Dark Hearts

The Sorcerer lit the last candle.

He flashed a smile at someone, his white teeth glittering for a second in the candle light. He dipped his hand into a pocket in his robes and brought out a handful of powder.

“It is ready now?”, the other person asked, a woman’s voice. A hand stroked the Sorcerer’s cheek. He grasped it in his own and gave it a quick squeeze before letting it fall to the woman’s side.

“Yes, all is in preparation. All we need now is you”, he smiled at the hooded figure as she moved into the centre of the circle. The candle light shimmered on her hooded robes. The light changed colour as the folds shifted.

She drew back her hood revealing long dark hair that spilled out from the hood down to just below her shoulders. She turned and smiled at the Sorcerer. Her face was almost black with tattoos. The few unmarked parts of her face were so pale that they appeared almost white. Her high cheekbones and slightly pointed ears gave her an inhuman appearance. Her eyes were black globes, they absorbed rather than reflected light.

“You are so beautiful”, the Sorcerer whispered.

The woman smiled, “As are you, my love”, she paused for a second, “Is it time?”

The Sorcerer nodded, “Yes, you must finish preparing for the ritual.”

She nodded and undid the clasp on her robes. They cascaded to the ground in shower of light. Her body was perfect, almost too perfect. The rest of her body was covered in the same tattoos as her face. She looked almost like a shadow within the candlelight.

The Sorcerer carefully entered the circle of candles and scattered the powder around the woman. His hand lightly brushed her perfect breast, her skin was cold but that did not bother him. She was too beautiful to let a little detail like that worry him. He looked into her bottomless eyes, “When this is done, you will do what we agreed?”

She kissed him passionately on the lips, “Does that answer your question?”

He smiled and stepped out of the circle, “See you on the other side.”

He began chanting. The woman stood within the circle, her hands clasped before her. The taint of Magic entered the chamber.

The ritual had begun.

-------------------

Xaimee stood before the Temple of Chargoth.

Volatanen had summoned her to appear before him. It was a great honour to be summoned by the High Priest of Chargoth himself. She had arrived early to make sure she was not late and insulted him. Those who insulted Volatanen did not usually live very long.

The temple dominated the grey skyline of the city. Its squat yet towering unnatural geometry would drive any mortal mad but as with all her kind, Xaimee was not mortal or even human. She was Xian-Shi, half demon half human. All descended from the Demon God Chargoth who took a mortal woman as his lover.

She began walking slowly towards the main doors of the temple. The hulking Golems that guarded the massive main door did not even stir as she walked past them.

Xaimee was anxious but she did not show it. She was trained to hide her emotions. It was needed for the work she had to perform in the service of the High Priest. She waited before the doors for the appointed time. The doors were almost as tall as the building itself. They were covered in massive black iron spikes in the shape of claws, Chargoth’s claws. The hour arrived and the doors opened silently.

She entered into the Temple. She let out a gasp of wonder. She had never entered the Temple before. Always she had received instruction from Priests at one of the lesser Chapels. The main hall was completely reflective, the floor, the pillars, the ceiling. If the world that her kind lived in had any light but the unnatural bright twilight then this would have been beautiful. Although to Xian-Shi eyes it was beautiful.

Xaimee admired her reflection, she was beautiful (as were all Xian-Shi to mortal eyes) but she was beautiful by her race’s standards and that was what made her important and she knew it. She dressed to flaunt her beauty, her graceful long legs, her perfect breasts (an opinion shared by all who saw her) and full figure, almost as if she was born for the roll that she now played in the Order. She wore clothing that exposed as much flesh as possible without being completely immodest, mostly to make distract people from what she was really up to. It also made her feel good so it did not bother her in the slightest that most of the Order was horrified by how little she wore. Currently she was wearing a black bikini top and a black leather micro skirt to show off her legs, she never wore footwear. She liked to feel the ground beneath her feet when she walked. She smiled back at her own dark face framed by her immaculately groomed dark hair; her entire body appeared to be tattooed with black ink. Only small amounts of pale, almost white, flesh showed through.

She was broken out of her admiration of her own beauty by a polite cough; she turned to see a man wearing the dark robes of a Priest. His face too was covered in the dark tattoos although not as much as Xaimee.

He bowed his head slightly, “The High Priest, Volatanen, will see you now.” He turned away and began walking in the direction of a large set of doors at the end of the hall. Xaimee quickly followed, her feet making no noise as she passed. She walked with almost feline like grace, betraying what she had been trained as in the Order. She easily caught up with the Priest who was shocked to discover her standing right behind him when he turned around to speak to her.

The Priest quickly composed himself, “Within sits the High Priest”, he looked her up and down, there was lust buried deep within those eyes but he kept it well hidden, “You should have dressed more appropriately but that is too late now, although perhaps he will be more lenient with you because of your talents.”

She smiled at him and his face seemed to flash between desire and guilt within a split second. She smiled inwardly, she liked to make the Priests uncomfortable when they tried to patronise her.

She walked past the Priest and entered the High Priest’s chambers. She bowed respectfully to the man about her age that sat behind the desk. He was tall and muscular. He also had the tattoos that were common to all of the Xian-Shi. He was almost as darkly tattooed as Xaimee herself. He wore a dark suit and a dark shirt. His robes were hanging from a hook near the desk.

Welcome Xaimee¸ he spoke into her mind. Volatanen was one of the few Xian-Shi blessed with the ability of Mind Speech but unfortunately he did not have the ability to speak normally.

“I am honoured that you have summoned me, High Priest”, she replied respectfully.

The voice chuckled in her head, Please Xaimee. It should be obvious that this is not a formal meeting. Call me Volatanen.

She smiled, “Yes, Volatanen.”

The High Priest smiled, Excellent. Now to the purpose of our meeting, he moved around the desk towards her. As you know you are the greatest agent the Order has ever had. Your beauty, talents and incredible skill have opened many doors to us. I now have a new mission for you, one so important that only I and you will be privy to it. Are you interested?

Xaimee’s mind worked quickly. Thankfully that was something she was good at. This seemed like too good an offer to refuse. If she did this then perhaps she would finally earn enough to fulfil her ambitions.

She nodded.

Volatanen’s smile broadened, Excellent, I knew you would do it. You are a good and loyal servant. Your reward will be greater than you can imagine. He moved behind his desk and brought out a strange object. It was gun but nothing like a Xian-Shi gun. It was not powered by Magic as all of Xian-Shi technology was. It could only be from the human world.

You know what this is, don’t you?, she nodded, Yes, I thought you would. With this and our powers combined we will save our people from the Demons and Yuan-Shi who are laying siege to our beloved kingdom. You see now why this is important?, she nodded again, Come with me.

He led her through a secret passage in his room and up a set of stairs. She found herself on a balcony overlooking the city. It was unnatural to human eyes, it caused madness just to gaze upon it. Car and plane like objects flitted between buildings along the ground and in the air.

Look at this place. It has lost much of its beauty has it not? How I yearn for the sun that was denied to us when we were banished from the human world. It was an undeserved punishment. It was not our fault that we were tainted with Demon’s blood. However, we have survived in this harsh world but now we might finally be defeated.

Too many of us are dying. If too much of the Order perish then you know what will happen. If that happens then any chance of us regaining what we lost will be gone. We will become exactly what we are trying to fight against. We will become truly fallen and be lost forever.

This is why I turn to you, Xaimee. You are the only one with the power to do what must be done.

He turned to face her, You will go to the human world.

-------------------

The ritual finished.

The tattooed woman fell on one knee. She let out no cry of pain but it was obvious to any observer that she was intense agony. Her skin seemed to writhe as if it had come alive. The black markings on her skin began to fade away revealing her pale flesh. Eventually all the tattoos were gone and she took a deep breath.

She stood and faced the Sorcerer, “The taint has gone. You have removed the taint of the Demon from my body and skin. I feel such power that had been forbidden to me because of my mixed blood.”

She looked at a candle and it exploded.

“You have given me the gift of True Magic, my love, and you have removed the taint of the Demon. Now I am what I should be.”

-------------------

Xaimee stood with Volatanen.

They both held the human gun in their hands.

The gun will be consumed when this ritual is cast. We will only get one chance at this. Be ready to enter the portal as soon as it appears. None know how long it will remain open.

“Are you sure that this is wise? Surely a Thaumaturge would be more suitable than me?”

No, we require human Magic to accomplish our plans. The taint within us prevents us from practicing Magic let alone True Magic. A Thaumaturge will not be able to acquire the help of a human Magic user as well as you can.

She nodded, “I understand.”

Volatanen smiled, Excellent, now let us begin.

She felt power flowing through the High Priest as he began channelling the power of Chargoth himself. Such was the gift and curse that all the Xian-Shi had.

I can feel the gateway opening. Be ready, you will need your power to survive the ravages of the crossing.

“I am ready, Volatanen.”

Somehow there was a wind gathering in the chamber despite it being sealed from the outside world. Xaimee felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. Such power was being channelled here. Volatanen was truly one of the most powerful Xian-Shi there has ever been.

A literal tear appeared in the air next to them. The gun that was held in their hands seemed to vanish from existence.

Go now quickly before it is too late.

She dived gracefully through the gateway as it began to close again. As she entered almost pure darkness she heard one last thing before the light from the tear was gone.

Xaimee, be careful.

-------------------

She hurtled through the darkness between worlds.

She sensed danger as she travelled towards the human world. She erected her barrier charms to protect her body from what ever lay ahead. She felt pounding on her barrier as she passed into the tempest. It was invisible to her eyes but the force of it and its feel, she could only describe as a storm.

She felt shards of some material cut into her barrier. She struggled to keep it up through the battering she was receiving. She felt some penetrate a give her minor cuts and abrasions. Suddenly without warning her barrier failed when a massive shard shattered it into nothingness.

She screamed as the shards cut into her without mercy. What little clothing she wore was quickly torn and shredded. The wind ripped the remnants from her body. She was in intense agony before suddenly it ended without warning. She blacked out for a few seconds. When she awoke, she gasped with wonder.

There were trees above her; she had never seen green before, only in what little text they had about the human world. She blinked as sunlight penetrated the canopy and shone down upon her. Light, real sunlight, she had dreamed of seeing it and it was before her.

She tried to get up but a small cry of agony escaped her lips. She could not move. She was covered in cuts and scrapes. Her mind was too exhausted to use any of her powers to help her. All she could do was sleep; sleep would help her to heal. Yes, all she needed was some sleep.

She fell asleep under the trees of Holy Park in the centre of Trinity City, on New Terra.

-------------------

Pure naked desire was in the Sorcerer’s gaze.

He stared hungrily at the naked woman before him, “I have done what you have asked of me. Now we can be together forever with the power of your True Magic and my own Magic, not even They will be able to stop us.”

She smiled and gestured to him, he felt himself picked up by some force and moved to in front of her. She hugged him close to her; the smell of her hair was intoxicating to him. He could no longer control himself.

“You promised me we could when I had done as you asked”, he said with barely any control in his voice.

She kissed him deeply and passionately on the mouth before stepping away from his embrace. She smiled at him, “Of course, my love. I would never break my promises to you.”

He grinned as he pulled his robes off. He ran over to her and embraced her fiercely. They fell to the ground amidst the candles.

The woman groaned with pleasure.

-------------------

Matt walked through the woods in Trinity Park.

He was seeking a Nexus. There he may be able to harvest enough Magical energy to carry out the spell he was working on. It was an insane risk to harvest from a Nexus so close to Their headquarters but it was the only place that contained enough power and was relatively unguarded. They did not expect anyone would be stupid enough to try and harvest from someplace so close.

It was insane but also brilliant. Well he thought so anyway. The Council did not think so. They had expelled him for “unsafe practices”. What did they know? Who gave them the right to condemn what he did? So what if he liked to take risks? He only wanted to advance their causes, did they not see that? Maybe if this was successful then they would welcome him back. A Magic user without the protection of the Council did not last very long.

He pushed past some low hanging branches and into the clearing that marked the Nexus. His walk was brought to a halt by the woman he saw lying there. His jaw dropped open. She was beautiful, she had a perfect body. Her naked skin was covered in what looked a series of intricate tattoos that made her skin almost completely black. Deep crimson blood flowed from hundreds of minor scratches and scrapes all over her. He snapped out of his dream when she stirred slightly in her sleep and groaned. The way she moved made his heart beat faster. Who or what could hurt something so beautiful. It was almost a crime against nature itself.

Pity overtook him as he looked down on the wounded woman. She was naked and alone. He forgot about his original purpose and carefully picked her up. He began muttering a few words. It was foolish to use an incantation so close to Them but it was probable that the Nexus itself would cover up this use of Magic.

He vanished along with the mysterious woman. There was no trace left.

-------------------

Xaimee awoke.

She was lying in a bed in a sunlit room. She sat up and looked around. How had she got here from the woods? She quickly examined her surroundings as she had been trained to do. The room obviously belonged to someone or more likely had belonged to someone. It was furnished almost like some sort of shrine. There was some sort of strange device in the corner. It looked like a smaller version of the Thinking Engines the Engineers used in her world. Evidently, the humans had advanced far past the Xian-Shi over the years they had been separated.

Her observations were interrupted by the sudden arrival of a robed figure. She did not tense as her body wanted to do. She had been trained to not appear as a threat when cornered. It helped to lure people into a false sense of security. She made sure to cover herself with the blanket and watched the figure intently.

The figure entered in and looked at her. He seemed to start when he realised she was looking at him. It was probably her eyes that disturbed him, like all her race they were nothing but black globes. They had no visible pupil like human’s eyes.

“So you are awake”, the figure muttered. He pulled back his hood revealing a handsome young man who looked to be in his mid-twenties.

“Who are you?”, she asked.

The man smiled. It was dazzling and for some strange reason Xaimee felt her heart leap slightly.

“My name is Matt, who might you be?”

“My name is Xaimee”, there was no harm in giving her name. Nobody would know who she was in this world.

The man continued to smile, “Welcome Xaimee, I found you in the woods and I thought it was better if I took you somewhere, where I could take care of you.” His gaze lingered over the parts of her body that he could see, “I see that your wounds have healed up nicely. Not even a scar. You’d swear you were not human”, he laughed slightly. Xaimee merely stared back at him.

“Anyway I guess you are wanting to know where you are, yes?”, Xaimee nodded, “You’re in my sister’s, Talya, room. Don’t worry she won’t mind. She hasn’t been here in years…”, his smile seemed to fade and his gaze slipped into the distance. He shook his head and looked at her, the smile returned.

He seemed to think a second, “Are you hungry?”

Xaimee smiled, she needed to recover her strength, “Yes, I’m starving”

Matt laughed, “Yes you would be after having nothing for over a day. Follow me”, he paused at the door as if he realised something, “Sorry you have nothing to wear”, he gestured at a large metal wardrobe that was against a wall, “You can find some clothes in there. They should fit you. You’re about the same size as my sister.”

Matt walked out of the room and shut the door. When she was sure that he was not looking, Xaimee got out of the bed. It was a smooth fluid motion as were all her actions. Such grace had beguiled many men before. She walked over to the wardrobe and opened it. She frowned slightly, all the clothing was more modest than she was used to but she could not walk around naked.

She chose a black short skirt and she managed to find a bikini top amongst all the clothing. She smiled at her reflection; she appeared even more beautiful in the sunlight. She twirled and admired how graceful the fabric of her skirt made her appear. She thought she would enjoy this world.

She stepped out of the room and almost ran into Matt who was standing outside the door. He looked her up and down; his face broke into that smile again, “You look beautiful.”

Xaimee smiled. “Thank you, Matt”, she purred.

She followed him into his small kitchen. He gestured to some bread and water that was on the table.

“Sorry but that’s all I’ve got. I haven’t had the chance to go shopping for a while. Been...erm…too busy.”

Xaimee pretended not to notice the man’s hesitation but she kept careful note of it for later. There was something a bit off with Matt. She kept sensing that there was something to him other than what he appeared but she could not place it.

She ate the bread and water silently. It was less extravagant than what she was used to in her line of work but to her ravenous stomach it was one of the best things she had ever tasted. Perhaps it was just the effect of this world but she felt the weight that seemed to crush down on all Xian-Shi had been lifted. She smiled in spite of herself.

“You have a beautiful smile”, Matt blurted out.

Xaimee flushed slightly with embarrassment but the curse of her tainted blood made it impossible to notice. She stopped eating. She had been embarrassed. She was never embarrassed by compliments; it was part of her line of work. She started to eat again to cover up that she had been slightly shocked. She never showed weakness in front of anyone.

She finished and looked up at Matt who was busy stuffing her bed sheets into what looked like some sort of advanced washing machine like the ones used on her world. She was still impressed with the level of technology that was evident in the human world. Her kind would be very comfortable here.

He turned back to her, “These will be ready in about an hour if you want to rest. Would you like to wash up?”

She nodded. Matt stood up and led her to the bathroom.

“Towels are there and the shower is over there. When you are ready, we can go outside if you wish?”

She smiled with genuine happiness. She would love to go out in that beautiful sunlight, “Yes, I would love to.”

Matt closed the door.

-------------------

She returned about an hour later.

Matt’s heart leapt as she entered the kitchen. Her skin seemed to glisten and her hair was immaculate in the tight ponytail she had tied it into. How could he have been so lucky to find her? He hoped he might be able to spend some more time with her before she had to leave.

“So do you want to go out now?”, he asked.

She smiled and Matt’s heart leapt again, “Yes, I would like that very much, Matt.”

He had changed into jeans and a t-shirt while he had been waiting. He offered his arm to her and she took it almost as if by reflex. She smiled at him and it made him tingle all over.

He walked out with her to one of the best day of both of their lives.

-------------------

They stood on a hill in Holy Park watching the sun sink behind the cityscape.

“This is truly beautiful Matt”, she rested her head on his shoulder, “Thank you for showing this to me.”

“You are more beautiful Xaimee”, he whispered.

She looked into his eyes, “You are too kind to me, Matt. You don’t even know who I am.”

He shook his head. He gazed into the black pits that were her eyes, they did not frighten him anymore. “I know that from the first time I saw you in that clearing, I have loved you.”

Xaimee felt her heart flutter, “I think I…”, she hesitated, “I love you too.”

They kissed on top of the hill.

Neither of their lives would be the same again.

-------------------

The next few months had passed quickly.

Xaimee eventually found out much to her delight that Matt was a Magic user. Even better, he had the ritual that she needed. It had taken some persuasion but the promise that he would be with her forever was enough for him. He desired power and he desired her.

She had refused to make love to him through those months. Her main reason was that it was death to a human to lie with a Xian-Shi. It was a decree from the Gods. The other was that it made him even more enthusiastic to complete the ritual.

When the time came she was ready. She had changed into some of his sister’s robes for the ritual. They were more appropriate for the setting as well as being beautiful to her.

The ritual would remove the taint of Chargoth’s blood. It would make her what she should be, something greater than human. It would make her greater than human; she would be able to wield True Magic like the humans could before the corporation that Matt had told her about had taken over the human race.

Her first objective was almost complete.

-------------------

Their writhing bodies cast strange shadows on the wall. They both groaned in pure ecstasy.

A few minutes later and it was over. They lay together merely breathing. They savoured the moment they had shared together.

“Matt, thank you for what you have done for me”, she whispered.

“It was worth it, Xaimee. I love you.”

“I love you too”, she gracefully leaped to her feet. The movement was so fluid that it appeared she was lying one second and standing the other. She effortlessly pulled Matt onto his feet.

“We have much to do but first I think we need to clean up. Care to join me for a shower?”, she led Matt by the hand out of the room.

-------------------

A few months had passed since that night.

She stood before a man called Herni. He was the master of the Council’s Magic College. He shook her hand warmly.

“Welcome to the College, Professor Xaimee. Your experience in combat and expression magic will be invaluable to our school.”

She smiled, “Thank you, Professor. I look forward to working with the students here.”

She left the office a few minutes later and met Matt outside the College.

“You were successful?”, he asked.

She nodded, “Yes. Now all we must do is wait until what we are looking for turns up.”

Xaimee would free her people. No matter the cost. Nothing else mattered to her, she would even sacrifice Matt if she had to.

Her new life had just begun and she was going to enjoy every minute of it.