Brushing back his flowing golden hair, the horned youth surveyed the fissure into which Am�naelihn�s captors had taken her, bound and bruised and in the discomfort of a small black carriage. Koell was strongly looking forward to making them pay for what they had done to her; each and every one of them would suffer by his hands like no other ever had. She was his; his mother, his love, his and nobody else�s and nobody was allowed to take her from him. His fanged teeth slowly grit together, his golden eyes darkening and he took a deep, heavy breath. Nobody. With enough time for just one growl, Koell�s aching wings spread again to their full and he took off into a swooping glide to the bottom of the crevice where he knew his mother�s captives would be, unsuspecting.

I won�t let this build up inside of me�

-

With every stride her scent grew stronger, each footstep bringing him closer to her destination. Nothing got in his way; forests, mountains, people and carriages and buildings, nothing was large enough, strong enough or wide enough to stop the tiefling in his tracks. Am�naelihn was out there somewhere, held captive by someone or something of which he had no idea. Kaehlin let rip a growl that echoed through the skies, unheard by any but him as he crossed the valley, unaware of the carriage tracks beneath his feet, his entire attention focused on the scent of her in the air� the flowers� the scent with which he was so familiar and so accustomed.

Never in his life had Kaehlin covered such a distance, and never had he covered any distance so fast, his muscled legs literally throbbing beneath the leather as he drove onwards, ever onwards, knowing nothing but the pain that he would cause to those who took his woman, his girl, his Am�naelihn, into their captivity. She was his, Kaehlin�s, and she wore the collar to prove it. He would not let the only person who had ever seen him smile be so suddenly torn from his life, and those who tried would feel the full force of his double-axed wrath. No blood would be spared, no head uncleaved and no life left remaining. All or nothing. Kaehlin let out a second roar that resounded and echoed back to him, louder and more violent than the first, and the mere sound of it drove him to a spurt of additional speed.

I won�t let this build up inside of me�

-

Four times she had seen Kaehlin enter the nightmarish room in which she was bound, fists flying and eyes aflame, only for his image to vanish completely, leaving her to drift back into unconsciousness. Three times on that, Koell had entered the room, flashing her a warm smile and walking towards her, his arms outstretched and his wings spread, only for her to realize it was really no more than one of Cae�ratheuil�s lackeys checking up on her, leaving her to drift back into unconsciousness. Still Am�naelihn�s back throbbed and stung, the gaping wound left by Cae�ratheuil�s saw pulsating violently where he had removed her single wing.

Yet amidst all the pain the elven woman felt in her each and every limb, none was more painful than hearing the shrieks and cries of her newly born son, named only the previous day, as somewhere across the room from her, behind the many towering cylinders of vile substance, he lay� subjected to whatever torment her callous captors might have reason to inflict. His every wail was hers, his every twinge of agony sending a bone-rattling shudder down Am�naelihn�s spine, and she wept openly for him, praying to each deity in turn that his life was more important than hers, that at her sacrifice if need be her son at least could be saved his torture.

I won�t let this build up inside of me�

-

Even at his young age, his life consisting only of a few days, the small, squirming form of Rhaul was conscience of the looming elven figures over him, each one clad in either a shade of crimson or a tone of black, many even in both, as they set to their work around him. He cried out to be away from the mean, glaring faces, but his childish wails were unheeded save by his mother so many feet away and completely powerless to save him.

The test tubes and glass containers of various colored liquids bubbled and fizzed around him, some of them subjected to incredible heats, others to freezing temperatures, and many of both types containing one or more rodent-sized creatures, but every one with a sinister purpose of its own. Such images flashed before the eyes of the tiny child, but he was unaware of any of the evil that had gone into their creation, the only things on the mind of the immature being the desire for his mother, her warm embrace and an end to the suffering that his bond with her made his instincts flare at.

I won�t let this build up inside of me�

-

Cae�ratheuil observed the squirming child with a cold grin of sadistic pleasure, an expression that acknowledged the coming together of so many years of experimentation, so many passed years of planning and preparation. Sweeping his midnight black hair from his eyes and over the back of his pointed ears, the elven mage lifted one of the child�s tiny arms and examined it, his jade eyes almost bulging out of their sockets in pleasure. The blood tests had proven lucky; the child belonged not to the tiefling, and so he would be ripe for the experimentation. Her first child had been of fiendish blood, completely useless and immune to all of the potent magics Cae�ratheuil was the master of. This second child, however, was perfect; and Am�naelihn�s transformation into elven form had secured that.

�He is ready; and not a son of the tiefling, this time. All my research into race-combination is about to b-�

Cae�ratheuil�s intended speech of satisfaction was interrupted by the nagging question hovering on the mind of his apprentice, a small and thin elven male, smaller than his master in stature and sporting a head of flowing white hair.

�Is the child elven enough for us, my Lord?�

�Of course he is. Look at him.�

The apprentice did as his master bid, noting as he was intended the slight point to the child�s ears and the angular elven features of his face, the way his eyes were almost almonds in shape. The apprentice nodded, to which Cae�ratheuil snorted with despair.

�Just bring the blood� and be careful with it, it was not easily acquired.�

The apprentice nodded and hastily left his master to continue to admire the small child, Rhaul by name, kicking and squirming on the table, his face screwed up as he wailed for his mother. But the elven mage had no intention of ever reuniting mother and son.

I won�t let this build up inside of me�

-

Koell had found the entrance with little difficulty, following the winding path in the rocky crevice until he came within the complex that he could only assume had been built by a talented team of dwarves centuries ago. Each passage was finely crafted in the rock, as natural looking as the minerals themselves, runic symbols marking each wall. The half-celestial, half-fiend man made his way through the winding passages. The tracks were unmistakable, and in moments Koell had found the carriage in which his mother had been abducted and which he had spent so many hours following overhead. Much to his annoyance, Koell found the carriage empty but this acted to dishearten him for only a moment before he returned to following the winding caverns through, confident that before long he would find her, his mother and free her from the hands of her most unfortunate captors.

I won�t let this build up in side of me�

-

With a grin that could be described only as sadistic, the elven mage prepared his instruments for the final step of his prototype plans. The syringe dripped a clear liquid out of the end, sending just a single droplet to splash, wasted, to the rocky floor underfoot. Liquids bubbled ferociously as Cae�ratheuil�s apprentice mixed them, creating the potion his master had spent years perfecting, and years teaching. Elves were a patient race, to them time was of no matter; what was achieved in that time, however, was everything. Cae�ratheuil was so close to his final goal that even his elven patience was growing thin, but he knew that all would succeed only through precision.

The child lay out before him now, unconscious, his wailing finally at a cease. Stooping over the table, Cae�ratheuil pushed the child�s single wing aside, allowing him to slip the syringe tip neatly into Rhaul�s delicate baby skin, piercing it and inserting the contents of the container. The apprentice didn�t need even to be told, knowing his cue by heart, and he stepped over, offering the results of his mixing to his master. Cae�ratheuil grinned slightly at him, before accepting the liquid and gently tipping it past the unconscious child�s lips, pinching them shut as the final traces of lavender liquid slid past his tiny lips and down his throat. As if struck by lightning, the child gave a shriek, wailing suddenly as his breathing picked up, his small stomach rising and falling, pounding against the table.

The little one could feel the chemicals reacting within his body, his very insides shifting and changing. And then, as such a response did occur, similarly his skin began to, small lumps rising along its surface. Completely calm, the elven mage slipped a second syringe into the child�s pulsating arm, this time letting the topaz-colored liquid drain second by second, the screaming child making no attempt to get the painful jab out of his arm. Suddenly on the arm in which the syringe was inserted, dark hair began to rise from the child�s skin. The hair resembled that of a cat, thick and patterned, dark black stripes running down the length. In the same moment, Rhaul�s nails grew, lengthening, as they would have only in weeks, suddenly sharp at the points like a tiger�s claws. At the mere sight of the arm�s transformation, Cae�ratheuil cried out in aggressive pleasure.

�It is working! The blood of the rakshasa is dominating his own, he is becoming one of them! The magical gift of the rakshasa is within my grasp!�

So absorbed by the abnormal phenomenon taking place within the body of the child was Cae�ratheuil that he failed to notice the enormous figure rising behind him, crimson eyes alight, two fists of pale gray tightly balled and a slowly growing will to kill.

I won�t let this build up inside of me�

-

Am�naelihn could feel every feeling and every emotion her new-born son was feeling, the link that had come into place between her and her son letting her experience so much that she wished she wouldn�t have to; the sting of the syringe entering his skin, the reaction of the chemicals exploding within his organs and blood stream, the flow of the chemical from the second syringe feeding the reaction with all it needed to change his limbs, showing no concern for the pain it caused. Tears slid down Am�naelihn�s face freely, her shackles making her physically unable to clear her eyes even should she have wanted to. Her entire right arm went numb, and it ached to a point she thought it might never be useable again. Comparably, even the pain of her amputated wing was bearable. She saw the figure, large, muscled and menacing pass by� a horned head and an double-axe upon its back� she tried to call out to him but the words caught and came loose as sobs, and he passed her by giving only the smallest of glances. Did he not care?

She cried out, her scream of sudden longing, of her agony, of her torment, a plea for freedom from her torture; the plea was met as moments later a hand pressed itself over her lips, silencing her, and she saw his pale golden eyes staring into hers.

I won�t let this build up inside of me�

-

Cae�ratheuil did not even see his attacker as the double-axe cleaved his head from his shoulders; Kaehlin preferred to end lives in such a way. Quick, to the point, and yet terribly messy. With a yelp of pain, the elven body fell in two pieces to the floor, coating the child and the table he was on in a thick spray of crimson blood, and taking with it the syringe, which was yanked mercilessly from the small child�s deformed rakshasa arm. The moment the syringe was removed, the reactions stopped inside Rhaul�s tiny body, the hair ceasing to bristle along his skin, halted at the shoulder. The tiny child�s wails, however, did not cease, and he continued to scream blue murder, his voice ringing out like only the voice of a newborn child could.

Kaehlin looked down at the blood-coated child, wiping his axe-blade of the blood of two elven mages, the apprentice having fallen just moments before his master; as it should be. His crimson eyes cast over the child, examining for a moment the deformed arm, furred and clawed like a tiny tiger�s. Shaking his head in disgust, the tiefling turned away, continuing his search for Am�naelihn, not knowing that around the corner he could find her, the woman he had passed, cradled now and weeping uncontrollably in the arms of her first born son.

�I don�t want to be this.