InsaneJournal

Knowing someone you love is in pain hurts you, it cuts you up inside.  As Carus held his daughter close that was just how he felt.  Like something was inside him and slashing everything to ribbons.

“Would they have taken him back to the Guild?” asked Kara.  She stood stiffly on the other side of the room they had taken at a tavern, her posture showing Carus just how she felt.  They felt just the same: distraught and full of ear but with the cold fire of revenge burning those away slowly.

Carus nodded as he gently ran his fingers through Miralla’s hair.  “That is most likely what they did, yes,” he said softly.  Then he paused and lifted his daughter’s face, brushing the tears streaks from her cheeks.  “We’re going to get him back, Mir.”

She sniffed and mumbled, “I know but…”  Shuddering, she buried her face against his chest, fingers knotting in his short, and gasped, “I can feel what they’re doing to him, Papa.  It hurts…it hurts so much…”  With the last word out of her mouth, she broke down sobbing in his arms and he pulled her close, folding his arms and wings around her as he’d done when she was younger.

Though then…Ventin would have been cradled there too, seeking the same comfort as he felt his twin’s fear and pain.

Carus clenched his teeth at that thought, radiating with rage at what those bastards might be doing to his son.  To his son!

Kara slowly sank down next to him, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing her face into his shoulder.  He felt her shaking as well and when he turned to look at her she stared back at him with eyes that burned.

“We will get him back,” he promised.  “I swear to you, lil’bit, we’re going to.”

She smiled, leaning forward to kiss him, and he tasted the bitterness of the tears she’d shed earlier.  “I know,” she breathed.

He nodded then nudged Miralla upright, gently pushing her aside so he could get up.  She sat on the floor and sniffed for a moment before wiping her sleeve across her face.  When she rose to her feet, her eyes were red but blazed with anger and determination.

“I’m ready,” she hissed.

“Good,” rumbled Carus, smiling at her.  Then he stepped around her and stood a moment, head tilted slightly back.  And he slowly stored away the parts of him life with Kara and their children had softened, leaving behind only the sharp edges and bare space.

This was no time for softness and love.

Vengeance was the call of the day.

He smiled as he strode towards the door, his wife coldly stalking after him, her own mind much now in the same state.  It was how he had taught her to be and she had hidden her true skill for a long time.  Those that had taken their son were now going to feel the full force of her wrath.

Oh, and he would enjoy watching it!

“Mir, stay behind us no matter what,” warned Kara as they entered the streets and started towards the Thieves Guild.  Carus didn’t need to look to see if their daughter would obey – he knew she would.

It did not take long to reach the old building as he remembered every shortcut in the city he had known since he could first recall.  He snapped the neck of the guard at the door without quite noticing the man entirely and continued on into the building.  Behind him he heard Kara draw her daggers and the pleasant sound of her gutting someone like a pig.  The thump from above him and the body falling was Miralla, her deadly darts finding a target in a soft throat.  But he didn’t draw the short sword at his belt…no…

He wanted to kill anything that blundered into his path with his bare hands.  A few did so at first but when he flung them aside either dead or broken, they stopped being so foolish.

Through the building they moved swiftly, like a terrible unstoppable whirlwind.  And until they reached the door that led to what had been the room of Ventin’s namesake, the thief that had raised Carus, they did not stop.

Carus stared at the door for a moment, remembering the years rushing past it as a child.  All eager to show the person behind it what he’d stolen that day…eager to please.

The old man was no longer behind this door, however.

With a snarl, he lashed out, slamming the heel of his foot into the door and smashing it inwards.  In the aftermath of shattered wood, he stalked into the room and bared his teeth at the sight of the man that sat behind the old desk.

“Toban,” he snarled, eyes narrowed.

“Carus!” exclaimed the gray-haired man pleasantly.  “Welcome home.”

“I have my own home.  Where is my son?”

Toban smiled and replied, “He’s been treated to our hospitality.  Oh…I have a gift for you, Carus, old friend…”  He bent behind the desk to grab something and tossed two bloodied objects onto it a moment later.

Anyone else would have taken them for a bird’s wings.

Carus stared at his son’s severed wings on the desk, hearing Miralla choke then vomit behind him.  Kara’s hand touched his for a brief moment and in that heated contact he sensed her intent.

Kill, she said.

Kill them all.

“A pleasant gift, hmm?” queried Toban with a cold smile.  “I…”

His next words were choked off as Carus moved, landing neatly on the desk with his wings furled.  As his hands closed around Toban’s throat, shoving him against the wall, his feathers rustled like a snake’s warning hiss, as he growled, “You do not harm what is mine!”  The man choked in response, vainly trying to get away, and slowly his skin turned blue from the lack of air.  When his struggles mostly ceased, he twisted Toban’s head to the side with enough force to break his neck and jaw, killing him instantly.

“Stay here,” he hissed then to his wife and daughter.  Alone he stalked back into the main part of the building, knowing exactly where he needed to go, and everyone left alive got out of his way.  The door was open when he got there, the guard obviously having had warning and fled after unlocking it.

Carus stated at it for a moment then entered, almost afraid of what he’d find there.

“Ventin?”

There was a shuffling noise in the dark then, “D-Dad?”

“I’m here…”

The moment the words were out of his mouth, Ventin was there, hurling himself into his father’s arms with a strangled sob.  Carus wrapped him up in a tight embrace, folding his wings protectively about him – all the while trying desperately not to think of what had been done to him.

“Th-they took th-them,” choked Ventin as he clutched at his father’s shirt.  “Th-they took m-my…”

“I know,” whispered Cars.  His son, his grown son who had just been through so much, sniffed in response and he clutched him tighter almost desperately.

They hurt his son!

He heard them outside, shifting for a look, and fought down the killing urge.  Instead he moved so his arms around Ventin from the side and started leading him out, glaring at anything that moved.  They scattered instantly and the pair continued on until they reached the room where he had left Kara and Miralla.

Ventin broke free of him the moment he saw his twin and Carus had to turn away, jaw clenched, as he caught sight of the raw mess that was his son’s back.  As their children clutched at each other, each sobbing and crying freely, Kara came to his side and laced her fingers into his.

“Bastard,” she snarled.  “How could they do that to him?!  How dare they?”

“They wanted to hurt me,” snarled Carus, closing his eyes in pain.  “Every time we hurt, its my fault.”

“Rus…”

“It is.  And I’m going to stop it.”  He looked around at the room for a moment then down at her.  “We take the reins here or this just continues.”

Kara stared at him then looked at their children; Ventin, wounded beyond repair, and Miralla, torn to shreds by her twin’s despair.  Then her eyes met his again and she hissed, “For them…so this doesn’t happen again.”

Carus tugged her close at that, pressing a fervent kiss into her hair and swore, “Never again, love.”

“I’ll make sure of that.”