Mahtan awoke to the sound of faint breathing from across the room, a sound which would have normally startled him in a place so close to Veiron.This morning was different, however, as his pointed ears could tell it wasn't an intruder, but Susanna. With a small groan and a swing of his legs, Mahtan brought himself up into a sitting position, his eyes fixed on the bundle that was deathly still. It looked like Susanna had bunched up all of her available blankets into some sort of igloo, and was sleeping nicely underneath their warmth.Mahtan didn't remember much of last night, and had nearly forgotten about it due to Lilith's silence. She hadn't penetrated his mind since it happened, and remained as quiet as Susanna had after the fact.The Elves green eyes ventured from Susanna's sleeping form to the door, where a small dressed had been wedged firmly in order to keep it from opening, and saw his weapons laid out neatly across it's surface. His bow was unstrung, fitted with a new string, and there were plenty more arrows stuffed inside the quiver. Not to mention the fact that his blades were also unsheathed, and appeared to be cleaned.
Despite the impeccable of his weapons, the room on the other hand was filthy. Books and quills were strewn across the wooden floor, dust covered every piece of furniture, and there was a black substance all across Mahtan's sheets. Upon looking down at the source, Mahtan noticed his armor was ripped open, revealing a wide scar extending from the center of his stomach, to his hip bone. The scar itself was a dark color, and resembled a serpent gliding across water, the slaloming form extending farther than Mahtan would have liked. Suddenly there was a small noise from across the room which caused Mahtan's concentration to snap, and his head swiveled away from his scar, and towards Susanna. Most of her blanket fortress had been removed, and she was now sitting up, hair a mess and eyes barely open. Mahtan's eyes narrowed as he stood and silently went to retrieve his weapons, not taking his eyes off of Susanna. She simply rubbed her eyes and yawned, then returned the stare with even more coldness than Mahtan could produce.
Once his weapons were back in their normal places, Mahtan cleared his throat and asked; "Susanna...did you clean these for me? Furthermore, why is the door barred?" with as nice a tone as he could manage, not wanting to express the fact that he was not used to people touching anything of his, especially his weapons that were his only real possessions. He watched Susanna's eyes finally open all the way after a furious bout of rubbing, and her tired voice filled the small room; "Yes, it's not good for the blade to be soiled, it can lead to rust or dulling of the blade."
"I barred the door in case anyone came looking for vengeance because of that tantrum you threw. I wiped as many memories as I could but I can't be sure I got everyone."
Mahtan simply smiled and brought himself over to Susanna's bed, where he took a seat as close to the edge as was possible on the tiny resting place. The smell of pine needles and ocean water followed him closely as he moved, and it engulfed Susanna once he stopped to sit, he could tell by the way her nostrils slightly flared at the smell. It was the natural smell of Elves, and Mahtan knew it was comforting for the Humans, which is why he was using it to ask what he had been planning ever since the two had arrived at Veiron. "Susanna.." he started out slowly, trying to keep the good mood between them; "We need to go to the Veiron Keep, I feel something there calling me, and I'm sure Lilith does too. I haven't heard her speak since last night, but I'm sure she wants to be there as well. I need to learn to control the powers I have, I don't want to risk harming more innocent people, or even yourself. I don't know what I would do without you and Lilith guiding me and keeping me in line."
He watched as Susanna's eyes grew wider, then eventually closed as she nodded in agreement to Mahtan's proposal. Mahtan felt the urge to hug the Human, but stopped himself and rose to his feet, not wanting to deal with such things at the moment. As he turned to walk for the door to allow Susanna some time to wake up, he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head, and his emotions were overrun with hate and anger. He knew it was Lilith, but he couldn't do anything about it. As if to announce herself further, Lilith's smooth voice filled his ears; 'Mahtan, for a Prince you're acting quite weak. Flirting with the human girl? Susanna? She is definitely not worthy, she's just a host for my being until I can find a proper one. She cannot possibly understand how much this world needs you. The only reason she's alive is because she's easy to manipulate, now, you will act as if nothing happened and will continue on. I will not warn you about this again, my Prince.', then was gone as soon as she came. Mahtan picked himself up from one knee and turned to Susanna, who was already dressed and out of bed, staring at him intently. She opened her mouth to ask what had happened, but Mahtan stopped her with a wave of his hand; "It's nothing. My wound isn't fully healed...thank you for treating it. Just next time, do a better job so I can move correctly."
With a sharp movement of his arm, Mahtan was out the door within seconds, flying down the stairs and out onto the street. The humans were already fixing the mess he caused, and he grinned internally, knowing that it wouldn't do them any good. He would be back very soon to finish what Lilith had started, he would not let these pitiful human creatures get in his way. He was made to be the Prince of Darkness, not the Prince of a frozen kingdom that had no appreciation for the kill. A noise behind him signified that Susanna was now out of the Inn as well, and Mahtan strode off at a fast pace, his long legs carrying him towards Veiron's gates with incredible speed. As he crossed the portcullis, he could feel that he was home. He heard Susanna struggling to keep up behind him, but it didn't phase him a single bit. Lilith was what he needed, not some useless human girl that was merely a Host. No, he needed someone that had power to match their beauty, someone who was his own race, someone that would make him Prince of the World underneath the King himself, Lucifer.
The distance between Mahtan and Susanna grew until the woman was nearly two buildings away from the Elf, and that is when it happened. Before Mahtan stood the Keep, which is where he needed to be, but as he was taking in the sight he felt an immense wave of pain wash down his arm. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion, the crude, barbaric arrow sticking out from his shoulder, black blood dripping from where it had pierced, large Orcs sprinting out from the nearby houses, weapons raised. It was the moment of truth, Mahtan knew what he had to do. As the first Orc rushed him, his axe was already in hand, and he slammed it into the Orc's face. The large beast roared in pain but didn't fall immediately, which is when Mahtan kicked the Orc's neck so hard that it's head was torn from it's shoulders. He could feel the power building up inside him, and the blood pumping through his veins demanded more slaughter. From his wounded side, a much smaller Orc had drawn it's bow once more, and was about to release when it suddenly clutched at it's throat and began coughing out black liquid. The liquid was muddy in texture, and seemed to come from deep within the creature's stomach. Mahtan's arm was thrust out in it's direction, his once fair skin adopting a burned color that extended from the left side of his face, all the way down to his finger tips. It seemed to cause him a great deal of pain, but the Orc archer eventually choked on it's own stomach bile and fell to the ground in a crumpled heap. Mahtan doubled over after this display and his vision was blurred to a point where he almost couldn't see. His ears perked up as the ground shook from still another Orc charging the Elf, and Mahtan flipped backwards just as a large axe imbedded itself in the ground where he once was. While the Orc was working to remove it from the tough soil, Mahtan ran up it's arm and onto it's back, his vision returning slowly but not enough for him to see clearly yet. The large beast roared in anger and attempted to swat the Elf Prince off, but to no avail. It's cries stopped as Mahtan furiously bashed in it's skull with the head of his axe, which took him nearly a dozen swings.
As the Orc's body crashed to the ground, Mahtan hopped off and landed square on his chest, arms and legs spread out in an exhausted manner. His vision was becoming clearer, and the pale color was returning to his skin, but there were still more Orcs left. Susanna was nearly there, and Mahtan didn't want to risk her getting into trouble. Once more Mahtan brought himself to his feet and sheathed his weapons, Lilith's voice was inside his head, guiding him on what to do next. With hands balled into tight fists, Mahtan roared at the top of his lungs as the blackness consumed both of his arms and caused his vision to go completely blind. He heard the Orcs barreling towards them, and braced himself against their attacks. They both slammed into him at the same time, but Mahtan didn't budge. His boots dug deep into the ground and he felt his legs beginning to give out as the Orcs continued to smother his figure between their own hulking bodies. That's when Mahtan opened his hands and let the darkness go. His skin and eyes returned to their normal color, and the Orcs were sent flying into pieces away from the Elf. Too weak to move, Mahtan stayed doubled over on his hands and knees, letting a yell escape his throat once more as he rejoiced at his display of power. Surely he was the Prince of Darkness, surely the King and Lilith both needed him as much as he needed them. Mahtan heard Lilith's voice in his head as he panted violently, trying to catch some air in his lungs. "Mahtan...that was great. You are definitely good at following directions, however I told you not to build up so much power. You'll kill yourself if you continue down this path. You need a mentor, Mahtan, someone to show you how to control these powers. You need someone that can physically show you what you need to do. I know I cannot do this myself, but I know someone that can. Come, child, let Susanna help you, take her to the Keep. You will find no more enemies beyond it's doors."
As if she knew what had happened, Susanna was at Mahtan's side, her soft hands grabbing his face and pulling him onto his back, where she drew power from Lilith once more in order to repair his damaged body. Though there was no visible damage, Mahtan felt as if his organs were on fire, but he could not voice it. In fact, he couldn't move anything, was this because of Susanna's healing powers? Or was he just that exhausted? He did not know the answer, but he should have been more careful. His emerald eyes stared up at Susanna as she worked him over, hands pressing firmly against the areas that Lilith commanded her to touch. Mahtan could feel his insides being repaired, one at a time. Susanna's face had turned bright red as the power drew from her strength, and her breathing soon became labored as Mahtan's breath returned to him.
By the time Mahtan was fully healed, Susanna was bordering on exhausted. Lilith had retreated from his mind, and Mahtan crawled over to Susanna who was now sitting on the steps leading to the Keep's giant double doors. After fumbling around inside his pack, Mahtan grabbed Susanna's hands gently and dropped some Elven bread into her palms; "Eat, Susanna. It will restore your strength. Do not eat too much, as Humans are not meant to digest our food..."
After Susanna started chewing on corners of the bread, Mahtan wrapped an arm around her and squeezed as a thank you for repairing his insides, and then turned to face the Keep of Veiron. It was a giant white building, with silver, bronze, and gold pieces lining the windows, doors, and whatever else needed to be added. The doors themselves were a dark cherry color, and stood higher than Mahtan by at least 10 feet. The Keep's white walls were perfectly clean, which was odd despite the attack that had been launched so many years ago. Mahtan turned back to Susanna, raising an eyebrow at the fact that she had finished the entire piece of bread. In reality, Mahtan was looking at Lilith, and he felt her consciousness push him towards the doors. "Go, child, and take Susanna with you. She needs your protection just as much as you need her powers."