The Aurian Chronicles Chapter 13: Bloody Void Brawl

Blood Angel whistled a happy tune as he searched the various rooms of the auditorium. "You can't hide forever, Void Walker! " he called out happily as a bullet shot one of his wings. "Wasn't trying to, " a voice in the hallway replied as the lights went out. Blood Angel sighed happily. "Now THERE's the hunter in his prime element!" He replied ecstatically.

"You hurt my sister." Said Darkness as a bullet flew by Blood Angel's cheek, causing him to lick it gently. "I need to top off my fuel... such a beautiful creature she was! HOW was she never an actress?! A scream like that? She'd be an ANGEL on the set of a horror film!" He said as he advanced toward the gunfire. "But I suppose that's for later... you're going to have to do better than those peashooters if you want to do lasting damage here, Darkness."

"Good point" replied Darkness as a void tendril looped around Blood Angel's left leg and pulled to trip him, slamming his face hard on the marble floor. Blood Angel wiped blood from his nose and grunted. "You've recovered enough for this? GOOD!" He said as he turned his own wings into blood tendrils... "If you can't beat them, BLEED them" he said as he detected the remnants of Darkness's stab wound and charged.

"You found me." Darkness said as he appeared, slashed his back with a scythe, and stepped back. Blood Angel flinched and screamed out at the deep cut. "You use blood for your attacks... Which is a very good starting tool, but both you and your opponents only have so much, so if you can't use MINE, you can only use YOURS! I hid Lyte, and you won't be getting any more of mine." He explained while admiring his scythe.

Blood Angel chuckled, "Impressive! But until one of us drops, this Battle scene isn't over... Pat yourself on the back if you live to see the end credits!" He said as he slashed at Darkness. Darkness phased through the tendrils and slashed him again, but Blood Angel instantly used the spilled blood to stab Darkness. Both of them were now bleeding intensely. Darkness panted as he wiped his spilt blood away. Blood Angel gasping raggedly and doing the same.

"It seems we both are at an impasse..." Said Blood Angel. Darkness nodded. "Indeed. I've got enough strength for one more attack, and you've only got enough strength for one more volley of blood.... who's walking away?" He responded. Both men glared at each other as Blood Angel charged up. "On three?" he asked with a grin. to which Darkness nodded.

Both men took their final stance and narrowed their eyes. "One.... Two... THREE!" They yelled. As Blood Angel caused blood spikes to rise up, while Darkness phased through the radius. He pulled out a Colt 1911 and shot him in the chest. and watched Blood Angel collapse. "Ugh... has my aura control been that bad?" he said as he limped to get Lyte.

"Not bad... Though we'll need to get your Aura more developed," Said the Composer as he appeared again. Darkness just nodded. "I don't suppose there is any way you could heal us back to normal, is there?" asked Darkness, to which the Composer laughed. "That isn't how this works, Derek... I CAN let you use some of my aura... it'll allow you to heal both you and Lisa physically... but you'll be tired afterward." He offered, to which Darkness just nodded. "Do it.." he said firmly.

The Composer channeled his aura through Darkness, who healed Lyte before healing himself. Instead of it being instantaneous like he thought, it merely closed their wounds. "Good enough for now... let's get you home before I pass out." Said Darkness as he took Lyte to his car. "Lisa... My little sister... I'm so sorry I got you involved in all of them." He said while loading her into the car. "I didn't want to have to tell her this part... but I'm left out of options." He admitted as he drove off, doing his best to fight the fatigue.

As they left. A Pink-skinned demonic woman with flowing red hair blushed as she cupped her chin while adjusting her red dress. "What's this?! I thought I had a sure thing for a Knight in Blood Angel.... but now we have another? That hatred... that delicious... DARKNESS! He's so perfect!" She said as she stepped out of her black high heels and walked barefoot into the puddle of blood. "As for you, Vincent Verikoff... Despite your loss, you've passed MY trial... Come, we have much to discuss." She said as she healed his wounds while she and Blood Angel's still unconscious body disappeared in a flash of black and red fire. spelling 'KAYLA' as they vanished.

The Aurian Chronicles chapter 12: There's a blood moon on the rise

 Lyte let out a soft sigh of exhaustion as she got into her regular white Tank top and white pants when the last car left the parking lot of her concert. She was a bit regretful that she told Silver and Darkness it was best if they just picked her up after the concert ended, but the processing of the past few days had been a bit too much for her.

As she left her room to wait for Darkness, A tall skinny man in a white Tuxedo with a red dress shirt bowed at her. "Ahhhh you must be the beautiful DJ... Lyte...Stryke... BEAUTIFUL show tonight! Derek would be proud of you!" He said with a grin, showing every single one of his shining white teeth.

Lyte felt goosebumps as he lifted her hand and kissed it like a gentleman. "Oh, thanks! Are you a friend of my brother Derek's?" She asked politely, though he was giving her an icky feeling, One that started to increase tenfold when he let out an echoing shrill laugh. "A Friend? Why young lady, I am a HUGE fan of the Void Walker Darkness!"  He said while he formed a lock of hair from a blood vial where the shaved part of his head was "What say we entertain ourselves while we wait for him?

Lyte narrowed her eyes as she formed a shining rainbow ball "I don't know who you are but you better step off right now man!" She said as he advanced on her, causing her to throw it at him, but he sidestepped and pulled her in tight, locking his fingers with hers... "Shall we dance my dear?" he asked while forming a blade of blood at the ends of his tongue while licking down her neck, leaving a deep scratch down the side of it, causing her to scream.

An hour later, Darkness Pulled his Car into the closest parking spot he could, walking in through the main entrance. "LISA?! I'M HERE!" He yelled out as he looked around. Darkness didn't like how most of the lights were already off, he usually helped her lock up the place if she was coming home.

"Lisa?" He asked as he stepped up the center stage. A spotlight shined down on him as a soft violin played. "Ahhhh Darkness! We FINALLY meet at long last!" Called out the man in the white tuxedo as he stepped into the light. Darkness narrowed his eyes as he saw the lock of blood he used for his hair. "I know that power... You must be the Blood Angel." He Said spitefully with gritted teeth.

Blood Angel covered his mouth and smiled gleefully. "YOU'VE HEARD OF ME! I'm so delighted! I Had always wished to talk about the joys of our job over a glass of wine... Unfortunately, Mr. Farley has tasked me to the vengeance of his little pig spawn! A tragedy of the highest calibre! Fortunately, your lovely little sister provided me with such... BEAUTIFUL entertainment!" He said with near orgasmic bliss.

Darkness' eyes narrowed as he quickly pulled out his Dual Colt 1911s and fired them at Blood Angel, who formed wings of blood and shielded himself while walking to Darkness. "Allow me to introduce myself properly! My name is Vincent Verikoff! I am a master of blood manipulation, I can even coagulate it to a form harder than metal! And today Derek Sonata, I Wish for a taste of yours!" He said as he charged Darkness with a knife.

Darkness quickly turned full void and stepped through the attack, but Vincent simply kept the knife in his body until he reformed, causing it to pierce through the skin of his shoulder. Darkness let out a scream of pain as Vincent called some of the blood to him. "Mmmm, so the rumors are true! You have the about to form Black forms of void on yourself, you can even become void to pass through solid objects... but you can only do so for so long, and if the matter you pass through is harder than yourself? Well.. Accidents happen!" He said with amusement.

Darkness grunted and used the hot barrel of his handguns to Cauterize his wound before fading into the surrounding Darkness. Vincent let out a loud laugh as he closed his eyes! "YES! THIS is the ultimate game! Hide and seek! FOR KEEPS!" He said while slowly looking around.

Darkness held his breath and moved in the shadows as he slowly lurked the halls. 'First things first, gotta find Lisa, then get her the hell out of here." He said while scanning the room. As he looked down, he saw a trail of red along the ground. he followed it carefully to Lisa's room where he saw Lyte with small cuts along her body. "Lisa!" He said as he lifted her. "Big brother... Help me..." She whimpered before she slowly passed out in his arms.

Darkness began to grit his teeth as void began to radiate off him. "Calm down you idiot! He's going to sense you!" Said a voice. Darkness looked around, who said that?!" He demanded. "Up here!" The voice yelled back. Darkness looked up and saw a young man in a brown suit and black tie, his face seemed hidden in a combination of shadows and his messy long black hair.

Darkness looked at him. "Who are you?!" He hissed softly. The man just shook his head. "I believe your mother referred to me as... The composer... We don't have time for that now, You're going to have to fight this man with aura... your popping toys aren't going to cut it here!" He warned. Darkness just fake laughed. "Non-violence my ass! If you were the Composer, you wouldn't be telling me to fight, Aura's my-"

"AURA IS YOUR ONLY WAY OUT OF HERE ALIVE! What was that you told Lisa earlier? It was your shield? Don't be a hypocrite or smartass with ME, boy! I'm not thrilled about this either, but if it's the only way to keep my most worthy heir alive, so be it!" Said the Composer as he lowered to the floor glaring at Darkness like a stern parent.

Darkness' eyebrows raised. "Lisa's your most worthy heir?! I'm so proud of her!" He said gleefully, causing the Composer to facepalm. "No genius, if it were her, SHE'D be the one talking to me... and god how I wish it was her! She is actually open with her musical talents! YOU gave them up and hid behind the bottle for god knows how long now! Now stand up! We'll talk about all this later!" He said with frustration in his voice.

The Composer reached into Darkness's coat pocket and pulled out a box containing a conductor's baton. "My most precious artifact... of all the things you've been through in life, you've kept this safe... Thank you, Derek." He said as he handed it to Darkness. Darkness admired it and stood up. "Why do I need this now?" he asked.

The Composer smirked and put a hand on his shoulder. "Focus your Aura, And unleash its power!" He instructed confidentially. Darkness nodded and focused his void through the Baton, causing it to grow in size. The baton turned into a black staff with a Dark purple scythe blade coming through the top. "Woah..." He said as his void tendrils erupted from it.

"A Scythe... Your professionalism, combined with your Dark demeanour... formed the Baton into a weapon most fitting for you... Nice... Unfortunately, combat is not my forte... And Time is running out, so you're going to have to go with the flow on this one... good luck my young heir." Said the composer softly, slowly disappearing in blue flames.

"Good luck? What are you going to-" He said as he looked up to see the Composer was no longer there. "Wherever you are... WHATEVER you are... Thank you... let's go get that freaky asshole." He said as he tucked Lyte into her bed and closed the door, ready to take the fight to the Blood Angel.

Aurian Chronicles Origins: Crimson

The harsh sun beat down upon the hot and humid rainforest of the Amazon as a soft breeze flowed through the trees. A five-foot-tall panther with red hair lowered her eyes as she walked to her hut. Her hands and feet had been caked in dirt, and her eyes had dark circles from lack of sleep, as well as dried tears. 'Why weren't you strong enough? Why didn't you love us enough mommy?' Echoed the thoughts in her head as she curled up and tried to put the past solstice behind her.

As her eyes finally started to close, two tall women with spears in hand walked into her home and leered down at her. "Princess Crimson! Your Sister, Queen Rose demands audience with you!" They said in unison. Crimson just laid in her makeshift bed. "I'm tired. I'll consult her during my time, not HERS!" She responded while casually waving them off. As she turned to face away from them, a seven-foot, Muscular Panther wearing a red crown with decorative jewels walked in.

"SISTER! You're back! You missed my Coronation! You missed mother leaving!" She said with distress in her voice. Crimson just grumbled. "Rose, I had more important things than you to deal with, now kindly leave my home before I get angry." She responded. The guards raised their spears angrily, but Rose simply stopped them. "Like it or not, older sister, I was chosen over you to be queen. And frankly... If THIS is how you act in your free time, the tribe is better off for it!" She said with heat in her voice, causing Crimson to sit up.

Crimson narrowed her eyes at Rose and blew a puff of hot air from her nose. "All those muscles, that HUGE frame... and you don't know the first thing about leadership! I shudder to think what you'll do if the other tribes get hostile... I could have led better, I know how to guide this tribe better! But I've more important things on my mind than your ego... Now leave me be!" She said angrily. Rose's eyes widened in both Shock and hurt. "Fine... when your attitude improves... you know where my throne is!" She said as she left with her guards. 

As the weeks passed, Crimon's attitude had only soured. No one wanted to talk to her due to her confrontation with the Queen, as well as her constant lashing out, which had made her disliked by virtually everyone. Crimson hadn't really noticed any of the resentment she'd built up, however. The voices and nightmares she'd begun to have were the only things on her mind.

One fateful day after a hunt, Crimson's pupils dilated as the thought of being pulled under a lake of blood by little panther paws flashed through her mind, causing her to accidentally swipe at a panther. "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" Screamed the panther as she felt scratch marks on her back. Crimson tried to apologize and run. But she found herself surrounded by other Panthers before finally her younger sister. 

"I put up with you lashing out at me for no reason, Crimson, you were always a stoic grump... But attacking innocent people is too far, even for YOU!" Said Rose. Crimson's eyes lowered tiredly before turning into a glare. "It was an accident, just a little too much fury after a hunt." She said as she tried to walk away. but the guards tried to stop her, causing her to slash at them. her claws heating up with small red flames.

Rose glared at Crimson, "And how about THAT?! Was that also an accident?" She demanded. Crimson sneered at her. "No, that was two guards who didn't know their place getting in my way... I suggest you learn from their mistake before it's too late, Rose." She said coldly. Rose tried to swallow her fear as she towered over Crimson.

"You know what Crimson? No one here likes you... We all tolerated you for the longest... I don't know what's come over you since last solstice, but it stops now or you WILL face consequences... so sayeth Queen Rose!" She said, trying to show off her dominance. Crimson stood up straight as her teeth showed. Despite the two-foot height advantage Rose had on Crimson, Rose felt like she was shrinking down to Crimson's eye level.  "You want to hold that Queen title over me? FINE! I'll show you what it's like to have everything taken from YOU! Then they'll be proud of me!" She said as she walked away. as she left, Rose could only ask, "Who?" To the absent presence of her sister.

The Next day, Crimson eagerly jumped down into a ten-foot Pit that the panthers of the tribe often fought in to settle disputes. Rose nervously got down and adjusted her top made of leaves. In spite of her Amazing natural strength, she wasn't used to fighting, much less with one of the most savage members of the entire tribe. She tried to find the right words to stop this while Crimson stretched out her arms and legs. Only for her mind to go blank when one of the spectators yelled. "FIGHT!"

Crimson charged forward and lept up to knee Rose in the face, following up with a few slashes to mark her face. Rose fell back and rubbed the slash marks as she saw Crimson charging again. Out of instinct. Rose grabbed her and threw her into the wall of the pit. Crimson coughed and nodded in approval. "Not bad little sister, seems there's some survival instinct in you yet!" She said as she got up and charged her again, this time throwing dirt in her eyes and punching repeatedly into her jaw.

Rose did her best to block all of Crimson's jabs, but her inexperience made Crimson simply too fast to fully hold up against. "Sister... why are you doing this?" She asked weakly. Crimson growled. "What do you care?!  you have EVERYTHING You could possibly need? You brought this on yourself by getting in my way!" She said with a growl. Rose just looked up at her. "I Just... Wanted to see my sister." She said through shallow breaths.

Crimson spat beside her and leered. "While You were getting a crown, I was bearing children, while you were admiring servants, I was admiring graves of my dead children, while you were looking down on me physically, I WAS LOOKING DOWN ON YOU AS A LEADER!" She yelled in her face, Tears again starting to flow from her angry eyes.

Rose's own eyes raised as they looked into hers. "You got pregnant? And you... Lost your cubs? Why did you never talk to me? Or any of the rest of the tribe for that matter?" She asked. Crimson sneered. "You think I care what you or any of those fools have to say to me? None of you care! You all only ever think of your weakling selves!" She shouted, forgetting everyone was watching.

Eventually the crowd of panthers began to insult and throw rocks at Crimson, one of them bonking the back of her head painfully. "WHO THREW THAT?! SHOW YOURSELF CRETIN! I'LL GLADLY TAKE ON ANYONE WHO CHALLENGES ME!" Screamed Crimson. Rose quickly grabbed a big rock near her while Crimson's head was turned. "Then you'll love this!" She said as she slammed it into the back of Crimson's head, knocking her out cold.

Hours had passed. And Crimson had woken up to find herself now covered in dirt and forced to look up at Rose. Who was wearing a Royal purple silk dress with her crown on her head. Any love for Crimson she once had, no longer showed in her eyes. Crimson just got up and sighed. "Whatever... enjoy yourself LITTLE sister." She said as she turned to leave. Rose cleared her throat as she watched Crimson walk. "There is still the discussion of your punishment, Crimson." She said harshly, but Crimson waved her off. "I already know it's exile, I didn't wake up in prison, and I wouldn't have woken up at all if it were death." She retorted before she left both the throne room, and the village entirely.

Rose sighed sadly as she sat back on her throne. One of the guards leaned down to her. "My Queen, are you sure it's wise to let her leave like that? What if she comes back with twice the resolve?" She asked. Rose grunted and rubbed the spots where Crimson attacked. "I don't think that's the case... I don't know if I'll ever forgive what she's done... But whether she can accept her wrongdoing or not? That'll be a journey she'll have to go on solo... For now, I think it's best if we simply have nothing to do with each other." She said firmly.

Crimson's mind was a blank slate as she walked for hours until she had arrived on the other side of a stream. There were plenty of hunting and gathering spots. and it was otherwise nice and quite. After some rest, she started building a new shelter and looked back in the direction of her old home. "I have nothing to go back to... that's fine... I never needed anybody anyway... They'll see." She said simply, trying to convince herself that she made all the right choices.

The Aurian Chronicles Chapter 11: Losing your vigilance

 Amanda smiled softly in her office, her shoes off in a Tan T-shirt and blue jeans, and she hummed and filled out paperwork. Due to it being her half day, she saw no need to get in uniform. A knock on the door, followed by her door opening. Dominic Matthews walked in with a hard look on his face. "Oh good, Officer Matthews, to what do I owe this Pleasure?" She asked as she raised a friendly eyebrow at him.

Dominic just swallowed carefully and sat in a chair in front of her desk "...You've been acting strange ever since that Dinner date with Antonio Capryse. Everything alright Ma'am?" He asked. Amanda just laughed and waved her hand. "It's all been fine, Dominic, we had some dinner, his daughter made some excellent food, and-"

"-And Zach Farley, the father of the murdered Albert Farley, left his home beforehand." Said Dominic, causing Amanda to freeze. "Yeah ya think I missed that? Mr. Capryse invested in restoring the bar that got shot up, Zach Farley goes in there to accuse Mr. Capryse, and you reported NONE of this? This was clearly someone killing someone, Albert may have been the exact opposite of a saint, but it's our job to take whoever did it into custody... I thought you were a professional, Ma'am," He stated with a leer.

Amanda took time to slide back into her shoes as her eyes darted around the room while she thought hard. "Officer Matthews... HOW did you find that out?" She asked slowly. Dominic rolled his eyes. "Officer Martinez issued Mr. Farley a ticket that afternoon, at least SOMEONE was doing their job, Am I right?"

"Watch it Matthews, I don't know where you got this kind of sassy attitude towards a superior Officer, but the only thing it'll get you is a trip to desk work for the rest of your career!" Warned Amanda as she stood up. Dominic grunted and shook his head in disbelief as he pulled out a thumb drive and put it into her personal laptop. "Just watch this..." He said as he clicked a video.

Mr. Farley was casually admiring a red briefcase on his Gawdy yet shiny golden desk as three police officers barged into his room. The one in the middle was a Young, tall, and lean man with short black hair and a thin mustache. On his left was a rookie who was an African American man with shaved hair, and was very muscular. The man to right was the Same height but with a pot belly, and a thick mustache with sunglasses. "Mr. Farley, you are under arrest for Conspiracy, Larceny, and-" Said a man that Amanda had recognized as the Lieutenant she had been assigned to replace, Francis Tibideaux. Mr. Farley casually pulled out a Silver Cigarette lighter with a dollar sign engraved on it and lit a Cuban cigar. "I'm afraid I'm a busy man. Boys, if you'd be so kind?" He asked as the two police officers shot him in the back of the head.

Dom shut the recording off. "That's the kind of man who is angry with Mr. Capryse... we tried using this as evidence to put him away.. But Mr. Farley is too deeply entrenched in New York politics... I just want you to be more careful, or you'll end up like Francis," He told Amanda as his piercing Blue eyes looked into her shocked brown ones.

"... What of the two officers?" She asked. "Officers Smith and Jones were found with suicide notes and their guns pointed at each other's heads a month later. It was ruled as a suicide pact... If you want to believe that, you're free to, but I don't! But my point is that if Mr. Capryse can scare away a guy like THAT, what's he hiding?" He asked.

Amanda huffed. "Obviously Mr. Capryse isn't the type to be intimidated by criminal scum like this Farley guy... But you might be right... I have a dinner date with him and his wife coming, if you give me the files on Farley as we know it, I'll try to ask him some questions," She said as she nodded firmly. "And You're off the hook for Shop with a cop duty!" She added for good measure.

"Fine, I'll get you everything I can... and if it's another outing, PLEASE get something better than that purple dress you wore to our last office party." She added. "Watch it or you'll get put back on that detail, Officer Matthews." She said as she puffed her cheeks out and crossed her arms. He just chuckled and went to get lunch and the Farley files.

Amanda relaxed and popped her toes with a tense curl while looking at a picture of Mr. Capryse on her phone. "Mysterious, easy on the eyes... delightfully charming... Why does he have to be married?" She asked with a sad sigh. "Though if it were an open marriage, I wouldn't say no, Saryn is cute too.... Wait, WHAT THE HELL AM I SAYING?!" She asked as she slammed her fist on the desk. "I am letting my head get clouded... I can't get distracted, I have a job to do Damn it!" She said as she put her hair into a bun. "And I do it well!"

And with that statement, Amanda got on her computer, starting her own file on Zach Farley, and any connections he might have with Tony Capryse. Though as she typed, she found herself daydreaming about helping Mr. Capryse and a shared intimate moment between the two of them.