Blood Drive

A few days has passed since our fight. Everything on the outside seems normal. Kisses here and there, Drake still sleeps with me tucked against him, he even started eating breakfast with me in the morning. But the pleasantries and niceties just seemed forced. The smiles where off, and the kisses weren't filled with warmth. Although that could just be me. Nothing has felt the same since Nicklos's warning. I find myself overanalyzing his actions a lot. Everything he does, I find myself thinking negatively about. How he holds me at night, even though its close, I feel like it's a way of him asserting his dominance. Even though he did it even before our fight, I find myself thinking about it negatively. 'He isn't what he seems.'

Even now, as I sit across the table from him, eating our breakfast together, it seems domineering. He didn't do this before, so why does he start eating with me now? Of course he is still working though. Documents scattered across the table with an ink quill in hand as he scans paper after paper. There was the finest of smiles graced upon his lips as he read. He seemed to be enjoying himself despite the fact he was working. Even his dark eyes had cleared up, leaving him younger looking than he had a few days ago.

Deep down I was happy I was able to spend more time with him, but for some reason I felt like I was being imprisoned. Was this my punishment for sneaking out without telling him? Was that why he was forcing himself in my presence? The thought stung, because deep down I really wanted him to just want to spend time with me. Now I felt more like a burden than anything.

I pushed the fork around my plate. My appetite the last couple of days had been diminishing very quickly. At first I was able to force my self to eat, then I could only eat a few things, and now I couldn't even muster the thought of devouring my food. In it's place was the hunger to kill. I could kill anything at this point so I could itch the desire. Just one critter would do. I know Sebastion was feeling the same way because he got moody with each passing day. Poor Maya has to be the brunt of his anger, and she couldn't even know why. Drake had demanded us to stay in the Palace walls, but we where getting antsy. With every minute that passed by, we would become blood lusted murderers. This is what it means to be a Blood Dragon. Despite the reputation, the Guild seemed to be the perfect place for us and our needs.

"Something is bothering you again Aria." Drake said not looking up from his documents. I forced my eyes from my plate and stared at him. Curse this lack of an appetite. If I could just force something down, he wouldn't be able to see my distress. I sighed and placed the fork down on the plate, shoving it slightly across the table. Just answer him Aria, he only asks cause he has too.

"My urges are....strong." I muttered. He tore his eyes away from the document in his hands and stared at me. A deviant smile slowly appeared across his face the longer he stared. I had a suspicious feeling he misunderstood what I said and started to feel uncomfortable.

"I suppose I deserve a break. I have been working all morning, and I think I can handle those urges for you." He said with a wink. I indeed was correct on my feeling. It's been a few days since he tried to touch me so I guess his mind was solely just on his needs. I rolled my eyes at him and glared, because I had no interest in satisfying him right now.

"Wrong urges Drake. I need blood. I have to kill something, anything or I am going to go mad." I hissed at him. The smirk vanished from his face and was replaced with a grim line.

"With everything going on, I forgot that you and Sebastion have needs. I am very sorry Aria, I'll have Argus take you out this afternoon to go hunting. But until then," He dropped the paper work on the table and pulled out his dagger. It was a simple thing, small, fine, sharp steel with a leather worn handle. He placed the sharp edge over his exposed forearm and gently cut the skin. I stared at him, appalled that he would cut himself just to ease my suffering. But my instincts slowly took ahold of me as I smelt his blood fill the air.

I licked my lips with anticipation, the savory smells invading my brain and any rational thoughts I had, left. As if I was being controlled, I felt myself rise from the chair I was sitting in and slowly walked around the table like a predator stalking it's pray. Drake sat still, his forearm resting on the table. My eyes trained on the blood that slowly seeped out of the wound, rivulets spilling on to the table as it dripped. For some bizarre reason I just wanted to taste it. It was a constant repeating thought in my head. Just lick it Aria, taste him. He offered it to you, so why not take advantage of this moment. I could feel myself hesitate, because I had never ingested blood. What kind of sick monster does that? I never felt these cravings before, so why was it now that I had the need to lap up all the red glory that spilled from this man's arms? Feeling my frustration Drake smiled and held it out towards me.

"It's alright Aria. Your body is deprived and ingestion in the fastest way to replenish your mana. It's not much but a few drops will hold you over till you go out hunting later. I don't mind it, so take as much as you need." He spoke softly, coaxing me to taste him. I wet my lips again and glanced at his face before wrapping my hands carefully around his arm. The need for blood completely taking over as I carefully lapped at the spilling blood. It was salty and metallic as it filled my mouth, I almost wanted to gag, but my body reacted differently. It started to feel more alive with every drop, I could feel the energy singing in my veins.

With a satisfied sigh, I pulled away from Drake's arm. The need to kill had almost dissipated. I could feel my rational side slowly returning as Drake passed me a napkin to clean off my face. As I wiped away his blood, I felt the appalling feeling returning once again. I can't believe I just licked at his wound like some wild animal. Sure I felt better, but I think I would take feeling like crap over doing anything like that again. I tried stepping away from him, but he grabbed my wrist with his hand and held me at his side.

"Aria, it's natural for you to need blood. Stop thinking so morbidly of yourself. I can see it in your eyes." His words where gentle as he spoke and I found myself flinching away from him. I didn't want him to touch a monster like me. I normally had more self control than that.

"Leave it Drake. I don't want to talk about this further." I said weakly as I yanked my arm from him. I couldn't even bring myself to look at him. As I walked away from him, I snatched my glass of water from the table and walked out on to the balcony. The morning breeze hitting my skin as I inhaled the fresh air. Dark clouds loomed in the sky, threatening to drop rain. I knew it was going to, the moisture in the air said so. That may put a halt to Drakos's mining plans for a few days, and we might even be able to find more answers.

It would be too slick in the caves to mine, and that would make harvesting that much harder. They would have no choice but to back off until the rain cleared, and who knows how long that would take. When it rains it can be any where from an hour to three days at a time. Storms where unpredictable here, but it was also the relief we needed. With this relief we actually have a chance to catch them while they are off guard. They won't be in the mines and they will have no choice but to relax. With relaxation comes chatter, and with chatter comes with spilling of information. I only wish I was down there. Being out of the action was starting to make me feel depressed.

Of course the need to kill was on edge and that made my mood swings worse. It's been almost two weeks since I laid my sword into anything, and I could already feel my wrist twitch towards the blade I kept on my back. What has become of this Reaper? I was once a feared and notorious killer. Now I had to play hide and seek from a man who was just as or even more so dangerous than myself. How pathetic have I become? Maybe I would take this rain storm as a chance to escape and get back into the swing of things. I know Drake would be angry with me for going against his wishes, but wouldn't more men on the ground be better than what we have now?

"The rain has given me the perfect opportunity to spend more time with you. Now that the caves are being threatened with flooding, we have had a perfect chance to ease up a bit. You aren't the only one that has been trying to spy on Drakos. Although the only difference between you and us, is that you have better access to the grounds than we do. You have found out more on his men than we have in the past week." I jumped, startled at his sudden appearance behind me. He leaned causally against the door way, his arms crossed over his chest as he stared at the angry clouds. A white bandage had been tied around his forearm where he sliced it open earlier.

Although I was thankful for his compliment, I couldn't accept it. After all, we where no closer to the truth of Drakos's plan, or any closer to being able to stop it. The more we looked into the these matters, the more confused I actually became. For example, who where those men that protected the Mindless Soldiers, what did the rings on their hands mean, where they magic like us? There where still so many questions that needed answers, and so far I hadn't came up with one.

"You say that, but we aren't even close to finding out why he is there in the first place. I only hope that this presents a perfect opportunity to find out more." I muttered as I watched the sky once more.

"Patience Aria. Information takes time and we have been presented with a perfect chance to get said information. All we have to do is wait. So stop stressing." I felt him wrap his arms around my waist, his back firmly pressed against mine. Despite my unease with him, I felt myself enjoying his warmth. Maybe I had doubted him too much. After all, he really hasn't done anything to me to cause such distrust. Sure we fought, that's what couples did. Nicklos and I weren't without our fair share of arguments and squabbles. I guess because of my history with Nicklos I was still a little too trusting.

"I know, I know. I guess I should tell Sebastion about your little trick. If this storm is going to be as bad as it looks, there is no way we can go hunting now. Unfortunately that will lead to telling Maya the truth." I said grimly staring at the angry swarming clouds. Sebastion and I have been holding off telling the truth because to be quite honest we didn't know how they would react. Unlike us, they had no magical inheritance and where clueless to their surroundings. They believed magic was dead just like we did.

"Is it so horrible that your team knows? You said you trusted them with your life." I leaned against him and sighed.

"It's not that I don't trust them, because at the end of the day I trust them completely. But they aren't like us. At least we already had an inkling we weren't like others. It was easier to accept that magic and creatures other than humans existed. It won't be easy for them because they don't have a damn clue. Just like the people that walk around here, they only know of a quarter of what the real world is like. Even I am still learning." He was quiet, his fingers tracing lazy and absent circles on my sides. I could tell he was deep in thought with his absent response.

"I understand your concerns Aria, but one way or the other they are going to find out. Wouldn't you rather it be from your mouth than the enemy's?" I nodded my head once. Of course I would rather tell them, but without proof to back it up, they would just consider me crazy anyway.

"I would love to be the one to tell them. But I have no proof. Never have I ever used magic before, and I'm still not even certain I can shift? There is too much uncertainty that I can't present this to them. Not yet." Drake hummed with apprehension and nodded.

"Another thing I have neglected. Why don't we finish breakfast and invite Sebastion and Maya over after. You can explain things to Maya and maybe we can uncover how much you really have inherited after words." I felt a spark of hope flare up inside me as I turned in his arms. Did he really mean he was going to teach us how to use our magic? We could be so much more helpful if we learned how to use it.

"Do you mean that Drake? Will you really help us?" I asked quizzically and he rolled his eyes and laughed.

"Of course I mean that. What kind of Dragon Guardian would I be if I didn't teach you how to defend yourself?" He hooked a finger under my chin so that my lips met his in a brief passionate kiss. Normally I would meet his enthusiasm, but lately I just can't bring myself too. I still worried about Nicklos's warning. My hesitation this time was noticeable because he stopped and pulled away.

"Something still bothers you. You have been stiff with me since the other day, don't think I haven't noticed. Please tell me why are you so reluctant." There was a stern edge to his tone. I just couldn't bring myself to discuss this with him. Especially because I knew Nicklos would get in trouble. I shouldn't worry about his well being because after all he abandoned me, but I still care to a certain degree for him. But at the end of the day, Drake was the one who was by my side, not Nicklos. If we are to continue working on the same side, we should at least remain open and honest with each other.

"Before we....talked Nicklos said something to me that has me rather concerned. I may just be over thinking but I still am cautious." Drake's eyes knit together as he stared down at me, demanding me to further explain. Tentatively I wrapped my arms around him before I continued.

"He didn't say much to me. Just that I should be cautious around you, that you aren't the man you claim to be. So naturally my cautious state took over and I have been...observing. I've never seen you so angry before and I still know practically nothing about you besides small snippets. So I am sorry if I have been distant with you." Many emotions passed over his face. Anger, annoyance, doubt. He sighed with slight annoyance.

"I know that bastard still has feelings for you, and because he himself is a Prince, he will try what he can to get your affection. I won't lie and say that our kingdoms are on good terms because they aren't. The only reason we are fighting together in the first place is because our people needs strong shifters to take down Drakos." He explained blandly. He was disgruntled and it was evident. The distrust between the two became very evident and it all made sense. But I applauded them for still working together to bring down a common enemy. I couldn't help but giggle at the childish rivalry between them.

"How childish of you two to fight over a woman. Rest assured I have no desire to go back to him. He made his choice when he abandoned me. Now let's go finish eating." I said kissing his cheek before pushing away from him. He caught me by the waist before I could completely tear myself away from his and slammed his lips against mine. I submitted against him and returned his passionate kiss. I clutched at his chest, wanting to close any distance between us. With a chuckle Drake pulled away and stared down at my face. All anger vanishing and replaced with love.

"If you have any further doubts I would appreciate you coming to me than sitting on it. So from now on talk to me." He said with a warm smile before letting me go. I watched as he turned and walked towards the table. The warmth of his lips still lingering on my own.

If there was a fight amongst them already, my presence must have only made things worse. Two strong headed men where not only after each others throats, but also after the a woman the both shared feelings for. Could I really let this go on? Would I just make things worse for them if I stayed? Did I really want to get caught in the middle of this?