Two of the Same

Chapter Four *Tyrain*

The yells coming from the great hall were what caught Tyrain's attention.

"LUCIAN!" the calls reverberated throughout the castle. Tyrain's heart rate leapt and the blade at his side began to sing trembling at his side, baying for more blood. Tyrain leapt up, hand on the hilt he ran full throttle towards the hall. As he was running his right arm began burning slightly, looking down he saw a long faint scratch trail across the skin of his arm, a thin line of blood appearing out of nowhere.

'Gwyn' he thought and anger surged forward, coursing through his body like blood and mixing dangerously with the fresh blood lust that was already simmering just below the surface. He arrived in time to see Captain Arul shielding Gwyn, holding her close against his own body, there was a thin scratch running along the length of her arm, an eerie parallel to Tyrain's own wound. The was a small flash of jealousy that struck through Tyrain's heart seeing Gwyn so close to the Captain, but he dispelled his entail thoughts immediately, focusing all his attention on the matter at hand; the monster in his own domain. Looking beyond the two before him saw it, the creature still in the troughs of its transformation, part man and part beast. He was burning holes into Arul's back as Tyrain approached; the guards were appearing to be having difficulty trying to control him. However still the closer Tyrain came, his weapon in hand and still trembling to draw blood, the more he noticed the Lucian's eyes. Instead of the black soulless pits that the Lucian's eyes usually resembled they were the color of molten gold, liquid and alive they glinted in the light. Tyrain had always prided himself on knowing everything there was to know about the greatest threat to his Kingdom, the Lucians. He knew that they only shedded before their first change at twelve years of age, he knew that they were rarely on their own, living hunting and moving all as a pack, but more importantly he knew that the eyes of a Lucian only ever changed when they had found their mate. Once a male had found its mate their eyes would change to a golden color in their wolf form only until the mating ritual had been completed. Gwyn had managed to get out of Captain Arul's grasp and was finally turned around meet the Lucian's gaze. It was at that moment that everything seemed to freeze in place. The creature stopped struggle like he had been frozen by Gwyneth's gaze and Gwyn stood stock still hold the Lucian's golden eyes with her own. The was a large sigh and then the creature's shoulder slumped forward, all sign of resistance had left it's body. Slowly its skin flexed and molded back into the skin of a man and the golden hue in his eyes receded until all that was left was the bright emerald green of a man's eye. Unnerved Tyrain stepped forward to block Gwyn's view of it.

"Gwyn leave us, it's not safe here." He said looKing pointedly at the hallway adjacent to them. She scowled slightly at being old what to do but Tyrain's gaze was unwavering and with on final look at the creature you obliged and left walking swiftly down the hallway towards her private chambers. Tyrain relieved to be able to finally address the problem before him turn and face the creature who was watching intently after Gwyn's retreated figure.

"What is your name monster." Tyrain asked pointing the blade to that it was pressed firmly against his neck just beneath the prisoners jaw. A look of defiance crossed the Lucian's face and for a moment Tyrain questioned himself about whether or not he should just kill the cretin now and be done with the whole mess.

"Avian, my name is Avian and I'm not a monster." He growled his teeth clenched in anger. Tyrain laughed.

"That's what they all say." And with on swift flick of the wrist the hilt of his sword hit Avian's temple and he fell to the ground in an unconscious heap at Tyrain's feet.

"Take him to the dungeon and lock him up, be sure to use the silver shackles," he looked at Avian with a mixture of contempt and disgust. "Make sure he never sees the light of day again." The guards quickly picked up Avian dragging him down the hallway and out of sight, Tyrain watching as they went; his gray eyes growing dimmer even in the growing light of the noon day sun.

* * * *

The night had fallen over the city stilling the hum of activity and lulling the world into a silent slumber, untouched and frozen within it's own peacefulness. However it the slumber did not reach everyone. Within the castle a lone candle flickered from behind the colored window panes of Prince Tyrain's rooms. He pace to and fro restless like a stalking panther, prowling about waiting for the perfect time to strike and catch its prey of guard. The prince's head throbbed with an insistent flow of questions that he wasn't able to stem. What if's bludgeoned his brain as the time for him to enact his plan drew near and near with each passing second that fell as a grain of sand in the timer on his bed side table. Would this really get him the grown, or would the cost be too steep? Once again he found himself gazing into the mirror across the room from him. Dark eyes starred back, hungry and bottomless they scorched him like an inferno. These eyes were not his own.

'Stop you sniveling.' A harsh voice rebuked the prince within his own mind it was so strong that the prince visibly flinched as though he had been struck. 'All shall fall in place the way it was meant, all that's left is your part my Prince, you must be the one to set the first domino in motion. All else will fall in place.' The seductive whispered entangled Tyrain like a shroud, twisting and turning around his mind, serpentine in nature.

"I'm not as sure, what if I fail." The prince whispered to his own reflection watching the dark eyes glint in the dim light.

'You can't,' the reflection responded, what was once the prince was slowly turning more animal by the passing moment, changing to an evil nature, it grinned at the prince maliciously. 'Who will be King if not you? You can see this Kingdom falling apart right before your very eyes, how can you fail? For you will not be failing yourself but all of Fane, you'll be failing you ancestors, your people...Gwyn.' The dark reflection raised its eye brow in emphasis and laughed slightly seeing the obvious reaction Tyrain had at the mention of Gwyn's name. His heart speed up at the thought of her and Tyrain's dark counterpart knew it.

'How can you ever protect Gwyn if you can't protect you Kingdom first, if you can't do was is necessary? What must be done! You will lose her Tyrain, if you don't act, you will lose her.' The whispered snaked its way around Tyrain's heart constricting tightly until Tyrain felt as though it were going to burst. Images of Gwyn wrapped in the arms of a Lucian danced across the mirrors reflective surface, tormenting Tyrain. They were all images of Gwyn, Gwyn screaming for help, Gwyn embracing the monster, even of Gwyn kissing the monstrous creature; and the Lucian would stare at Tyrain triumphantly, mocking him with the laughter in his golden eyes.

"No!" He yelled turning away quickly he grabbed a dagger from his bedside table and flung it at the mirror. The blade stabbed into the glass shattering it instantly and sending shards of shining glass cascading down to the floor. Tyrain could see his horrified face within the downpour of mirror shards reflecting back to him. He staggered backward reaching for the bed post to steady him as his head whirled in confusion.

'Do it Tyrain, do what you must or lose her forever.' The voice's whispered echoed throughout the room like a sigh, lingering in the air. Tyrain stood there without moving for a moment before his expression hardened; His resolve firm in his onyx eyes. He headed towards the door grabbing the sword and scabbard that lay in wait and he stormed out and down the hall the door shutting behind him and the lone candle's flame was snuffed out leaving the entire castle in the clutches of the imposing darkness.

The guards of the castle walked the halls in silence, standing guard outside the Kings chambers just like they had any other night. The moonlight streamed in trough the large open stone windows that stood on either side of the two corridors. The tapestries blew gently in the late night breeze and the suits of armor stood in silent attention, the frozen sentries gleaming in the moonlight as bright silver as though they were made from the moon herself. There was a sudden thud that came from down the hall. The two guards turned their heads in unison towards the sound; one of them walked towards it cautiously. It all happened in a split second; a darkness dissented upon the guards and just as soon as it had come it disappeared leaving behind two guards lying in pools of their own blood and Tyrain standing in front of the towering doors that led to the Kings bed chambers. He pushed the doors open that wicked glint of the blade in his hand winked in the darkness. Tyrain tossed one final look over his shoulder, his eyes were endless black pits.