Koell could not say what had caused him to leap into the deeps to save the unconscious form that he had seen from a distance plummeting into the creek, disheveled within her own flowing cloak. Perhaps it were his instincts, almost undoubtedly within his own blood through his mother�s celestial ancestry; the demonic aura of his father would have had him watch the unfortunate drown in a concoction of creek water and her own blood as the two liquids became one, uncountable cuts on the cloaked woman�s torso being the single cause.

But to the young being, for all his life he had claimed the term �man� to be unfitting to him, could not care less now about how or why he found himself being dragged under the sadistic torrent of water; his concern, for as long as it lasted, had to remain on their survival. Koell attempted to relax his body, but under the circumstances, his calm and patience had been lost just as that of the creek had. He could feel the blood wrath inside of him now, burning; screaming; bubbling beneath the surface of his paled skin. He could see the fires that were the inheritance of his father, the demon side of his family� his father, the man who all his life had belittled him and made him feel inferior for the celestial blood that was the gift of his maternal parent, the wings that clung now, soaked through from feather to feather, to his back. The father that had his way with his mother; tormented her and abused her; caused her so much pain. The only thing keeping a frustrated growl from leaving Koell�s throat was the blood stained waters swirling around him and the unconscious form gripped in one muscled arm, choking him, entering his lungs with a life-taking intent.

How he had taken his mother from him was enough to make those muscles throb, but it was how she reacted that made the son�s tempers raise the most; tempers bizarre to his usual disposition. She wanted Kaehlin; she had told the tiefling that she wanted him when stood just a step away from Koell; her son, her love. She had abandoned him, made him feel like the outcast he had fought all of his life not to be. Rejected by his own mother! His eyes straining against the torrents around him, dragging him; dragging them, to the lifeless abyss, filling his and her lungs, stealing their breath from their very souls; yet amidst all of this, Koell could see her before him; her eyes, cold, lifeless, but golden as always all the same� he met his mother�s eyes and he grit his fanged teeth; he would not be the forgotten son.

Life a knife through butter, Koell�s toned form tore past the surface of the water, every muscle rippling, every vein pumped in a desperate effort to harness the little remaining strength he held. He, the half-demonic and half-celestial child, would not lose his life fighting a stream. Before his raging senses could even reach their peak, Koell had flopped onto the embankment, raised from the ground by only his hands and knees, his chest rising and falling over the sodden, lifeless figure sprawled beneath him. He had rescued her, the cloaked woman laid now in the peace brought by unconsciousness, and for it he had almost lost his own life, as little precious as it was to him.

Not a moment passed, and barely had Koell regained his breath and his senses before he was tearing back the hood and hair that had been matted to the mysterious woman�s face. He had to know. He had sensed the ethereal aura that had clung to her even as she drowned alongside him, he had felt the form growing all the more familiar within his muscled arms as fatigue had taken the strength from them. And, in that fleeting moment that had ignited the fuse of his fury and consequently given him the strength to lift them both free, he had seen them. Twin orbs of golden splendor staring lifelessly into his, an all-too familiar impression to the blankness they gave him.

His suspicions were met with a confirmation that made his racing heart skip a beat; she was her, as he had known without knowing. Unknowingly, Koell had just saved his mother�s life. And now, having not seen her in so many days since her father had locked her, chained her, bound her from him in the confines of their bedroom for his own sadistically sexual pleasures; only now did Koell�s eyes return to gazing upon her pale face. Unknowingly, Am�naelihn had found her son.

Mist had begun to hover in the air, the skies serenely silent, probably due to the startling figure making a hasty path over rocks and upturned roots, following a scent so strong to his abyssal senses that he would have had to be without senses at all to not notice it. Kaehlin could almost feel her coming closer to him by the psychic link she had placed between them both so many years ago. Her dazed consciousness became clearer in his head, slumbered nightmarish dreams playing themselves over his mind like faded images of a time long since forgotten. A sneer curled the stone gray lips of the tiefling and for a moment he paused, running his hand over one of his small pointed horns lazily. She had escaped him before, but this time she would not. This time he had acted on instinct, and with haste; this time Kaehlin would find Am�naelihn.

Without a second thought, Koell had applied to her the life giving procedures. In just a split moment he had forgotten his grudge, put aside everything she had done to him in the past tenday, and forced the breath from his lungs to hers, his lips locked in a frantic embrace with hers. She was awake in an instance, gasping and spluttering, water falling past her lips as he pressed down on her chest, her sodden, ebony hair tangling itself in her face and eyes. Am�naelihn looked frantic, panicked eyes searching wildly around for some sort of sense in the mayhem. Seeing the flush returning to previously pale cheeks, a light returning to her frenetic, golden eyes, Koell pounced like a man possessed, wings outstretched behind him. She fell beneath his overpowering form like a small child, limp and prone, fear instantly upon her. Koell�s face possessed none of the sensual calm of which she was so fond, nor did he show any signs of a burning lust as he captured her curved body between the grass and his own. Now Am�naelihn could see the rage in his eyes, the abyssal fires that burned beneath the amber irises, and his fanged teeth were bared in a way that reminded her frighteningly of his father, her lover, of Kaehlin.

�Why are you here, mother!?�

A whimper left her lips, trembling and blue from cold, and she tried to look away from him, to avert her gaze from his enraged features, but he grabbed her chin and jerked her eyes back to his. He could see the fear in her eyes and it made him warm; she knew who he was now, right now he was the only thing on her mind. His voice bellowed out again.

�You abandoned me! For� him!�

She shook her head now, biting her lip and sucking it, the words still trapped in the pit of her throat as she tried to protest, but all she can manage was for her lips to form the word �no.� Koell growled, a small, low growl, and backhanded her across the face. The mark left on her pale, icy skin was red, and warm. Am�naelihn hadn�t felt such violence from him in such a long time, and it hurt a thousand times more than anything Kaehlin could ever have inflicted upon her.

�Why, mother? Give me the fucking answers! You owe me answers, so many fucking answers! Why? Why?! Why?!�

She could have sworn there were tears in his glowing eyes as he bellowed at her, though on reflection she could have passed it off as water from the creek. A third backhand followed a second, which preceded a fourth. She bucked up weakly against him, trying to get him off her. He was channeling his pain through every hit, she could feel it, and it brought tears to her own eyes. The warmth was returning to her blood, prompted by the adrenalin that rushed through her veins and slowly she lifted trembling hands, grabbing onto his cheeks, a palm flattened to each. He stopped himself midswing and stared at her, a scowl transfixed on his shivering lips. The two, mother and son, seemed frozen for a moment, their eyes trapped in a stare, water dripping off his caped back, drenching her already saturated, dark cloak. The grass sparkled damp beneath them, the mist hovering about them as the fog passed across the creek. There was silence. His voice came out again, but now it was soft, subdued; seduced to a whisper.

�All those days� you wanted him. All those days� I spent alone, mother. With your child. Whilst you were with � him. Him and not me. Him.�

In that brief moment Am�naelihn wanted to tell him; to tell him the truth. But she knew better.

�But I had no choice, Koell. I � had no choice.�

She could feel him relaxing on top of her, his teeth still gritted and his wings flattening down against his back. She needed no psychic link with Koell to know how he was feeling now as his muscled form deflated on her, his bare chest pressing along her cloak and dress, torn and matted to her injured form. Her blood marked his pale skin but she did not wince, and his lips rested on hers. She lifted her head, welcoming him with just a small whimper. The flutter of her heart that told her she was wrong, that he was her son and it shouldn�t be this way, came and went. The stinging in her cheek, however, was there, reminding her as even now he kissed her in a way that no son should kiss his mother. Her insipid arms draped around him as his hands took a grip of her robes, tugging them from her chest, allowing his icy fingers to find the flesh they hungered for, returning the warmth to her most precious of places.

She felt him then, closer� ever closer. He was frantic, and determined. And he was too close. Within minutes Kaehlin would be on them, and no amount of seduction would save Koell from what Kaehlin would do when he found his son in the position he was now. Am�naelihn began to squirm suddenly, her tongue pulling frantically away from his, her lithe form struggling to get from beneath him. But Koell did not understand the meaning behind her struggles, and he fought her, grabbing her wrists, pinning her beneath him. �No Koell, you fool!� she screamed within her own head as his lips encased hers, his tongue wrapping around hers, trying to tease the life from it and drowning her protests between them. With his knees he pushed her legs apart, settling himself between her hips, grinding along her inner thighs. She groaned, trying to cry out to him but he held her pinned. She would not get away, she was his now and Koell wanted despite everything to make her his.

Few times in his life had Kaehlin�s powerful limbs carried him so far so fast, but on this occasion he was eager, and he was determined. He had felt something that surprised him, creating an intrigue that made him want to break bones and end lives; end the life of whoever was causing him to feel passion through the psychic link he possessed with Am�naelihn. For just the briefest of moments it had been there, Kaehlin had felt it without doubt. Wherever his senses were leading him, his lover had experienced a short but tender moment of intimacy with an unknown someone; a moment that she had enjoyed thoroughly. Kaehlin was intent now on finding whoever could cause such an emotion within his partner, so that he could twist that person�s neck around so far that it snapped in two.

The second emotion that Kaehlin felt from her though made him falter in his tracks for just a split second; panic. �Why,� he wondered to himself as he picked up his pace suddenly, �would she feel panic following passion?� She was so close now he could practically see her, all but the incline of the hill that led to the creek. She was down there. With a forceful leap, the tiefling scaled the mound, and for a moment he did not believe the sight that met his eyes.

Am�naelihn lay just an inch from the flowing creek; her body sprawled out in an awkward position in the grass. She was drenched through, her robes torn and ripped from her body, and it was clear within a moment that she had been moments ago in the waters that lay alongside her now. Her dark black hair was matted to her elven face, eyes closed tight. Kaehlin stepped towards her purposefully, his eyes unable to resist straining on the robes that had been torn in a way that made her breasts clearly visible to him, her skirts and cloak wrapped and ripped so that his desires that lay within their confines were open to him should he have chosen to take them. She appeared completely unconscious, but a faint murmuring from her trembling lips made it apparent she was alive, if not in perfect condition. Kaehlin sneered, almost at her and yet almost at himself. The emotions of passion and panic made sense, of course� it appeared that she had dreamt whilst in an unconscious state.

Stooping down, the towering tiefling scooped her limp body up onto his shoulder with as much ease as lifting a pillow. She would, of course, be questioned the moment he got her home. But she would be much easier to return to the manor whilst in a lifeless state. Just as he had come, Kaehlin set into a stride, carrying his love over his broad shoulder, barely seeming hindered by the extra weight at all, and headed up the incline that left the creek behind.

What Kaehlin had failed to notice was the elven woman on his shoulders peak open her golden eyes just enough to glimpse her son pulling himself out of the creek with a slick silence, icy water sliding down his scowling features.