Clove: Part 21 - No Monologues
Bois.... there's more to this story than I thought there would be. We vibing but this is wild!
Masterlist - Part 20
Content: Werewolf whumpee, human whumper, vampire caretaker, exhaustion, strangulation, a rather quick and violent death
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Goldenrod was really struggling to stay on top of the pillar now. He was tired and shaky, his fingers trembling on the ritual knife as he tried to dodge and shield himself from the barrage of gravel Jack kept sending his way, hoping to knock him down. He was so scared. He just had to hang on till Ephraim got here. He had to. He didn’t think he could fight Jack again. He shouldn’t have swallowed any of Jack’s blood earlier. It was making Hyrum feel really sick and making the whole situation that much worse.
The newest rock attack slowed to a stop, Jack panting below, still pacing back and forth. He was chewing on his thumbnail, looking up at the skies nervously over and over again. The fae queen had to know by now. Was she going to come here or was she setting up defenses against him? He didn’t have time. He really didn’t have time.
He chewed harder, running out of nail and just started in on the flesh of his thumb with his sharp teeth as he stared up at Hyrum, who watched with a numb sort of exhaustion in his eyes. That was good. Jack knew that look well. The pup wouldn’t be able to stay up there for long.
Jack looked over at another pillar, spaced not that far away from Hyrum’s and stopped chewing on his thumb. If he couldn’t get Hyrum down with magic, he’d have to do it with force.
So, the sorcerer started to climb a pillar, slowly and laboriously as he kept slipping down the smooth rock face. He nearly slid all the way to the bottom when he felt a stinging pain bite into his skull. He snarled as he realized Hyrum had chucked a rock at his head, and forced himself to climb higher.
He scrambled onto the top, and without even so much as a moment to catch his breath, he turned and threw himself across the gap.
Hyrum yelped, holding the blade up to try and defend himself, but Jack crashed into him, sending them both onto the gravel below.
Hyrum was well protected by his being a werewolf, however that didn’t help with the way the crash had sent the wind right out of his lungs.
Jack grabbed the knife from out of trembling fingers and grabbed Hyrum’s throat with the other hand. “Alright, pup. I hope you enjoyed all of that. A waste of time and energy if you ask me,” he said, picking Hyrum up as he gasped and scratched at Jack’s wrist.
Vindictively, Jack slammed Hyrum into the altar, making the pup’s eyes go wide and dazed as his head smacked into the obsidian.
Jack now took a moment to breathe, changing his grip on the knife and on Hyrum’s throat so he could try and get at his voice box.
“I would tell you to hold still, but that would be a bit of a waste of breath, wouldn’t it,” Jack said as Hyrum seemed to come back to his senses, fear and helplessness flooding his face as he realized he just didn’t have the energy to fight back anymore.
Jack allowed himself a moment to drink it in. How couldn’t he, really. The pup had always been so cute and desperate when he was scared. So perfectly defenseless.
“I think I will miss you a little… not much, but a little,” Jack commented mostly to himself, flipping the knife one more time for good measure before leaning over Hyrum to make the first incision.
He only got as far as touching the blade to the werewolf’s throat, Hyrum’s golden eyes squeezed shut with silent tears tracking down his dirty cheeks, when Jack was slammed to the side and into the ground.
He scrabbled at the gravel, reaching for the knife he dropped, but a powerful hand closed on the back of his neck, the other grabbing the back of his clothing to throw him onto his back.
Jack’s manic eyes landed on Ephraim, who stood clean and furious before him, lips drawn back to show his broken fang.
Ephraim had felt his heart nearly fall out of his rib cage when he’d seen Jack leaning over Hyrum like that, but was glad to see the pup scramble off the altar, frozen in indecision between trying to get away and going to hug Ephraim.
“Ephraim!” Jack said in a placating tone, trying to get himself sorted out to sit up. “So good to see you! I thought you’d be in the pits by- CKkk”
Ephraim stood on his throat, watching as the sorcerer tried to get Ephraim’s foot off. “I almost was,” he replied, leaning some weight on it. “Goodbye, Jack. Hope you are remembered in tales for the truly terrible fate you are dealt in the afterlife.
Jack shook his head, eyes wide as he struggled to speak.
“Bck! N’v’r bck! Wi’ow m’!”
Ephraom threw back his head and laughed a truly cold laugh. “I don’t care. I have an in with the queen here. I’m not concerned about getting back.”
“D’nt tr’st-”
“Oh I know,” Ephraim said, leaning hard just to watch as the sorcerer’s face turned an odd shade of blue. “I won’t, trust you that.”
Jack, realizing he wouldn’t be able to talk his way out of this, tried to gather the last bits of strength he had after constantly attacking Hyrum and after the arduous journey here, but Ephraim lifted his foot and slammed it into the sorcerer’s throat, listening to the satisfying crack of his neck.
Ephraim stood like that, breathing heavily before he looked back at Goldenrod. “Don’t watch.”
Goldenrod, eyes wide and teary, nodded and turned away as Ephraim knelt down, slowly cracking Jack open to pull out each and every organ he could get his hands on and destroy them, scattering them everywhere. As soon as he had reduced Jack to a smear that no magic would be able to bring him back from, Ephraim stood up, stepping out of the now deactivated ritual circle to wipe his hands off in the grass.
He looked back to see Goldenrod curled on his side on the ground, face almost touching one of the pillars.
He got up and walked to Goldenrod only to realize that his little boy was breathing slowly and calmly, so trusting in Ephraim to deal with the mess that he paid no heed to the noises and let sleep take him.
Ephraim clicked his tongue. He wanted to take the moment to heart and relish in it, but they weren’t safe yet. They were still in the fae realm, and while the fae queen was soft on his fledgling and Benny would surely do anything for him to get in his good graces again, Ephraim didn’t think for even a moment that they were anywhere near close to safe. They weren’t going to be safe till they were all home and that entrance in the forest was sealed.
Ephraim carefully scooped Goldenrod into his arms, lifting him. The werewolf woke enough to grab onto him before he fell asleep again, the fear and constant adrenaline too much for his little system.
Ephraim didn’t spare the smears in the gravel behind him any heed as he stepped into the grass, walking back towards where the castle had been. He didn’t know if they would actually make it since traveling in the fae wilds had turned out to be strange, getting Ephraim to the ritual place much faster than he expected without even seeing the entrance to the fae realm once on the way here, but he was sure Benny would have someone come looking for him, and there were already fae scouts out looking for Jack.
He walked for about an hour, Goldenrod only stirring to snuggle closer, when he saw some of the fog clearing ahead and a fae walked out through it. It was the gauzy fae from before. Kortops.
“What have you found, Vampire?” he called.
“My pup,” Ephraim replied cautiously. “I’ve killed the sorcerer, though you may want to dispose of his remains somehow. I am concerned he knew a good deal of dark magic and might have some way to come back.”
“I will have someone look into it. I will walk you back, yes?”
Ephraim was conflicted. He wanted to demand to go home, but he wasn’t certain how the fae would react to that and there was a large part of him that wanted to convince Benny to come home. But if they stayed they wouldn’t be able to eat. And Goldenrod needed to eat.
“We will walk back to the palace,” Ephraim said uneasily. “Tell me, is there food here that isn’t of the fae.”
Kortops laughed. “You think we will hold you here if you eat it?”
“I believe it may weaken defenses more than anything else,” Ephraim said a little testily. “I would really prefer to keep my wits about me.”
Kortops looked like he almost wanted to be offended about that, his wings flicking, but he sighed. “You have caught us, vampire. We are to be only the best hosts, and we will provide you with completely unenchanted food.”
“Every time?”
“Every time,” the fae promised with a roll of his eyes.
Good. It seemed Ephraim had discovered another rule the fae have to live by. They are, first and foremost good hosts, and they had to be truthful in their dealings as such.
Ephraim would need to think carefully over all of his requests to be sure to watch for loop holes, then, and no fae would get to talk to Hyrum even once without Ephraim being there.
“Thank you,” Ephraim said. Manners were likely important in a place like this. “When we arrive at the castle, I would like good, unenchanted food and a safe and secure place to sleep with a promise that no fae or fae servant will disturb us as we sleep. We have had a long, long day.”
“Of course,” Kortops said, taking on a subservient, though distant tone now. “Anything else for you, my liege?”
“That will be all for tonight,” Ephraim replied, just as distantly. His thoughts were already on the idea of a warm, comfortable shower and then a warm, comfortable bed where he and Goldenrod could curl up and he could ensure that his pup was safe and still alive.
The palace loomed up through the mists again and Kortops led him inside, relaying orders to the servants who led Ephraim to a room.
After Ephraim had triple checked that they knew to bring unenchanted but good food, he turned to caring for Goldenrod, getting some warm water and soap from the bathroom to clean his wounds and scrapes. Goldenrod was somewhat awake for this, whining and crying a little about being disturbed, but his demeanor changed as he smelled food as the fae brought it in for them to eat.
Soon enough, they were fed, cleaned, clothed and in bed, Goldenrod passed out without even managing to say goodnight, and Ephraim, a hand on the back of Goldenrod’s head, followed soon after.
Part 22
Clove Taglist: @wolfeyedwitch @the-blind-one-speaks @whumpsday @extrabitterbrain @inkkswhumpandstuff
@honeycollectswhump @whump-blog-reblogs @pigeonwhumps @mj-or-say10 @percy-frayer
@currentlyinthesprial @scoundrelwithboba @whumps-and-bumps
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