The Fate Of The Marked

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Just as he spoke, something in the distance exploded, causing Cauis and the older man to jump and turn, just as stratled as I was. Jax's face remained impassive. Ragnar's smile only seemed to grow. I shifted the blade in my hand, ready to fight.

Or run.

My mind seemed clouded, intent on focusing on nothing but what was happening in front of me.

"Casting" Ragnar said, voice as slick as oil, "Do close your mouth.. And please make sure our friends do not find their way here. I would like to deal with them a bit more personaly. "

The older man snapped back to attention, face flushing. Then he moved away, into the woods. Within seconds, he was gone into the blackness.

Ragnar stepped forward, closer to me, but I refused to move back. I refused to show the fear that was chilling me more than the harsh wind. The smirk on his face was almost too much to bare.

Suddenly, the demon snapped

"Cauis, Jaxson, go and secure the bridgeway."

The demon jumped slightly and raced away, not bothering to notice that Jax was already gone. The hounds, all twelve of them that I could see, followed him, leaving Ragnar and I alone in the small clearing.

I wondered where Luka was, and if he was alright.

There was silence, louder than tourtured screams, before Ragnar pulled something off of his belt. It was a long, thin vial of acrid green liquid. He twirdled it in his hands, never looking away from my face.

"I suppose you want to know why you must be taken out of this game?" He asked.

The simple way he talked about my death made the hair on the back of my neck rise. I stood straighter. He continued, not waiting for me to answer.

"You see, Elliot, there is a thin line between having a fate chosen for you and having the option to change your fate, and it is not anyones place to change the fate of others. I can not simply allow you to pick a side. You understand, of course, that would knock the balance of things off, distroying what must come to pass?"

He said this all quietly, and I strained to hear him. I looked around, but knew there was no way I could get away. I might be able to get close enough to push him into the fire, but I was almost certain that a demon that lived in the Underworld would be fireproof.

"Your death will ensure what I have been fighting for for many melenums." Ragnar said. "As much as I regret wasting a talent such as yours, I think we both know which side you would chose."

"What talent?" I asked before I could stop myself.

"Do not tell me you don't know?" He asked with a raised eybrow. "I must say, I have severly underestemated Aabel and his comrads."

I took a step back as he walked towards me, but he only looked like he was examining something that was being auctioned off. It unnerved me that he never blinked. I gripped the knife tighter and raised it higher, bringing it to his attention.

"Tisk tisk," Ragnar said with a cuckle "You really are your father's son."

That made me pause, then a spark of anger ignited in me.

Why did everyone know who my father was but me?

Ragnar was only a few feet from me now. I could see the lines etched into his face, like a weathered mountain. His ears were pointed at the tips, and his teeth were thin and looked as sharp as daggers. I knew what he reminded me of: a rattlesnake ready to srike.