The Remains of Dawn

Chapter Thirteen

Both of them collapsed on the bed, sweaty and out of breath. Tassian wrapped his arm around her and pulled her onto his chest. He placed a kiss against her forehead as he ran his fingers along her lower back. "That was amazing," he breathed out. 

Oriel chuckled as she placed her hand on his stomach running her fingers along with his muscles. "Yes, it was." 

Tassian placed another kiss on her forehead. "If we're going to start traveling at night again, we better get some sleep now."

Oriel nodded in agreement and sat up quickly when he began to move off of the bed. "You're not leaving are you?"

Tassian gave her a look before shaking his head. "No, Eagle, I'm not leaving." he reached down and grabbed the blanket that had fallen off the bed. He laid back down next to her and covered both of them up with the blanket. "Now sleep, Eagle."

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Dyso's limp had gone away by the time he reached his destination. He still held his side and winced in pain as he looked up at the dark house in front of him. Dead trees surrounded the tall, black house. He could have sworn that it was starting to lean to one side. Ravens sat on almost every branch of the dead trees, looking down at him. He brought up the hand not holding his side and waved at them. He knew the owner of the house was observing his every move through their eyes. 

He continued up the broken stoned pathway. Dead plants and weeds lined the edged of the pathway. The black building seemed to loom over him as he got closer to the stairs leading up the door. The stairs creaked with every step he took. A large black raven was etched in the wood of the door, signaling the loyalty the owner gave to. 

He brought his hand up and knocked on the door. He waited a couple of minutes before the door opened, revealing a beautiful young woman. Her dark skin was perfect in its complexion. Her smile caused a tingling sensation to resonate in Dyso's stomach as he smiled back at her. Her eyes were bright gold, exactly like his. Her extremely curly black hair flowed around her head. 

"Dyso," her smooth voice resonated around him. "What brings you to visit me?"

Dyso widened his smile. "I need some help, Xara."

Xara looked him up and down and smirked at his injuries. "Were you stalking them again?" She moved to the side motioned him inside and lead him into her living room. Her living room was nothing like the outside of the house. While the outside was dark and gloomy, the inside of the house was bright and comfortable. Two yellow couches faced each other in the middle of the room with a dark brown coffee table in between them. Dyso made sure to take off his shoes before stepping on her perfect white rug that lined the entire room. 

Two black panthers picked their heads up and looked at him. Their golden eyes indicate that Xara has control over them. 

Xara motioned for Dyso to sit on the couch in front of her and he didn't waste any time in obeying. He kept an eye on the two panthers as they came to sit on either side of her legs. 

Xara looked over his injuries again. "I don't have the ability to fix your wounds, Dyso." She crossed her leg over the other, causing her black dress to reveal her perfect legs. 

Dyso's eyes snapped back up to her and nodded his head. "I know, Xara. What I'm needing is help that only you could help me with."

She placed a hand on one of the panther's heads and ran her fingers up and down their fur. "Who are you wanting me to kill?" Her golden eyes shined in anticipation. "Who are you mad at this time, Dyso?"

He leaned back and finally relaxed his body after days of travel. "Who do you think?"

"She will never leave his side and you know that." She leaned back just like he did. "He definitely won't leave her side."

Dyso nodded, grimly in agreement. 

"I know how much you want her, Dyso," Xara continued with compassion in her voice. "As long as Tassian is around Oriel, you have no chance with her."

"That's what I need your help with."

Xara gave him a look. "You want me to kill, Tassian?"

Dyso nodded. "Yes. I need him out of the way. They're traitors, Xara, and they need to die."

"Then why just kill Tassian?" Xara smiled. "Do you believe that if you brought Oriel to the Queen alive, she'd grant your wish to have her? She wouldn't keep her alive, Dyso. Queen Krathys would torture the poor girl until she died."

Dyso shook his head frantically. "No, the Queen will see that I did a good thing and that I would need to be rewarded. She'd grant me the honor of being bonded to Oriel and we'd be together forever."

Xara's eyes were sad as she continued to study him. "Dyso," she started slowly. "I'm as loyal to the Queen as you are, but I know not to mess with her assassins. Even if I wanted to kill either of them, I couldn't."

"Why not?"

"They have protection over them," Xara stated. "Oriel has a necklace that grants her protection while Tassian has a ring."

Dyso let his head and shoulders drop in disappointment. "So they can't be killed?"

Xara stood up and sat down next to him placing a soft hand on his shoulder. "The only way they could be killed is if you were able to get the ring off of Tassians hand. That's nearly impossible. He can be beaten to the point of death, but he can't be killed." There was silence for a couple of minutes before she spoke up again. "That is something I could do."

Dyso looked over at her. "What?"

"I could attack him and cause him such injuries that allow you to take Oriel. Although," she stopped. "That's another problem altogether."

"Don't worry," Dyso smiled. "I have a plan for Oriel."

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Author note: Thank you for reading this chapter! I hope you enjoyed it! Please, if you did, leave a comment or vote!