nox De Nier was not to want from the moment he opened his eyes to the time he closed them. The order extended to the Young Masters, Pale Knights, who rode by his side.

It was Therion who had taken full advantage, bedding three serving maids, practically throwing themselves at him. Exploring his devilish nature for the first time, the lilting moans of serving girls resonated through the night into the dawn. He left the three, their bodies sprawled about the bed and floor, overrun with his seed, to tend to his Master.

A step too late, with Tasha already outside his room.

He glowered at the demoness.

Tasha met his stare with a knowing smile. "It would seem you haven't lost your fangs after becoming one of Master Shadow Demons." her hand knocked on the door, silently entering before Therion could reply. He hurried after her.

They found him on the window sill, watching the sunrise, though noticeably with a look of disgust.

"Shall I dress you, Master?" Tasha asked. "I—"

Altair gave her a look that turned her silent. She bowed her head, sensing something not quite right. Therion also noticed, lowering his head, taken aback by how frightened he was for some reason. He dared not look his Master in the eye.

It was perhaps the first time they'd ever seen him so visibly irritated.

"Therion, leave for a moment," Altair commanded. He continued after Therion had left, shutting the door behind him. "Show me the Red World."

Tasha looked up in surprise, not allowing herself a smile, though the indention of the dimple across the left side of her cheek betrayed her elation. She lifted her hand, and the blood-stained canvas that carried the scent of ash and death appeared from Draupnir.

Hoarfrost shadowed the room, carrying with it the silent wails of the dead.

Wordlessly, Altair left the sill to stand before the Red World, his ears filled with the wretched screams of the souls he'd trapped inside. The painting oozed resentment and hate so palpable that it was as if the Red World had been drowned in it.

It was a masterpiece. A work of a dystopian atelier painted in the blood of the dead. Each stroke was sharps consumed with Transcendent Intent, allowing one to view the painting like a tour through halls revealing the wretched souls he'd murdered and butchered and…

"Is it not beautiful, Master?" Tasha asked, her pupils writhing intensely in her eyes. The sensation of his lust still imprinted on her body, burning deep into her flesh, her loins ached. She felt dizzy, unsure if his touch would ever fade.

Absently, he said, 'Yes' in a loud whisper, the amethyst eyes of Nox De Nier shifting to a burning red and back to amethyst as he returned to himself.

Another knock at the door sounded, with Nia's voice sounding from outside, "Young Master, the Castillian is curious if you'll be joining us for breakfast." Find your next adventure on empire

Tahsa and Altair exchanged glances. Neither Nia nor any of his Pale Knights had ever addressed him as 'Young Master.' It was always 'Master' or 'Your Grace ' and 'Your Majesty,' but never 'Young Master.'

Returning the Red World to Draupnir, Tasha reached for the door. She smiled, took Nia into her arms before she could resist, and planted a wet kiss across her lips. Nia's cat-like expression turned red, turning redder by the second, overwhelmed by the throbbing heat invading her mind.

By the time Tasha had broken their kiss, Nia was on her knees, her jaw wet with unbridled saliva slipping down her chin. Her gaze was clouded by a fog that seemed to ensnare mortal minds.

Tasha licked her lips and said, "A Skinwalker! Though I guess you'd know them to be doppelgangers."

"What do you want?" Altair asked in a calm timbre

The Skinwalker's lips opened. "Your life… " she said absently, her mind askew by the lilms saliva. Few things in all the Myriad could defend against a Lilm, but a skinwalker was not one of them. 'There's a price on your head."

"Who set the bounty?" Tasha asked.

"... It… Came from the South… There was a transmission," she said, her fingers reaching into her loose robes, down to her…

Tasha stopped her with a smile when her tongue lulled out like a dog waiting to be pet. "Not yet. We're not done yet."

Altair stared at the Skinwalker. That would have been him if not for his lineage. It might have been worse since he'd bedded a Lilm, something few could say they had and survived to tell the tale. Realizing how ignorant or perhaps arrogant he was, he gave Tasha a hard look.

The Lilm blushed. "Does Master want the both of us? You know we Lilms have the same ability these Skinwalkers have…" She touched her face, and in the blink of an eye, her skin turned pale and grey, her eyes yellowish gold, as her bone structure began to break and crack into the perfect replica of Nia. "What do you think? Care to try out your Shadows—"

"What the fuck is all this?" Nia's icy voice rang out as she stared at the two copies of herself outside her Master's room. One was on her knees, her mouth ajar with saliva, and the other was curling an arm around him in a way that suggested they'd slept together. She blinked, her knuckles popping one after the other.

Tasha's lips perked up. "What do you think, Master? Think you can handle two of us?"

The bulge across his trousers betrayed his expressionless face. Nia ignored it. Ignored everything, even her sire, stomping closer. She was so angry.

"How dare you!"

The slap had not been something he had expected, but it woke him from his trance. Tasha covered her mouth, and Altair touched his cheek. The slap hadn't hurt, not physically at least, but it stunned him nonetheless.

Tasha's throat made a surprising sound, looking from Altair to Nia, back to Altair, her body reshaping back to her original appearance.

"H-H-How could you!" There were tears in her eyes, tears streaming down her cheeks, hot like fire. "It wasn't enough for you to kill me in cold blood, but you… You… You even…" she couldn't continue as she raised her hand again. Tasha caught it, pushing her back into the wall.

She had been about to correct her, but Altair stopped her, "Take the Skinwalker to the Castillan; find out everything you can from her."

With a bow, Tasha dragged the Skinwalker away.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

"Is that what you do?" Nia snarled. "Have your Lilm look just like me and fuck her! Do you even know how humiliating that is?! How—

'Enough," Altair said with a growing headache. His voice was loud and commanding enough for him to receive some odd stares from the passing maids. "Come inside; let me explain what happened."

Nia shook her head. "No!"

Ignoring her defiance of his command and his sire, Altair jerked her inside, tossing her on his untouched bed. She kicked up and screamed, landing a few punches that made him wonder what he did to deserve such a fate.

'Woman, if you don't calm the fuck down, I swear I'll strip you down to your bottom and spank you!"

That seemed to get Nia to sit still, her face reddening with anger. She shook. "You wouldn't dare!"

"Try me. Sit your ass down!"

Reluctantly, Nia sat down on the bed when she noticed that his bed was oddly straight, wrinkled only by her antics. Even the scent of the room seemed empty, as if it hadn't seen a living person for years.

Altair sighed, slowly explaining the situation to her, ending with,' I wouldn't disrespect you like that. Tasha was only being Tasha, showing me one of her skills. You just happened to come at a bad time."

Nia was inclined to believe him, especially since she hadn't known him to be a liar. Still…"You expect me to believe that?"

"I expect you to act with decorum. If you were anyone else, I would have killed you. You understand that, right? I've little reason to lie to you. Whether you believe me or not isn't my problem. Attack me like that again, and there will be consequences.

Now get out. I'm not in the mood to deal with whatever this is."

Rising to her feet, she stared; he looked even worse than he did yesterday. The bags under his eyes seemed lighter, but there was a heaviness to them that wasn't there yesterday. Something had happened, she knew, something he wasn't telling her about. And now, he never might.

"I…" she opened her mouth to speak, but Altair waved her off, returning to the window sill. He closed his eyes, breathing the words.

"Just go…"